INTERVIEW: Charlie Rogers Discusses The Brand New Single “Missed Calls”!

Oregon-born & Kansas-raised singer-songwriter Charlie Rogers is renowned for his genre-alchemizing sound that seamlessly bridges emotion & heart to create a unique experience that reflects this artist’s musical spirit.

This talented artist returns with the vulnerable & refreshingly honest single “Missed Calls”, which delves into the struggles of seasonal depression & explores the repercussions of living in an all-consuming emotional state.

Injected with a perfectly portioned dose of synth pop chaos & organic instrumentation by producer Jess Grommet, “Missed Calls” invites the listener into what is undeniably a touchy subject matter through the comfort of moving, often invigorating, musicality. Co-written with singer-songwriter Frye, Charlie Rogers delves into the synergy between changing seasons & depression.

Charlie has kindly taken the time to talk with Fierce & Fabulous Revolution regarding the creation behind “Missed Calls” & what it means to the artist. You can check out the full interview below.

Hey Charlie, thank you so much for this interview. Can you start by introducing yourself to readers who might be unfamiliar with your music? 

Charlie: Of course! Thank you so much for your interest! Hello unfamiliar readers, my name is Charlie Rogers. I am a genre alchemizing singer-songwriter based primarily in Nashville, TN. I am an avid foodie, traveler, scuba diver, writer, reader, & animal lover. I love cooking, movies, all kinds of music, craft cocktails, wine, animals, plants, rocks & minerals, & a plethora of other things! I have a weekly blog on my website that is filled with varying topics & points of intrigue & naturally, I make music! 

When did you first discover your passion for music? 

Charlie: I have always been in the music world to some degree. When I was a child, my parents would often video tape (aging myself) me running down the hill by our house singing The Sound Of Music from the Rogers & Hammerstein film/musical of the same name. From there I started piano at an early age, took up cello in grade school, started teaching myself guitar & bass in high school, picked up ukulele in college, & lightly dabbled in drums throughout. I began to sing in grader capacities in middle school, doing the school musicals & plays. I joined choir in high school & wrote my first song around the age of 15, releasing my first EP at the age of 17. I attended Belmont University, studying Commercial Voice with an emphasis in performance & songwriting. So, as a roundabout way of answering your question, music has always been a part of my life to a major degree. It is what I have shaped a lot of my life around. My passion is & always has been. 

Have you always wanted to pursue a career within the music industry? 

Charlie: Honestly, no. I for a very long time wanted to go be a Marine Animals Specialty Vet. Essentially, I wanted Adam Sandler’s job in the film 50 First Dates. I’ve always had a great love for the ocean & the creatures there within, but my choir teacher in high school used to always say something along the lines of “if you can’t live without doing something, you better do it.” For me that was music. I couldn’t envision it not being a major part of my life, so in a way I stumbled into this career. It came naturally to me & it was what I found myself constantly coming back to. 

How would you currently describe your musical style? 

Charlie: As stated in my introduction, I define myself as a genre alchemizing singer-songwriter, I write & perform music that combine a myriad of genres into a sound & a feeling that is uniquely my own! I grew up listening to a very broad spectrum of artists & music, as we all do, so I felt I was doing myself a disservice by only picking a select few & narrowing my scope to a singular genre of music. None of us are one note, so why should the art we make or the lives we live be anything less than symphonic? All of that being said, most days I find that myself writing in a very pop-country style which is typically where most of my songs start before production takes me in all different directions, but, again, I didn’t want to limit myself to that. There are a handful of artists out there that feel the same, it seems. Those of us who have decided that this time around I’m going into pop, next time it’ll be country again, or rock, or whatever it ends up being. At the end of the day music that connects with people does so not because of the specific instrumentation used or the style in which it’s performed, it does so because it makes them feel heard or evokes a feeling that is instantly recognizable. That is the type of music I strive to make. 

You recently released the new single “Missed Calls.” How did the idea for the song come together? 

Charlie: “Missed Calls” came about from a session I had with a friend of mine in Los Angeles who goes by Frye. An incredibly talented artist herself, Frye & I were sitting, having a chat in her studio while trying to write a song & we began talking about seasonal depression, otherwise known as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), which both she & I have. We then began discussing the commonalities we faced as well as the unique ways in which our mental state expresses itself during a depressive episode. From there we got the verse/chorus, really trying to convey the desire for nothingness. The song then sat for a bit & when I was looking for a follow up to “Consequences Of My Honesty,” my previous single, I stumbled upon the demo for it. I brought it into my producer, Jess Grommet, he too loved the idea & the vulnerability & we fleshed out a basic track which I then took back to Frye & wrote the two verses & alternate pre-choruses for the song. 

This song features a deeply moving message behind the lyrics, what inspired you to put these feelings into a song & share them with the world? 

Charlie: I always strive for artistic & lyrical authenticity. We are close to having 8 billion people in this world, the odds that someone out there feels a similar way of is going through a similar experience as I are high. I also think them amount of people in that bunch who can smell out inauthentic art is probably a high number as well. I found commonality with a fellow writer, Frye, & we wrote what we felt & what we know & the amount of people who have heard the song & feel themselves heard by the words that we came up with in a small two seat studio shows me that we did our jobs as writers & creatives. I will always aim to bridge the societal gaps that prevent people from feeling heard or from finding themselves in the music they consume. 

Did you always plan to release “Missed Calls” as a single? 

Charlie: I didn’t. Well, I guess that’s not entirely true. It’s hard to say. “Missed Calls” lived a lot of life as an unfinished demo. It was a demo that I loved dearly, that Frye loved dearly, & that many of the people around me loved dearly, & it was always my intention to finish it, but I don’t think that thought ever crossed my mind until the moment I came across it again & made the conscious decision with Jess to make it a fitting follow-up to what I’d laid out with “Consequences Of My Honesty.” We wanted to have something equally as vulnerable & personal that was unique enough to set itself apart from the musicality & the themes presented in “Consequences.” “Missed Calls” just felt natural. 

What does this song personally mean to you? 

Charlie: To me this song is, a bit selfishly, about being seen & heard. I wanted to sculpt a song that really conveyed the feeling of a depressive episode, not only to those who understand what that feels & looks like, but also to those who don’t. I wanted people to understand me & those like me on a deeper level than I think we often see depression expressed in & I wanted to do so in a way that was palatable to a larger audience, opting to go in a more upbeat direction, instead of the downbeat funeral dirge that I feel most people would anticipate the song going in simply based on its lyrical content. “Missed Calls” is about expressing a feeling in a way that hopefully allows people to understand & empathize with those of us with SAD on a more human level. 

What message would you like listeners to take from this song? 

Charlie: Outside of the understanding that I want listeners of the song to feel & experience, I want those of us out there who know the numb void of depression to see that they are not alone, that our experience isn’t one of insanity or laziness or any other ill-suited descriptor that people have stuck us with over the years. I want people to feel seen & understood & know that there is someone out there in this wide wide world that gets it & is here to show you that your experience & feelings are valid. 

Finally, is there a message that you would like to share with the readers of Fierce & Fabulous Revolution? 

Charlie: I think I have two messages for the lovely readers out there! First off, be authentic. Show up as the person you are whole-heartedly. You may lose some people in your life for it but those who you gain, those who embrace who you are, genuinely, are 100% worth it. Second would be to allow a little more empathy into your life. Feel what those around you are feeling, seek to learn & understand the struggles of someone different from you & meet them where they are at. There is so much out there these days that divides us, we need more that bring us back together! Also, thank you for taking the time to read this & thank you in advance for listening to “Missed Calls!” 

You can check out “Missed Calls” on Spotify below or on more platforms here.

Charlie Rogers: Website / Instagram / TikTok.