Charlton Hill
(db Magazine, March '03)
charlton hill leads a new brand of australian singer songwriters, with his fresh look and earthy approach - not to mention his hip, cool good looks. hill has breathed new life into the australian music scene lately, and has been picking up some good, solid reviews for his debut album, ‘waterline’.
hill has recently supported the likes of bic runga and john mayer, the american guitar genius who i think is probably the best thing to happen to music in a long time. but more on mayer, and the link with hill later.
hill’s journey to this point in time has been a long and sometimes sad one. having lost the family home to raging bushfires in the early 90’s, hill decided the time was right to move overseas for a while, and try his luck musically in london. never the friendliest of places when you’re a tourist, hill soon found that there could be advantages to being away from home.
"i really don’t think this record would have been made without being in london, and going through all that. i mean, i have always been playing music and writing, and doing whatever i can to perform. but on a personal note, because of the travel, and breaking out of my comfort zone in australia, an album maybe would have been written, but not this album.”
‘waterline’ is an album of cool charm and smooth tunes, which get under the skin in a good way, and stay there. both the singles released from the album, 2’s company and deep, have struck a chord with people. the songs from the impressive debut album showcase a performer very much at ease with his own ability and talent. “i knew i had to put myself in a position where i was stretching myself and pushing myself into something different, maybe scary, but definitely new. i knew that i had to go through some pretty dark moments. it was like stepping across the line to sort of become the person that i truly wanted to be, or maybe was, but didn’t know it. when you have the opinions of family and friends really pressing against you, it becomes very difficult to really see who you are. when you are in a place like london, nobody gives you shit about you or what you’re doing, so there is some freedom there to be yourself and do what you want to do.”
writing the songs for the debut album weren’t that much of a stretch for hill. “writing to me is very continual, as far as words go. i keep a diary handy all the time, which helps capture thoughts instantly. there was about seventy or eighty songs that i thought i would like to record for this album, but then that scaled down to maybe a dozen or so that i felt more strongly about, songs that i really thought reflected where i am at. some songs tend to overlap sometimes, where i might write a batch that say similar things, and they can get condensed in a way, or sometimes i’ll pick the one most poignant to the situation. in the end the ten songs came together and really showed where i am at at this point in my life.”
hill has had quite a few different influences musically through his life (he cites jeff buckley and the stone roses as particular faves), but it’s john mayer, with whom he shared a stage with recently, where the parallels are really clear. in my view mayer is one of the finest new artists to emerge in recent times, hill may be australia’s equivalent. “that’s a really cool thing to say”, hill replies to the comparison. “and i agree with you in most part. it was a real treat to support him when he was recently here. last year with bic runga as well, it was a pleasure to work with them all. with john, it was weird, because when i walked on stage to his crowds, i thought to myself, 'wow, these are my crowds too'. they were young and excited, and it was as though they’d picked up his album and went, ‘we really get this’. it was a nice experience, and felt very comfortable with the fans there. they listened, and the shows were sold out, and it felt like it was so the right place to be in. “
take the chance to get yourself a copy of hill’s debut album ‘waterline’, and maybe you’ll get just as excited as i did when i heard it for the first time. make sure to keep one ear free though, to listen out for something just as important; hill’s upcoming tour dates. don’t miss it!
- chris niehus