Get to know Singapore's Charlie Lim before he blows minds at BIGSOUND

We're very quickly coming up to that time of the year when BIGSOUND takes over the greater Fortitude Valley area of Brisbane - a wonderful time of the year where the Australian music industry converges to find out the next hot act from not only Australia, but Singapore. Once again the southeast Asian country will be showcasing some exciting young artists at the now annual Hear65 Showcase at Ric's Bar Big Backyard on September 5, featuring Linying, Charlie Lim, Intriguant and The Steve McQueens (more info HERE).

One of those artists, Charlie Lim, has just released a killer new single called Welcome Home, a cool af piece of indie electronica that veers into some two-step/garage feels for something super unique. In the interest of getting to know him a little better before seeing him blow some minds at BIGSOUND in a few weeks, we sent him a few questions and found out he has a really strong Aussie connection as well! Check it out below:

Tell us about yourself?

Hey guys! I’m Charlie, a singer/songwriter/producer from Singapore. Melbourne’s my second home as I did Year 10-12 and uni there.

What kinda tunes we talkin’?

It’s pretty varied stylistically in terms of instrumentation and genre, but the songwriting comes from a more introspective place, I think? My last record was a double EP called TIME/SPACE, with TIME being more acoustic/analog and SPACE using more electronic elements. The upcoming record is influenced by UK garage and more DIY-electronic production. My band that plays with me is called The Mothership, and our live show is pretty dynamic as we cover quite a lot of ground.

Production/writing process:

I’m quite a perfectionist so it takes a long time to get a song done as I’m involved every step of the way. TIME/SPACE took me slightly over three years just slowly chipping away. I wanted to try a different approach for the next record and got a couple of friends involved to help me with the production. They’re from Australia actually! I’ve known Yeo and Simon Lam (Kllo, I’lls, Nearly Oratario) for some time now and we’ve worked together on a few occasions, but having them come on board specifically for this album was a huge help. I’d liken it to working with an amazing rhythm section, so I can just deal with the melodic, harmonic and lyrical stuff.

Can you tell us a bit about your latest release?

Welcome Home is the first single which I worked on with Yeo. The whole song is kind of an ode to over-thinking. The groove is pretty frantic, and the production is quite cheeky as well, lots of sampling very poorly recorded instruments and trying to make things sound interesting.

What are you most looking forward to at this year’s BIGSOUND conference?

I’ve been to Brisbane quite a few times now and love it… We’ve played Brisbane Festival twice but not BIGSOUND, so definitely looking to check out more Australian bands and meeting new people.

What does the rest of the year have in store?

Releasing the album and doing a few more tours – we just finished Summer Sonic in Tokyo and will be headed to a few other places around the region before heading back to Singapore to do a homecoming concert.

Where can we hear more of your music?

You can check out Welcome Home on Spotify and all other music platforms near you. Enjoy!!

Follow Charlie Lim: FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM