Thomas Charlie Pedersen
Hailing from Copenhagen, Denmark, Thomas Charlie Pedersen is a versatile singer-songwriter and a member of the Danish alternative rock band Vinyl Floor. His solo work showcases his eclectic musical influences, ranging from Bob Dylan and Tom Waits to Leonard Cohen and Neil Young.
His affinity for classical music manifests itself in the elegant string parts that adorn some of his compositions. Amidst the Covid lockdown, he collaborated with his brother Daniel to record his third solo album "Employees Must Wash Hands", a collection of 15 songs that explore the themes of isolation, introspection and identity in the genre of Indie Folk-Pop. One of the highlights of the album is ‘Rains on Saturn’, a poignant piano-driven ballad that features a lush string arrangement and sublime vocal harmonies.
What are the main influences behind your musical style and identity as the artist Thomas Charlie Pedersen?
I get inspired by a lot of different musical artists and genres. I tend to prefer music from the 60’s and 70’s the most. I work with my brother Daniel in the melodic rock band Vinyl Floor and we listen to a lot of music all the time. In the band we seem to pay extra attention to other bands who favor and understand melody and harmony the way we hopefully do. The Beatles, The Kinks, Procol Harum and Genesis are definitely among our heroes. The Brit sound. But my solo sound probably derives from the singer-songwriter tradition, mostly. I really like tradition and structure in songwriting, the importance of lyrics. I also find great excitement in exploring a songs’ many possibilities within a somewhat minimalistic frame. For my solo stuff I get lots of ideas from the likes of Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young to name a few. I also listen to a lot of classical music which explains the string parts in some of the arrangements.
But the work ethics are pretty much the same as in the band. When I write something that doesn´t have much of a ‘band-feel’ to it, I usually keep it for a solo record. But Daniel contributes just as much to my solo efforts as he does to Vinyl Floor. The feel of the material is what decides what label to put on it.
"Rains on Saturn" sounds captivating and is a track from your latest solo album, "Employees Must Wash Hands". What's the story behind the song?
I remember writing this one very clearly. I did a lot of writing for this album during Covid. Late one evening I began tinkering with a piano idea in a minor key. I thought it sounded a bit ethereal and space-like. The next morning I sat in front of my television, which I don´t normally do, eating my cereal, and there was this scientific TV show about how it rains diamonds on Saturn due to the temperature and pressure conditions.
Wow, are you freaking kiddin’ me? I thought that was just so vividly stunning. It tickled my imagination and I thought it could add such beautiful imagery within the context of a lyric so I went with it right away. There´s some biblical imagery in there as well. It feels like this song has a tension and perhaps a greater, unsolved mystery and I like it that way.
How would you describe the album for our readers?
Oh, I don´t really know. A 15-song album is probably a lot to take in at once but I think it flows fairly well and is not too difficult to be friends with. Quite a lot going on lyrically and chord-wise but within a minimalistic frame. It is a somewhat retro-sounding singer-songwriter album but with some modern elements thrown in as well. It´s been described as a bit moody and melancholic sounding and it probably is since it was written in isolation. However, I think there´s some humor in there as well if you look and listen for it. I wasn´t in a bad place when I wrote it but I did feel the weight of this odd world a bit.
Which three tracks from the album would you call a "must-listen"?
‘Rains on Saturn’, ‘Fiddler & the Travesty’ and ‘Tremble and Reel’. The album was centered around those first two and I´m just so satisfied with the way the melody and chord progression came to be in ‘Tremble’. It sounds simple. It isn´t.
If you compare "Employees Must Wash Hands" with "Second Hand War", would you say that the creative process is still the same or definitely different?
Hmm, good question. With ‘Second Hand War’ I set out with the finished thought of wanting to make a solo album and that it should be as naked and bare as possible. I felt fragile back then. In retrospect we felt it could benefit from more production however, hence the ‘Revisited’ re-release a few years ago but that´s another story.
With ‘Employees’ I just wrote the songs without a specific goal in mind. Some songs could’ve ended up on the latest Vinyl Floor album so it was definitely more of a ‘left-over material’ situation. But the creative process is still the same, I guess. Piano or guitar first, then lyrics. I think we’ve become better at capturing the songs the way they are supposed to.
Oh, and both albums were driven by a desire to understand a certain situation or conflict. On ‘Second Hand War’ it was coming to terms with the break-up of a long-term relationship and on ‘Employees’ it was lockdown.
What are your goals for the future?
Having released two albums in 2022 and 2023 respectively, we´ve been taking a small break but we began working on demos for new songs, recently. It feels really good. And this will be the ‘Vinyl Floor label’.
