Q&A: Charlotte Clark is Growing Up and Onward in New EP ‘Babygirl’
“TO GROW UP, TO LEARN, AND TO TRULY PRACTICE SELF-ACCEPTANCE” — is the message Charlotte Clark hopes to encapsulate throughout her new EP, Babygirl.
The first song and title track, “Babygirl,” appropriately sets the tone for the EP, with voice memo–style musings on getting older. Clark describes the song as more of a diary entry than a song packed with metaphors. She speaks plainly on the angst of aging while feeling like a little girl at heart, in hopes that listeners find familiarity in the emotions she describes.
Influenced by artists such as Joni Mitchell and HAIM, among others, Clark breathes life into Babygirl alongside her partner, Thom Rodriguez, her producer, Scott Verrill, and Tarek Musa. It was during the earlier days of the COVID-19 pandemic that Clark found herself in a time of introspection and personal growth from which Babygirl was born.
Read on below to meet Clark and learn about her stories behind her new EP, Babygirl.
LUNA: Thanks so much for taking the time to chat about Babygirl. You really should be so proud of it. My first listen to these songs was while walking through the streets of a new city I had just moved to. I just had to tell you that I really resonated with the themes of growing up and moving on. It really is the perfect vibe to start spring with. I saw you post about how you recorded the vocals for Babygirl on your iPhone while sitting on the couch. I feel like this — along with the chatting voices in the background — adds to the intimacy of the song. Is there a reason you chose “Babygirl” as the title track and opener to the EP?
CLARK: Thank you! Most of the vocals for this EP were recorded like that, to be honest. I love the compression on the iPhone microphone! “Babygirl” sums up this EP for me. It was written during a time [in which] I was learning so much about my younger self through therapy and was moving into a stage in my life that felt more settled, but internally I still felt like a kid. The whole project is a bit of a hug to myself … to say, “Yes, you’re growing up, but you’re doing great.”
LUNA: Is there any other intentionality in the order of the songs? What’s the story you hope to tell with this EP?
CLARK: Definitely. The main thing I really wanted to encapsulate is the spectrum of emotions that you experience in your twenties. “Babygirl” was intentionally chosen as the first song on this EP — it’s almost like a diary entry in that there are no metaphors [and I’m not] floating around the point of what I’m saying. It’s super vulnerable and almost doesn’t really have a structure. I want the listeners to feel a sigh of relief after that song, to almost think, “Okay, we’re in, she’s being vulnerable and I can be too.” And then I thought, well, we need a dance after the heaviness, hence “Lilypad” coming next!
LUNA: I can hear a lot of Joni Mitchell influence in these songs. Are there any musicians that contributed to your evolution as an artist?
CLARK: I’m so glad you can hear that — Joni is a huge influence. There are so many artists and bands I love who I’ve been heavily inspired by: Feist, Neil Young, Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, Jill Scott, Anaïs Mitchell HAIM, Frank Ocean. I could go on forever.
LUNA: It’s fun to hear about how solo artists still find so much community and collaboration. Who are the people that helped make this EP happen, and what was it like to work with them?
CLARK: Absolutely. My circle of collaborators has gotten smaller and tighter as the years have gone on, and I’m so grateful for them. I write a lot with my partner, Thom — he also drummed on a couple of tracks on this EP and played guitar, too. My producer and co-writer Scott is like the other half of me when it comes to my artist project. He turns my acoustic, folky, sad voice memos into these songs that have so much life in them, and I just think he's a genius. Tarek Musa mixed the EP remotely — he’s from a garage rock background and is a drummer so he really brought out the crunchiness of the sounds of this record.
LUNA: I love to learn about different local music scenes. Did you have a strong creative community around you growing up? What was the music scene like in your hometown?
CLARK: I grew up in a small commuter town where there really wasn’t much going on, but it happened to be a bit of a hotbed when it came to bands. My three sisters are all super creative, too, and I’m so grateful for our childhood singing together.
LUNA: It seems like growing up and growing into yourself is a big theme on Babygirl. How have you seen yourself grow since your last EP, Warm Weather?
CLARK: I’m so glad you can hear that! (Laughs) Well, it’s funny because I’ve written the next EP after Babygirl, so I already feel like I’ve grown since that one. Babygirl was a pivotal moment for me growth-wise … It was written during the pandemic, when we all had to stop and look inward without a choice. I’m not sure I would’ve learned the things I now know if it wasn’t for that time of introspection.
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