August Charles: 'I feel like everything should be equal in the music scene in the UK'

August first found his singing voice aged 12 at school in Doncaster, where the family had moved after spells in Birmingham and Cardiff (his mother is a nurse and stepfather a microbiologist). “I’m a bit of a black sheep in my family because my little brother is studying law, my sister did biochemistry, they’re all quite academically inclined, they’re all very smart,” he says.

“I guess at a young age, especially when we moved to Doncaster, I was annoyed at being moved so much, so as a compromise my mum let me study music at GCSE purely because she could tell my frustration. They would rather me be something like a teacher or lawyer or doctor, something more stable, but I guess that was the switching point where (music) was allowed a little bit.”

Songwriting soon became form of “escapism” for him. “I use songwriting as a way of journalling my life, whatever I was going through,” he says. “I’ve still to this day got this big old scrapbook with some absolutely terrible songs that will never see the light of day. I never wrote them with the intention to share them with the world, it was more for myself to outlay whatever I’m going through through song. Music is just one of those things that allows you to do that.”

Adopting the stage name August Charles – “I’ve got about seven names but it is an artist that I did create,” he says – he played his first paid gig with his band at The Leadmill in Sheffield. Three years ago he performed at Tramlines festival, followed by Live At Leeds. In 2022 he opened for Nile Rodgers and Chic at the Piece Hall in Halifax and also supported Emile Sandé on tour. “She clearly liked my music because she asked my agent to support her again last November at the London Jazz Festival at the Royal Festival Hall,” he says.

“Another highlight was the Love Supreme festival (in East Sussex) – that was a bucket list one for me. The stage that I was on was ridiculous for where I am in my career.”

He is grateful for support from PPL Momentum Music Fund, saying: “I’m a big advocate for funding that is supportive of the North because I do find there is a bit of a disproportion of musicians from the North. I remember being advised by someone from the Leeds music scene ‘Don’t apply for PPL Momentum Fund because they won’t give you it, apply for another one that is less money but you’ve a better chance of getting it because it’s specifically for the North’ but I’m not someone who will just accept defeat. I feel like everything should be equal in the music scene in the UK, it doesn’t matter where you’re from.

“There’s more labels down south but I do think the North has some of the most talented people around – not just myself but other bands and artists. You really shouldn’t restrict yourself. So I went for it and they’ve been super supportive.

“The PRS Foundation as well, supporting my career and giving advice. I was also in a fund called Power Up which was supported by the PRS Foundation, within that I met the CEO of PRS, Joe (Frankland), who’s very motivational, and through that I also got a mentor, Michelle Escoffery, who wroks with PRS, and that gave me so much confidence to continue doing what I’m doing.”

August’s song Blessed, which is on the EP, has already become a phenomenon on streaming services. He is modest about its success. “To be honest, I can’t control what people enjoy and what they don’t,” he says. “Whenever I release anything I make sure I do all the right steps. I guess it starts from quality control.

“I’ll say there’s a big distinction from my first two songs, Take Me Away and Something New. From those two tracks I learnt that I wanted to up the ante on production levels, I wanted to make sure the mix was up to a high standard to master it, and the songwriting.

“I took a little moment before I released that third single, and Blessed was that. It’s one I spent a lot of money on with no real guarantee of ever making that back, but I wanted to make sure that whatever I put out into the world is going to live forever and resonate with people worldwide.

“I wrote it during Covid and I wasn’t going to allow Covid to restrict me in any way​​​​​​​, so I started work on it with a producer who was based in Berlin, we worked remotely, and then I put some money behind marketing, PR and radio plugging and tried my best to show it to the world and I guess the right people listened.”

Although he has a fondness for artists such as Frank Ocean and Amy Winehouse, he is keen not to be hidebound by genre. “My music taste is so eclectic to the point where I feel it’s an amalgamation of different sounds​​​​​​​,” he says.

He now has US-based management but is taking a long-term view of his career. Despite major label interest, he opted to remain independent.

“The story of Mick’s label is incredible to me because he’s someone who is a retired teacher who has decided to just open up a record shop and the turn that into a record label, and then with a band like Apollo Junction managing to get into the album charts, that in itself is exceptional,” he says. “I really love the idea of that, the do-it-yourself and learn from that mentality.

“Also there was a level of passion that I could feel from Mick in comparison to some of the major labels that I was speaking to and some of the indie labels, some in the UK and some abroad.

“I had this feeling of with bigger corporations you might be left behind or you might not be the centre of focus, someone that they really want to push forward because they’ve got so many other people, and especially if they’ve got other artists that are similar to you. Overall I think (Mick’s) passion and the love for the music was something that was so obvious in comparison to all the other labels that I was talking to.”

The Blessed EP is out on Friday April 5. August Charles plays at Shed Load Records at 7pm the same night. https://www.augustcharles.com/