Present yourself to the readers
Hi everyone! My name is Ilana Charnelle, and I am a twenty-seven year old jazz era-inspired chanteuse and storyteller who’s probably already written a song about you. I live in Melbourne, Australia.
Your texts and your compositions ?..What are they talking about ?..How does inspiration come ?
I write about my own life, I always have. I don’t keep a journal, my songs are my records of different periods of my life. I’m also inspired by things like old jazz records, other artists, and fragments of conversations I overhear. I’m constantly scribbling down ideas in a notebook or typing them in to my phone. I feel like I always have about five songs in the works!
What’s the story for your new album Play Nice ?
My whole life I have been labelled ‘the good girl’. But biting my tongue gets old, and I have too much to say. Play Nice is a collection of songs that call out terrible behaviour, names and shames people who have done bad things and encourages everyone to get a little bit nasty.
Are you day or night ?
I’m a night owl. For some reason I’m always staying up late answering emails or writing. Sometimes inspiration strikes me just as I am falling asleep and I have to reach for the notepad or voice recorder!
What are your personal musical tastes and your influences ?
I am influenced by a huge range of artists, both old and new. Artists like Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald and Doris Day are huge influences for me when it comes to jazz and traditional pop, and modern artists like Taylor Swift and Adele are my influences when it comes to songwriting. I like to think my music is a nice combination of both!
What's your top 5 albums of all time ?
It is so difficult to whittle it down to five, but here goes…
1. Red - Taylor Swift
2. 21 - Adele
3. Moulin Rouge OST
4. The Best of Doris Day - Doris Day
5. The Fabulous 40s Collection (album one is my favourite!)
In studio, what was the ambiance for the album PLAY NICE ?...etc.…
We recorded the album just after we had done a season of the show at a cabaret club here in Melbourne. When we came to record the album, the band was used to playing together, and we recorded it like a live show, which was amazing. The band members are all so talented, and we had a great time in the studio.
How does it work for the design of the CD ? and why this title ?
I did a shoot with a wonderful photographer named Michael Blamey for the promotion of the show and album, and the album art grew from that. I named the show ‘Play Nice’ because I knew I wanted the songs to get a bit nasty and call people out on their bad behaviour - the line from the title song is ‘Some girls don’t like to play nice’. For the shoot, I liked playing with the different meanings of ‘play nice’ - half the shoot was as a little girl who’s being a bit of a bully, and half the shoot was as a boxer.
What are your projects ?
I’ll be officially launching the album over three days this July in Melbourne. I’ll be playing the album live with my band. I’m also making a very limited run of the album on vinyl - a bucket list dream for me. I’m so excited to have my music on a vinyl record! I’ve also written a new show that I’m planning to perform next year.
What do you expect from the future ?
I plan to continue writing and performing my music for as long as I can. Songwriting is so liberating, and being able to share my experiences through songs and having other people relate to them is an incredible experience.
What's your motto ?
“Regret is far worse than disappointment”. I’d always rather jump and fall than spend the rest of my life wondering.
Website to remember
You can see more about me at www.ilanacharnelle.com, like my page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ilanacharnelle or subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/ilanacharnelle.
What would you like to say to the readers ?
Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you’ll check out the album!
Thanks for the upkeep
Hugues B.
