Charlie Belle
Charlie Belle | "LOOKING FOR MAGIC” + “WHAT ABOUT ME?” SINGLES | S/R | Sept. 18 + ocT. 9, 2020
Bio:
When national attention came to the sibling duo Charlie Belle in 2014, Jendayi and Gyasi Bonds were literally just kids.
Sixteen and fourteen-years-old at the time, they were both already veterans of the Austin music scene when their debut EP “Get To Know” blew up. Press came from NPR, Nylon, MTV, Vice, Wired and others, and Jendayi and Gyasi appeared together on the cover of their local paper, the Austin Chronicle.
“It was weird and exciting and interesting and fun and flattering to say the least, that randomly by chance, our debut EP really hit it out of the park, right?,” Jendayi says of that crazy time. “Man was it cool!”
She continues, “Nothing in my life until that moment showed me that perhaps I could truly pursue this. Maybe I had a perspective that other people might want to hear. Maybe I could make an impact on people with my music in the same way that bands like Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, and Local Natives made an impact on me.”
“I’ve been the drummer in Charlie Belle for 12 years,” Gyasi says, now a 19-year-old college student.
Jendayi has graduated college, she’s 22 now, and while the pair took time away from schooling us with pop tunes too damn accomplished for teenagers, it was the right thing to do. They were always plotting a return, and now they are educated, wiser, and ready to present new music to a world that is much different from the one they played for just six years ago.
To start, Charlie Belle has two singles lined up for release: First up is “Looking For Magic” on Sept. 18th, to be followed by “What About Me?” on Oct. 16th. The new tunes are clearly by two independent, self-actualized artists, who know exactly what they’re doing.
“He went off and became his own human,” Jendayi says of her brother, “I went off and did that too, and I jumped into my songwriting. We were supposed to move and grow like this, so we could tell our story with intention.”
Part of that story is of being Black artists who don’t necessarily make the kind of music that society thinks they would be, or should be, making.
“Now more than ever there’s a spotlight on Black artists, and what Black artists have to bring to the table in all genres of music,” Jendayi says. “We’ve been a band for 12 years and Black our whole lives. There’s a sort of reckoning right now for what Black artists can bring to the table.”
Gyasi is blunt: “People always assume I’m a rapper, I tell them I make music or that I’m an artist and the first question I receive is, ‘Are you a rapper?’ We are put in a box by our skin that people have deemed ‘Black music,’ but all music is Black music.”
Look, Jendayi and Gyasi just want people to know that they are creative, multifaceted artists, who happen to be a brother and sister who grew up gigging around town in Austin. But they also want people to know that as Black artists, their lives and experiences are just as rich and nuanced as everyone else’s.
“I want more of our stories to be told,” Jendayi says.
It’s important to the band that their sociopolitical stance and their personal cultural awareness co-exist in harmony alongside their pop sensibilities. Those blown away by the catchiness and thoughtfulness of Charlie Belle’s debut can look forward to new songs by young adults who have now been doing this for half their lives.
What was already great is even better: Fun, upbeat, buoyant, while also keenly aware of the moment in a way that only Jendayi and Gyasi can speak to.
“I wrote ‘Looking For Magic’ during my senior year of high school and ‘What About Me?’ during my freshman year of college, and I feel like you can really tell the difference,” Jendayi explains. “Both of those songs are talking about growth and experience, but from two completely different perspectives. It’s a great introduction to where our heads have been as musicians these past few years.”
There’s truly something extra special in these tunes that only comes when siblings create pop songs like only siblings can.
“I can’t think of any other person in the world that I would be doing this with,” Jendayi says. “Gyasi and I have been through literally everything together. When we were kids, there were industry people who told us that even though they had an interest in us, they were going to need to ‘wait’ and see what ended up happening. I remember thinking, ‘How is that even possible?’ We are always going to be Charlie Belle.”
Two new singles by sister-brother duo Charlie Belle arrive this fall. “Looking For Magic” is out Sept. 18th, with “What About Me?” following on Oct. 16th.
NEWS:
PRESS QUOTES:
“Makes melodic indie-pop feel like a viable option for the first time in eons.”
“Definitely a band you want to know.”
“Wanna feel good? Press play.”
“An unabashedly vibrant blend of sound.”
“Easygoing yet innovative vibes.”
“The most infectious kind of power-pop.”
“Outstanding... an infectious Brit-flavored indie-pop confection.”
“Super-melodic, toe-tapping guitar-pop.”
“Yup, she rocks.”
“Everybody is getting to know Charlie Belle.”
“Radio-friendly songs that still feel rooted in indie rock. There is a smoothness... in the laid back groove and in Jendayi’s effortlessly cool vocals that linger in your mind.”
“The duo’s tried-and-true instrumental combination belies their great ear for hooks and more mature songwriting sensibilities.”
PRESS RELEASES:
SOCIALS:
LISTEN:
Bandcamp: charliebelle.bandcamp.com
Spotify: spoti.fi/2YPuSbM
Apple Music: apple.co/2YNDfoo
Assets:
Charlie Belle (L-R): Gyasi Bonds, Jendayi Bonds. Photo by Kees2Life. Click for hi-res.
Charlie Belle (L-R): Jendayi Bonds, Gyasi Bonds. Photo by Kees2Life. Click for hi-res.
Charlie Belle (L-R): Gyasi Bonds, Jendayi Bonds. Photo by Kees2Life. Click for hi-res.
Charlie Belle (L-R): Gyasi Bonds, Jendayi Bonds. Photo by Kees2Life. Click for hi-res.
"Looking For Magic" single cover art. Click for hi-res.
"What About Me?" single cover art. Click for hi-res.