Meet Strange Traffic aka Charles Goodhew. This Luxembourg-based singer-songwriter has just released his debut album, “Side by Side”. By day (well, by insanely early morning), a host of the Breakfast Show on Radio ARA and, other times, a soulful folk artist, who writes for fans of 60’s folk, Motown and anarcho-punk. Which, as far as I’m concerned, is a mind-blowing combination of vibes. With songs about life, politics and everyday interactions that help build community, Strange Traffic’s music offers a warm, acoustic feel, but it does not shy away from challenging topics. Following the release of “Side by Side”, I have discussed with him the creative concept behind the recording process, and I would like to invite you to read this inspiring conversation. And to listen to Strange Traffic’s music, as that is always the most revealing thing, isn’t it?
BARTEK: Let’s start with shedding a bit of light on the origins of your artist name, Strange Traffic?
STRANGE TRAFFIC: The name is essentially meaningless. I always seem to struggle with naming things so I decided on two words that in my opinion sounded good together.
How long did the creative process take before you were comfortably ready to start recording the album?
That’s a difficult question to answer. Several of the songs on the album are based on ideas that I have had over the course of many years. The idea was to gather all of these ideas and solidify them into one project. In some cases, it was a question of trying to find a home for the melodies, chord progressions, or lyrics that I already had, combining different ideas or elaborating on them to become entire songs.
As I started the process of recording them though, I found myself suddenly inspired to write more songs. In the end, many of the songs on Side by Side are actually brand new. The actual recording process took a bit less than a year, in which time I wrote almost half of the songs that ended up on the album and got them to a good enough standard to record.
The sound on „Side by Side” is very raw. Just the vocals and the guitar, in most of the cases. I’m pretty sure this was intentional, so I wanted to ask why you had decided to record all songs this way?
Well, I wanted to songs to sound as genuine and authentic as possible, as if you were sitting next to me when I was playing them. There is only one guitar, and one vocal line, both played and recorded “live”, by which I mean they weren’t done separately. All the songs are just me, without any additional musicians (with the exception of “Circle A” which samples the voice of anthropologist David Graeber). I wanted the songs to stay true to the intimate nature of the singer-songwriter, and folk records that influenced the music. A lot of the music that has inspired me doesn’t include huge, sophisticated arrangements or production and I feel that often you can relate more with recordings that are a bit more natural and rough around the edges. Ultimately, I like the idea of the record sounding like a friend showing you what they have been working on.
Would you like to expand the arrangement on your future albums?
It’s certainly possible that I would expand the arrangements to include more instruments in the future. I’ve been writing a bit on the piano recently and I like playing the bass so it would be good to add in some bass lines. We’ll have to see what happens next. I love the solo acoustic format but it does come with its limitations.
What was your main motivation behind creating and recording “Side by Side”?
There were a couple of motivating factors for writing and recording “Side by Side”. As I mentioned before, I had a lot of ideas that I wanted to find a home for. I wanted to write and record a collection of songs for acoustic guitar and vocals. Dedicating a project to them under one name was the push I needed to turn these ideas into complete songs.
Alongside this, the driving force for the album is one of a political nature. Throughout the album you will find recurring themes, largely inspired by libertarian socialist philosophy. There are references to anti-authoritarianism, anti-capitalism, veganism, and abolitionist thought on many of the tracks and I wanted this album to serve as a platform to promote these ideals.
What is the most important part of your creativity and your art – is it the lyrics, or the music compositions, or something else?
I think it’s difficult to separate them and I tend to view them as one entity. I usually start by composing the music, often with the harmony, adding the melody on top and then writing the lyrics to fit the style of the piece and the rhythm of the melody. Despite the fact that the lyrics come later, I don’t think this detracts from their importance. As I mentioned before, the songs are a vehicle for political thought and personal expression, which is reflected in the texts that I write.
What is the story behind your song „Piece of Mind”?
The lyrics are about what I see as an unjust economic system, one that serves only to worsen inequality, as well as a comment on the morality of greed on a personal level. It was a reaction to recent (and not so recent) attempts of the global economic elite to undermine democratic processes around the world.
Musically speaking, where do you draw your inspirations from? Any artists that you look up to and get inspired by?
I take a lot of inspiration from a lot of different places. Musically I have taken a lot from 1960s folk revival artists such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, as well as some older folk artists in the American tradition – Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Robert Johnson, Son House… Stylistically, on the guitar, I take a lot of inspiration from these sorts of artists. The harmony and chord progressions I use also borrow a lot from them however I also have had periods where I was learning a lot from jazz. A lot of the classic figures of jazz – John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis… I don’t think you would necessarily hear this immediately when listening to Side by Side but the influence creeps in from time to time and I often find myself using chords that contain more extended harmony.
In terms of ethos, I take a lot of inspiration from punk music. I grew up listening to it and the DIY ethic and authenticity is something I like to think has stuck with me. I’m particularly influenced by late 1970s/early 1980s anarcho-punk (Crass, Subhumans, Conflict, Flux of Pink Indians).
If you were to pick just one artist to perform or collaborate with (dead or alive), who would that be?
To be honest, this isn’t something that I’ve ever thought about. I don’t have a strong desire to work with any of my “musical heroes” as I don’t see what benefit that would bring except from to my ego… I would be more interested in meeting some people to talk to them and get a more in depth understanding of them and in turn, their work. I would love to meet Penny Rimbaud from Crass.
When you look back at your early experiences with music, what would be the first memory linked to hearing music that you remember? How did it make you feel at the time, and has it defined you or your style in any way?
I’ve been around music and making music for most of my life so it’s hard to point to my first memory of being exposed to it. It’s always been something that’s been important to me. When I was younger I sang, played piano, and trombone and eventually guitar when I became a teenager. I do remember a few moments that had a large impact on me musically – hearing “Big A Little A” by Crass for the first time and a few years later, as a young guitarist, buying Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a-Changin’”.
I really like the lyrics on „Wishful Thinking”. Have there been any real events which inspired your writing?
Thank you. I suppose most of my songs are influenced by real events but there isn’t one specific one here that can be talked about. This is probably one of the more personal, vulnerable songs on the album. There was a clear approach here in regards to where I was drawing inspiration from. I wanted to have something that was similar musically to Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”. You can hear this quite clearly in the fingerpicking patterns I think. I wanted it to have the emotional fragility of Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi”, but in somewhat the opposite sense as Joni Mitchell spends most of the song singing about environmental and political issues and revealing a more personal meaning in the final verse, where I start the song directly with the personal and start to bring up the political as the song goes on. I also wanted to have the grand utopian vision of John Lennon’s “Imagine”. I thought it would be equally amusing to call the song “Wishful Thinking” as it accurately describes the song in terms of lyrical content but also in regards to the totally absurd task I have set myself competing with these iconic songs.
What type of music do you listen to when you don’t make your own?
I listen to all sorts of music. Aside from the music that directly influences Strange Traffic that I mentioned before, I listen to a lot of 90s Hip-hop, funk, soul and indie rock.
What is the main emotion you would like your audience to feel after listening to „Side by Side”?
I would be happy if listeners took away a hopeful, optimistic feeling from the record as well as a reminder of the importance of community.
Finally, what are your plans in terms of the album promotion, performing live, manufacturing physical releases, etc.?
There will be a release party for “Side by Side” taking place on the 19th of September at MK bar in Belval. It should be a lot of fun. The album will also be available on CD.
Photos: provided by Strange Traffic
More info: https://www.instagram.com/strange_traffic
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