Charlotte Rose Benjamin – Dreamtina

By starrymag | April 18, 2022

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound? 

A) Girly, insecure, sometimes bratty mix of, like, Sheryl Crow, Wilco and Weezer but the setting is New York City and the year is obv 2022.

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

A) This record was really influenced by all those 90’s girls…Liz Phair, Fiona Apple, etc. I wanted it to feel really confessional, but also a celebration of being a girl. There’s also a scene in New York that I feel like I belong to now more than ever, and that feels incredibly special and definitely influences my music a lot.

Q) Talk about the story behind your new songs “Satisfied” and “Slot Machine.”

A) “Satisfied” is a true story about a boy I was dating who broke up with me and then accidentally came to a house show I was playing the next night after I sent him this long psycho text. I was really on one that night and wanted to impress him, so I forced him to stay until like 1am to watch us play and then we kinda fucked up the whole set. Not my finest moment.

I wrote “Slot Machine” on my way back to the city from my parents’ house on Martha’s Vineyard where I grew up. When I think about “Slot Machine” I think about the song “California” by Joni Mitchell where she’s like, “will you take me as I am, strung out on another man? California, I’m coming home.” I was definitely feeling strung out and cynical and sad.

Q) What do you think it is about the songs that fans connect to?

A) I hope people see themselves in my music. I find myself consistently returning to art that confirms I’m not alone in feeling a certain way and grants me permission to feel something I can’t articulate or don’t necessarily feel comfortable expressing.

Q) You teamed up with friends and family to make the videos. How do the videos match up to the messages behind the music? 

A) I made this album with like no budget. Most of the videos were made with one or two friends and a camcorder I bought on eBay for like $150. If I could make more expensive ones I totally would and I hope I’m able to do that in the future. I guess a theme of this record is brutal honesty and you’re definitely getting a very real version of me. They feel like home videos and the video for “Louis Pt. 2” is actually made up of real home video footage. I’m really grateful for everyone who helped me on every piece of this record. It’s fully made up of people who believed in it enough to work for free or did it purely out of kindness.

Q) What is your song writing process? 

A) I usually spend a long time collecting little ideas in my notes app before I even pick up a guitar. I’m not the kind of writer who writes a hundred songs and edits down to ten. I sometimes spend weeks on a single verse. The lyrics are really important to me. I don’t want to write any filler. And I always write alone.

Q) Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

A) No, but I definitely need a chord progression and a melody to get things going. Once I have enough little ideas or have a bigger idea for a song, I’ll start toying with melodies and chords and then it just goes from there. I never start with music though.

Q) How involved are you in the production of your music?

A) My band and I produced this record ourselves. But I definitely don’t know what I’m doing yet production-wise. Matti Dunietz and Nardo Ochoa are both incredible producers. And they work together as a team in a way that’s really cool to watch. I learn a lot from them in the studio. We’d start with a song I wrote on guitar and then I’d bring in one or two references and we’d play it a few times full band. Once we felt like we had a feel for it we’d start tracking and then adding and subtracting.

Q) What are some themes you explore on your debut album Dreamtina?

A) My whole life I’ve been striving to achieve this effortless coolness that I’ve always been jealous of in other girls. I’m working really hard to try less to be cool and try more to be honest because I think that’s actually cooler. Also, the record is all about love. I’m addicted to falling in love with NYC fashion adjacent boys who seem to hate me for no reason and I’m working on that as well.

Q) Where did the album title originate?

A) My straight male friend had this running joke with another friend where they would refer to hot neighborhood girls as “Tina’s.” “Coffeeshop-Tina” was the cute girl who worked at the coffee shop. A girl literally riding by on a bike was B.L.T., “Bike-Lane-Tina.” “Dream-Tina” obviously meant dream girl. I always thought it was cute.

Also, the idea of this perfect version of myself I feel so much pressure to be. “Dreamtina” kind of represented that to me. I’d find myself talking myself up in situations where I was feeling insecure, like, “You got this, you’re Dreamtina.”

Q) What tracks on the album challenged you the most and which hold a special place in your heart?

A) There’s a song called “Gracie,” which was absolute hell to record. I knew I loved the song, but every time I tracked guitar and vocal it felt so stiff and weird. We made most of the record on this week-long trip at my parents’ house. I think “Gracie” was the last day and it was right before Matti and Nardo were going on tour, so it felt like a lot of pressure to get it done. I cried a little and then Nardo suggested we scrap the whole thing and take a couple mics out to the front porch and record it live outside with the birds! My vocal was done in one take and Nardo played guitar and then they worked all through dinner adding Nardo’s harmonies and bass and electric guitar. I can’t imagine it any other way now.

Q) What do you hope listeners take away from checking out Dreamtina?

A) I really just want to make people feel understood and at ease, like how I do when I watch Norah Ephron movies or listen to Taylor Swift.

Q) The album drops on April 22nd. Will fans expect to see you on tour to promote your new music?

A) I want to tour this album more than anything! We just got back from playing SXSW and now I really have the bug. I just signed with High Road Touring and they’re working on putting some stuff together for me, so fingers crossed!

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?

A) I’m very excited to be having my release show at Baby’s All Right on April 24th! It’s definitely my favorite NYC venue, I’ve seen so many of my favorite shows there.

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

A) Sam Evian produces a lot of my favorite stuff. I would love to work with him. I also feel that Jack Antonoff and I could be great friends.

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

A) My phone told me yesterday that I spent an average of five and a half hours a day on my phone this week and I can’t even imagine anything more horrifying. But am I taking any actions towards going on my phone less? At the moment, no. Instagram is so complicated because it’s definitely soul sucking and evil, but I also can’t deny that I really love using it as a creative outlet and almost every career opportunity and so many of my closest friendships began on Instagram.

Tik Tok is the scariest monster in the world, but I’m starting to secretly love it. My new song “Slot Machine” kinda had a moment with the algorithm last week and it was really wild to see how fast things can happen. There are all these videos now of girls singing along to the verse, “I think I learned the truth at 17, how to breathe underwater like a submarine, and if I let you play me like a slot machine, maybe I’ll win sometimes” and it makes me weirdly emotional considering the lyrics. If there’s any one demographic of people that I want the music to connect with, it’s teen girls. I love them so much.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) Thank you! I love you! Please stay!