Charlie Hope
9th Annual Children’s Song Winner
9th Annual Children’s Album Winner
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Genre: Children’s
Little Maple Leaf Productions
www.charliehopemusic.com
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HOMEBASE/COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: I’m originally from Toronto, Canada then Boston, Massachusetts and now living in Los Angeles.
NAME OF ALBUM NOMINATED SONG IS ON: I’m Me! (A Collection of Songs for Children)
WHERE IS YOUR MUSIC AVAILABLE? iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby and many independent stores, which can be found online.
WHICH GENRES BEST DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC? Children’s Music
DESCRIBE THE STORY BEHIND THIS SONG: This is funny because this is a song where there actually is a back story. I nanny a little boy named Liam. He liked to roar like a lion. Sometimes while playing if I said, “Who are you?” he often didn’t want to pretend to be anyone else, he’d say “I’m Liam” … so one day, I just wrote down, “If I roar like a lion, does it make me a lion?” Then I did a little more on it a few days later, but still no song. It wasn’t until the second night of recording when I went home and the song all came together.
WHY DID YOU SELECT THIS TRACK TO SUBMIT TO THE IMAs? I’m Me! is the title track to the album. It’s a song that’s close to my heart but one that I’ve also seen children enjoy.
WHY DO YOU WRITE MUSIC FOR CHILDREN? I’ve worked with children for many years, at preschools and in the home. The desire to really pursue children’s music came out of the blue one day, while reevaluating my career. It was the obvious move for a while, but it’s all in the timing. When I heard the first mixes of the songs I just knew, this is it. Now I can have a life.
WHAT IS THE SECRET TO CREATING APPEALING MUSIC FOR CHILDREN? I think it’s extremely important to not dumb down music just because it’s for little ears – lyrically and production wise. My goal was to write music that reflects what children actually experience, not just a fun, silly song. Of course there’s a time and a place for those songs too. So I just tried to keep it real – what do kids experience, like to do when they play, think about, etc., and I went from there.
DO YOU FACTOR IN HOW PARENTS WILL RESPOND TO IT? For sure! I don’t want to listen to music that’s not enjoyable, why would a parent of a child for that matter. I think this comes through a lot with the production. We wanted it to sound real, not synthesized, but that it could almost sound like a song that the parent may listen to – production wise.
DO YOU ALSO RELEASE MUSIC FOR OLDER AUDIENCES? I had enough music recorded for an album and it can still be heard on MySpace, but I never officially released an album. I may in the future, who knows, but right now I’m really enjoying what I’m doing.
HOW DOES THE PROCESS DIFFER WHEN WRITING FOR ADULTS? Ha! When I wrote adult music it was all songs somehow related to love. Even if it was a more self-discovery song, it is a song that still came out of a relationship. I really wrote from experiences that were felt deeply in my heart on an extremely personal level. So writing for children is very different. I had to sit there and make myself write sometimes. Although some songs came out very easily, some I really had to work on. When writing the adult music, it wasn’t as intellectualized, it was truly pouring from my heart.
WHERE HAVE YOU TOURED? I live in Los Angeles, so I’ve played here, but most of my touring has been in New England: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and Connecticut.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE VENUE TO PLAY? I’ve played at a few places I really liked. The last place in Connecticut was an organic farm. It was a great crowd and outdoors so it was a lot of fun. Then there are some small toy/baby gear stores that have a great space to perform in.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE BANDS’ MOST EXCITING MOMENT TO DATE? This is pretty exciting! This may be it, but a few other exciting things were winning the Silver Parent’s Choice Award and having my entire album being offered on the entertainment system on Air Canada this month!
WHAT’S IN THE WORKS FOR 2010?: Lots of shows!!
FINISH THIS SENTENCE: THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS…..Changing all the time, which means we just have to adapt and move with it.
WHAT IS YOUR DEFIINITION OF SUCCESS? Making a living from my music… a good living 
WHAT’S ON YOUR IPOD THAT WOULD SURPRISE YOUR FANS? Hmm, that’s a tough one because I listen to a lot of singer songwriters (not a big surprise). I do have Billy Talent on my iPod.
NAME SOME ARTISTS YOU CHAMPIONING: Raffi has been around for quite some time now. He inspires me and a leader for children’s music.