Hey Charles Edison, thanks for taking the time to talk to us today. Could you tell us a little known fact about yourself?

A little known fact about myself…hmm…well, Jonathan Ross (UK late night talk show host) once told me I would die “bitter and alone” and Q-Tip once wished me happy birthday. I refuse to add context.

You’ve recently released your album, June in February, a somewhat oxymoronic title. How does this title reflect the record’s meaning?

A majority of the album was put together at the and of 2024/start of 2025. British winter time when the weather is cold and miserable and it feels like it’s constantly dark but the music I was making had this warm and bright feeling to it. So the music felt like ‘June in February.’ The name has a secondary meaning too. I lost my grandmother Florence (known by her friends and family as June) to a brain tumour in February of 2016. The track, ‘Florence’ is about that. She died almost ten years ago but it’s taken this long to be able to fully realise my feelings around it although it’s a sad subject, the track has a kind of optimism about it that I think is reflected throughout the album.

How did your environment during the cold British winter shape the mood or direction of the music?

I just tried not to look out of the window! It’s a cliche but music is a form of escapism and I felt if I could intentionally create music to take me out of my current environment, I’d be acheiving what I wanted to with this project.

This album marks a shift from introspection and remorse to gratitude and forward momentum. What helped you reach that turning point personally and artistically?

Well it had been 7 years since my last vocal project, an EP called ‘Everything Is Fine.’ I had been clean and sober for 2 years at this point and I had a kind of survivor’s guilt because since I left residential rehab I would get phone calls telling me that people I lived with had died and others had suffered horrendous relapses which brought up a lot of thoughts and feelings. All quite deep dark stuff and I just felt bored of talking about that. I felt other people would be bored of hearing it too. At some point you have to fully let go of the past and focus on what you have now and where you want to be in the future.

‘Florence’ is such a personal tribute. What was the emotional journey like writing and recording that track?

Writing it was very tough. It’s taken ten years to be able to articulate my feelings on it because it’s not as straightforward as just being sad that my Nan died. My Mum left my Dad, and by extension, my sister and I when I was very young and my Dad was self employed. He had no choice but to go to work so in the early days, my Nan would look after me and played a huge part in raising me. When she became sick, it was at the height of my drug use and I just couldn’t be present when I really should have been. I have a tonne of regrets from that period so the hardest part of crafting this song was balancing those regrets with the gratitude and love I have for her.

There’s a real warmth and brightness to the album sonically. Were there any specific techniques or instruments you used to achieve that?

I think the tone of any track or album where samples are used always begins with sample selection. The first track I made was ‘Let Me Down’ which sampled a 70’s soul song (cliche of the genre, I know!) But you really cant beat that time period for warmth. At it’s heart, hip-hop was built on 70’s soul and I wanted a really classic sound that my vocals could sit comfortably on. Other than that, I used pretty typical mixing and processing techniques like clipping and sample rate manipulation to emulate classic drum machines like the MPC60 and SP1200, getting some nice grit.

What’s next for Charles Edison?

Next, I have no idea! I’d like to keep some momentum going and maybe not wait another 6 years to put something out! I can’t force it though, for me it happens when it happens. I’m hoping to put another instrumental project out which is generally a little less taxing than a full vocal project so hopefully I’ll come up with something soon.

Follow Charles Edison on Spotify.