A Quick Chat with Charlie Ivan
How does Of Nothing reflect your journey as an artist, and what do you hope listeners take away from it?
The first record felt more personal - the world and all its seemingly inevitable failings bled into this second record I suppose. My favourite authors are those that can describe really bleak things beautifully. I hope it conjures up some of that strange mix. And some desert imagery too. I hope any given listener takes something different from the next.
Who are some key influences behind the album, and how have they shaped your sound?
I was listening to that Fontaines DC records heaps when this record was being made - A Hero's Death. A lot of those songs seem to just find where they need to be early and then just sit and drive forward in a way that I love. I've absorbed some of that, I think
The Cameron Winter solo record Heavy Metal acted as a kind of evidence of my love of ambiguity in lyrics and meaning. This idea you're not responsible for telling people what to think. A helpful avoidance of needing to be coherent. We were late to the party with that album, but fell right into it in the months leading up to recording.
Seagull, a band from Melbourne - I bought their full diskography earlier last year on Bandcamp. I spent a lot of time on the road to Tennant Creek, 500km north of Alice, filtering through it all.
Cyanide Thornton's 2018 self-titled record was on too. Some real gut punches in there.
Springtime's 2021 self-titled 7-track record. Jeez I'd love to see that live.
Mess-Esque's Jay Marie, Comfort Me too. Soft and personal.
These are the less obvious ones, I guess. I listen to a lot of Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen too. That Sharon Van Etten album Remind Me Tomorrow as a follow up from her previous records feels like it had an influence too.
Could you walk us through your creative process, from writing songs to recording them with Dylan Young?
I sometimes write on the guitar, sometimes on the piano. Usually it's just a small bit - a little riff, or some chords and a melody. I have a couple of lyrics that I always go for that always act as an early placeholder. I usually record it and then forget about it for a while. A few hours, a few days, months even. When I'm feeling up for it, I go through my old voice memos and find something I'd like to drag down the garden path a little further. The lyrics often come in here - and sometimes the whole song - sometimes just a verse. I don't really do chorus'. I guess sometimes I do. Sometimes the words all assemble on the page there and then, other times I begin to flick back through the notebooks in my orbit at that time, or the notes I might have in the book I'm reading or just read or read a while ago.
Once I have a song, or most of one, I introduce it to Sam (drums) and Ned (bass). Sometimes I'd have already worked the parts out, maybe having recorded some demo voice memos using a drum machine and having a pretty good idea of what the bass line could be. Ned and Sam were a bigger part of the writing of the arrangements of this album compared to our first.
In your view, what makes a great album?
I reckon I know when an album is great when my favourite song changes the more I listen. You know, you resonate with different songs the more you listen, musically and lyrically. I like when certain motifs or lines appear on more than one song.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would you choose and why?
John Parish, maybe. I just feel like he is always working on good things. PJ Harvey, Aldous Harding. That new Aldous Harding record he produced is on high rotation at my house currently.
When you're not working on music, what other creative pursuits do you enjoy?
Not many, really. I like fixing stuff - my dirt bike, my car. I like building little things like picture frames and stretching canvas. I like helping my friends build stuff too. I like to write a little, but I don't do it often enough.
What can we expect from the upcoming tour?
Some songs from the new album and perhaps a more comfortable relationship with performing.
What else do you have planned for 2026?
We will go back to our normal lives for the most part of the rest of 2026, but shaping up for a tour of Japan in early 2027.
Charlie Ivan - Of Nothing Australian Tour 2026
Fri 7 Aug 2026 – Araluen Arts Centre – Alice Springs, NT (with Jack Spencer)
Thu 13 Aug 2026 – Frank's – Thirroul, NSW (with Beryl)
Fri 14 Aug 2026 – The Vanguard – Sydney, NSW (with Hinano Fujisaki & Beryl)
Thu 20 Aug 2026 – Northcote Social Club – Melbourne, VIC (with Milly Strange)
Fri 21 Aug 2026 – Hobart, TAS (with Dolphin)
Sat 22 Aug 2026 – The Scenic – Adelaide, SA (with Ella Ion)
Sat 29 Aug 2026 – Junk Bar – Brisbane, QLD (with McKisko)
Sun 30 Aug 2026 – Mapleton Pub – Mapleton, QLD (with Angharad Drake)
Tickets on sale now
