Rising Australian Teen Stars, Doing It Their Way

Aussie Youth feat. Jack & Charly are a pop duo who have been developing as artists and songwriters for the past 18 months under the watchful eye of industry veteran and multi-platinum award winning songwriter and producer, Paul Wiltshire (Delta Goodrem, The Backstreet Boys, Vanessa Amorosi).

The duo has been travelling back and forth from Los Angeles and working with Grammy award-winning American producer Heather Holley (Christina Aguilera), actor & singer Luna Blaise and music producer & songwriter Moe Z MD (Tupac Shakur).

Their debut single Thick as Thieves was released in May 2017 and received national airplay on over 23 radio stations across the U.S. with the track debuting at #34 on the USA Billboard Indicator Chart and spent 3 months in the Top 100 of the USA Mediabase Chart.

The duo has performed at the Starlight Foundation's Dream Halloween Ball and were special guest performers for Le Petit Cirque 3 at their sell-out shows in Los Angeles.

Locally they have toured with and opened for U.S teen star, Jacob Sartorius.

Their second single All Good is being released in April 2018

Interview with Aussie Youth feat. Jack & Charly

Question: How would you describe your music?

Jack: Very catchy and diverse - songs like Thick as Thieves and All Good and others we haven't released yet which are all quite different

Charly: Upbeat, new, pop/rock! and with our new band it's different again.


Question: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind All Good?

Jack: All Good was a track that we stumbled across while in the studio with Heather Holley in LA. We really liked the vibe of the song. One of the writers was Luna Blaise who's enjoying success in the USA at the moment and she was happy to pass the track on to us.

Charly: Basically just to remember that everything is all good! It's a love story if you listen to the lyrics. Something most people can relate to.


Question: Can you share your music goal, with us?

Jack: To be able to play music and live off my music that way I don't have to work a day in my life!

Charly: We just want a lot of people to listen to our music, and to get enjoyment out of it! That's our goal.


Question: What was it like touring with Jacob Sartorius?

Jack: Was incredible. So many learning experiences. Very grateful to have been able to work with Jacob.

Charly: That was really fun! We had to learn a lot of time management skills, though. The whole team was nice, and Jacob was really nice. Met a lot of new people, made a lot of new friends. All in all a great experience.


Question: Which is your favourite song to perform live and why?

Jack: Recently I'd say Thick As Thieves because I have this one note in the song that's really powerful and it just makes me feel good.
Charly: At the moment I'm really liking What Can I Say- especially with the band. It's also fun to perform it because we wrote it so it means a lot to us! It's just a nice, chill one.


Question: If you could have anyone, in the world, attend your show, who would it be?

Jack: Ed Sheeran.

Charly: Oh my gosh, so many people! Someone like Beyoncé would be pretty cool, because she's amazing.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Jack: Live is enjoyable for an adrenaline rush up on stage. Recording is fun but stage is more in the moment.

Charly: They're both good for completely different reasons. It's really fun in the studio especially because you get to redo the song if you muck it up. Live is also fun because you get the adrenaline from the audience!


Question: How did the band come together?

Jack: It evolved late last year after we had been touring and recording as Aussie Youth and we realised that our music and ourselves we starting to grow up and as a result we decided on the name change to Jack & Charly and put together our live band – James Ryan on guitar (Jon Stevens, Tina Arena), Adam Rigley on keys (The Badloves), Kit Riley on bass (Various) and Andy Sylvio on drums (Pete Murray).

Charly: Jack and I actually already knew each other though singing competitions, so we both auditioned for the band - and here we are I guess!

Question: What motivates you most when writing music?

Jack: Having an event or witnessing something or realising something can really open up my mind to write a song.

Charly: I feel you need something personal to write about- you can't write from other peoples experiences, you have to be experiencing something yourself.


Question: Which music/artists are you currently listening to?

Jack: Logic - I love his message and what he stands for.

Charly: I'm listening to a lot of Lil' Peep, but it's sad because he's not alive anymore. But yeah I really like his music! I also really like Anne Marie!


Question: What or who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Jack: Michael Jackson was definitely a huge inspiration for my music career and I'd always sing along and still today I listen to him for inspiration.

Charly: Honestly I've just been singing since I was really little, as well as dance classes. It just happened. There wasn't really anybody who inspired me, I just always wanted to do it because that's what I like.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Jack: Sorry I have to say Ed Sheeran again!

Charly: Probably someone like Anne Marie, I love her voice, music and style and she's really new and fresh.


Interview by Brooke Hunter