CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 157: CHARLEY ON HER DEBUT ALBUM, CHRONICLES OF A SERIAL IDEALIST
Interview by Brooke Gibbs
Fresh off the release of her debut album The Chronicles of a Serial Idealist, Charley is stepping into a new chapter, one shaped by reflection, growth, and hard-earned clarity. In conversation with Brooke Gibbs, she opens up about the emotional weight behind the record, describing it as a deeply personal timeline of the past three years. What began as scattered moments of songwriting gradually formed into a cohesive narrative, capturing the tension between heartbreak and hope that defines both the album and her outlook on life.
Throughout the interview, Charley speaks candidly about confronting toxic positivity, learning to set boundaries, and using music as a form of therapy. From the layered meaning behind standout tracks to the joy of building a community through live shows, she offers an honest look at the realities of navigating both personal struggles and a rapidly growing career. The result is an artist finding her voice not just creatively, but emotionally, inviting listeners to do the same.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: Your debut album is here, congrats! How are we feeling?
CHARLEY: Oh, my gosh. Many, many feelings. It feels like… I mean, I feel like you’ve probably done many of these interviews, but it’s like a baby being born that’s been cooked for like three years. So it’s many feelings of excitement and just everything, really.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: The Chronicles tell a bigger story of your life, so when was the moment you realised this project was going to be a whole album and story, as opposed to a few individual songs?
CHARLEY: I think I’ve always wanted my music to be more of a story. If it’s an EP or an album, to me, it makes sense for it to be a story. So my music is really my way of my therapy, really. I write about the experiences that happened in my life, and life is really fucking hard. I think, I really just write everything to try and process it and make myself feel better. So I think that’s just how it naturally just becomes like a big story, or chronicles, shall we say?
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: You describe the album as capturing the last three years of your life, so was there a specific experience that became the anchor for the whole project?
CHARLEY: Yeah, I mean, I think from when I first started writing it, I was going through a lot of really difficult moments. And I think something I realised about myself was that I was being too positive about everything and trying to move through everything in like a really toxic, positive way. And, I think that’s kind of where I came up with the idea of calling the album The Chronicles of a Serial Idealist. Because I just realised that was how I was handling everything, and the joining piece for all the music that I was writing. And when I chose the 12 songs of the album, when I put it together, I was like, oh, this is really toxic. It’s very positive, like what I’m trying to move through and push through. So yeah, that’s kind of where the title came about, The Chronicles of a Serial Idealist.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: I love the title, and I feel like it sums up the album. There’s this beautiful tension between heartbreak and optimism. Do you still see yourself as a hopeful person?
CHARLEY: I do. I do. I always try and look at things in them in a positive way, or else I feel like I would just be constantly sad and depressed about everything because life is so hard. But I think one thing that I’ve learned from this, and from the last year of actually putting the songs together and the album together, is that you can’t glorify bad people and you can’t be okay with these bad things happening to you. And so when something bad does happen to you, or when someones does something really horrible, you can’t accept it and try and push through. Like, you need to see the reality of what it is and cut it off, because life is too short to deal with shit.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: Exactly, and that also ties into your song, Other Side Of The Room, which is about being unable to fully let go. So what was that process like for writing this track emotionally? And did you feel like, when writing that you were able to kind of let go a little bit?
CHARLEY: Yes. Writing that, it was obviously a little therapeutic in a way of getting it out and what had been happening in that song, happened like a year before, but I hadn’t… I don’t really write when I go through my release modes, so I write after and during the release mode, it’s like a year, so I just take all of that and then I finally put it into many, many songs. But once I feel like I’ve actually cracked the song and how I want it to and what I want it to say, and how the whole experience played out for me, then it feels like a form of release. It’s also really nice to have a song that’s been a really emotional place, be put into something that’s fun and that the audience can sing back at you in a way, because I kind of went into writing Other Side Of The Room, with the intention of how I wanted to sing it live. So, yeah, it’s weird. That song holds, like, so much depth. But I also like it how it sounds fun while listening to it.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: I love your approach for the music video to this song, with the different decades of cinema. What inspired you to tell it through that lens?
CHARLEY: I knew that I wanted to have this person that the song was about in different settings. But, the person who I pitched my music video idea to, came back for it to be different eras and I really, really loved that, so then we went with it. So now it’s kind of turned into this like, kind of redoing history in a Queer way, which I feel like you don’t really see in black and white movies from back then with Queer characters or like Western or anything like that. But now it’s turned into like, no matter what world you’re in, there’s always going to be an invisible string to a person when you go through a breakup because it feels like you see them everywhere you go. So, I feel like that music video holds so many different approaches, which is nice. I feel like everyone can kind of look at it from a different angle for whatever speaks to them.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: Yeah, it’s reclaiming that Queer space when back in those days, it might not have been as acceptable and you would have seen less TV shows and music videos with Queer people in them.
CHARLEY: Exactly, and I love vintage stuff. I feel like if you have a look through all my videos, even Hard For Me, the first song I ever released, it was this era. It’s kind of like I’m trying to redo that and do it in a better way because we didn’t have much budget back them either, but it’s nice to be able to kind of reclaim that Queer space that wasn’t able to be done back then.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: Absolutely. Since your TIMEBOMBS EP, your career has grown so rapidly. What’s been the biggest shift for you since that release?
CHARLEY: Gosh, I think I just have more confidence in what I do, I guess. There’s still a lot of doubt, obviously, every day, around if I’m writing the right thing or if I’m doing the right creative thing. But, I think I just go in full force now and just try and do everything under the sun. I’m just like way more committed. And, it’s really nice to see how many listeners have grown and and have become a bit more of a family. When they turn up at my shows and they all know the lyrics, it’s really sweet. It’s kind of like a community is being created.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: Yes, I saw you open up for Fletcher about two years ago in Sydney and it was great to see how many people rocked up early to support the opener. You really pulled the crowd.
CHARLEY: Thank you, that’s so nice. It’s also nice that there’s so many songs I had written back then that I’d first played, like Lil Rockstar and Used To You Two… and, finally those songs are out, so everyone who’s been at the Fletcher shows will finally be like, yes, I can hear this song.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: You’ve opened up for some incredible artists. When did it first hit you that this is happening?
CHARLEY: God, I don't know. I think every experience, as soon as I got the… I signed the little contract, then I was like, that's… It was kind of very surreal and it didn't feel real until I was on the stage about to do it. It's bittersweet because, like, those moments are amazing, and then they’re over in like four shows, you know what I mean? And then you have to wait another year until you go on tour again. But, those are amazing. And all of those artists – Fletcher, G Flip, Griff – they’re all very, very sweet humans, which is very lucky to have been a part of something like that.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: Yeah, absolutely. We did open up some questions to some of your fans, and people are curious – who initiated the kiss between you and Gretta Ray at Starburst?
CHARLEY: [Laughs]. Me. I just grabbed her. We, like.. it was funny. That girl. I love that girl, and we always do our songs together. And I thought it would be cute for her to be my Sally.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: So cute! You’ve got a tour coming up – What’s in store? What are you most looking forward to?
CHARLEY: Gosh, everything right now. It's just… it's putting all the puzzle pieces together for organising it all and doing all the live music and so much stuff. But, honestly, I think my most look forward to part is the VIP section before the show, because I’ve never done that before. We’re going to be doing some acoustic songs and a Q&A, and then I’m going to meet all the fans beforehand. I think that’s going to be really nice because I normally do that after the show – I’ll greet meet and greet everyone until like 12 or 1am or something. So it takes a lot out of me and I get really tired. So I think this tour is going to be a lot healthier mentally, physically… just seeing all them, and finally after two years of singing these songs, they’re gonna be able to sing it back to me instead of just looking at me from the audience.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: Yeah, it’s a good way to test out their reactions before releasing.
CHARLEY: Yep, exactly 100%, which luckily they have vibed with all the songs that I’ve kind of sprung on them, so thank God.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: What’s the main thing you hope people take away from The Chronicles of a Serial Idealist?
CHARLEY: I hope that my experience of being a crazy serial idealist can teach them to not do the same – to not glorify bad people and to realise when enough is enough. And I think one thing that I’ve already tried to live by is that, life is too short to get hung up on things that don’t really matter. So just live and just try to be happy. And we’re all gonna… If you heard the last song of the album, it’s like, we’re all gonna die at the end of everything. So, yeah, that’s why I put that song last on the track as well, so people can just be like, nothing matters. Let’s just go. It’s a nice way to end the album.