Planets released “Winner” recently and it’s bright little rocking number (scroll down to the bottom to play it). Here we find out a lot more about the Planets duo and the song itself, as well as what else to expect from them.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Charlotte’s originally from the Midlands and moved to London for her Acting degree at Rose Bruford College. Similarly, I’m not from London and I moved from Eastbourne for my Law degree. We’re now based in Sidcup, Kent, and live together about a stone’s throw away from our local!
How did you meet?
We met after I messaged Charlotte to see if she’d be interested in writing music together. I had seen her perform at the micro pub she works in and thought she had a really special voice you don’t hear very often. Thankfully, I didn’t get blocked and we had instant chemistry! It was all about the work at the beginning, but our relationship has grown from there.
How long have you been playing as a band?
We officially formed mid 2024 after doing an open mic – we got an instant buzz and it was only natural we book in some studio time to see if we could put something together semi able! We worked with Erim Ahmet who’s a bit of a local hero who records, produces, teaches and is just a general all rounder. His favourite from our demos was “Red Earth”, so that ended up being the first one we did.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
The name came off the back of writing SIGNS, which was about people looking for answers in their astrology. And because Charlotte’s a bit of a crystal gatherer, I suggested the name Planets with the tag ‘Yet to be discovered’. Which was kind of bang on at the time, with zero followers, zero streams, and zero subs!
What are your influences?
We both had a lot of music in the house and it became a personal thing of exploring all these different artists and genres. In my teens I fell for heavy rock/metal and picked up the guitar around 12 years old. My idol at the time was James Hetfield. I loved his playing style, his writing, even how he stood with his explorer at the mic. There’s a weight and physicality to his approach which I always look for in my own playing. But I also love Lindsey Buckingham, Jim Croce, John Martyn, Silvio Rodriguez, Jackson C Frank and many other writers across all different genres.
For Charlotte, I know Kate Bush is a huge influence on her growing up. In her own words “She commits to a feeling within a song and it radiates through to the sound, the lyrics, the production and the imagery. She recognises a strong hook and has the creativity and musical ear to develop the idea so it comes to life. It’s what we strive to do.”
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
I think Charlotte’s voice and the writing is what makes us different. These two aspects along with song structure, seem to be the main talking points when it comes to Planets. As a music duo, we’re always trying to get the best out of each other and do something different vocally. The last thing we want is to be safe or too comfortable, nor do we want to be known for just one thing; so it’s all about giving each song its own character and delivering the songs live with a lot of intensity!
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
A lot of the writing stems from my childhood and my parents who really tried to stay together for my sister and I. I also lost my father in 2016, so a lot of the aggression and drive for Planets comes from how that stuff still affects me. That said, we always want our music to be positive and be more of an energy giver than taker, even if the themes are serious or depressing!
Overall it’s really about sticking to what I know and deep diving into ‘why’ something is the way it is, ‘what’ it still means and ‘how’ I could’ve been better. The challenge is then to be really creative with the material, choose phrases or words that capture the imagination, and ultimately write something that sings well.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
At the moment we’re limited to just the two of us and the occasional stomping I do during the choruses! But we love the challenge of distilling our songs down to something that can work in an acoustic set up. It’s actually a pretty good exercise to see if a song can work ‘unplugged’, even if we feel a bit musically naked! That said, we’re talking to a few musicians at the moment who are interested in ing Planets for live shows, so hopefully we can get a few recruits this year to the ranks!
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
The first proper gig we ever did was at a local independent coffee shop here in Sidcup. We approached the owners with the idea and thankfully they went for it! We promoted and ticketed the event, selling approximately 40 tickets, which covered two half hour sets of our music, some selected covers and a free drink. We also invited a videographer to film the entire event which you can find on our YouTube channel.
Separate from that, we did a gig in an old Millwall pub in New Cross, but we didn’t know the venue was also a refuge for homeless people. To be fair, it was a really special night and the people were so kind and generous to us. Definitely not a ‘crazy story’ (or even a story), but definitely an experience we were lucky to be a part of and it was great to see so many people there for the music!
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
My guitar rig is embarrassingly minimal, considering how long I’ve been playing for. I use an American Tele, a Sigma SDM-STE, a 2004 Manuel Contreras student nylon and a Squire precision bass. For demos I use Logic Pro and Charlotte sings through a Røde NT1. And that’s it! No pedals, no fancy amps or DI, just the essentials.
Can you tell us a bit about the themes and influences that run throughout your new single ‘Winner’?
The track is a nod to that ‘loser’ in my head that’s always working against me; even when I know what the right thing to do is! It’s cliche to say we’re our own worst enemy, but I really relate to that sentiment and I’m constantly fighting against the self-deprecating voice in my head.
Overall it’s basically a tribute to people who put their ambitions to one side for the wellbeing of their family and others who depend on them. The words are inspired by my own intuition and regrets for not pursuing music more aggressively. I know I lack a lot of self-belief, so the song is aimed to motivate the listener (as well as myself), because it’s never too late to turn things around, even start again. The words in the chorus are from my memory of seeing my dad’s disappointment in the rearview mirror after a bad football game, where I should’ve played a lot better – and I always knew it.
How did the song come together?
So the words stem from an intuition of a person yet to fulfil their potential. From my perspective, I had a lot of growing up, probably more than most. But I wasted a lot of time and I think I was too lazy (or risk averse) to do what I should’ve been doing.
The song starts with a conversation with that side of me, looking to take back control and start a career I want. The pre-chorus “I open my thoughts in the dead of night, counting all the times others ed me by” relates to my mates at school who’ve done a lot better than I have – and I say that without any jealousy whatsoever. It’s just a pride thing to not be seen to be underachieving by those I love.
As for the music, we wanted it to be an explosive track with Marshall stack guitars either side of a soaring 70’s inspired vocal from Charlotte. Like never before, we wanted to hit you with all of that rock’n roll heritage she brings from her Black Country roots. As you approach the end of the song, all the tension leads to an outro of Charlotte singing the words of a day dream I penciled – it’s like a farewell to how my life could’ve been if my dad was still here.
What do you want ‘Winner’ to do for the representation of Planets?
We really wanted to challenge our listeners with this one; for better or for worse. We are our own harshest critics, and we know what worked and what didn’t. But it’s healthy for us to not get too comfortable in our successes, re-assess what we do best and engage with what’s really important.
How has your sound progressed/changed over the last couple of years?
We definitely tried some new things on this one and took a bit of a gamble with recording in a different studio and going with a completely new sound engineer. On the song itself, we knew it was very different to SIGNS, and maybe we strayed too far from what worked well previously. But it’s important for us not to be scared of throwing paint at the wall, and we’ll take the learning from it into the next one. There’s definitely less synth work on this latest song, but I think we became over conscious to not muddy the water with too many elements.
Who produced ‘Winner’, and what were they like to work with? If you produced it yourself, then what do you love the most about working that way?
Charlotte and I produce our songs, although it’s definitely not as territorial as it sounds when we’re in the studio!
For “Winner” we worked with Nathan Cucharo at Bakery Records in South London. He brought a load of experience, some incredible equipment and a solid sense for what the track needed, particularly in the mastering process. I think there was instant chemistry and ambition to make the song as huge as possible!
Charlotte and I share this telepathic thing where we know what we want and what the track needs. However, Nathan blended into our dynamic effortlessly and we always felt very fortunate to be working with him.
What are your plans for the next 6 months or so?
We’re actually at a bit of a crossroads deciding what to show people next from all the song’s we’re sitting on. For example we’ve got a song called ‘Capture’ which is about a woman on the run, using every corner of the galaxy to hold onto her freedom. And we have another song called ‘Rumours in Time’ which is about primary school and how much of it I spent on my own. The song took shape instantly after writing “what we’re told, it’s not the world we live to find… but I understand why”, and I just put everything I experienced under a microscope.
We’re in the studio this weekend to record with the aim of releasing our 2nd song for 2025 around the end of March. People can find our music on Spotify, Bandcamp, SoundCloud and Apple.
For your ‘everyday’ update to see us working on material, gigging etc, you can follow us on Instagram. And we now have a YouTube page for Planets where we’ll be ing studio diaries for all of our releases!
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be ing and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
I’ll give two separate answers for this one, one from an ‘all time’ selection followed by bands currently on the scene.
Starting with the ‘all time’ line-up, the night will open with The Clash and be closed by Queen. And from the bands we’re into at the moment, my pick is Twin Peaks from Chicago and Charlotte’s would be Confidence Man, with our set being the most appropriate time to grab a beer!
If you want to check out more new music, then fire up our Headline Act playlists on Spotify and YouTube!
