Charitindie 2023 - Everything You Need To Know
Welcome to Charitindie 2023! We’ve teamed up with songwriter Cayt W to bring you a charity livestream of independent musicians from North America and the UK in support of LGBTQ charity The Trevor Project. This livestream will be running on Twitch on Saturday 22nd April from 1:45pm BST. For American viewers this will start at 5:45am PT, 7:45am CT and 8:45am ET.
Here we’ll tell you some more about the artists involved, including where to find their music and what you might expect to hear on the livestream. We’ve also curated a Spotify playlist that features a selection of the music by the featured artists, which can be found here.
If you’d like to cut right to the chase and donate to an excellent cause, please hit the donate button directly below to give money to our selected charity, The Trevor Project. But if you want to know more about the artists who are helping to raise these funds and awareness, as well as how this idea came to be, then read on!
It all started with an impromptu tweet from us with the aim of bringing together artists we knew for a fictional gig:
But the real story of Charitindie begins with Cayt W’s notion to bring those artists together and many more for a charity livestream:
A whole host of artists jumped on board, including many that are new to Moths and Giraffes. Some have even pitched in to make Charitindie more of what it is. Firstly, we would like to give a special shoutout to Polish artist Cynka who made a massive contribution to this livestream by suggesting the name ‘charitindie’, thank you Cynka for the perfect name! Following an introduction from Cayt W, opening the livestream will be Count to Ten with Nobody.
Count to Ten with Nobody is the musical project of UK artist Edward Woodley, who describes his sound as indie acoustic, with a mixture of alternative styles that convey queer themes of isolation and longing. Inspired by the likes of The Beatles and Cavetown, the Oxfordshire artist started playing music at the age of fourteen when his Grandad bought him his first acoustic guitar and began giving him lessons.
In 2020, Count to Ten released his single ‘Charity Shop Boy’ and put out a mini-EP the following year called ‘me&ur ma’. After enrolling in a Level 3 Music Production course at Abingdon and Witney college, Ed put together his debut EP, the three-track ‘pretty boy’. More recently, he released his latest single ‘elf’, with a music video directed by Tom Stavers. After posting a daily picture of his cat on Twitter in the hope of opening a show for someone, we decided Count to Ten with Nobody was the perfect artist to open Charitindie 2023.
Count to Ten with Nobody will be taking our virtual stage from 2pm BST, 6am PT, 8am CT and 9am ET.
Find them on Instagram and TikTok @countotenwithnobody and on Twitter @count2104. Visit their Linktree for more links to their music via Bandcamp, Apple, Amazon and Spotify.
Remaining in the UK for this segment of the livestream, Yorkshire musician Jeremy Muluka began his artistic project as Jeremy M in 2017. Following the release of his demo ‘Freedom’ in the summer of 2019, Jeremy used lockdown in 2020 to create further recordings of his compositions from his bedroom. These included the uplifting ‘Even If’ and ‘Sometimes’, the latter dedicated to his friend Emma. In these demos, Jeremy’s delivery floats above productions of piano, layered harmonies and atmospheric keyboards. Continuing through 2021 and 2022, Jeremy recorded covers of songs by beabadoobee and dodie, with his most recent cover being a beautifully delicate take of Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’.
Jeremy M is set to release his five-track debut EP, ‘is it too late?’ which is preceded by singles ‘boys don’t cry’ featuring Pannik and ‘gone forever’ featuring George Porlemad. With both tracks being released in 2022, they’ve enjoyed airtime on BBC Introducing in York & North Yorkshire. The forthcoming EP tells the story of growing up with childhood trauma and how fear of the past affects a person’s future. ‘is it too late?’ will be released on CD and download in July.
In his first hometown gig, Jeremy M will be supporting Good Habits at the FortyFive Vinyl Café in York on Friday 28th April, with tickets available from the venue’s official website.
Jeremy M will begin his set on Charitindie from 2:15pm BST, 6:15am PT, 8:15am CT and 9:15am ET.
Find Jeremy across social media @jeremymonline, and more of his music here.
Heading across the pond, Piper Wildwood is a folk-pop singer/songwriter from the US, a multi-instrumentalist who is currently studying a mixture of psychology and music at university. The Texan artist is influenced by folk music of the 1960’s and 70’s, whilst taking lyrical inspiration from more recent American sensations Taylor Swift and Lizzy McAlpine.
In 2018, Piper released her debut album ‘overture’, and two records in 2020 called ‘dear diary’ and ‘(dis)cover 2020’. The latter is a collection of twenty-one cover songs, highlighting the work of smaller artists in the month of June, a concept of Piper’s own design. Wildwood continued releasing covers the following year with ‘volume one’ and ‘(dis)cover 2021’.
After two years of ‘experiencing & processing & writing & recording & producing’, Piper released her album of original music entitled ‘reaching for the sun’ in April 2022. A few days later, she put out a YouTube video explaining the lore behind each song. Wildwood is due to release a deluxe edition of this album very soon!
Piper Wildwood will be playing on Charitindie from 2:35pm BST, 6:35am PT, 8:35am CT and 9:35am ET.
Follow Piper on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok @piperwildwood, and visit her Linktree to listen to more of her music.
The incredibly diverse Brianna Carmel is our fourth artist to be featured on Charitindie, who has carved out a significant place for themselves in the Sacramento DIY music scene in California. Carmel is one half of sadcore indie pop duo Blooming Heads and a third of chiptune folk punk band Little Tiny Knife. As well as balancing their own music in three different directions, Brianna also books and promotes gigs under the moniker 916 Growth Gigs.
Brianna Carmel describes themselves as a ‘singer-songwriter with a folk punk soul’, which can be heard right from their debut EP ‘In My Mind’, released in 2018. Since then, Brianna has released a series of demos, covers and singles, which include 2020’s ‘Wired’, the double A-Side ‘No Sounds//All Control’ from ‘21 and the ‘22 singles ‘Prosperity Block’ and ‘Skeletons’.
Most recently, Brianna Carmel released their three-track EP ‘Building Blocks’, with some of the recording process documented on their YouTube channel. Brianna enjoys handmaking copies of their releases, with CDs available for ‘Building Blocks’ on their Bandcamp page here.
Brianna Carmel will be playing on Charitindie from 2:50pm BST, 6:50am PT, 8:50am CT and 9:50am ET.
Follow Brianna on Instagram and TikTok @bri.carmel and on Twitter @brixcarmel. Explore their music and career further here.
We head back to the UK to experience the music of Beanie In The Bath, a band from Norwich and Cambridge. Started as a lockdown solo project from vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Flynn, the band expanded to feature guitarist Tommie, Ethan on bass and Joe on drums. For Beanie’s set on Charitindie, Flynn will be performing as a solo artist.
Aptly titled ‘The Lockdown’, it was this five-track EP that launched the band back in 2020. Since then, they’ve gone on to release their debut album, ‘To my bones, beneath the sea’ in 2021, featuring the singles ‘Healing’ and the gloriously damning ‘Tory Arseholes’. For their second album ‘The chaos, the wild & the heart’, Beanie In The Bath explored their punk roots more heavily as heard on their single ‘Company Policy’, which continues their critical worldview lyricism.
Flynn themself is prolific in their covers, recording takes of tracks by boygenius, dodie, Nirvana, Girl In Red and Orla Gartland. Following standalone single ‘My Own Ghost’, Beanie In The Bath’s latest is a collaboration with fellow Charitindie performer Piper Wildwood called ‘The New Day’, which showcases the excellent attributes of both artists!
Beanie In The Bath’s set on Charitindie will be running from 3:15pm BST, 7:15am PT, 9:15am CT and 10:15am ET.
Follow Beanie In The Bath on Facebook and Instagram @beanieinthebath, and on Twitter @FlynnKenned. Listen to the band’s music on Spotify here.
Travelling to Daphne, Alabama, everyone’s favourite Uncle Emmington is the name taken by singer/songwriter Em Kirby. Music has always been in Em’s life, who studied piano and flute before moving onto guitar and ukelele. An artist that’s known for being incredibly supportive of other members of the music scene, Uncle Emmington writes indie folk-pop ditties based on their personal, but relatable experiences of the world.
This is true for Emmington’s debut album ‘Unoriginal’ and their 2022 follow-up ‘Alphabet Soup’, a thirty-one-song epic where only once does a track stretch over the three-minute mark. Consequently, this means Uncle Emmington will be performing more songs on Charitindie than any other artist on our bill. Uncle has so far released two singles from ‘Alphabet Soup’, including its title track and ‘My Body Is A Garden’, but Em has assured fans that a single release and music video is due for ‘No Cowboys Are Coming’ in Mid-May.
Uncle Emmington will be playing on Charitindie from 3:35pm BST, 7:35am PT, 9:35am CT and 10:35am ET.
Follow Emmington on Instagram and TikTok @uncle_emmington, and on Twitter @unc_emm. Listen to their music on Spotify here.
Readers of Moths and Giraffes might remember our coverage of Tarquin Alexandra, the Canadian singer, songwriter and producer whose personality and sound wowed us in 2022. Her musical style is characterised by a playfulness with honesty, often delivered on camera with a mixture of sincerity and wit.
Following her debut album ‘Monsters with Moustaches’, Tarquin released her biggest single so far called ‘Symptoms Song’ in 2020. This track centres on her trials and tribulations dealing with chronic illness and neurodivergence in the healthcare system. Tarquin explores this topic more on her YouTube channel with demos called ‘I Play Me Well’ and ‘My Doctor Broke Up With Me’.
We caught up with Tarquin Alexandra in 2022 with the release of her EP and standalone single ‘A Tyrant’s Demise’, co-produced with Natasha Sophia. In our Q&A, Tarquin spoke passionately about her desire for accessibility in performing her music live: ‘I feel that people should get excited and put creative energy into creating accessible spaces and experiences, the same way they get excited about creating everything else that humans create.’ In lieu of live performances from Tarquin, it’s a real privilege of Charitindie to be able to showcase the brilliant charismatic work of this songwriter.
Tarquin Alexandra’s Charitindie set will begin from 3:55pm BST, 7:55am PT, 9:55am CT and 10:55am ET.
Follow Tarquin Alexandra on Instagram and TikTok @tarquinalexandra, and on Twitter @tarqalexandra. For links to Tarquin’s music, visit her official website.
We’re travelling to the American East Coast for Charitindie’s next artist. New Jersey’s Scullin Bonez is a folk singer/songwriter known for their acoustic reinterpretations of rock music, with raw, autobiographical lyricism displayed in their own songwriting.
Last year Scullin was featured briefly on television when they played on Boonton’s Main Street in New Jersey, where the local news showed how people were beginning to visit stores again following the end of lockdown. This past month, Scullin Bonez was awarded the Record High and Devils Youth Foundation scholarship, which included a trip to the Grammy Museum Experience at the Prudential Center in New Jersey.
So far, Bonez has released one single, 2022’s ‘Greedy Pockets’. It is inspired by the injustice of the American healthcare system, and Scullin’s fight for survival amid Type 1 Diabetes and the magnitude of costs involved in their medication. In a burst of creative anger, Bonez wrote the song in under an hour following a huge financial outlay to correct their insurance company’s prescription mistake.
Though this might be Scullin Bonez’ only officially released song, demos can be heard on their YouTube account called ‘Afterthought’, ‘Rolled With The Punches’ and ‘Waiting On The 180’. Bonez will be performing an unreleased track for Charitindie, which they’ve promised to record and release immediately if it gets good feedback!
Scullin Bonez’ music on Charitindie can be heard from 4:15pm BST, 8:15am PT, 10:15am CT and 11:15am ET.
Follow Scullin Bonez on Instagram and TikTok @scullinbonez, and on Twitter @cannedbonez. Check out their music via their Linktree.
We’re familiar with the work of multi-disciplinary artist Delenn Jadzia, whose single ‘Winter’ we covered back in January. This Californian is a songwriter, poet, playwright, actor, singer, guitarist, author and…scientist(!) all rolled into one. We were immediately taken with Delenn’s poetic and descriptive language in their lyricism, and there are many ways to hear it!
Prior to the release of ‘Winter’, Delenn put out their debut album ‘A Mad Experiment In Living’ back in September 2022. When interviewing them this year, we asked them about making the record: ‘A Mad Experiment was such a whirlwind. I started really writing it in winter of 2022 and by September it was streaming! My favorite part was definitely getting into the studio to lay down my vocal tracks.’
They closed out the year by collaborating with Piper Wildwood on a single called ‘Bittersweet’, where Piper supplied the music while Delenn penned the lyrics. Since ‘Winter’, Jadzia has been busy releasing the music from their dormant 2020 collaborative project called ‘Homebrewed: A Musical Quest’. These include Jadzia’s solo tracks ‘Canary’ and ‘Found’, as well as their duet with Gina Pletschet called ‘What Would You Say?’ The full cast soundtrack was also made available on Delenn’s Bandcamp page. As well as this, Delenn Jadzia released a brand-new solo single in March called ‘Medusa’ which takes the classic story and asks, ‘What if Medusa was gay and had a blind girlfriend?’
Delenn Jadzia will be performing on Charitindie from 4:20pm BST, 8:20am PT, 10:20am CT and 11:20am ET.
Follow Delenn on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok @delennjadzia. Find more music and links here.
Our next set comes from Charitindie’s very own Cayt W! Cayt has been working hard behind the scenes to put together Charitindie and will also be our compère, introducing most of the acts you’ll see and primarily running the Twitch stream.
Based in Sheffield, Cayt graduated from the University of Derby with a degree in Popular Music and Music Technology, and to celebrate, they released their four-track ‘Mandatory’ EP the same year. Cayt describes the EP as a ‘tribute to her need to make music and live authentically.’ Later that year, Cayt released her standalone single ‘Heaviness’ and collaborated with Tarquin Alexandra on a track called ‘Good Old Days’.
In 2021, Cayt W continued collaborating, this time on a remix with folk-pop duo Biscuit Sundown called ‘Clueless’ for their ‘Give Me A Remix’ EP, also featuring Tarquin Alexandra. In this year, Cayt released a new version of the title track from ‘Mandatory’ called ‘Mandatory, 11:59pm’. Here she shows off her arrangement and production skill, radically switching the song up to give it a different feel and expression. For Cayt’s Charitindie set, word on the street is that there may well be a surprise collaboration!
Cayt W will be performing their set on Charitindie from 4:35pm BST, 8:35am PT, 10:35am CT and 11:35am ET.
Follow Cayt W on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @caytwmusic. For more music, visit this link.
Visit The Trevor Project’s official website to learn more.
As well as running the Twitch stream and inviting performers to participate, it was Cayt W who suggested supporting The Trevor Project in our livestream. Put simply, the mission of The Trevor Project is to end suicide among LGBTQ youth. They aim to do this by providing 24/7 counselling support via a chat box, phone number and text service. For those questioning or looking to understand further, The Trevor Project provides resources where support or local networks may be lacking. They also have a global online community for LGBTQ young people between the ages of 13 and 24 years of age which is over 400,000 members strong, giving further support and solidarity amongst LGBTQ youth.
You would’ve already seen the donation buttons throughout this article. The Trevor Project is a charity that is close to the hearts of everyone involved in this livestream. If it isn’t possible for you to donate, we do ask that you read more about their mission on their official website, as becoming an ally to the LGBTQ community is paramount to fighting the infringement of their human rights. From all of us at Charitindie, thank you!
‘Things are getting kind of weird over here.’ Creativity knows few boundaries with our penultimate Charitindie artist, the Californian-based meme-making Pacing. This is the songwriting project of Katie McTigue, who is on the search for a person who is as equally interested in ‘chess, snakes and cheekface’ as she is. Her songs have few rules, mostly in the lyrical sense as she constantly pushes for new ways to inspire her creativity.
One of these ways is her current participation in Escapril, where Pacing is using the prompts and documenting some of her creative process. Prior to this, Pacing’s first track came in 2020, her charity single ‘I’m Getting Out Of The World’. A string of singles followed up to 2022 when Pacing released her mixtape ‘hatemail’ featuring the tracks ‘Sunny <3’ and ‘Who has ADHD now lol’. The mixtape tackles personal insecurities by micro-dosing the mean voices in her head in the form of abstract characters.
We first heard Pacing’s work with her 2023 single ‘Aliens’, which was featured on the #veryjazzed ‘WAVE COMP. Vol. III’. Things get increasingly more strange as the track progresses from its steady tempo, light piano from Kane Wilkinson and electric guitar from Maddy Hellstrom. Pacing’s most recent released work is the three-track EP ‘Snake Facts’. It centres on their love for the reptilian creatures, originally born out of their fear for them and quite literally is a small lyrical encyclopaedia of snake facts!
Pacing is currently being distracted from recording her second album, which is expected to be finished some time maybe. We’d like to thank her for designing the Charitindie logos and banners, inspired by an original concept from Count to Ten with Nobody. Pacing has never performed her music publicly and we’re really excited to have her on board for what is sure to be an enthralling set!
Pacing will be performing on Charitindie from 4:55pm BST, 8:55am PT, 10:55am CT and 11:55am ET.
Follow Pacing on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok @pacingmusic. Check out her music and other links via her Linktree.
The artist we’ve chosen to close Charitindie is Copeland James, who we wrote about for their debut single ‘Restless In Rome’ back in December. Hailing from Bloomington, Indiana, Copeland is keytar wielding and overflowing with ideas. They’ve participated in Escapril numerous times and have released several demos to their Bandcamp page prior to their debut. When we interviewed them for Moths and Giraffes, we asked them just how many songs they thought they’d written:
‘I love a good list, and I keep one in a journal of all the songs I’ve ever finished writing. It was at 76 the last time I updated it! If we’re counting snippets of unfinished songs, that list gets way longer. My notes app and voice memos are a haphazard archive of hundreds of song ideas that never saw the full light of day.’
With their music, Copeland James ‘explores the space between what we want to say and what ends up coming out.’ After releasing their coming-of-age song ‘Restless In Rome’, James followed it up with a single called ‘Best Friend’ in February which celebrates new connections and romance.
Copeland James’ latest single ‘Darling We’ve Got Time’ revels in the simplicity of being in a loved one’s company while exploring familiar surroundings. This is beautifully displayed in Copeland’s self-directed music video for the track, featuring stop-motion characters they knitted themselves, based on a design by Dot Pebbles Knits. Copeland has been busy finishing off new music for release in 2023, and we can’t wait to hear it!
Copeland James will be performing on Charitindie from 5:20pm BST, 9:20am PT, 11:20am CT and 12:20pm ET.
Follow Copeland James on Instagram and TikTok @copelandjamesmusic, and on Twitter @copelandjmusic. To listen to Copeland’s music, follow them on Spotify.
On behalf of everyone involved with Charitindie, we’d like to thank you for reading this article, exploring the music of the artists, supporting our Twitch stream and donating to our chosen charity The Trevor Project. It really means the world to all of us and we hope you’ve found some great new music here from independent artists, and gained a new awareness of the challenges young LGBTQ people face. Thank you!
Charitindie banner and logo made by Katie McTigue, logo based on an idea by Edward Woodley. Top Row: Piper Wildwood, Jeremy M, Delenn Jadzia and Pacing. Middle Row: Uncle Emmington, Beanie In The Bath, Tarquin Alexandra and Scullin Bonez. Bottom Row: Brianna Carmel, Cayt W, Copeland James and Count to Ten with Nobody.
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Join our livestream by visiting our Twitch page.
For more information about our chosen charity The Trevor Project, please visit their official website.
Listen to a selection of the music from the artists of Charitindie 2023 by following our Spotify playlist.
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Follow and interact with Moths and Giraffes on Instagram and Facebook @mothsandgiraffes, and on Twitter @mothsgiraffes.
We have a Spotify Playlist! Featuring almost every artist we've written about on Moths and Giraffes, find some new music here.
For submissions, or if you’d just like to send us your thoughts, don’t hesitate to contact us via our social media accounts, our contact page, or via email at mothsandgiraffes@outlook.com. We receive a lot of emails though, so please bear with us!
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Do you like what you heard here? Then check out the music from these artists we’ve written about!
