Today we’d like to introduce you to Keegan & Kaya Martin. They and their team shared their story with us below:
“Charlieboy” was originally the gigging, duo persona of Kaya and Keegan; formed in 2019 out of our home turf in Baraboo, WI. Though we’ve been making music together since 2017, the Charlieboy project didn’t leave the ground until years later, after building up our repertoire of original music.
The two of us moved to Florida right before Covid, and right after high school (2019); to be closer to family and further from the cold. While there, we got married! Just under a year into our stay, we were virtually introduced to Owen, the son of a friend of Kaya’s Dad. Who just so happened to be a talented and available drummer living in Baraboo.
We already had intentions of moving back to Wisconsin when we met, so for the last few months of our stay, Owen had rehearsed our demos in preparation for joining Charlieboy. Since the day we moved back, he’s been a permanent part of Charlieboy – he even beat the moving truck to the place we were staying!
We reached out to Noah, an old friend of ours who we played with before Charlieboy, to bass for us (he said yes!) and so we spent the majority of a year writing new songs and playing them live as often as we could. By the end of the gigging season, we raised enough funds to pay for the recording of our first album “More Flora”. We had that EP tracked in the home studio of a local musician, John Swamy. It was a real bare-bones experience, with all of us in the same room tracking songs front to back, it still reminds me of a polished-up live session.
Before More Flora’s release, we had a falling out with Noah. Creative differences? Not seeing eye-to-eye? Not sure how to boil it down but he left. Anyways, we had shows booked and an album to release, so the pressure to find a bassist was on and it was heavy. By beautiful coincidence, MY (Keegan) dad came asking if we needed a bass player. Said someone he works with is a bassist and is looking to join a band. The crazy thing is, nobody told him about our bassist leaving.
Essentially, our band was formed by our dads, aha! So that’s Sam, who is now and anticipated to always be, our bass player. Sam had a musical preference almost polar opposite to the sounds of Charlieboy, but honestly the outside perspective and taste seriously spiced up our music. In 2022, very shortly after Sam joined the band, we released More Flora, had the release show, and have been steadily playing around the Midwest. With there then being a way for people to know what we sound like, avenues seemingly opened up.
Last January, following a relocation to La Crosse, we, the band, went to Blasthouse Studios, Madison to track our first full-length record. Originally, the intention for More Flora was to be an LP comprised of all of our originals, rather than a 5-track EP. But after getting the final tracks back, we sat on some songs solely for the sake of being able to track them in a more professional environment later.
So, we had some finely aged tunes, as well as new ones from the last year (one was even written while in the studio, never played it live) to put into our first studio release. We spent 6 days straight at Blasthouse and came out with our finished record, “People Garden”. It’s anticipated to release by the end of the Summer, following two singles that we’ll be peppering throughout the next couple of months.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Being raised in an area with not a lot of music going on was kind of discouraging when the band first started. There was a lack of musicians in the area that were close in age or with a vision, which left us feeling a little isolated.
We are also quite young, more often than not, sharing the bill with bands who are years older than us. At times it felt like there was disrespect, whether that was from the bands, sound guys, or even the audience.
It’s just hard to put 100% of yourself into something, then have people not give you the time of day due to essential appearance. Owen was 14 when he joined the band and has received both preemptive criticism and also praise. It’s a double-sided axe being involved with music while you’re young, truly.
What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for?
The most common remark I’ve received is on Kaya’s singing. The tone in her voice is super unique, all the while being pleasant to hear and surprisingly massive.
We also don’t have a very straightforward genre, indie-rock is what we’re referred to, but there are so many influences and “means to identify” in each song, it’s a conversation we have often – and is a prideful thing in a way.
There’s no real sense of boundaries with what we’re doing, it’s easy to get lost in something with a lot of possibilities.
Just hard to identify.
Pricing:
- People Garden Pre-Order $20
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.charlieboy.band/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charlieboy_tb/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Charlieboy.band
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVLxQV1pV8H-yBdzxZCzgZQ
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/charlieboyforlife
- Other: https://linktr.ee/Charlieboy_band
Image Credits
Dylan Overhouse and Charlieboy
