An Interview with Charles Iwuc of Last Letters
Since your latest single ‘Isalie’ came out last January, what has Last Letters been up to?
Since ‘Isalie’ (which was just a one-off song I had been anxious to release for over a year), I’ve been demoing about 30 songs for a full-length LP. I started to drive myself crazy getting lost in the repetitive themes and overall sound. On one end of the spectrum, they have an early Weezer and Microwave vibe, and on the other end, they have a more melancholic Dashboard and Jack’s Mannequin sound. Those all make sense together, but I’m still not sold on this batch of song, so I decided to focus on a smaller 3-song mini EP. It’s all coming, eventually.
What can Last Letters listeners expect from ‘Means Something to Someone’?
Bigger. Louder. Wider. Darker. I tracked everything in my apartment in Brooklyn earlier this year and I found that I can use the shitty room tones as an advantage. They add a layer of authenticity and exhaustion to each track. Production-wise, I want to show what I’m capable of with ‘MSTS’.
Can we get a quick track by track breakdown?
‘The Fall’ is one of the darker songs I’ve written in some time; dealing with depression, drug abuse, and discovering the urge to dig yourself out of that dark hole. ‘Three Thousand Miles’ is a love letter to someone you’ve never physically met or never will meet. I wanted to flesh out the idea of ‘what if’ and ‘why not’ when you meet someone randomly in a train station. ‘Sidelines’ is pretty much the second part to ‘…Everything’s Fine’ (which I released last June). It’s about calling it quits on a shit relationship after having tried to piece it back together [yourself] over and over again.
So, technically you have 27 more songs to release soon?!
I have roughly that many written and demoed, but ready to be reworked. However, I like the pace of releasing three songs at a time. It’s also easier for the listener. I feel like listeners these days are ok with new music in small doses. You see bigger artists dropping single after single with no LP to back it up, which is fine. If you’ve got a great song, release it!
Any collaborations coming up?
That’s the goal. On the next release, I’d like to work with a few artists in the scene that reside in Brooklyn and see where it goes. I definitely want the dynamic of female vocals, too. It’s a shot in the dark, but I’d love to work with Kenny Vasoli (Vacationer/The Starting Line), AJ Perdomo (The Dangerous Summer), Nick Thompson (Thief Club/Hit The Lights), and Joey Fleming (In Her Own Words) sometime in the future. Right now, I’m writing and mixing for a few smaller artists in NY, and also working on an EDM-inspired project called Krewnex (KR3WN3X). Maybe that’ll come out soon, too.
Anything else you want to say to the readers?
Please pick up a digital copy (or stream it!) of ‘Means Something to Someone’ and share it on social media. It would mean everything to me. I always appreciate the love and support I’ve received these first few years for Last Letters. More to come.
‘Means Something to Someone’ will be on released June 21st.
Instagram: @charlesiwuc @lastlettersny
Facebook: http://facebook.com/lastlettersny
Bandcamp: http://lastlettersny.bandcamp.com
