THE DAILY ORANGE: Charlie Burg rises from the SU house show scene to play Governors Ball
More from my interview with singer-songwriter Charlie Burg
Charlie Burg, a genre-blending indie singer-songwriter from Detroit—and a hardcore Prince fan—will be playing the third day of this years Governors Ball in June. But just a few months ago, he was playing for a packed basement of Syracuse University students.
Like Clairo and other Cuse alums before him, Burg kicked off his career playing venues within the SU house show scene. Back in October, while in Syracuse for his first headlining tour, he returned to play at a student-run venue called the Mudpit.
Burg, 26, has been writing and releasing music since he was 18. His most streamed song, “I don’t wanna be okay without you,” has made its rounds around TikTok.
He didn’t like the TikTok trend at first
Burg released the song, on his EP “Live in Peter’s Attic,” in 2016. He said the lyrics came from a vulnerable place.
The song, or the brief few seconds used in most TikToks—the part that goes “But I only think of you”—has appeared in 11K videos. Despite having been released seven years ago, the song really started picking up traction with the TikTok trend, Burg said.
“That song is complicated, because to promote or stand behind something you made seven years ago is difficult sometimes,” he said. “But I’m thankful people seem to be inspired by that song.”
Burg soon realized that the trending sound, regardless whether a six second clip does justice to a heartfelt track, introduced a “whole new wave” of listeners to his work.
“People are gonna engage with music however the present moment is,” he said. “I’m gonna keep on writing honest songs and people can find it how they want to.”
What else didn’t make the final story?
After five years, Burg’s ultimate dream remains to open his own music venue, a river-side coffee shop and bar in Detroit, his home city, where he’ll showcase a new artist each month.
“That coffee shop is always on my mind,” he said. “That’s been a dream for a while.”
If Burg had to pick a favorite song of all time, it would be “Purple Rain” by Prince. His favorite album would be “Is this it” by the Strokes.
His advice to any SU student looking to make it in music: “Don’t wait. Don’t hold onto things. Don’t wait to send that email. Don’t wait to talk to someone. Don’t wait to drop music. Just find the next thing you can be doing and don't let yourself slow you down.”
Finally, what Burg said he loves about music—
“Its ability to shapeshift and be a vessel for the whole spectrum of the human experience. You can be whoever you want to be with music, and there is a place for any emotion, for any kind of person, a genre, an era, a community. It does being human the best, of all things you can experience on Earth.”