Charlotte Devaney is a platinum-selling artist known for her bass-heavy anthems that excite the party scene. Having already collaborated with the likes of Lady Leshurr and Snoop Dogg, Charlotte Devaney has proved herself to be a musically diverse DJ with a ‘work hard play hard’ attitude which has assured her a lively and successful career to date. Now, Charlotte Devaney has joined forces with musical powerhouse SHOSH in the creation of their new single ‘Girls’. SHOSH is renowned for being the inspiration behind 24hr Garage Girls, and has continued to expand her influence in the garage scene by being a guest at Glastonbury, Boomtown, and Outlook festival, amongst other well-established music venues. Together, the pair make a force to be reckoned with, and with a determination to promote female empowerment in the music industry, they are here to add the energy and bass to liberate us from our restrictive lockdown mindset.
This interview with both Charlotte Devaney and SHOSH comes just in time for the release of the video for their latest single ‘Girls’. On brand with the ‘girl power’ attitude that each artist has established independently, ‘Girls’ is an unapologetic depiction of female energy and fun vibes.
Charlotte Devaney and SHOSH Talk ‘Girls’, Bass, and Sass by Jessica Doran
Hey guys, it’s great to get to have this interview just as your video is being released. It seems like the perfect anthem to pre-empt our release out of lockdown in June (fingers crossed).
Before we get on to talking about your latest single; I wanted to discuss a little about your music careers to date. I am interested to know how you both initially got into the garage and bass scene?
CHARLOTTE: My journey started when I was very young (14). I started going out to jungle / DNB raves and was hooked from there! My journey as an artist started as a dancer, I founded the dance troop The Narni Shakers and travelled the world dancing at all the biggest bass music events and mixing with loads of big DJ’s, so got the taste for it. I decided I wanted to be a DJ/artist and from there things just exploded for me and for the past few years I’ve travelled the world and worked with some amazing artists!
SHOSH: Well I moved to the UK as a teenager and was into much harder music. I used to go out clubbing in London and my favourite part of the night was always coming back to the after party and vibing out to some UK Garage! Finally in my 20s I made that switch, and the rest is history!
SHOSH (left) and Charlotte Devaney (right)
You make a powerful duo – how did you both come to working with one another?
CHARLOTTE: SHOSH contacted me on Twitter, and I’d heard of 24 Hour Garage Girls before so thought it would be a really cool girl power collab! I’d had the vocal for ‘Girls’ for a while; I always knew it had something special it just needed the right collab or beat to bring it to life! I sent it to SHOSH, she loved it, and we got to work on the masterpiece! It’s def one of my fave records that I’ve made its got a big vibe!!
SHOSH: We started speaking on Twitter didn’t we! I think we both wanted to work with another strong female artist and create something memorable for women’s place in the music industry. Charlotte’s energy is fun and wild, and it really works with the Garage Girls vibe too! This project has done exactly that and we’re really proud of it!
It feels to me like your new song ‘Girls’ is a kind of escapist song which encapsulates the wild party behaviour that so many of us have been containing during lockdown.
Where did you get the inspiration for this track?
CHARLOTTE: I wrote the vocals a while ago, and always knew with the right beat, and the right amount of imagination they had the makings of a banger!!! SHOSH came with the beat and between us we moulded it into something I feel is very unique! I always try to bring something different in everything I do and ‘Girls’ has defiantly achieved that! It just brings such a happy and fun vibe, something we are all definitely missing right now!
SHOSH: Charlotte came through with these huge energy lyrics and I thought, OK jeez we need Bass on this bad boy! I also remember wanting to put a touch of the exotic in the production too, some winding, middle eastern sounds to bring out the eccentricities of the song. I just love it, it’s quite different from what I’m used to making as well!
When did you start writing/producing it?
CHARLOTTE: Started a few months ago, but didn’t take that long! I think sometimes the best records come together very quickly! We did I think three sessions together and then was back and forth on Zoom, I haven’t known SHOSH long but we have a great connection and got on straight away, I’m definitely excited about working on more music together as well so watch this space!
SHOSH: Oooooh I think it was back in October? At first we worked remotely, then I came up to Charlotte’s studio in London a few times to polish it up! Was so much fun in person, we get proper silly in the studio!
Let’s talk a little about the video; I think it’s safe to say it’s unapologetically hectic, vibrant, and bold. It also features an all-female cast which is great. Is female empowerment and independence a message that you would like to get across through your music?
CHARLOTTE: The video is everything you would imagine from a collab between us!! If anyone has watched any of my videos before they will know they are always full of strong sassy women and loads of energy and vibes! I’m so happy the way the video has turned out and it was so much fun filming it! I’m very much about women doing their thing and being unapologetic about who they are!
SHOSH: Hahaha! Yes, that’s the goal!! And we’re really proud of it! I feel like we’ve got that balance of strength, expression and sass that is in us as artists as well, it’s very much a combination of our 2 energies! We’re not saying that all female artists need to be like that, but we are proud to be encouraging self-expression and confidence for women in music! Plus, it was loads of fun to make; basically us being nutters with our girl gang!
How have you both found it working as women in the DJ and MC scene?
CHARLOTTE: Over the years of being in the industry things have definitely changed a lot, I’ve had many amazing opportunities so I cannot hate on that! However, I will say I’ve found it hard as a woman in a very male dominated space! I still feel there’s a long way to go, and I feel especially in the bass music scene it’s still very male dominated, but there’s loads of women coming through and that’s a wonderful thing to see! I think the main thing for us is to be treated as equals for our talent, not booked as the token women on the line up but booked as a bad ass who can smash up any party which us what we are!!
SHOSH: There are pros and cons to being a woman in this industry. Charlotte and I have spoken about this a lot… we try not to watch that too much and just get on with what we love to do! I’m grateful every day for the opportunities I’ve had to grow as an artist…. Sometimes it’s up and sometimes it’s down, but the hard work never stops! We know that much!
Charlotte Devaney
What do you think the music industry can do to be more representative?
SHOSH: Promoters need to acknowledge that women can be headliners too. Adding one female artist to the bottom of your line up just makes the issue worse in my opinion. The fact is there are worthy female headliners out there ready to smash the dance; there doesn’t need to be a compromise on quality.
On the other side of that argument, I think the scene definitely needs to see more strong female producers coming through if we are to keep making real progress. One of the aims of this release was to encourage more women to get cracking on with tunes themselves! If we can do it, you can too!
CHARLOTTE: I feel promoters need to stop only adding women to line ups to balance the gender or to just book the same biggest female names as headliners, it’s happening across all line ups and it’s just not good enough in my opinion! There are so many talented girls with big followings and amazing newcomers who need more love I feel. I also agree with what SHOSH said about female producers, ladies get involved!! I’ve been making music for over 10 years and I am still in a small minority of female producers, this definitely needs to change!
How have you both found not being able to play to an audience during the pandemic? Have you enjoyed making Hologram Sessions as an alternative?
CHARLOTTE: At the start of the pandemic I decided I wasn’t going to come out of it with nothing! I took all my energy and creativity online and came up with The Hologram Sessions, which I don’t see stopping anytime soon! It has been a really enjoyable and fun series to do, so although there has been loads of lows in the past year, in lots of ways for me it has been positive! I’ve got to work with people I never would have collaborated with, and I’m excited for the future which definitely includes playing to real life people!
SHOSH: I’ve cherished the time in the studio but now I’m gagging to get back out there and see stompers like ‘Girls’ hit the crowd in real life! I can’t waaaaaait!
With over half a million Spotify streams, ‘Girls’ is certainly thriving. Can we expect to see you performing live anywhere in the UK this summer should the restrictions ease?
CHARLOTTE: Yes!! Can’t wait to jump on stage with SHOSH and the garage girls and bring that ‘Girl’s’ energy to life!
SHOSH: Dayyyym straight!! Locking in some exciting stuff as we speak!
Can we expect more party anthems or collabs in the upcoming months?
CHARLOTTE: I’m always working on party anthems! So yes, you can expect loads more music coming your way soon! Hopefully, me and SHOSH will drop another banger in the near future too!
SHOSH: We will try our best to keep the party going don’t you worry!
Why don’t we conclude this Q and A with three words to describe what is yet to come…
CHARLOTTE: Fun, Bass, and Holograms! hahaha
SHOSH: No sleep ever! (jokes)
This was such a refreshing interview with two ambitious and fierce women.
If you want to hear more from Charlotte Devaney and SHOSH, then you can listen to ‘Girls’ here.
You can also see the BRAND NEW release of the video for ‘Charlotte Devaney and SHOSH – ‘Girls” here.
Charlotte Devaney and SHOSH talk ‘Girls’, Bass, and Sass by Jessica Doran
