Charlie Freak

Charlie Freak
Origin	Auckland Central
Genres	Indie rock, indie pop, garage rock, jangle pop
Years active	2013-2016
Associated acts	Doubleu Miss June Desperate Models Yukon Era
Members
Former	Leith Towers Reuben Grant Ethan Moore Callum Lewis Gabriel Grant

Charlie Freak was an indie pop band from Auckland Central from 2013 until 2016. Consisting of Leith Towers (vocals, guitar), Reuben Grant (guitar, backing vocals), Ethan Moore (bass) and Callum Lewis (drums).

History

Formation (2013)

Towers, on the formation of Charlie Freak, said: "Gabe and I used to be in a prog metal band… We sounded kinda like Animals as Leaders, and like 10 people came to our shows. And then I became a raging alcoholic and forgot how to play guitar, so now we just do sorta poppy rock songs". The band is named after the Steely Dan song of the same name from the album Pretzel Logic.

Are You Think? & Auckland all-ages scene (2014-2015)

The bands debut EP, Are you Think?, was released on the 12th of March 2014. On the 2nd of August 2014, "Cradle the Sun" was released as a single with "Love Her While You Can" as the b-side. The band played at AGEOLD on the 13th of December 2014 alongside acts such as Die! Die! Die!, P.H.F., Miss June, Heroes for Sale, Desperate Models, and Fields*. On the 1st of May 2015 the band opened for Miss June's all-ages Matriarchy EP release show alongside Desperate Models and Courtney Hate. Around this time "How Clean is Yr Collar" was released as a single.

First breakup & Made in Nippon (2015-2016)

For most of mid to late 2015, Charlie Freak was on hiatus after a breakup post on Facebook.

Without any warning, the band released their debut album, Made in Nippon, on the 13th of December 2015. The album was released on cassette through Sticks and Stone Records, limited to a pressing of 100 copies.

Exactly one month later, on the 13th of January 2016, the band uploaded a music video for "Tears Enough", directed by Matt Hunter. On that same day, they were Mac DeMarco's support band at King's Arms tavern with Yukon Era. On the 28th of May 2016, the band was featured as one of the acts at 95bFM's Fancy New Band showcase at The King's Arms, with Courtney Hate and Yukon Era.

Sweet Tooth / Out of Fashion & second breakup (2016)

On the 2nd of April 2016, the band supported Maple Syrup's Ace & Gab's Honeymoon EP tour at Ellen Melville Hall alonside Courtney Hate, Ralwuss, and Title Pending. On the 24th of June 2016, the band supported Clap Clap Riot at the Old Folks Association. "Sweet Tooth" and "Out of Fashion" were released as a double A-side single on the 14th of July 2016 with a release gig at Cassette Number Nine, and support from Smokestank Girls. On the 6th of August 2016, the band played at Gabriel Everett from The Moots' festival Messed Up 2016 with Mermaidens and Yukon Era.

Charlie Freak stopped playing together in November 2016

Depot Sound & legacy (2017-2018)

After the band's breakup, Depot Sound posted a live session on the 23rd of November 2016 that the band had performed, where they debuted new, never released song "What a Lovely View". In late 2018, the band posted on their facebook page "I regret everything and nothing" with a link to their entire discography available for download, including the never before released demo, "Make My Life". The post and the facebook page have since been deleted.

Other projects (2014-Present)

Moore's Dirty Pixels started in 2014, put on hold for Charlie Freak, released an EP "Spacesuit" May 22nd, Towers played the guitar solo on the EPs title track. Dirty Pixels has released two more singles, On Ice / Transistor Lady on the 26th of March 2018, also featuring Towers on the second track, and "Bluebirds" on the 31st of August 2018, feauturing Keria Paterson of B-Lush and Polyester on drums.

Towers collaborated with Laszlo Reynolds on their EP, Flight Booked (Quite Good), released on the 17th of November 2018.

Members

Final lineup

• Leith Towers - vocals, guitar (2013-2017)
• Reuben Grant - guitar, backing vocals (2015-2017)
• Ethan Moore - bass (2015-2017)
• Callum Lewis - drums (2013-2017)

Past members

• Gabriel Grant - bass (2013-2015)

Discography

Albums

• Made in Nippon (2015)

EPs

• Are You Think? (2014)

Singles

• Cradle the Sun (2014)
• How Clean is Yr Collar? (2015)
• Sweet Tooth / Out of Fashion (2016)

Links

The band has deleted almost all of their social media accounts and streaming services.