YAMA RAMA - Charlie Clark presents a new project
YAMA RAMA
A NEW PROJECT FROM ASTRID’S CHARLIE CLARK…
RELEASE NEW SINGLE:
“SOME DAYS”
STREAM ON ALL SERVICES HERE
Introducing… YAMA RAMA.
The latest project from Astrid founder Charlie Clark (lead vocals, guitar), it sees him forming a brand new band with Christopher James Johnston (vocals, guitar), Mark Makay (bass), and Michael Wilson (drums).
A fuzzy, folky, psychedelic lament dotted with shades of Kurt Vile to Fleet Foxes and their seventies forefathers, “Some Days” is the newest track to be revealed by the Scottish-based quartet.
While free-wheeling in its sonic flow, its troubled lyrics in-fact trace back to one of the most tumultuous periods in Clark’s life. As he explains:
“‘Some Days’ was written about a month after my life fell apart in May 2023 when the event I’d been organising for the two years prior to that never took place. The song was written in the eye of the storm as it were. Going through liquidation, losing No Big Deal, my reputation screwed, breaking up with my partner and trying to keep it together enough to be a good Dad.
At a certain point antidepressants stopped working and hedonism, as appealing as it may seem, is not an option for me. In November last year I basically accepted I was going through “The Dark Night Of The Soul”…….again. Kind of a common thread on my records now.”
Despite the weight of the world laying heavily upon his shoulders, Clark found an inner strength in music to help him in his time of need. Founding his new band, Yama Rama, and writing “Some Days” as a direct response to the troubles he faced, he adds:
“I just needed time alone to meditate on where to go from here. From that point I reevaluated what was important to me, what serves me, how I use my time and people I allow in my life. I had to completely shed a lot of emotional weight I’ve been carrying and everything that happened made me reevaluate why I do music. Writing the song basically helped me get through it.”
“Some Days” was recorded and produced by longtime collaborator Jason Shaw at Fuzzface Studios in Largs, in February 2024.
Directed by Clark, the new single also arrives with an official video shot on the cliff tops of the village Gress, Clark’s birthplace on the Isle of Lewis and loosely inspired by elements of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s ‘El Topo’. As Clark adds:
“I wanted the video to feel intimate but with a sense of scale behind it. There’s such a distinct remoteness and sense of isolation where I come from and I wanted to capture that, looking beautiful but still haunting. I was lucky enough to have worked with the artist and photographer Nitin Vadukul (Iggy Pop, Radiohead, Snoop) before he passed away in 2018 (Iggy Pop, Radiohead, Snoop) when I lived in the US. We edited a number of music videos together, so there’s a lot of little nods to Nitin in this video.”
The artwork for the single was designed by Olya Dyer (of The Underground Youth), who has also designed sleeves for LA Witch, Levitation Room, and Death Valley Girls. “Some Days” is streaming on all services now, here: https://linktr.ee/yamaramamusic
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One of Scotland’s best-kept musical secrets, Charlie Clark is a multi-talented songwriter, musician, and more. First rising to prominence as a founding member of acclaimed Glasgow indie-pop foursome Astrid, Clark has been a pro-active presence in the underground music scene for over two decades. From his role in Scottish supergroup The Reindeer Section to his own projects Broken Arrow and MJ12, Clark has earned a cult status amongst public and peers alike. Yama Rama is his latest project and their first releases can be heard here.
