In Conversation, Captain Planet
Curiosity, the gift that keeps on giving. The eagerness to lear is ever present in any project that Charlie Wilder aka Captain Planet decides to get involved with. After playing DJ sets in more than 30 cities across 10 countries, Captain Planet went back into the studio to create his fifth and most ambitious album to date. ‘Sounds Like Home‘, released via Bastard Jazz, is a callback to his love for organic drums and and his formative years listening to records from the 60’s and 70’s.
Captain Planet puts his signature Gumbo Funk in full display. The avid vinyl collector and musicologist brings Brazilian disco, Latin funk, Jamaican dub, Middle Eastern psychedelia, and American soul music into mix. The results are organic and retro sounds that were played during his youth.
We discussed his musical upbringing, the organic and human approach throughout the process, and what’s next.
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¿#AQuéSuena Captain Planet?
It sounds like me. I’m trying to sound authentic to who I am, as a person. I grew up listening to lots of different music in my household and was exposed to a lot. I started to play music when I was a kid. Even though I didn’t take lessons, I just started to play with bands. When I became a teenager, I was listening to hip-hop, funk, soul and disco. I became a DJ. As you can see with my record collection, I have this real big curiosity.
I’m always looking for more stuff, I’m always hungry to keep exploring music. Every time I travel, I want to find music from wherever. It’s really about following that curiosity and always digging for something new. My paths have, naturally, led me to explore music from all around the world. Those influences from the Caribbean, South America, Middle East, American Soul and Roots Music, all that stuff finds its way into my sound. It’s a very global sound, it’s very much rooted in all different folk traditions from around the world.
I love how prominent the acoustic drums are, very 60’s, very soulful. This album feels like a homage to your musical upbringing and everything that has come along the way. When it became clear that this was the way to go?
I’ve been playing music since I was a kid. I played a little guitar, a little trumpet, a little keyboard, but drums was my main instrument. I was playing in bands acoustic drums, drum kit and percussion. I can listen to just drums. I could make a whole album of just drums (laughs). What I got to be known for in my past albums is kind of heavy electronic drums and club sounds.
The type of music that I play in my DJ sets at festivals and clubs and often has these big heavy, electronic drums. I wanted to take a little risk. For some people who haven’t known me since the beginning, remind them that I do have that background as a real live drummer. I love those real old school soul, funk, disco drums. That’s one of the main differences you’ll notice.
The foundation of this album is more like a live jamming sound, like the ones that I started in when I was a teenager.
Some of the musicians on this album are the same people I was jamming with when I was a teenager. Some of my oldest friends came back on this album. The spirit is the same as my other albums. It’s all about mixing global sounds. We want uplifting, soulful, dancing music, but also going back to an acoustic, analog sound.
‘Moqueca’ was released last year in May. It was part of an EP and was supposed to be out in 2022. Certainly, an extense rollout. What changed? Why an album?
It was supposed to be an EP. When I first had this idea, I told my friend Aaron, who runs the record label, ‘hey, why don’t I just do a quick EP, just old school funky stuff like that I love, that I listen to at home?’ I made ‘Moqueca’ and ‘Mirage’ with my little brother. I made those two songs last Summer, put them out and got a great response. That’s the music that comes out of me naturally.
Aaron said I should do a whole album. That’s why it took a whole year. Originally, it was supposed to just be four songs that were gonna be out by the end of last Summer. I think it was also something I told myself… to make a whole album is a lot of pressure. ‘I have to do this huge project that’s going to be a big statement’. If you just tell yourself, ‘oh, I’m just going to make an EP’, it kind of takes some of the pressure away.
That made it easier for me to work. That opened the door. Once I started making the music, it just started flowing out because I wasn’t thinking about it. Once you have the music, ‘there is a story here, there is a beginning and an end’.
It truly translates into the album cover. You hand painted the album cover. I love the textures and how vivid everything looks. It feels quite personal. Walk me through it.
That’s exactly right. Painting is a very personal thing for me. When I was a teenager, I was doing it all the time. I was staying up late at night, in my room, painting. When I would be at school, instead of playing most of the sports, I would stay in the art room after school and just be painting, hanging out with the art teacher. In fact, my high school art teacher was one of the first people who really got me into vinyl records. I would go to her house, with her husband, and we would make mixtapes. She was a really cool art teacher. I’ve been painting forever. It’s something personal I do when I have time, which isn’t all that often anymore.
Every time that I do and bring out my brushes, it immediately makes me feel connected to that person that I’ve always been.
I had finished all the music, ‘time to make the cover art. What’s it gonna be?’ I’ve been involved in the design of a lot of my covers. Again, just like the music, let’s get away from the digital part. Especially now with so much AI artwork. You can make a fake painting in two minutes, it’s so easy. I did the opposite, went back to the roots.
It doesn’t have to be perfect, but like what I used to do in high school. The whole concept fits perfectly and it’s my living room. It is the same chair that I sit in at home, that’s my dog, who’s always just coming up to me asking for a pet, that’s my stereo.
You just produced David Walters’ latest album, ‘Soul Tropical‘. What’s next? More music on the way? Touring?
I’m really excited about two projects that I’m working on right now. The first song on the album is called ‘For Sumo’. Sumo was one of my best friends who passed away last year. He was in a band, Reyna Tropical, and they’re amazing. Sumo would work on the beats. It’s taken a while, but the singer, Fabi, has asked me to come and kind of finish the music that he started with her. We’ve been working for the past few months and now she has a whole album. I didn’t produce all of it, but I worked with the beats that Sumo started.
It was a really cool way of collaborating with my friend even though he’s not here physically. He’s still here. He was my hair cutter, and we would talk about music, bounce ideas. He had a big influence on this album even after he was gone. He’s always going to be with me. It’s very cool that I get to work with her on finishing her album.
I’m also starting a whole album with Shungudzo. She’s on this new album and also on my last album, ’NO VISA’. We are now working on a whole album together. She’s a badass.
She co-wrote a bunch of Jessie Ware songs from her last couple of albums.
You have no idea. This girl writes more songs than anybody I’ve ever met. She wrote a lot of songs for Angelique Kidjo’s album. It won a Grammy for ‘Best Global World’ album last year. She’s insanely talented, insanely prolific. We have half an album going, so hopefully that will be one of the next projects. I made a soundtrack for a Disney movie, which is a left turn. This is something I never did before, but it’s a kids movie. It’s a different type of music, but it was really fun to work on.
Si estás enfrente de una puerta, tocás el timbre, ¿quién te abre?
I would have to go with not knowing what is behind the door. Curiosity is what drives me. No matter how much I learn or how much I discover, one of the things that gets me up in the morning is that sense of curiosity, ‘what can I experiment with?’ That’s always going to be a big part of who I am and what I’m trying to do is just stay curious.
Don’t ever think that you know. People who think they know, they start being wrong. If you always approach things, ‘I don’t know, but let’s see, let’s explore’. It is kind of like a kid’s attitude. Children want to play, they want to explore. They don’t think they know everything.