Charlotte OC and Vicky Lawton Discuss the video for ‘Darkest Hour’

Vicky Lawton: Why don’t we start when we first met about a year ago working on ‘On and On’ – I’d been waiting for a chance to do something that was really dark and I loved that your were into that straight away! I was like we’re going to give some scorpions, a crow, a snake and you were like yeah fine. So we did that video and it was so much fun but really intense. On this one, it was a mixture of trying to bring that darkness but also something a bit more real.

Charlotte OC: When I saw the treatment for ‘On and On’, I was amazed because I’d always wanted to do something like that, with scorpions, because I’m a Scorpio and it was a big part of my other video where I had scorpions on my hands so it all kind of made sense… Actually doing it though and going ahead with it is another thing. So it was nice to just do it. It was nice knowing we were on the same page. Also with this video, we’ve been on the same page with a lot of things. It’s not felt like a chore. Some video shoots can be quite awkward but this and ‘On and On’ just flowed and I know what it feels like for it not to flow.

Yeah. I think the biggest compliment I’ve had is anytime someone’s watched the video in the studio they’ve said can I watch it again? Which is what you want. Even Gary, who was editing it, said, ‘I really love this track’.

Aw, great!

And when you have to edit to a track and you have to listen to it over and over again, it can get infuriating. But with this track it doesn’t because it’s such a good piece of work, it just works so well. It’s so emotional. I was listening to it the other day on the way to work! Did it feel different to perform it live?

It’s not easy because it’s two parts. I need to grow a pair of balls really and get the fuck over it but it is difficult. It’s in a low register than it goes really high. It’s a difficult song to sing and really execute it well. I think in time I’ll get better but it was nice to perform it.

Did you learn anything from doing the video about how you’d perform it live?

I think I’ve better at singing it, just because it was that many times! Whenever I sing it now it flows a bit better. I’m not scared of it now because I’ve lived with it. And it is bit personal and that’s hard to get across.

What’s the song about then?

The song is about the relationship between me and my sister and a relationship she had with a guy she met when she was 18 and got married to. And he cheated on her every year they were together. Watching my big sister go through something and become really weak and going back for more and dragging our family down with it. When she’d go back to him it was just this disappointment and hurt.

I was young so our relationship deteriorated because she wasn’t my big sister anymore, she was just this person who’d lost all respect for herself because this guy had made her feel so worthless. The song is basically me saying I understand what’s happened, it’s not right but I love you and I’m there for you – like an olive branch. It’s also me saying how much I fucking hate this guy.

What did your sister think when she heard it? Did she get it?

I think she did. It makes her said but I think she’ll always be affected by what happened with this guy and she’d always hold a torch for him. It’s weird song for her to listen to.

Was this the first time you wrote about something that wasn’t directly about yourself?

I felt like I was becoming a better writer by not doing it directly about me. It was hard to do at first but it definitely broadened my mind and has helped me write other songs.

It must be hard to perform?

It’s hard to connect with it because it’s not about you.

What’s the next steps for you then? What you working on, when’s the album out?

Album’s out in February, all finished and done!

Is it weird having something ready that you can’t put out yet? If I’d finished a video and had to wait a year I’d go mad.

Because I’ve spent so long making it I feel like I just got it finished properly in May/June, so yeah in a sense it is hard but I’m also just excited.  I’ve got an acoustic tour coming up and I’m going to LA in October to do the rounds.

Even though the album’s finished, are you still writing music?

Yes which is amazing. I felt like I was really hung over and I got to throw up. It feels so nice to write now after having written an album,  I feel like I’ve learnt so much.  Also the guy I write with, Charlie, is like going on a lyrical boot-camp.

When you’re starting to write a song with someone, do you have to sit down and talk about your feelings?

It’s like a first date, naked. Which is always good! But yeah, it is really weird and we spoke about how weird it is before we even started which makes it even weirder… It can be awkward but it’s also amazing, it can be the best things ever. When you find the right person to write with it’s really special. Connecting with another person like that, in that way, is really profound.

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