Charlie was the strangest Rock Star. He lived in his van and traveled place to place, playing shows. He got on stage, played a few songs, shouted out his stage name a few times, and went back to his van.
He didn’t like interacting with people. Other than emails to the venues to schedule shows, he hardly dealt with anyone at all. He’d park as close to the venue as possible, then walk on stage nearly when his set began, and would leave straight back for his van after his set after spending about an hour at his merch table, usually while another band played.
I’m not sure why Charlie was so averse to people, but his music became extremely popular. And no one could really figure out why it was so popular. I guess it’s because he was so removed from the world at large, that it sounded a little alien, unlike anything else that others were making.
I don’t suppose Charlie was really listening. He didn’t even really do music for the music; it was an excuse to travel. It helped him afford it.
He produced all of his music in his van, parked watching beautiful sunsets. He used the scenery around him at the places he found for inspiration. There he was, on a beach in California, by himself all afternoon without a soul in sight.
A few nights later, he played that song in front of a rather busy crowd in San Francisco. The crowd was mesmerized. When the song was over, there was nearly a 10 second pause before the applause. Charlie didn’t measure success by the roar of the applause but rather by the time it took for the crowd to accept that the song was over.