On April 17th, 2025, I found myself floating around the back of a crowd at the beautiful Red Gate Arts Society, taking photos and voice memos to record as many audio samples as I could. I was there to see Charis Tazumi, an indie-folk artist from Victoria. After her amazing show, we organized an interview for an episode of the New Music Now podcast. Because our conversation was so rich, there were some great points I unfortunately just didn’t have the time to include in the final cut. Luckily, New Music Now is not my only opportunity to shine a light on awesome artists like Charis!
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In Subtle Ways, Charis’ debut album, was released on May 31st, 2024. While the 9-track record is already great, it becomes all the more amazing to listen to after learning about how it came to be. She tells me she started writing and producing songs in her bedroom before joining the UVIC Live Music Club and meeting people who would change the course of the entire album.
As she wrote and refined songs, Charis began to perform alongside a band, which sparked a feedback loop of inspiration. She says this experience was eye-opening to the full range of what she could create in collaboration with other artists.
“I think that’s what I love about music. It can be so collaborative, and people of different backgrounds and styles can all really help to bring a vision to life.”
This collaboration continued as Charis started working with Brendan Wong, a close friend and soon-to-be co-producer of her album. The two of them bounced ideas off each other, utilizing their individual strengths to put out an incredible result.
“Brendan had the knowledge base and theory. If I just described a feeling or a colour or sang an idea, he knew what I meant. It was crazy. It felt like he was reading my mind.”
Brendan wasn’t the only one to influence this album, Charis tells me as she workshopped new songs with the band, they often contributed their ideas for the sound. Along with musical contributions, the album’s lead single, Eyeline, features layers upon layers of 12 different vocalists screaming to add texture to the track.
In Subtle Ways was an incredible debut for Charis and is beyond promising for what’s to come. While she stands alone as a brilliant artist, it’s extremely exciting to see what she can accomplish with support from such a strong community of peers.
“I was always doing stuff by myself in my little bedroom, so getting to work with all these different types of people makes the project feel even more special…it doesn’t feel like it belongs just to me.”