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Charlie Jeer's journey to music was organic and simple. He's been playing all his life, but releasing songs wasn't always the goal. Before his 2025 debut EP Everything Is Temporary, you could find Charlie filling a plethora of roles that had nothing to do with music: an economic student, a security guard, boxer, or a model. With his new project, Take Away My Problems, Jeer's aim was to challenge himself. The result? Seven gripping tracks with features from fellow prolific artists Cat Burns and Simone Ashley. We chatted with Charlie about his artistic path, songwriting processes, and much more: 

OnesToWatch: Who are you, sir? 

Charlie Jeer: My name's Charlie Jeer. I’m an artist from London. 

How long have you been an artist? 

I've been a musician since I was about 11, but I only really started writing songs with the intention of releasing them for about 2.5 years. That's when I've really stepped into my life as an artist. Before then I was doing things like being an economic student, a security guard, boxer, a model, all the other things. 

That's why I love asking that question, I just learned so much. What made music take the lead? Being an artist is a tough, tough road. 

I don't even really think it was a conscious choice. I've always played saxophone and I used to sing a lot in private. One day I was just inspired by something and I wrote on my notes, “She said she loves me just with her eyes,” and I knew I had to make a song about this. I released it, and it blew up on TikTok and completely changed my life. I think it kind of chose me. 

The new algorithmic angel that we have. 

I feel like when you do the right things with pure intentions, you just get welcomed into whatever it is that you're aspiring to. 

Beautiful. What is your songwriting technique? How do you approach writing? 

Well, I have an idea of what makes a good pop song, which is an idea that feels simple, but hasn't been spoken before. Something that connects to people and is understandable, is a unique personal perspective, and is said in a way that is digestible and memorable over a bed of tasteful music. That to me is what makes a good song. And for me, if something's effortless, elevated, and timeless, that’s how I know the song is done. 

Is that from the performance side or from the listening side? 

From the listener side. For example, if I were to be someone who had a massive operatic voice and I was belting opera, that would still be effortless because it would be something that comes naturally to me. And so when I say effortless, I mean non-imitative. 

Okay. True to yourself. Now, does that start with melody? Do you have themes? 

It massively varies. I sometimes think that in order to be creative, you have to begin first rather than have start with an idea. Sometimes you just have to start doing something and then it molds itself into something. I find songwriting isn't so much putting one thing on paper, iIt's more like a constant molding and squeezing of ideas together until you create this idea that becomes very digestible, easy to look at and eat. That’s what my process is. Sometimes I start with a sax line, sometimes a melody, or a memory. 

You clearly have an antenna that can just pick that stuff up. 

I follow this artist on TikTok, and he talks about how sometimes for him to be able to do a painting, he has to just pick up a paintbrush and scribble something. and then go, right, what can I make this into? Sometimes it’s like that with songwriting. Let's just play some chords, make some noise and see what we can squeeze that into or what that feels like.

Let's talk about your EP. When you're putting together a project, whether it's an EP or album, what's your editing process? How do you decide what fits thematically or narratively? 

To be honest, both of the projects I've put out have come from very different places. My first project, I was building a world of music underneath of my first big song. And so really the intention was to build a world around that song. I would maybe say it was less ambitious, but more palatable, easier to listen to, safer, and more comfortable. And my intention with this project, my second EP, was to push myself out of my comfort zone, to try things that before I hadn't done. Ultimately, because I'm now writing my album that will come out next year, I ended up with a project I could use as a soundboard for ideas and gain feedback from my audience on. So that's kind of the place where this was coming from. 

Were you were you picking from a large volume of songs or were you writing intentionally for the project? 

There were a fair amount of songs that I'd made. I’d write a bunch of songs in a day, and ultimately there would be a few that become ones that really stick or become the ones you develop. So there's a lot of ideas, but not a lot of finished songs. 

Do you personally have ambitions when you release music? Do you do you hope it achieves something? Do you hope your audience takes something specific from it? 

I really think the goal of an artist when they release music, and what I've understood makes me feel successful as an artist, is feeling seen, perceived and feeling understood by the listener. I think when you write a song that comes from a genuine place and you can see that someone else appreciates it, resonates with it and gets to see the world through your eyes, it makes you feel quite understood emotionally. Furthermore, getting to then go up on stage and perform those songs and seeing that people have connected to that in their own time, is even better. Before I was releasing music, I was listening to it, and I would tie memories and feelings to my favorite songs. Seeing other people do that with your music, that is the most validating thing. 

Human understanding. 

That’s what you want. 

Okay, gonna ambush you with some more spontaneous style questions. If you could curate your own festival, who would you want to play? 

Jamiroquai, Jungle, Georgia Smith, Michael Jackson, Billie Eilish. I'd love to do a song with Georgia Smith someday. I think she's got an incredible voice. That would be a really cool collaboration for me if we cross paths at some point. 

If your friends ambush you at your place of residence, could you whip up a meal, and what would it be? 

I'm not a cooking guy. I'm a delivery man. If I had to make something, I'm probably making like avocado and feta cheese toast. Simple, easy. Eat that, you'll be full. 

If we were to find you at your most peaceful, your most tranquil, where would you be? What are you doing? 

I'd be at home with my family. I always find, especially with the kind of lifestyle that I've been living recently, it's so fast paced and you’re meeting so many people, that when I find time to go home, spend time with my siblings, I find it a really grounding thing to do. It just makes me reconnect to myself a little bit rather than with Charlie Jeer, the brand, the artist that I’m working on and putting out there to the world. It suddenly stops being about that and it just becomes Charlie Jeer, the brother or the son. 

Beautiful. Because you mentioned boxing and saxophone… I think there's always been a parallel between music and martial arts and you need great technique to improvise. Do you have a favorite move either by saxophone or boxing?

I would say a gut punch. What I mean by that is, firstly, people always expecting you to hit them in the head. And when you hit them in the stomach, you really feel it. When I'm writing lyrics, a lot of the time I'm looking for that gut punch. Especially at the moment, I'm really enjoying writing lyrics that feel positive, but kind of have a little punch in the stomach underneath it. That's what I connect with when I listen to music, something that hurts a bit or has emotional pull that's not just airy fairy happiness. 

I would love a non-music recommendation. So something you've enjoyed, you want to pass on to friends. 

Traveling, which kind of comes with music, but, for me, getting to go and see parts of the world that aren't on the normal travel itinerary is special. It’s nice to be able to base yourself somewhere and gain a perspective that's completely different and understand different cultures, and use them to inform the person you are. We're all just people.

We'd also love a couple of music recommendations. 

"Baby Comeback", Lisa Stansfield. It's an iconic, classic song that is making me feel really good. I've been listening to the new Jungle albums. An all-time song that I continue to go back to is "Hills" by Naomi Sharon. 

Then lastly, your words. Anything you want to share, advice, anecdotes, humor, shout outs. 

So I grew up about an hour away from London, which isn't that far away, but even when I was there, I had this feeling that being an artist was impossible. I mean, also, for kids in my town, if you want to be a football player, it feels impossible and distant. But the more I've been able to experience life, meet people and do things, the more I've understood that everything is possible if you apply yourself and put your mind to it and believe in yourself. If you're willing to be the person to do that and believe in yourself first, you can do it, too. 

Listen to Take Away My Problems below: