Music can transport us to places we’ve never been before. Singer-songwriter Pearl Charles uses her deep connection to music and the desert to take listeners on a journey through smooth melodies and warm riffs. As a native Angeleno, her connection to American folk music lingered among the palm trees. Her work derives from Disco, Country, Funk, and folk music from the post-urban migration of 20th-century America. Her vision defies the surface-level boundaries of the Hollywood machine by exploring a reimagined future. 

Her most recent release, "Just What It Is," leaves listeners eagerly anticipating the release of her new album, Desert Queen. The album explores new recording techniques and instruments to create a new-age sound for Pearl. With a recent move to Joshua Tree with her partner and collaborator, Michael Rault, slow living has given her a chance to explore new landscapes, both sonic and desert. We sat down with Pearl to hear more about the process behind the album, moving to the desert, and her summer tour. 

Beyond the artistic inspiration drawn from Los Angeles writers, can you recall a specific experience from your time in the city that significantly shaped your perspective and influenced the emotional landscape of Desert Queen?

As a born and raised Angeleno I have so much love for this city and it has really shaped who I am - both as an artist and just as a person. That being said, this album came out of a time of tumultuous changes in my life and the life of my band and music, and as I entered into my 30’s I began to more clearly see the transient nature of a lot of friendships and alliances in life - and how they can be even more that way in a town like Los Angeles. I found myself drawn to writing more about the superficiality and darkness of a place like Hollywood. I think as a person who loves this city so much it carries a little more weight. I always hear people who aren’t from here saying all this negative stuff about how shallow and narcissistic LA is, and I’m always saying “you really don’t know the real city”, but it’s interesting to me as a passionate defender of it to address that there is some truth to the criticisms, even if they are too black and white and not fully understood by people who’ve only visited. 

The move to Joshua Tree is a significant life change. Can you describe a moment of unexpected personal growth or self-discovery you've experienced since relocating that has surprised you and perhaps even shifted your approach to your artistry?

I feel like the hustle and bustle of a city like LA is so extremely goal-oriented, which I totally appreciate and love, but I think moving out to the desert and finding a slower pace with which to approach my work has been instrumental in my experience of actually making the music. Taking the time to stop and smell the roses so to speak, by which I mean really enjoying the process of making the music rather than working towards constantly just finishing it and thinking about the next thing I could or “should” be doing. Not only has this changed my approach to making music, but I think it’s had a very positive influence on my general outlook and attitude towards life as well.

You describe your music as a "cosmic brew" of various influences. If you were to identify one ingredient in that brew that feels most deeply personal or intrinsic to your identity as an artist, what would it be and why?

I obviously have a deep connection to music that existed before my time. I don’t know why that is, if I’m just an old soul or reincarnated from some bygone era, but I think that element of looking backward to inform my future is something that is so innate within me, in both the music I listen to and the music I write, I definitely think the cosmic brew would be very different if that element wasn’t present.

Were there any particular emotional hurdles you faced during the making of Desert Queen, and if so, how did those experiences find their way into the music, either consciously or subconsciously?

There were definitely a lot of emotional ups and downs throughout the entire process of making this album. My previous record Magic Mirror was delayed due to Covid, so I had nothing but time to focus on writing since we couldn’t all get together to record or play shows for so long. Finally getting the chance to get a group of people into the studio after such a long break was such an amazing experience, but then things would shut down again with a new variant or someone getting sick, so it was definitely full of stops and starts during which a lot of change of personnel on every level of the organization occurred. It’s funny because since I know the entire journey, I can still hear and feel all the subtle changes that someone who is just listening to the album from an outsider’s perspective probably wouldn’t notice since I think we were able to bring it all together cohesively in the end, but like you said, there is definitely a subconscious undercurrent of change throughout the entire record for me personally. At the end of the day, I’m extremely proud of how it came out and am so excited to see how the listeners take it in for themselves.

You've explored different sonic territories across your albums. Looking back, is there a particular song or moment in your discography that you feel most authentically captures the core of who you are as a musician and as a person at that time? What makes that moment stand out for you?

I always like to think of albums as tattoos (although I don’t have any myself, haha), so even though I have changed since I made them, they all captured a moment and I’d like to think that they’ve all been the most authentic self-expression of those moments at the time. I love continuing to grow as an artist and as a human being and would like to think that each record I make is a closer and closer distillation of who I really am as I go on the lifelong journey of self-discovery.

The bio mentions a "pilgrimage" to Joshua Tree taken by many rock stars. What does this idea of pilgrimage mean to you personally, and what aspects of this "fabled land" do you find most resonant with your own creative and spiritual journey?

I’ve been traveling out to Joshua Tree since my parents first bought a house there over 20 years ago, so it’s always had a special place in my heart even before I knew about the history. Once I knew more about the lore of the area, it all kind of made sense to me why I had felt such a deep connection to the desert, as had so many creative people and outsiders before me. It’s very hard to put into words the feeling of being out there - the serenity, the solitude, the silence. It can’t really be quantified or put on a page, it’s just something that you have to experience to truly understand.

You're returning to Europe to perform this summer. What personal connection do you feel to European audiences or cultures, and what do you hope they take away from experiencing the more introspective and desert-influenced sound of Desert Queen live?

I of course love all of our audiences around the world equally, but I am so grateful for the European fans who have shown up time and time again in increasingly large numbers to support the band and I when we go over there for our gigs. I can’t say for sure what the audience over there is connecting with - maybe they like the California sound and style we bring because it’s something different from what they usually get? Whatever the reason is, I’m just happy to be there and to spread love through music across the world!