The Medicine Cabinet #21

The Medicine Cabinet 

Goes to Candy Mountain with Charlie

by Nayt Housman

 Music is my medicine. Is it yours? I ask the public six golden questions to find out if and how they use music to feed the soul.

Charlie by Nayt Housman

The internet is a bizarre and wonderful place. A place where complete strangers become digital friends; two-dimensional compadres linked by a few words tapped on a keyboard and photos shared/stalked on Facebook. One such digital compadre is dirty 30 year old Charlie, a man whose acid tongue and quick wit is capable of burning the eyebrows right off an unsuspecting Chola’s face. It’s okay though, because Charlie is a makeup artist and all round creative, so those distracted Cholas may end up looking like a runway ready Linda Evangelista and with his keen passion for fashion, illustration, painting, writing, acting, music, and cinema it’s no wonder we’ve become sisters. Sister bitches ready and waiting with judging glares and clicking fingers, but what makes Charlie tick musically? I invited him into The Medicine Cabinet to find out.


Who are the musicians and/or bands that flick your switch and turn up the volume?


Charlie: With me and music it's all dependent on mood but I'd have to say I'm thrashing Matt Corby and Paolo Nutini at the moment but Garbage, Nina Simone, Janelle Monae, Prince and yes even the Sugababes get a very heavy workout on my iPod.

Why do you think they are the pills that cure your ills?


Charlie: Nothing is better at channeling emotion than music, whether it be a lyric, a string section or a sexy beat. So whatever I'm feeling or want to feel I use music to amplify and enhance that.

If they were a drug what kind of high do they give you?


Charlie: Once again it depends on the song/mood...euphoric/peaking/sassy and hell, even occasionally a good downer.

When do you find yourself craving music for relief?


Charlie: At least 60% of every day.


Where in life, home, and your world does music take you?


Charlie: It takes me anywhere and everywhere depending on the song...it helps take me to a party even if it's just in my head or it takes me on a journey through the ups and downs of life. That's the strength of a good bit of music or amazing lyrics.

How do you share your music love?


Charlie: By monopolising the set list when people come over *laughs*. But seriously what I love most is both hearing and sharing new artists and artists previously unknown with friends.

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Music is the amplifier of emotion. Like if we could plug ourselves into a gramophone, other than the gurgling and squelching noises, it would more than likely sound like a fucking symphony that brings everyone around to tears of sadness and joy simultaneously and everyone would feel welling anger inside but immediately fall in love. It’s very that.


As Charlie likes to say, “I don’t do drugs, I am drugs.” Just like Dali was, Charlie too is a fleshy symphony of emotion and creative genius and music is what helps him be all that he can be. Can music really do that? Does music release all these bubbling emotions inside that help us release our potential? Of course it does! Music like movies can help us connect with the true meaning of self and help us unlock in order to remember “You is kind, you is smart, you is important.” and that all the different things we feel day to day are normal and healthy or when you’re feeling vulnerable it can help you project a feeling that says “Don’t fuck with me fellas. This ain’t my first time at the Rodeo.”


I shall dub this ‘The Oprah Effect’. Oprah isn’t a drug you say? Well not in a traditional sense, but that woman, love her or hate her taught a world of women and men to embrace their emotions and use them to amplify their potential and empower their lives. In doing so she has become a cult like figure, some might say an addictive presence in our lives. While Oprah isn’t my drug, just like Charlie, mine is music. I’ve touched on it before, but music has taught me to accept a lot and channel my many emotions in ways that have helped me grow. When people have yelled out “HE DOESN’T EVEN GO HERE!” music has given me either the tools or distraction to be able to deflect or HADOUKEN my way through the naysayers.


Doctor Nayt’s prescription this week is to put on some music that you know effects you emotionally and allow it to unlock Pandora’s box. Let those feels flow like you have a wide…wait. Just let those feelings flow. Put on Nina Simone and let the eye dams open, put on some Garbage and feel the angst, like really FEEL it. Clench your fists and draw them slowly toward your body while pulling epic stink face. You know, like Backstreet Boys would. You owe it to yourself and you owe it to your development as a human. But I’ll leave a final message to Charlie, remember I'm the Mary, you're the Rhoda.