Goodbye Summer

“Yo Pi’erre, do you wanna come out here?” The speaker’s boomed, earning a laugh from the audience as their focus shifted from conversation to the stage; a platform in a backyard known as home to a Boulder based music and art community titled, TEXT ME WHEN YOU’RE HOME. 

Goodbye Summer, a small yet vibrant music and art festival with a lineup of several local artists and musicians, was next on the organization’s event list. In the wake of Texas’ Heartbeat act, described by McCammon in an article for NPR is a bill that “bans abortion as soon as cardiac activity is detectable” which is typically around the six-week mark. This bill caused mass uprising and TEXT ME WHEN YOU’RE HOME’s focus for this year’s festival was to raise awareness and funds for safe abortion access for all. 

“Yo Pi’erre, do you wanna come out here?”, a tag used by popular rap and hip-hop producer Pi’erre Bourne, echoed throughout the backyard once again at the hand of Chaarm– the stage name for local Boulder solo musician Pierre Booth. The tag, or sonic calling card, is often added at the beginning of a music producer’s track to claim ownership of their work. Chaarm stepped away from the audio sampler, which triggered the tag and acted like a theater technician flashing the lights to signal the beginning of a show, and towards the microphone to laugh. Within seconds, the musician’s hand raised to their chest and returned rapidly down to their guitar strings. 

 A wall of reverberated guitar blared out of the speakers, Chaarm commanding several guitar pedals at their feet. With a soothing yet prominent voice–reminiscent of Canadian artist Grimes’ early works–the musician led the audience through a passageway of their inner monologue. 

Though, as the second song of their set began, so did a clear distinction of tone, as the sound charged forth with heavy distortion. 

“Having intrusive thoughts and not being able to relax,” built the foundation for this track, said Chaarm during a post-show interview. “My ex-partner made me feel better during difficult times […] not having them anymore and their comfort” were the walls that came crumbling down as the song crescendoed into chaos.  

On stage with the artist was a Roland SP-404SX, a sampler used for programming sound loops and a dearly prioritized instrument utilized in the early days of Grimes’ live sets (Equipboard). 

“I don’t want to have a backing track. I like how [Grimes] can build loops on songs she already has,” Chaarm said. 

Building up the walls once again with the instrument—loop after loop compiling to create an abandoned, yet lively, warehouse of sound that reflects the 80s and 90s dream pop, dark wave, and shoegaze scenes that inspired their music—Chaarm earned cheers from the handful of on-goers in front of the stage. 

As the next few tracks passed by, the sound waves began to dissipate into silence. Amid a sound error, a few friends of Chaarm shout, “Play Sicko Mode!,” a rap song by Travis Scott made popular by memes, cementing the community vibe that TEXT ME WHEN YOU’RE HOME sought out to create. 

With yet another laugh, and without missing a beat, Chaarm continues their set with a personality that truly reflects their stage name. 

As the set came to a close, the musician invited a special guest onto the stage: Sierra Fournier, another local Boulder artist playing the festival. Picking up Chaarm’s turquoise Paul Reed Smith guitar from its’ stand, Fournier accompanied them as they continued to tap the pads of their Roland, mirroring the intense focus of a pianist during a recital. 

Before the final song, sealing the name in which they go by, Chaarm speaks into the microphone, “Here is music, by music.”