Lady Legitimacy from the Lake Léman.
A chat with Charlotte Viglino.
Charlotte Viglino aka Chacho is a Valaisian born, Lausanne based visual and sound artist. Chacho's main activities revolve around searching and exploring disciplines for expression. Genising her musical journey by playing in lakeside-smooth-grooves band Galsh, led to the eventual creation of her solo project Chacho. Whether rendered in a live trio fashion to bring new light to the project with the formation of Chacho & Friends (featuring dianita and Jean L'Asticot) or in solo, Chacho presents herself in a DIY spirit. The sounds are tinkered, disordered, crepuscular. Fuzzy Frequencies & Rehearsals. Still, yet ever present crunchy guitar sounds with distant voices: everything is mixed up, out of time, navigating in a floating space filled with lo-fi resonances.
Receiving her Bachelor's degree in Visual Communication at the ECAL in 2022, Charlotte parallels her practice of graphic design with the world of music. She links her visual projects with sonic oddities and carries them out to reflect as sound and video installations. Additionally, she created as part of her graduation project, a collective called FMXM. The project was born during a reflection around the lack of representation of women.xs, their legitimacy, their role, as well as their place in the world of music. FMXM aims to represent women and non-binary people in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and to offer them visibility, support and listening.
In this chat titled « Lady Legitimacy from the Lake Léman », we talk about her creative endeavours, thoughts on a male dominated industry and her use of multimedia practices as a means to raise awareness on gender equality through her platform FMXM.
How about you present yourself in your own words?
I’m a multi-disciplinary artist whose work is mostly produced under the name Chacho. Well actually Charlotte Viglino is my real name. Chacho is a pseudo that I adopted for my creative endeavours. If you want, it’s the creative core where all my other projects satellite around. I think it makes most sense to take a step back in explaining my background. Foremost, I am a graduate from the ECAL as a graphic designer. I started experimenting with music and tying it together with my graphic design, I guess specifically for my graduation project which turned out to be the genesis of FMXM. Furthering my involvement with music was not a means to depart from graphic design, but rather to experiment with possible correlations since they are two disciplines suited for expression. From there, I evolved into wanting to explore neighbouring possibilities, and opted to do more installations and incorporate videography in my works.
In relation to music, I have two main projects. One of them is the band Galsh, where I play guitar and some vocals. Actually, I don't want to dive too much into it because it is really a collective project, therefore I do not want to take the lead in possibly speaking erroneously for the other members about what Galsh is about. What I can tell you, in a nutshell, is that Galsh started three years ago roughly as I started to pick up instruments again. At the time, we were all debutants but for some reason, the stars aligned and each of us picked a different instrument suitable to form a band. It took a year or two before we could perform due to COVID regulations at the time, but during all this time felt very natural and easy to compose altogether. Although serious in our music, we do it in a very light hearted fashion. To have fun, whereas the lyrics show off our rather humoristic side of our personality. Through this newgrown comfort in making music, I wanted to seek a different approach. Something a lot more in tune in what defines me as an individual person. Therefore I started to make music alone under the name Chacho.
The premise of Chacho is making music in a very personal fashion, late at night, alone in my room. The idea of it was just to lay down thoughts and feelings.. Moods… and translate them in a traditional singer-songwriter format. Something that really came from a part of me. I grew up in an artistic environment, specifically punk culture, because my dad is a musician and was part of a punk band called Edit Present. So perhaps there is an immediate influence in how I produce my own music. Instant but genuine. I didn't have this connection yet with music because writing with Galsh, it is obviously more collaborative, impish and whimsical. Making music on your own terms, without prior knowledge of recording experiences or mixing duties, made me really tune into myself and explore something really personal, despite the obvious challenges. After some releases, I started to see the potential in legitimising myself into pursuing a more professional route. For instance, since my EP Shade is 100% recorded, produced and mixed by myself and by my own means, I wanted my future single to come out recorded and produced in a more professional context. Therefore future releases will be more collaborative. Working with professionals in terms of adding musicians and letting other people handle mixing or recording tasks and the such.
So how did it come to you releasing through Bleu Lagon Records? Did you know each other prior to this?
I knew them through Galsh since we did a release through them. Perhaps to describe Bleu Lagon as a record label is a bit wrong. At least in the traditional sense. It’s more of an association of friends that run events in Romandy and that do releases but on a non-commercial basis. Since all members of Galsh and Bleu Lagon are from Vevey, they knew each other and thus it felt natural to do all of my releases through them for some added promo.
You mentioned that through Chacho, you wanted to tell something about yourself. What are you trying to tell?
I guess there is some irony in this because I mentioned before that writing music with Galsh can have a very humoristic approach; whilst retaining musicianship seriousness and all. Chacho is similar but more in the sense of being naive, expressing somewhat your inner child. Longing for nostalgic wonder. Even the EP artwork that I used for Chacho releases are pictures of me as a child. I apply this in my songwriting a lot. Putting down immediate, relatable, reoccurring thoughts. I keep a journal specifically with all these ponderations and eventually put them down over loops that I composed and feel inspired by. The creative light comes and goes, a bit of back and forth. But once everything aligns I record them, reflect on the result and move on to the next song. Working on impulse is very important for me to keep authenticity. I try not to think or prepare too much prior and during the recording process or the end result. I just move things along to my liking. Although I reflect a lot on my artistic approach, there’s no preconceived theme or richness in lyrical content. It’s naive and spontaneous. Music to feel, not to think.
How does working with other people affect your perception of what Chacho initially was?
The thing with any of my creative endeavours is that I want to constantly evolve as an artist. For me, any new opportunity or direction is a means to thrive. How a project began is by no means an insinuation on how it will become or end. Since my musical journey started out in a band, I am actually more familiar working with other people than on my own.
When I thought about performing on stage on my own, I was thinking of using a backing track with my computer and singing and playing guitar over it. But I never did since I quickly realised that because I am so used to playing in a band that it was important for me to have other musicians with me on stage. I find that connecting through musicianship chemistry is very important for me to perform at my best. So I asked my friend Dianita (who also happens to play bass in Galsh) to join on drums and my other friend Jacob (Jean L’asticot) to play on bass. This lineup officialised last September and would become Chacho & Friends, which is essentially Chacho’s music in a live band rendition. Having actual musicians perform with me now, as opposed to using a drum machine for example, really brought the music to life, whilst still retaining the personal significance to myself. It’s important for me to distinguish my talent and skills, to know what I am best at and then when to delegate tasks to other people who might know more about a domain than I. It's normal. To some extent, I rather spend live moments, especially the special ones, with other musicians as opposed to experience them by myself. It’s not necessarily myself who can make the project reach its utmost potential, so any outsider's help is always welcome to reach the best possible result when creating. For instance, this relates when Jacob helped me by writing basslines for the songs. It really elevated the project I think. Even if I started to produce alone, it does not mean that it will stay like this.
As of now, funnily enough, I am actually preparing for a full solo performance as I am going on tour in France soon to play with Léoni Léoni and Dianita. Not sure if you are familiar with either of their music, but essentially the lineup consists of a more experimental musical direction. More ambient and sound designing. A sort of pragmatic pop if you will. So once again, this is interesting for me because it gives me areas to explore. This time; Chacho Solo!
Photo by Tania Praz.
In regards to multi-mediatique endeavours, was the genesis of FMXM partly a means to apply a visual side of your artistic approach?
Pretty much... Partly…. It came from my graduation project for l’ECAL actually. There were no instructions, besides that it had to be related to graphic design. Due to the vastness in this guideline and already my steady involvement with music, it did not take much time for me to want to connect the two. I was encouraged by my lecturers to pursue a record label direction as a means to give a visual identity to my music. Although I was already writing songs, this was too new of a discipline for me to feel comfortable saying something about it. Finding a theme proved to be difficult until I realised that after talking to many of my friends, that the topic of proving yourself as a female creator within the local scene came around quite a lot. Therefore instead of telling my story, I opted for a different route by asking my female peers from the local music scene to tell theirs. To share experiences of being underrepresented, doubling up the effort put into your work to seem legit (as if you needed to prove something) and other destabilising factors. Of course, many of my female friends make music, but face a similar struggle.Through this came the revelation that I was internalising the impression that as a woman, I felt that I did not have a place within the local scene. Other realisations came to mind, such as perhaps the reason for performing with Galsh was because I felt more comfortable in the power of numbers. As opposed to Chacho, I am producing in my room alone initially without intent of releasing it, let alone performing solo on stage. It weirdly did not feel like I could, that this was a possibility as a woman to pursue such endeavours. Although no one should feel this way. With no role models to look up to, you end up looking at each other
It also happens by just showcasing yourself, such as performing on stage. You’d get micro-agressions in the likes of some dudes filming you close-up to try to get an upskirt shot or something. This immense discomfort was unfortunately shared amongst many of my friends, which created more room for discussion. It was actually really difficult to start out FMXM due to my feelings of lacking legitimacy, either from being a woman or being young. It’s difficult to talk about such topics but I felt it was in my right to do so, since to some extent I too experienced these things unfortunately, like so many others. Thus allowing a platform for discussion in the likes of FMXM seemed feasible and an idea enthused by many of my peers. It’s not so much a premise for oppression or to call out others, but rather to raise awareness on a very real issue. So the visual identity for FMXM was communicated through this; a website that hosts events, talks and releases music of women and non-binary people of the Romandy scene, consisting of their testimonies and experiences of the scene.
I thought the focus of not only representing women and non-binary people but also focussing from Romandy to be quite niche but unique and interesting. Do you have plans to extend it, say to Swiss Germany or Swiss Italy?
It’s not off the table but it’s another challenge. Since I am mainly alone doing this means that time is always a factor. You get lost in thought a bit in the direction you want to take because for instance, a record label, it is important to talk about the music and artist and not just talk about oppression. There are other responsibilities you need to maintain. You have to promote the art after all, regardless of its origins. Otherwise it becomes counterproductive in becoming equals in the scene. This said, I am investigating thoroughly the possibility of turning this into an ongoing exhibition. Currently I only have french speakers on FMXM, so this language barrier opens areas of investigation for new creative opportunities. You have to keep in mind that this was my graduation project which had a graphic design premise, so now I am totally free to do what I want with it prior to having a guideline before. Where the weight of this project was initially supposed to be on the visual, became more diligent on what women and non-binary people had to say, their music and the environment this creates. This is something I'd rather focus on. It’s also worth noting that although I have been working with musicians, this is a problem faced in every artistic domain. Whether you are a booker, photographer, painter…
An example that comes to mind how FMXM evolved is that I had the chance to use this space called “La Pharmacie” in Lausanne where I got to reduce the graphic side of this project; focussing more on sound and video. Having people sit around while the video was projecting alongside the testimonies of the aforementioned people with a layer of experimental music that served as the soundtrack…You end up with a more intimate setting where you become attentive on what these women and non binary folk are talking about, their experiences, and really showed the potential of turning such an installation in an exhibition. It was much more effective as a presentation to make the viewer engage and empathise with the women featured in the video about the issue at hand.
I got really good feedback from my peers, so that was very flattering. I was careful in presenting FMXM as a platform to raise awareness and not to exclude my male counterparts. Or to make it seem like I am pointing my finger at them. I think most people got the premise of what I am doing. It’s to initiate conversation. Not blame.
Photo by Nikita Thévoz.
Do you feel a sort of newfound pressure in representing women and acting as a possible role model within the local scene now that FMXM is gaining traction?
A good question which perhaps I need to address more. It’s not to suggest that I do not recognise the weight of such a topic. There is a responsibility to take when leading such a project. In its beginning, I could “hide” more behind the project as opposed to being a spokesperson since it was mainly run from the website. Now, I have to represent it more now that I am “exposed”. There is a responsibility felt for me in the sense that I needed to nuance certain things because the longer I did FMXM, the more opportunities for creative endeavours appeared. To elaborate, I started in part as a label but not in the traditional sense. More as a means to showcase a niche side of talent rather than to immediately profit from it. As I started getting more release requests, it became needed to stress to these submitters that this may not have any commercial aspect in the future. It was also important to distinguish these things from the start to avoid appearing as a profit focussed entity that is jumping on gender equality trends.
The reoccurring thought of legitimacy comes back also, whether I can be “allowed” or “qualified” to talk about such things. Because my focus has been on others, I did not really think about how I wanted to be seen, or even how I was being seen as. But hearing and writing about so many people made me realise that I am just like them. My legitimacy comes from exactly that, being a woman creative in Romandy. So why not talk about it? Therefore it eventually all felt very natural to adopt such a position.
The idea of a female musician is to be perceived as more of a spectacle is prevalent in all genres (electronic, pop, hip hop, etc.). However, what comes to mind is the dilemma of an artist I worked with (Misch from Aboriginal Voices) who was criticised by women for dressing "too masculine". Have you ever felt like you had to control how you present yourself as an artist?
For myself, I never reflected on what I wanted when it came to dress codes. So the clothing I wear is an extension of myself. How I feel. Which I suppose is a statement in itself. Of course, on one hand, I have a friend who purposely downdressed herself, performed in sweatpants, to avoid this aspect of being judged for their femininity. As an intent to accentuate the music being performed, and not the performer. It’s one way of seeing it but on the other hand, femininity is part of our identity, so why shouldn’t we embrace it by dressing however we want? Wanting to look gorgeous, whether through natural beauty or makeup should not define the artistic approach. Or why not if you want it to. Either way it should really be up to the person to dress as they want, to their own comfort, and never with the final intent that it necessarily has to evoque a message. Just because you are a woman, does not mean you always have to stand by rules and codes to supplement and legitimise your own kind.
But then another point arises that it’s important to understand, and thus define whether generally or personally; what is femininity? Are there rules to it in the end? The point is to also normalise and to not come on stage to have your gender or sex seen as exotic.I find it interesting to reach these limits where we cannot distinguish things anymore from whether things are truly feminine, or rather feminine attributes learnt from basic societal labels and expectations. Too feminine or too masculine are not really things that mean anything to me. By dressing in a way that deters the attention away from you could also mean you do so to appease such ideals, which in the long term is a disservice in itself in the end. I think self confidence is key in this matter. The moment someone sees a fragment of self-doubt, is a moment to switch on the offensive to attack you.
Photo by Johannes Hofmann.
Photo by Johannes Hofmann.
It came to my attention that there was a time where many women tackle their learning of technology in isolation or by ranging the fringes of male activity, rather than by forming solidarity groups and setting up cooperative learning situations with peers. Now it seems like there are more female collectives getting together. However, why do you think it is the case that even with all the current online resources to learn, collaborate and get to making music, there is still such a discrepancy?
It’s an issue that I don’t have an answer for, only speculations. I acquired my recording and production knowledge from YouTube. Or learnt guitar from an old book my dad gave me at some point. I’ve also been told that some of my friends do make music on a self-initiated action, but never took it further due to not seeing the potential or on how to showcase themselves and don't dare to bring it on a public forefront. It’s also as you suggested that technology and music can have the cliché premise of being seen as a masculine activity.
There’s a new found solidarity that I feel was really made possible through social media. It does break down communication barriers. It allows room for discussion and to share experiences, good or bad. I think this problem is being addressed by involving women involved more in the role of spokesperson, in workshops, music equipment ads and so on. Basically normalising our presence and not being seen as exotic, like I was saying before. Having role models is really important and back in the day was less reachable. There were not so many women role models that evoked the DIY spirit or that were put on the forefront with non patriarchal characteristics. With access to social media, it is a lot more apparent. These things take time, but I indeed got more engaged in such communities based on the vast amount of content we now have access to. Whether to educate yourself, raise awareness, collaborate or get inspired. Swiss associations in the likes of Helvetia Rockt or events like "jamjamschicaxs" (itinerant musical space in French-speaking Switzerland dedicated to women.x.s and allies.e.x.s) were triggers that pushed my thinking about my status as a female musician.
