There’s a lot of noise around post punk in Bristol, ever since Idles put us on the map. But in this city, there’s a scene for everything – from ambient, to indie and metal. Of course, there’s also a thriving Americana scene, with Oswald Slain making waves with their new album Bucky, which released in October 2025. Full of heartfelt lyrics, skillful guitars and rough-and-ready vocals, the album is an effective showcase of what the band has to offer. I got to catch up with vocalist and guitarist Charlie Fitzgerald, who told me about chasing the dream, learning to promote his music and jazz.
You just released your album Bucky at the end of 2025. What is it about?
I think it’s about coming to terms with growing up and leaving my 20s behind me with as much grace I could possibly can, which is quite sad because I wish I was back there having a great time.
I’ve been in bands since I was 12. I’ve never not been in a band. I need it to feel like a person, which is probably not great, I probably need to sort that out. I think you find something and stick with it and do your best. I’ve never done anything else, I didn’t go to uni and barely made it through college, I don’t know what else I would do, so I’m doing the music thing.
Making the band work and being able to play your own songs is the dream and you just keep trying to do it, one way or another.
It can’t be the goal because otherwise it doesn’t really work. You’re growing as a person from learning how to manage that, to work on it hard but also to not let it run your whole life. It’s quite up and down. You have to mediate yourself quite smartly.
Let’s talk about that some more. I think people love the story of an artist trying to make it work, there’s books and films about it. How does it feel from your perspective to be chasing the dream?
I’d rather not have a dream (laughs).
Now the album’s out, what’s next?
I’m looking forward to making more stuff. The process of getting this album out, and learning to promote it, it felt like real work, quite hard work, doing stuff I didn’t really know how to do. I was learning how to do everything, even being on camera – I just had to be fine with being on camera to try and have anything go on instagram.
Now I’m really excited about making another record because that’s really what I love doing, writing songs and playing shows, the rest is hard for me. My brain doesn’t work that well with it, I’m quite bad at it but I try really hard to be better.
Speaking of playing live, how do you feel as part of the Bristol music scene? Speaking to other musicians, it sounds quite supportive. Is that your experience?
It’s definitely supportive. I used to go out a lot and do a lot of jam nights and know lots of people but I haven’t really gone back into that scene since lockdown.
The scene is really good. It’s quite jazzy and there are lots of great bands. I think everyone holds each other up and supports each other when necessary.