Charlie Recksieck is a writer, songwriter, and composer whose work bridges music, culture, and technology. With decades of experience in both creative and technical fields, he writes with clarity, perspective, and a strong editorial voice.
Available for freelance writing, editorial projects, and creative collaboration across music, culture, and technology.
If a high-profile artist like Young is having trouble deciding on the right path, at least having second thoughts about morality versus making a living, what hope do indie artists such as yourself have? Especially when the headlines don't roll in when you take a stance.
Full Article (Hypebot) →ROCHELLE, ROCHELLE (1993) — ★★★ — A+ (Mature) — THEATRICAL - Erotic Drama The film that inspired the hit Broadway musical starring Bette Midler. Billed as being “about life, love, and becoming a woman,” young Rochelle resides in Milan and visits relatives in Minsk which becomes a strange, erotic journey. Characterized by extensive sidal nudity and a straightforward narrative structure. The film achieved significant box-office performance relative to its genre.
Full Article (Popdose) →It’s easy to dismiss the streamers completely as “tech bros,” but the people making the real money at the top are not in the music business. They’re in the money business, and to them music is “content.”
Full Article (Hypebot) →Clippy was supposed to make writing Word documents easier. That was it. His job was to anticipate what you were trying to write and then make suggestions. This idea that seemed intrusive and dumb years ago is being reused at Microsoft in the form of Copilot - except with more computing power, greater access to information, and less honesty about its role.
Full Article (Plannedscape) →The subject matter of “mental health” is a tough needle to thread since Misty recognizes that the issues and goals of mental health are both important and valuable. Yet he’s poking fun that the expression itself has become a cliched catch-all phrase. Misty treats “mental health” the way writers sometimes treat “the cloud”: a buzzword whose real meaning can get lost amid repetition and shorthand. That’s exactly how he uses it as the chorus gets cooking – it becomes a mantra, and an ironic one at that.
Full Article (Atwood Magazine) →I used to live next door to another musician who was young and had ambitions. One time I asked him to join me at an open mic night, figuring it’s easier for us both to hang with a friend than doing that by yourself all night. My neighbor demurred, saying he didn’t think it would be good for his image. Just then I first thought: he’s never going to make it.
Full Article (Hypebot) →The "Yacht" Test — Would you tolerate doing a couple of lines of cocaine with a douchebag on a great boat party with that song blasting? Yacht rock needs to be smooth and polished — less crunchy than folk rock or soft rock. It’s about sophistication: jazzy chords, tight production, and often those legendary LA session musicians like Jeff Porcaro and Steve Lukather.
Full Article (Words About Music) →Historically, the accordion is a kind of musical punch line—symbolizing everything cheesy and corny for nearly a century. From your great grandmother’s music through Weird Al Yankovic’s ironic takes, it’s often dismissed. But the accordion is only as good or bad as the people playing it. From French musette to Zydeco, Tejano, Klezmer, and Gypsy Punk, the accordion shapes rich musical traditions.
Full Article (The Troubadour) →Welk was the ultimate counter-counter-culture, offering a comforting oasis of old-fashioned, wholesome music through decades of social upheaval. While Hendrix and Elton John transformed music at a neighboring theater just yards from his TV studio, Welk entertained Nixon’s “silent majority” with cheerful accordion tunes and tap dancing.
Full Article (The Troubadour) →All of us in the industry don’t need to panic that there’s no money in music anymore. There’s still money, just in different places. Music money is still flowing, but it’s flowing down different rivers and streams than it did before.
Full Article (Hypebot) →It would be easy to say that this demonstrates that people say they want sophisticated movies, but they don’t put their money where their mouth is. Not only would it be easy to say that, but it would also be lazy to say that. It’s a cliche. People have online personae, and they have their real lives. Those two things are less and less related. Or at least mutually predictive. Every tweet, post, or reel is like a press release submitted to an algorithm.
Full Article (Popdose) →Modern technology has undeniably increased efficiency, speed, and access to information. It has also quietly changed what we mean by being “smart.” Tools that once required memory, precision, and effort now outsource those traits entirely. The question stops being whether technology makes us smarter or stupider, and becomes whether the brain was ever designed to process this much acceleration.
Full Article (Plannedscape) →The majority of people who claim they are a disruptor do so before they’ve actually disrupted anything. “Innovating” is not the same thing as “disrupting.” If you call yourself a disruptor, four out of five people in the room are rolling their eyes.
Full Article (Plannedscape) →Is ChatGPT a search engine? Not really. But ChatGPT, voice assistants, and other search methods are reducing Google’s importance for finding answers and changing what websites need to do for SEO. People increasingly want answers, not links. Local, specific, experience-based content wins.
Upcoming article in Plannedscape Postings
The takeaway is simple: a single regional fault can ripple globally when dependencies are centralized. Companies should test how outages affect their systems, plan for multi-region resilience, and accept that cloud infrastructure reduces effort — but does not eliminate risk.
Full Article (Plannedscape) →The George Michael Sports Machine was peak 1980s/early-90s sports television, where highlights met giant blinking buttons and industrial sound effects. George would stare intensely into the camera, announce a sport, then slam a button with the enthusiasm of a kid setting off a bottle rocket, "LET'S FIRE UP ... THE SPORTS MACHINE!"
Full Article (Words About Music) →Let's face it; podcasting is basically just a couple of people talking to each other - which turned out to be hugely popular as the importance of podcasts continues to rise. Going to video, there's a subtle structural change that happens when cameras are introduced; a podcast shifts from a conversation towards more of a performance.
Full Article (Hypebot) →"The Clash at Demonhead – Scott Pilgrim vs. the World"
I like them so much better than Scott Pilgrim’s band Sex Bob-Omb, it’s not even funny, and I resent him for breaking up The Clash at Demonhead. In reality, their music was written by real-life band Metric, so this band almost does exist.
Michael Scott is an easy target because he’s loud, needy, and frequently inappropriate. But the show is surprisingly consistent about one thing: he was promoted because he was excellent at sales. Judged against standard management traits—clarity, empowerment, trust, and psychological safety — Michael performs better than his reputation suggests.
Full Article (Plannedscape) →“I got to have martinis with David Lee Roth in the front of the Troubadour, the front bar. The Ringmaster. He came in because I was hanging with a buddy of mine who did engineering on all those early Van Halen records and Terry and I asked him to come in and Terry says hi. So, he came over and he said ‘martinis all around.’ You know, I don’t even like martinis, but hey, you do what Dave says.”
Full Article (The Troubadour) →Even at the highest levels, rejection is constant. Being told no happens over and over. A friend, a successful composer, pitches 10 - 15 songs a day and gets licensed almost once a day. He doesn't get upset about the rest. That's the mindset you need. Selling art is like selling donuts: someone buys one donut, not all 100 on display.
Full Article (Words About Music) →
Hypebot is a leading music industry news and analysis platform covering streaming, technology, marketing, and the evolving economics of the modern music business for artists, labels, and industry professionals worldwide.
Role: Contributing author (published).
A long-running music website offering sharp commentary, essays, and reviews on indie, alternative, and pop culture, mixing thoughtful analysis with unexpected picks and playful insights from expert writers.
Role: Contributing author (published).
Independent online music publication focused on emerging artists, thoughtful criticism, interviews, and emotionally engaged discovery, celebrating new voices across indie, pop, folk, and alternative music.
Role: Contributing author (published).
Invaluable Southern California music magazine covering roots, folk, Americana, blues, and singer‑songwriter culture through artist profiles, album reviews, and scene reporting.
Role: Contributing author (published).
A technology and business‑focused blog examining how planning, design, data, and organizational systems actually work in practice, with commentary on workflow, software, business realities, and CAD tools.
Role: Primary author, editor of occasional guest contributions.
An essay‑driven music blog reflecting a working musician’s perspective on songwriting, albums, performance, and musical ideas—blending criticism, craft, and lived experience with curiosity and humor.
Role: Primary author, editor of occasional guest contributions.