CharlieWonder played a show at Red Rocks Amphitheater, one of Colorado’s largest music venues, on May 25th, 2023. photo by Will Robinson
Just a few years after releasing his first song, one TJ senior producer has gained lots of popularity and is quickly taking the country by storm.
Recently, Thomas Jefferson High School senior Charlie Koupal’s music career has taken off, and he has found himself somewhat of a national sensation. An article published during his freshman year mentions his first released song having “almost 13,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.” Today, Koupal, who goes by his stage name CharlieWonder, has over three times that and is frequently releasing original electronic dance music (EDM) and performing on stages across the country.
It took a lot of work for Koupal to become CharlieWonder, and he explained how tedious his music-making process can be. “There’s so many different ways that I go about it; sometimes I can make a song in one day and have it completely finished, and then sometimes it takes [a while]. I have songs I’ve been sitting on for, like, a year that I still haven’t released.” Many of Koupal’s songs are remixes, which he first started mixing just two years ago. He also elaborated on how one might go about getting the rights to remix someone’s song: “I just look at artists I really like and usually email or Instagram DM [them] and just ask them for their permission to do it. Then you have to get it approved through either their label or management… but sometimes I make fun remixes that I can just post on SoundCloud with no real permission.” Koupal went on to speak about how he releases his music onto various streaming platforms. “When I was doing self release when I first started without a label, there were websites where you can sign up to release music through Spotify.” Recently, however, label deals have begun taking care of Koupal’s publication processes.
Today, Koupal has already performed at 25 shows across the country and he’s also released 20 songs on streaming platforms. With more music, concerts, and events on the way, Koupal reminisced about when he first began deejaying at his very first gig at a block party when he was 11. “I went up and I just played a bunch of EDM music and nobody really liked it, but I was just doing what I loved and it was great… I loved it.” Now, reflecting on the single most memorable moment from his career to date, he explained the experience of performing at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado. “It’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me. Like, just being in the tunnel, the energy that that place has is amazing.”
As graduation approaches rapidly, high school seniors everywhere are suffering from ‘senioritis’ as they struggle to find the motivation to keep up with their schoolwork, or to go to school at all. While his popularity steadily increases, Koupal still needs to figure out how to juggle his schoolwork alongside his music career, which he states is proving to be very difficult for him. Since he’s been traveling a lot for shows, he is always finding issues with managing his time. “I try to find time to fit in both things because when you’re sitting in a hotel or on a plane, it’s easy to find time to work on school,” he explained. However, unlike schoolwork, Koupal’s musical career isn’t restricted to just his school, so he’s been trying to prioritize it as he plans to pursue it during and after college. “My main plan is just to go to college, do the deejay stuff, keep working on music, and then after that… hopefully it takes off from there.” Koupal also expressed his dreams to tour the world and visit places he has never been throughout his career.
Of course, being a high school student comes with its challenges. Not everyone wants to work with an artist so young, for instance. Koupal mentioned that, “for a really long time, my age has just been like the hardest part of it because nobody wants to book someone so young… it’s a risk… when I turned 18, though, it got easier.” He explained that, since long before then, however, “I just was really into EDM music. I started producing it in GarageBand and then I fell in love with it, so I just stuck with it the past [seven] years.”
It’s important to note that Koupal doesn’t always handle all the logistics of his shows alone. He confirms that he has an agent in charge of out-of-state and campus performances. However, when he hosts in-state events, Koupal and his friend and fellow TJ senior Blake Moe do what they can with what they’ve got. “We find a venue, book it, and then we go through a ticketing platform to sell tickets and just hope people show up.”
He explained how amazing it feels to perform on a stage in front of tons of fans, describing it as “one of the coolest experiences ever.” He especially appreciates the opportunity to share something he loves and worked so hard on with a bunch of people. Koupal admitted that, like many people, he used to get severe stage fright before shows, but has since found ways to manage his anxiety. “I get a lot of anxiety before performing… I want to make sure everything goes right and is all perfect so I definitely just try to take time to myself and just sit and relax and it usually goes well.” Once he steps out on the stage, Koupal stated that all those nerves vanish.
Koupal indicated that some of his biggest inspirations are the musical groups “Two Friends” and “Disco Lines,” which are two bands that have given him numerous opportunities, as well as mentoring him throughout his entire musical journey. Koupal’s hard work and dedication over the years have certainly paid off, seeing as he’s already begun turning a profit. “My main source of money from music is through shows,” he explained, “but you do get a little bit for remixes and stuff like that; they’ll usually give you an upfront fee.” Given his 3,500 followers on Instagram, Koupal suggested that his massive increase in popularity over the past few years is primarily from staying consistent on social media platforms. “I think social media right now is the biggest thing for that because you see artists post one song on TikTok and then they just blow up out of nowhere, so, definitely like TikTok, Instagram, just keeping consistent is big.”
As his high school journey nears its finale and CharlieWonder heads into the next chapter of his music career, he leaves some advice to other young artists: “just keep going with it…it’s a really long and painful process and you’re gonna get shut down a lot, but if you just keep going with it, it’s almost guaranteed you’ll be successful.” Looking ahead to the future, he mentioned that “some big stuff is coming this spring,” leaving everybody anticipating what’s up next for the one and only CharlieWonder.
