Charlie Straight are a poppy indie band formed in 2006 in the Czech Republic consisting of Albert Černý (vocals, guitar), Michal Šupák (keyboards, backing vocals), Johnny Cienciala (bass) and Pavel Pilch (drums). They have strong ties to the British music scene and fancy Natasha Khan.

In 2007, they were discovered by Michal Novák from Bandzone.cz who went on to produce the debut album entitled She’s a Good Swimmer (2009) mixed by legendary Dušan Neuwerth and Boris Carloff. The album release party on 17th June 2009 was a complete sell-out and found the band being surprisingly supported by Kryštof, one of the biggest acts in the country.

As for the singles, Shall We Have a Baby (featuring both Albert’s and Johnny’s sister) won a nationwide video competition and is probably the most popular encore. Platonic Johny was more of a success thanks to the animated video by Vít Haratek (aka Yza) reaching the Top 10 of several Czech charts (e.g. Medúza, t-music chart). The current single Your House debuted at #1 on the Medúza Chart Show and rumours are that the next one, which is not featured on the album, will have a more fresh, dance feel to it.

Charlie Straight performed at most major festivals in the Czech Republic and Slovakia including Colours of Ostrava, Planet Festival, United Islands of Prague, Noc Plná Hvězd, Šírava Fest, Music Fest Přeštěnice, Bandzone Fest, Třinecké Kilowatty etc. In 2008, they supported Kryštof on tour and later became the first band to play at Prague’s brand new Hard Rock Café. Lately, the band have played numerous gigs around Hamburg and Munich building a solid fan base in Germany.

Having been dubbed as “the Czech Beatles” by the press, Charlie Straight were nominated for the Newcomer of the Year Award (Český slavík 2009) and then got three Czech Grammy Awards (Anděl 2009) for the Newcomer of the Year, Best Music Video (Platonic Johny) and Best Album. You will find numerous TV appearances and radio interviews (in English and German as well) on YouTube and Facebook.

As a truly indie band without a major label, Charlie Straight own all the rights to their songs. You may download the lyrics here and freely sing along, especially while having a shower. Jan P. Muchow has recently helped the band in countless ways (e.g. soundtrack of this film). To find out more about people who stick with us through thick and thin, click here or read The Driver’s Blog.

Charlie Straight are currently looking for a producer of the follow-up to She’s a Good Swimmer and for a good label too.