Music has always been an essential part of Charles’ life - from the lullabies his mother sang to help him sleep to his grandparents playing Frank Sinatra CDs in the car, it didn’t take long to get hooked. After being inspired by his elementary school music teacher, he took his first piano lesson in the second grade, later picking up the alto saxophone in high school and joining his local theatre group as an actor/singer. In addition to spending equal time on keys and sax, he has since learned flute and electric wind instrument (EWI).

Charles’ passion for music quickly combined with his love of video games; his Game Boy Advance with Sonic the Hedgehog and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon captured both his heart and his ears. He made his first mark online as part of the thriving video game music cover community, arranging songs from the games he grew up with in new and unexpected ways and contributing to projects from GameGrooves and Multiplayer Charity. June 2024 saw the release of “CHAMPIONS: A Tribute to Shovel Knight”, a collaborative mega-album celebrating the 10th anniversary of Yacht Club Games’ indie darling, co-produced by himself and Alejandro Espinosa. He is also known for his electrifying full-band shows at fan conventions (MAGFest, VGM CON) and venues across NYC (Arlene’s Grocery). Charles is currently hard at work producing and recording two new albums of his video game music arrangements, featuring collaborations with Patrick Bartley and Eli Bishop, to be released soon.

As a freelancer, Charles is proud to regularly tour and collaborate with cutting-edge creative people. He has produced and performed for Zoe Sparks, Madds Buckley, simmerr, and DiscoCactus, among many others. His work as a producer has been featured on the Spotify Viral 50, Billboard Hot Rock/Alternative Songs Top 50, and Rolling Stone Trending charts. Recently, Charles has been entertaining children across North America as the touring keyboardist for Blippi’s Join the Band Tour.

Photo by Jessica Scheno

Charles also holds a bachelor's degree in Contemporary Writing and Production at the Berklee College of Music, with a minor in Video Game Scoring. His senior recital, fittingly, was a showcase of his arrangements of music from Sonic the Hedgehog, performed at Berklee in December 2021.