Getting to Know… Planets | Interview

In the 453^rd Q&A in our Getting to Know… series, we get the inside scoop from London-based music duo, Planets.

“Ithink Charlotte’s voice and the writing are what make us different.” Right on, Planets! The London-based music duo is comprised of guitarist Hector Castro, who answers our burning questions in this interview, and vocalist Charlotte King. Castro continues his commentary: “These two aspects, along with song structure, seem to be the main talking points when it comes to Planets.” Castro gives us the inside scoop on Planets’ genesis, goals, musical influences, and current and future musical endeavors. So, without further ado, let’s jump right into Getting to Know… Planets: Interview No. 453!

For those who may not be familiar with you, what would you say makes Planets distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

I think Charlotte’s voice and the writing are what make us different. These two aspects, along with song structure, seem to be the main talking points when it comes to Planets. As a music duo, we’re always trying to get the best out of each other, and we purposely leave space for doing something different vocally. The last thing we want is to be safe or too comfortable, nor do we want to be known for just one thing, so, it’s all about giving each song its own character and delivering the songs live with a lot of intensity!

Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did Planets form, and what were some of your goals or visions early?

I messaged Charlotte to see if she’d be interested in writing music together about a year ago. Thankfully, I didn’t get blocked, and when we did meet, we shared instant chemistry. In the beginning, it was all about the work and getting ideas down, but we became a couple, and we now live together, which has made the music easier to get done!

Our objective early on was to write a song and try it out at our local open mic. Since then, and off the back of the (relative) success of our second release, “SIGNS,” we’ve had to re-imagine what Planets could be and treat it in terms of a ‘business’. But leaving all the mechanics of that to one side, our objective is always to learn from our past and write songs we wanna hear.

Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

Well, we both feel like Planets is in the queue, behind everyone else, waiting to take off, with no guarantees of getting onboard! Like many people on the independent scene, we both have two jobs; I’m a civil servant for Legal Aid, and I also teach classical guitar privately, whilst Charlotte has a 9 to 5 in an admin role before clocking into a bar job four nights a week and some weekends. So, for us, the biggest challenge has been finding the time and getting the work in without losing too much sleep! But when we create and hear something we’re both excited about, it definitely fuels us for the week.

That life story to one side, our aspirations have always been to do this professionally and write a catalogue of work we’re both proud of. We want an audience who invests in us, but we have to earn it first, and for the time being, the objective is to look constructively at how we can write Planets’ next best song.

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Whom would you consider some of your biggest musical influences, and how are they influential?

We both had a lot of music in the house, and it became a personal thing of exploring all these different artists and genres. In my teens, I fell for heavy rock/metal and picked up the guitar around 12 years old. My idol at the time was James Hetfield. I loved his playing style, his writing, and even how he stood with his explorer at the mic. There was a weight and physicality to his playing, which I’ve always had in my approach. But I also love Lindsey Buckingham, Jim Croce, John Martyn, Silvio Rodriguez, Jackson C Frank, and many other writers across all different genres.

For Charlotte, I know Kate Bush was a huge influence on her growing up. In her own words, “She commits to a feeling within a song, and it radiates through to the sound, the lyrics, the production, and the imagery. She recognizes a strong hook and has the creativity and musical ear to develop the idea, so it comes to life. It’s what we strive to do.”

Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.

So, we did a gig in an old Millwall pub in New Cross, but we didn’t know the venue was also a refuge for homeless people. To be fair, it was actually a really special night, and the people were so kind and generous to us. Definitely not a ‘crazy story’ (or even a story), but it was definitely an experience we felt lucky to be a part of, and it was great to see so many people there for the music!

To this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?

Ah, that’s a tricky one because I think our answer will change week to week. But at the moment, I think “SIGNS” is the song that captures the energy, strength, subject matter, and sound palette of what we want to present under the umbrella of Planets. It was also the first song I wrote and collaborated on with Charlotte, so it was very much our ‘lift-off’ moment where things changed for Planets.

For our live shows, we love doing an unreleased song called Roots – you can actually catch us doing it on our Instagram page, with Charlotte absolutely crushing the vocals like prime Robert Plant!

Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left-of-center we should know about Planets? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

So, shortly after graduating from Rose Bruford, Charlotte got a call up from the BBC to see if she would audition for an episode of Doctors! She ended up getting the part to play Jessie Marsden, whose father became “indoctrinated by a toxic masculinity group led by Ray Lafferty. Jessie helps him to see that his views are misogynistic and get help!”

What is Planets currently working on or promoting that you can share? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure. 

We’re actually at a bit of a crossroads, deciding what to show people next from all the songs we’re sitting on. For example, we’ve got a song called “Capture” which is about a woman on the run, using every corner of the galaxy to hold onto her freedom. And we have another song called “Rumours in Time” which is about primary school and how much of it I spent on my own. The song took shape instantly after writing, “what we’re told, it’s not the world we live to find… but I understand why”, and I just put everything I experienced under a microscope. We’re in the studio aiming to release our second song for 2025 around the end of March. I’d love to reveal more details, but Planets is all about surprises.

Thank you so much for sharing and taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward. 

Huge thank you from both of us!

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Getting to Know…Planets: Interview No. 453 (2025) [: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Planets]