Charles Moothart

Charles Moothart operates as a one-man garage-psych outfit from San Francisco and carries an impressive background in the scene. He has collaborated at length with Ty Segall and Mikal Cronin through groups including Epsilons, Fuzz, and Charlie & the Moonhearts. His signature sound blends buzzy rock & roll with psychedelic flourishes, clear nods to blues and classic rock, and an emotional range that accommodates both exuberance and gloomier states. His initial solo recordings came out under the CFM moniker; the first of them, Still Life of Citrus & Slime from 2016, served as a somber reflection on a failed relationship. The project broadened its thematic scope on the follow-up, Soundtrack to an Empty Room, issued in 2019. By 2024 Moothart had shifted to releasing material under his own name, beginning with Black Holes Don't Choke, a expansive set of psych-tinged guitar rock that demonstrated his command of studio craft.

His credits within modern garage punk run deep. He handled guitar duties for the Ty Segall Band, later switched to drums for Segall’s touring ensemble the Freedom Band, and took on both guitar and vocal roles in Fuzz, the vehicle Segall created to honor his hard-rock roots. Additional work includes time in GØGGS alongside Segall and Ex-Cult’s Chris Shaw, membership in the Moonhearts with Mikal Cronin of Thee Oh Sees, and session contributions to the albums Mikal Cronin and MCII.

Moothart launched the CFM endeavor after parting ways with his longtime partner; he withdrew to his home studio and composed the material in isolation. The resulting Still Life of Citrus & Slime surfaced on In the Red in April 2016. Although the record was created alone, he formed a road lineup that featured guitarist Michael Anderson, bassist Tyler Frome, and drummer Thomas Alvarez of Audacity. Twelve months afterward he delivered Dichotomy Desaturated, which included the track “Rise and Fall.” The third CFM album, Soundtrack to an Empty Room from 2019, intensified the guitar attack and strengthened the hard-rock current running beneath the songs. Commitments to Segall’s various endeavors occupied much of the next stretch, yet Moothart eventually carved out time to finish his debut under his own name, Black Holes Don't Choke, released by In the Red in 2024. The LP fuses psychedelia, hard rock, blues, and swaggering classic rock into a cohesive statement and stands as another completely solo undertaking, with every element written, played, and captured by Moothart alone.