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Charles Costa starts the Knock Knock tour for his new album in a Finsbury Park garden. (c) Nicolette Jones
Everyone has a story. The singer who was King Charles, now known as Charles Costa, began his Knock Knock tour in Finsbury Park (not the park, a small N4 garden!). What was it like asks Nicola Baird
Islington Faces insists that King Charles is a singer songwriter, but it clearly caused some confusion so he’s now known as himself, Charles Costa. Charles released a fabulous album, Love Blood in 2012, and was a regular on the festival stages. You may already know his bigger hits like Lady Percy and the agile Ivory Road.
“You’re the wax in my moustache”
Or that he sang at Marcus Mumford and Carey Mulligan’s wedding.
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But then there’s the ultramarathon Charles. In 2024 he ran 90 marathons in 90 days raising ÂŁ170,000 for suicide prevention charities the Jed Foundation and James’ Place.
Dealing with despair
Those marathons were run in 2024 along the 2,653 mile (4,270km) Pacific Crest Trail (from Canada to Mexico and across the US) to raise awareness about mental health – a response to a brain injury he received after a skiing accident left him in a coma for five days and years of challenging mental health including anxiety and depression. In a quote on PA (Sep 2024), Charles told journalist Hannah Cottrell:
“For the last 10 years, since I was recovering from this brain trauma, I got into running as a very recuperative thing. Running is an immediate relief and remedy for a lot of anxiety and other conditions I felt. Getting your lungs heaving, your heart beating, you’re really just driving your body into a different place and your mind responds and it detangles – I’ve really experienced that and it’s been invaluable to me.”
Charles Costa performs acoustic on his intimate Knock Knock tour in an Islington back garden (c) NB for Islington Faces
Inspiration
As a folk singer songwriter he used to find a girl, fall in love and write a song. The girl then ran fast in the other direction…
“You’re the words in my dictionary that I can’t spell”
Chasing love is clearly still a source of inspiration, but now he’s also got a brand new album with a collection of healing, original songs that need to reach the world.
So the Knock Knock tour concept kicked off with a post on his insta asking if “anyone wanted to listen to Charles play in their living room?” Islington Faces pinged off a message and by chance we ended up being the very first of these gigs back in August. The first song was an old favourite, We Didn’t Start the Fire, for about half of the 20 people who’d come along. An hour later even the new-to-Charles were definitely starstruck.
The new album artwork from singer songwriter Charles Costa.
The new music is great, foot-tapping, soulful, lived. We loved his heartbreak for Emilie and the supportive strength of I’ve Been There.
For your own piece of Charles Costa’s music find him on:
- Insta: https://www.instagram.com/charlescostaofficial/
- 2025 album: Charles Costa (Charles Costa)
- 2012 album: Love Blood (King Charles)
- Spotify, Alexa etc.
- @jamesplaceuk @jedfoundation
A huge thank you to Charles Costa for performing acoustic for us. A fabulous treat. Good luck with the tour which kicked off in Islington, moved to the counties and is now in Europe playing front rooms from Latvia to Switzerland. It’s such a great idea. Also huge good luck with the debut Charles Costa album. The song I’ve Been There is a real goodie.
Over to you
If you’d like to nominate someone to be interviewed who grew up, lives or works in Islington, or suggest yourself, please let me know, via nicolabaird dot green at gmail dot com. If you enjoyed this post you might like to look at the A-Z  index, or search by interviewee’s roles or Meet Islingtonians to find friends, neighbours and inspiration. Thanks for stopping by. Nicola
