- Dreams from the Machine

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- Elvolution

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- Faliks Revenge

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- Streaks and Strokes

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- The Ballad of El Efe

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All that matters in the Falik experience is where the music takes you, and this music is definitely mobile. Falik infuses middle-eastern, Greek, Celtic, and Baltic folk elements with electronica; it is at once exotic and familiar. The songs have a raw, earthy quality, but are ebullient, exciting, and entirely engaging to the listener, with melodies that aim straight for your heart.

Falik is Charlie Pecot, who has traveled an interesting and eclectic path. This music is definitely a "snapshot" that illustrates where he has been.

For Charlie - as it is for many people - music is a consolation, a stimulus that helps one to make peace with troubled thoughts. It vitalizes the spirit, recharges the will, and inspires the body and soul to movement and action. Charlie has always felt his life was somewhat "charmed" by music; that he feels elevated when he plays, more in tune with his surroundings like as if a cloud has lifted allowing the illumination of his true self. Sometimes his true self can be quite amusing.

Professionally, Charlie has always done what felt right and remains true to his own personal philosophies. Sometimes, this means eschewing possible commercial success in favor of artistic expression, but his goal is to bring to the forefront his brand of "popular" thematic art.

Charlie has always been a fan of "pop" music, being influenced as a child by '60s blues, soul and rock groups that made their way into popular culture, and then later by English art/rock groups: Jumi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Sweat, Blood and Tears, Sly and the Family Stone, Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Kinks, The Who, Eric Clapton, Supertramp, Yes, David Bowie, Foghat, Genesis, Queen.

If anything, "Falik" is the result of Charlie's demented view of what he thinks is "world fusion pop". This is his attempt at combining everything he knows and appreciates about the music he loves and putting into a format that he feels people are already familiar with. Charlie is a big fan of dance music, and not just because he loves to dance. He loves the way that music can make you feel like dancing. This is the essence of what he tries to capture. He wants to invoke in the listener the desire to sway, shake, boogie, and groove - to delight in the joy of movement and self-expression. It may be interesting to note at this point that children have always responded favorably to Falik; they "get" him.

Here's a synopsis of Charlie's musical history:

1966: His sister gets a Magnus chord organ for Christmas. He begins to grasp the fundamentals of Western harmonic structure, which upsets her because he won't let her play it because she doesn't do it right.

1968: Charlie gets an acoustic guitar for Christmas, though his hands are too small to actually play it. His sister has long since forgotten about the Magnus, which has been moved to the family's converted garage - Charlie's first "studio".

1969: Guitar lessons. Learns how to read music from a Mel Bay book, but his hands are still too small to play the notations accurately.

1970: Charlie breaks all but 3 strings on the guitar. Realizes he can retune the strings so he can play chords, inadvertently creating a stylized "bouzouki". His grandmother buys him a small tape recorder. Charlie begins recording his first tracks using his compromised guitar.

1971: Decides he wants to play the trumpet, because it only takes three fingers, and they're closer together. His mom buys him a Bundy and he takes lessons at home. He likes to study the music but never practices until 10 minutes before the instructor arrives.

1973: Joins his 7th grade school concert band, as well as the "LAPD Junior Marching Band", where he is so bad they make him carry the banner when they perform at Magic Mountain.

1974: 8th grade concert band. Charlie wants to be in a rock band so he takes up the bass guitar because there are "too many guitarists around." His first bass is a Beatles "Hofner" copy, as his hands are still kind of small.

1975 - 1979: High school concert band. Charlie auditions for trumpet. Is requested to learn French horn, trombone, baritone horn, and tuba. Anything except the trumpet. No problem. Charlie goes on to learn all brass instruments, as well as the upright bass and read in multiple clefs. Becomes the "utility player". In 1976 he buys a Fender Precision bass guitar and this becomes his primary instrument, as he joins several musical groups including a school-affiliated percussion ensemble, performing with the L.A. Philharmonic on bass drum and claves. Now that's utility. It is during these years that Charlie begins to expand and discover the true power of music, in both the academic and popular sense. His musical ear develops through the assistance of his band instructor Barry Ulrich who introduces Charlie to several musical styles, including jazz, mariachi, and music for film. Charlie is invited to play brass tuba in the school's brass ensemble, which wins several awards at competitions. He begins playing in multiple rock bands writing original music as well as playing covers. In 1978 - along with Brian Kilgore whom he meets in a civic government camp in 1977 - he enrolls in the Stan Kenton Jazz Clinic - the jazz great's last before he passes away. This 7-day camp marks a turning point in his evolution. He so impresses the instructors and classmates that they place him in classes with the best players in the camp. Unfortunately, Charlie is a jazz novice and the conflict of not being able to perform at the same level as his peers and they're inability to understand his turmoil brings Charlie to a revelation: that music is not about what you know or who you studied with. It's about what you able to express, and that was the one thing he was apparently quite good at. Another thing he realized was that he could actually express himself well on several different instruments. But not at the same time, of course; his hands are still too small.

1979 - 1983: Charlie and Brian enter Cal State Northridge with the hopes of getting in their famous jazz bands. While Brian is successful, Charlie is merely amusing. He also auditions for the orchestra on string bass. The instructor asks if I have to move around so much when I play. He stares at him blankly and comes to the conclusion that this is exactly what he doesn't like about classical music. "Why does the conductor get to have all the fun?"

In 1981 co-founds the post-punk pop group the "Thin Band" while attending California State Dominguez Hills as an "Audio Telecommunications" major, under the tutelage of Armondo Sidon, a Cal State Dominquez Hills teacher and bass player himself. It is here where he discovers the ARP synthesizer, and music concrete, and begins to experiment with sounds not necessarily made intentionally for music. Releases the EP "Thin Band", the group's only published effort, which features Charlie on both bass and guitar (not the three-stringed one).

1984-1989: Self-discovery and self-involvement.

1990-1997: Joins several bands and performs overseas for the first time: Cast of Thousands, Leagues of Nations (guitar, bass, keyboards), Imaginary Dog (guitar and bass), Roger Campo (guitar and bass), and Evren Goknar. With Goknar's band he participates in a tour of sorts, as they play bookstores and clubs in Seattle and Oregon. "Leagues of Nations" travels to Scotland and performs in a pub in Dumphries. The crowd goes nuts and begins to knock down ceiling tiles. Pub management is not the least upset, reporting it was the most excitement they've had there in awhile.

1998: Charlie takes a turn in his career as he decides to focus more on personal musical efforts. It is during this period he begins collaborations with his brother, Justin, also a guitar player and songwriter.

2000: The concept of the character "Falik Zymbole" is born through recent involvement in Renaissance Faires. The character is expanded to include the use of the Irish bouzouki, after being inspired by the musical group "Stinkeye" which featured keyboardist-turned violinist Linda Kodaira, a member of Charlie's "Thin Band" back in the early '80s. Charlie purchases a bouzouki on-line from a musical group from Ohio for $100. He was actually looking for a cittern, but couldn't find one for cheap. Something to do with the extra string. Not a problem, as the bouzouki only has four courses, so it's not so much a stretch from his first guitar. He is still trying to deal with his "small hands".

Since his faire character is Turkish in origin, he begins to experiment with middle eastern modalities based on a few select recordings and what he learned from Mr Ulrich and develops a consistent playing style which he employs as a member of "Qismah", a belly dance troupe. They perform at belly dance parties.

Charlie starts a new rock project "Yucca Pie" which includes his brother Justin on bass and performs mainly in the drummer's garage.

2001: Charlie quits "Qismah" to experiment more with the "Falik" concept and begins recording what eventually evolves into "Bliss", the first CD from "Falik ".

2002: "Falik" becomes more of an established entity as the character/musical concept is unveiled at renaissance faires and through the use of Internet radio. Charlie becomes involved in the Internet radio revolution himself by acquiring two stations: Celtic World Radio and Trouser Elf Radio.

2003: "Bliss 2.0" is released. Rachel Soto nee Lazarus listens to "Bliss" and passes it on to her now husband "Solace" founder and renown dumbec player, Jeremiah Soto. Rachel is the founder of "Devadasi", a tribal belly dance troupe, backed by "Solace". Jeremiah and Rachel invite Charlie to accompany Devadasi at shows. And it was good. "Bliss 3.0" is released.