Charl Engela is the bass player in The Velvet Tones. He grew up in Johannesburg and since the age of 15 he has played in folk duos, function bands, rock bands, pit orchestras, and small jazz combos, on keyboards, guitar, bass, and as a backup singer; thankfully he now restricts himself just to bass playing. His main basses are Fender Jazz, Fender Coronado and Ashbory instruments. He has a music degree from The Open University, is married to Suzie and has lived in Oxford since 1996. His other hobbies include cocktail bartending and he designs the Velvet Tones gig posters. He is also a season ticket holder at Oxford United.

Charl’s favourite tune from the VT pad is Time After Time.