Andrew James Charlton Hill better known as Charlton Hill and sometimes credited as Andrew Hill is an Australian actor, singer-songwriter and businessman. Charlton has over 20 years experience in the music, television, advertising and branding industries in an array of roles including major recording artist, published songwriter and actor to strategist, entrepreneur and "sonic branding consultant".
Career
Hill was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. His father worked in environmental planning and his mother was a librarian. He has two sisters, Cassandra and Justine. Hill started his acting career appearing in commercials for cameras and snack food products. He also appeared in an American advertisement for chocolate. He later secured the role of Wesley Craven in the soap opera A Country Practice. Hill attended an audition for what he though was for a washing powder commercial. Upon his arrival at the Seven Network studios, he was presented with scripts for the character of Haydn Ross in their soap opera Home and Away. He impressed the casting department and took the role. Hill found the schedule demanding and the long days interfered with his studies. He decided to leave the series and told Nigel May from Look-in that he planned to go to college to study economics. He also joined a pop group called "Organised Crime". Between his studies and various other musical outfits, Hill made numerous television and film appearances, most notably in Dead to the World, G.P., Water Rats, Heartbreak High and Peter Benchley's 'The Beast'. In 1999, Hill spent a year going through Europe and the United States pursuing his songwriting by recording and playing in clubs and bars. He came back to Australia in 2000 and played wherever he could, then he was spotted by Sony Music's Murmur Record's label. Hill then went to the UK to record his debut album Waterline and worked with producer Ian Grimble. "2's Company" was written just prior to the album sessions and was Hill's first single, released in Australia on 14 June 2002. Hill toured extensively on the back of the album most notably with John Mayer, Bic Runga and The Whitlams. His debut album Waterline, produced three hits: "Deep", "2's Company" and "Don't Sail". Following a hiatus between 2003–2005, Hill formed "Charlton Hill and the Citizens" with fellow long term friends, guitarist "Tim Hartwig" and bassist "Ryan Van Gennip", in conjunction with band inductee drummer "Jared Kneale". The band released Small Triumphs in Traffic on 1 December 2007 leading with the single 'As long as you can'. The track featured a music clip shot by up and coming film duo Claire McCarthy and Denson Baker. In 2006, Hill began managing and collaborating with a collective of musicians in a studio in Sydney, Australia called Supersonic. Up until the end of 2009, the team was responsible for composing music for an extensive number of projects in film and television. In 2010, Hill co-founded Uncanny Valley with music producer and sonic technologist, Justin Shave. It is a high end, music and sonic branding company that quickly rose to prominence in both Australia and Asia. He is now Head of Music and Innovation at the company