Speaker 1: So I just grabbed a pen and walked over and
Speaker 1: asked him for good zhotograph, and he said, if I fucking.
Speaker 2: Must, we will find out who Tim Burgess is talking
Speaker 2: about in the course of this episode of Midnight Chat's
Speaker 2: Number ninety five. Thank you for listening. My name is
Speaker 2: Stuart Stubbs. I am tonight's host. It was Greg's turn
Speaker 2: last week when he spoke to idols. This week is
Speaker 2: myself and Tim Burgess, who you will know as the
Speaker 2: lead singer of the Charlatans as well as a solo
Speaker 2: musician in his own right, or maybe you know Tim
Speaker 2: Burgess as that Twitter guy. Tim has become a bit
Speaker 2: of a Twitter celebrity thanks to his listening parties that
Speaker 2: have been running over Lockdown have been very successful. He's
Speaker 2: called it Tim's Twitter Listening Party. It's not the most
Speaker 2: imaginative title, but it is very good. I've got some
Speaker 2: links below to some info about that, but also to
Speaker 2: some of the other things we talk about. In particular,
Speaker 2: there's a song called A Man Needs to Be Told
Speaker 2: down there. It's the track that we allude to when
Speaker 2: we're talking about Tim singing in a falsetto voice. Tim
Speaker 2: doesn't mention the name of the song itself, but that
Speaker 2: is the name of it. As a man needs to
Speaker 2: be told, so I put a link for that down there.
Speaker 2: And there are two other important links. One is our
Speaker 2: support button for this podcast. If you enjoy it enough
Speaker 2: to sling us a couple of quid then please do.
Speaker 2: That would be much appreciated. It helps us make more
Speaker 2: episodes of Midnight Chats. And then there's another supporter button,
Speaker 2: which is for Loud and Quiet. We are also as
Speaker 2: well as makers of this podcast, we make a music magazine,
Speaker 2: a website and some other stuff. And you can become
Speaker 2: a member of Loud and Quiet for the year at
Speaker 2: Loud and Quiet dot com forward slash subscribe. The link
Speaker 2: is down there and it tells you everything that you
Speaker 2: get for that. It includes all of our magazines that
Speaker 2: we will send you, our badges, our merch our playlists,
Speaker 2: all the information is there. Only support us if you can,
Speaker 2: and it's not gonna, you know, put you in a
Speaker 2: financial bind for now though. Thank you for listening to
Speaker 2: episode ninety five the podcast. This is Midnight Chat with
Speaker 2: Tim Burgess.
Speaker 1: I've only been to London once since since Lockdown Agown
Speaker 1: and that was last week, but I was, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of it wasn't really for a length of time.
Speaker 1: So I fan spending spending a day in the city,
Speaker 1: which is you know, quite a neat well not a
Speaker 1: new thing for you know, definitely a thing for me
Speaker 1: these days.
Speaker 2: So you're out in Norfolk, right in Norfolk?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's kind of a small village near the sea,
Speaker 1: but in kind of wooded kind of area. So it's
Speaker 1: sounds really a lot. It's amazing, but.
Speaker 2: I do make it sound good, but you've you've been
Speaker 2: there a long time. This is the thing? Is it like?
Speaker 2: It doesn't in a weird way, the whole lockdown thing.
Speaker 2: It just like levels everything, doesn't it even if you
Speaker 2: live in paradise. Yeah, lockdown has just made everybody sick
Speaker 2: of where they are.
Speaker 1: Yeah, right, yeah, I think I don't think I could
Speaker 1: have been anywhere better. It's it was a fine place
Speaker 1: to spend lockdown, but I'm excited to be in London.
Speaker 2: Did you deal with the situation, well, generally speaking, the
Speaker 2: lockdown thing, Yeah, I think it did. You've got through it.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I've had moments, you know, I think, but
Speaker 1: I feel very very lucky.
Speaker 2: What's the thing that you missed.
Speaker 1: Things that I missed. Well, I realized that I'm I
Speaker 1: really like spending time with people, sharing, sharing things, and
Speaker 1: so I missed that. I also realized that I really
Speaker 1: missed the gym, and I got because I go to
Speaker 1: the gym pretty much every day, and that's where I
Speaker 1: listen to music, and it's I do the same thing.
Speaker 1: It's like forty five minutes on the treadmill with some
Speaker 1: headphones on. That's it, okay, right, no more, no less, right,
Speaker 1: and then I get to go about my day, which
Speaker 1: is usually involves playing records, writing songs, and doing just
Speaker 1: doing things revolved around you know what I've always wanted
Speaker 1: to do, which is like making music and listening to music.
Speaker 2: So how long have you been a gym guy?
Speaker 1: I've been a gym guy for about well since Los
Speaker 1: Angeles got me into being a gym guy, because it
Speaker 1: was it was the alternative to the lifestyle that I
Speaker 1: was leading before the gym, the complete opposite. Because you
Speaker 1: lived in LA for like about thirteen year yeah yeah,
Speaker 1: twelve years yeah wow, and that's from like what years
Speaker 1: are we talking for that? So ninety eight until twenty ten?
Speaker 2: Wow, it's a stint. Yeah, how how did you. I mean,
Speaker 2: obviously you liked Obviously you liked it. Oh yay, that long.
Speaker 1: I liked it. I liked it more than probably any
Speaker 1: other place that I've ever lived. But with that we're
Speaker 1: sort of like, you know, things that I didn't make
Speaker 1: it very easy. For the bar and being in a
Speaker 1: band from the UK, I I enjoyed myself maybe a
Speaker 1: little too much in some for for a while. But
Speaker 1: you know, it was the place that kept me. It
Speaker 1: was the actual place that kept me there because I
Speaker 1: love it so much.
Speaker 2: You know, what was it that made you want to
Speaker 2: move there?
Speaker 1: I've been going to this one part of Los Angeles
Speaker 1: and it was it was It's Hollywood and it's by
Speaker 1: the Capitol Records Building, and there's some bars there and
Speaker 1: some you know, cinemas and places, you know, and I've
Speaker 1: kind of found like a center and I'd been gravitating
Speaker 1: towards it since ninety two and we played, you know,
Speaker 1: we played some big shows there and always went to
Speaker 1: after parties in this place called the Cat and Fiddle,
Speaker 1: which is like an English pub in the count Boulevard.
Speaker 1: And so with the show, Allison's telling stories that come
Speaker 1: out Robert died, it was a big thing, lots of
Speaker 1: changes happening, and in my head, I just felt like
Speaker 1: I felt like that was you know, just needed I
Speaker 1: needed to just deal with what I was going to
Speaker 1: do with my life. I felt, you know, at the time,
Speaker 1: so a big I needed a big move after it's
Speaker 1: such a big event of Rob's death.
Speaker 2: Is it quite? This is just something I've always wondered
Speaker 2: when people moved to and like musicians moved to LA. Yeah,
Speaker 2: is it an easy thing to do in the sense of,
Speaker 2: you know, if I wanted to move to l A,
Speaker 2: I don't know, like, you know, the green card thing
Speaker 2: and all of that. When you're a musician, do you
Speaker 2: kind of get is there an easier way in when
Speaker 2: you're working within entertainment and then you're an entertainment Well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I just went there and fell in
Speaker 1: with some friends and I got an apartment and I
Speaker 1: didn't have a green card, but just kind of like
Speaker 1: I kept going for appointments for green cards and things
Speaker 1: like that, and appointments and I actually went for I
Speaker 1: actually went to get a citizenship the day that I
Speaker 1: actually left LA because I'd got finally got around to it.
Speaker 1: I thought, you know, I'm going to try and get
Speaker 1: a citizenship. Just before I get on the plane home
Speaker 1: and I went.
Speaker 2: For my past the test.
Speaker 1: But I had not spent enough time in LA because
Speaker 1: you know, I had to do lots of work with
Speaker 1: the band and go on tour and things like that.
Speaker 1: So I missed out by about two or three days
Speaker 1: days a year or something in LA and past the test.
Speaker 1: You know, we had to revise and all that kind
Speaker 1: of stuff.
Speaker 2: Did she what kind of things are on the test?
Speaker 1: I just said on my iPod, it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: about the Fifth Amendment and things like that, and everything
Speaker 1: that I learned I've forgotten because I only learned it
Speaker 1: for that one thing.
Speaker 2: For that moment. Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. So what was
Speaker 2: it that made you kind of come back after twelve
Speaker 2: years where you did you just feel I kind of
Speaker 2: need to go home now, this is I'm done.
Speaker 1: I felt that I felt that I'd been done for
Speaker 1: a few years before I left. I there's a few
Speaker 1: things that happened. I gave up.
Speaker 2: I gave up.
Speaker 1: You know, the party lifestyle, drinking drugs, and kind of
Speaker 1: had three years.
Speaker 2: In LA going to start. That's where the gym thing came.
Speaker 1: And I just found that no one was really following
Speaker 1: my you know, so I was kind of just on
Speaker 1: my own in a lot of ways. I was just
Speaker 1: kind of like, you know, just spending a lot more
Speaker 1: time on my own and didn't really have any didn't
Speaker 1: really have any people who had the same sort of
Speaker 1: musical tastes as me. I was coming to London a
Speaker 1: lot and just kind of ended up just moving to
Speaker 1: Seven Sisters.
Speaker 2: And it feels like now there's a lot of people
Speaker 2: kind of within our world, like within independent music. Yeah,
Speaker 2: who are like musicians who are going out going out
Speaker 2: there now to work on like TV and film stuff
Speaker 2: like I think like Graham Coxon's just moved out there
Speaker 2: to like write for TV and stuff. Right, it's so great.
Speaker 2: So is that something like did you do any of
Speaker 2: that while you're there? Do you have any interest in
Speaker 2: like writing for no? I didn't.
Speaker 1: I mean there was opportunities, but you know, I mean
Speaker 1: things like, you know, I get things like that kind
Speaker 1: of often, you know, and it's it's and I respond
Speaker 1: to the emails and then there's response, and then lots
Speaker 1: of things fall to nothing, you know, and you know,
Speaker 1: people just like to sort to me an email, and
Speaker 1: so lots of things like that did come and didn't come,
Speaker 1: and I made a solo album out there. I made
Speaker 1: it at Sharlison's album out there that I think is
Speaker 1: possibly one of our better one, well best one. I
Speaker 1: think it's our best one. Yeah, in my opinion, is
Speaker 1: that Wonderland, Yeah, your best I think it's I think
Speaker 1: it's I think it's like sort of like whatever that
Speaker 1: is kind of like diving out. It's sort of superhero stuff,
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: And the listeners Tim is putting his arm high in
Speaker 2: the Wonderland is great. I think, like you know that
Speaker 2: that album. I was at university when that album came out.
Speaker 2: I came to see you play. You played it at
Speaker 2: Wembley Arena we did on that tour. I came to
Speaker 2: that and it was, yeah, I love that record. I'm glad.
Speaker 2: It's nice to hear that that's your favorite record.
Speaker 1: I just think it's kind of like, I think it's crazy,
Speaker 1: crazy record. And it was like, you know, we didn't
Speaker 1: have master tapes, you know, it was all you know,
Speaker 1: WAVs and and and and we did it on Aida,
Speaker 1: I think, but you know, we were literally kind of
Speaker 1: moving from one studio to the next and being locked
Speaker 1: out of studios until we paid bills.
Speaker 2: And things like that.
Speaker 1: It was a real kind of ramshackleie thing. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: was just amazing. And we worked we've done any saber
Speaker 1: and we did some stuff you know, downtown La and
Speaker 1: and and then we finished a lot of it off
Speaker 1: in in our own studio in Cheshire and it was
Speaker 1: there's lots of like you know, and we just managed
Speaker 1: to piece it all together and and it just sounds fantastic.
Speaker 2: Yeah. It was also the record where you started that
Speaker 2: the Falsetto singing came in. Yeah, and that's kind of
Speaker 2: like I've not you've not done that much on records since.
Speaker 2: Have you done it at all on records?
Speaker 1: I think I think I have since bits and pieces.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: But I so I had this idea mark about the
Speaker 1: idea of you know, men needing to be told what
Speaker 1: to do. I thought it was quite a good, you know,
Speaker 1: quite quite a good idea. And I sang it, and
Speaker 1: I sang it in falsetto because I wanted to sound
Speaker 1: like I was saying, you know, we're talking about Neil
Speaker 1: Young and it.
Speaker 2: Was kind of like the opposite of a man needs made. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but I wanted to.
Speaker 1: Sing it in the Neil Young kind of way, and
Speaker 1: then we had that song for a while and we
Speaker 1: just kind of left it, and then I wanted to
Speaker 1: sing everything in falset after that because that's kind of
Speaker 1: you know, naturally, I'm kind of a bit like that.
Speaker 1: Quite get really excited, and.
Speaker 2: That is the sound of that record. There's like, you
Speaker 2: know loads where you're in, which is what I think
Speaker 2: makes it. If you did you meet Neil Young when
Speaker 2: you were out there? Have you met that guy? I haven't.
Speaker 2: I haven't. Now he might be one of those that
Speaker 2: it's maybe best not to me, do you know. I've
Speaker 2: just got that feeling.
Speaker 1: I'd love to see him across the road.
Speaker 2: Yeah, watch it, just watch him. Would you approach him?
Speaker 2: It ends? I mean a lot of the time I
Speaker 2: do approach people. Yeah, I think that's a good rule
Speaker 2: to have. I know some people who would don't at all.
Speaker 2: H a rule don't meet the people you admire. And
Speaker 2: I know some people who are just like, this is
Speaker 2: my only chance. I kind of like that. I'm more
Speaker 2: of the other way because I've always I understand that
Speaker 2: put them on a pedestal. But I do like the
Speaker 2: idea of being like, well, that's Neil Young. It's my
Speaker 2: one chance. I'm going to go meet to him, and
Speaker 2: if he swears at me, then that's fine.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, I mean I spoke to lou Reed.
Speaker 2: Did you. I bet he's worry. What did you what
Speaker 2: was your what was okay? Where did you see him?
Speaker 2: And what was your opening way in? What did you
Speaker 2: say to him?
Speaker 1: So it was around about the time of set the
Speaker 1: Twilight Reeling album, so it's like nineties. He was sitting
Speaker 1: on his own in Manchester Piccadilly train.
Speaker 2: Station, wow, about to catch a train, about to.
Speaker 1: Catch a train, and know what, you know, I was
Speaker 1: looking at him for a while and thinking, no one,
Speaker 1: no one knows, but that's Neil.
Speaker 2: That's certainly read.
Speaker 1: And so I just grabbed a pen and walked over
Speaker 1: and asked him I could have a photograph and he
Speaker 1: said if I fucking must, He said yeah, and it
Speaker 1: was grumping, you know, made a few noises and things
Speaker 1: like that, and then passed me the pen back and
Speaker 1: then was kind of like nice then a little bit
Speaker 1: you know, okay, yeah, because I was just like, yeah,
Speaker 1: do you mind, you know, because I was all kind
Speaker 1: of you know, I built it up a little bit.
Speaker 2: And he just have you still got the signature? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Who else have you got? Or is he? Is he
Speaker 2: an anomally? Is there not many people you've told that?
Speaker 1: Col Barrett I've got, I've got cor Barretts, got cow Barretts.
Speaker 2: That one's worth that's worth a lot. That's the one
Speaker 2: that you can retire on. Yeah.
Speaker 1: But I mean I like to see people, and I've
Speaker 1: now I always I always speak to Neil Tenant. I
Speaker 1: make a point of seeing it. If CM I always
Speaker 1: I always go and say it's Tim. Remember, only pick
Speaker 1: up his glasses and go.
Speaker 2: So it t is one one person I know you
Speaker 2: met in La or actually I don't know this. This
Speaker 2: is a Wikipedia fact. This might be completely untrue. Is
Speaker 2: Joaquin Phoenix? Oh yeah, did you? Did you record a
Speaker 2: record with him? For? Like his record?
Speaker 1: It was it was a very strange ten days.
Speaker 2: Okay, this is like how long have you been in
Speaker 2: La at this point?
Speaker 1: Well, I'm thinking that it was probably about two thousand.
Speaker 2: And eight okay, And he was making a record himself
Speaker 2: which hasn't come out right, this is recording yees.
Speaker 1: So Anthony Langdon it's in a bun called space Hog,
Speaker 1: all right, And so he's from Les right, and Joaquin
Speaker 1: was writing lyrics and they were both kind of collaborating
Speaker 1: on music for an album that Anthony was singing. But
Speaker 1: Joaquin was writing all the lyrics and you could tell, okay,
Speaker 1: it's kind of everything. His whole life was in these lyrics.
Speaker 1: And I did some fucking vocals, and well, the reason
Speaker 1: how a mutual friend drove us up to this house
Speaker 1: saying I can't tell you who it is, and but
Speaker 1: it's a you know, it's a great friend of mine.
Speaker 2: We got there and it was so at that point,
Speaker 2: did you know you were going around there to like, yeah,
Speaker 2: I think he liked britpop.
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, some you know kind of.
Speaker 2: Bring me, bring me a britpop, bring.
Speaker 1: Me someone from britpop. So I went to this house
Speaker 1: and and and then to a studio where they were
Speaker 1: mixing and and dismantling it. It went from being quite heavy,
Speaker 1: kind of kind of very very very Bowie right and Book,
Speaker 1: you know, Book probably also, but kind of more American
Speaker 1: rock as well, I suppose, But and then it became
Speaker 1: really stripped down acoustic, ye kind of Bowie style, and
Speaker 1: you know, Anthony's vocals were amazing as well. Five songs
Speaker 1: where I did bucking vocals on a few other people
Speaker 1: came in and out, and then there was a few
Speaker 1: other recording sessions. Joaquin would drive me home and then
Speaker 1: he was going away to film and he lent me
Speaker 1: his car. I didn't didn't do anything with it because
Speaker 1: it didn't really it was just like, yeah, I think
Speaker 1: he didn't want to look for a parking space. And
Speaker 1: it was just like he would sort of tell me
Speaker 1: stories and you know, like he is when he collects
Speaker 1: his awards, you know, handing his hair and yeah, I
Speaker 1: was in this film and I played Johnny Cash and
Speaker 1: I was like, I know, so it's just stuff like
Speaker 1: that while I was driving, while I was driving and
Speaker 1: things like that. But it was a really great time.
Speaker 1: And then nothing, you know, and then the film where
Speaker 1: he is you don't know whether it's a film or
Speaker 1: whether it's real life.
Speaker 2: Is that I'm not I'm not here. Yeah, look it up.
Speaker 1: We'll get and and and that. And Anthony's in that film,
Speaker 1: and I.
Speaker 2: Don't know if i'd meet him. Actually, he's quite He
Speaker 2: strikes me as quite an intimidating guy because he's obviously
Speaker 2: so quite intense.
Speaker 1: He likes to blend it. He likes to blend in
Speaker 1: or disappear possibly, say so you see him on a
Speaker 1: on the street and he's almost hiding.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: It's a little bit like right, okay, and always kind of.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely definitely.
Speaker 1: Doesn't want to stand out. But then we went to
Speaker 1: a club and they weren't going to let us in,
Speaker 1: and he whispered something to this guy into this guy
Speaker 1: marketing Phoenix, and then he said, man, don't maybe do this,
Speaker 1: do this, And then we went in and then within
Speaker 1: minutes it was like just everyone was around our table
Speaker 1: right the whole building, and it was like, yeah, it
Speaker 1: was well, did.
Speaker 2: You enjoy that? Like, because I think one of the
Speaker 2: things I love about la I've only been a couple
Speaker 2: of times, but one of the things I like about
Speaker 2: it is that you can sense that that world's there.
Speaker 2: I mean I didn't get anywhere near it, you know,
Speaker 2: but like there's such something so allure about it. I
Speaker 2: know it's ridiculous. I know I should be I know
Speaker 2: I should be like, I know it's not called s out.
Speaker 2: I should just be more like dismissive of it, But
Speaker 2: there is something quite being in it. Did you find
Speaker 2: it like quite an alluring, attractive world or was it strange?
Speaker 2: Because I also drove around One thing I did when
Speaker 2: I was in I drove around bel Air and Beverly
Speaker 2: Hills because I wanted to see it, and I was
Speaker 2: both amazed and just saddened by it because there's no
Speaker 2: sidewalks and it's so weird and it's so quiet and strange,
Speaker 2: and everyone's in these kind of palaces that are kind
Speaker 2: of like prisons because they can't really just walk everywhere,
Speaker 2: and it's just this weird kind of two sides of it,
Speaker 2: Like how did you find it?
Speaker 1: Well? I think living actually, you know, in Hollywood in
Speaker 1: that area, it was pretty good because like Silverlight was
Speaker 1: quite silver Light was closer to Beverly Hills, yeah, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, And it got Beverly Hills a
Speaker 1: few times. But it's kind of like, you know, that's
Speaker 1: like walking down you know, Regent Street, you know basically,
Speaker 1: so yeah, it's just another world.
Speaker 2: It's a visit.
Speaker 1: Silver Lake was somewhere where I, you know, played with
Speaker 1: other musicians and you know, met Anton from Bran John
Speaker 1: San Massacre and those guys and and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: we'll go to shows there. There's lots of really good
Speaker 1: clubs there, and and and that. Really seeing people film things.
Speaker 1: I didn't find it alluring really, I just but I
Speaker 1: enjoyed it. I just thought, oh, well, look there's there's
Speaker 1: Larry David, you know, and it's like and it's so
Speaker 1: great to just like be driving past and turning around
Speaker 1: and seeing Larry David or being behind you know, I
Speaker 1: can't remember, isn't it not? Jeff the other guy in
Speaker 1: ca of your Enthusiasm, The big the big guys. Jeff
Speaker 1: is the big guys, Jeff for the guy looks like
Speaker 1: Ronni Woolly and and and him sort of like doing
Speaker 1: a whole performance without the cameras and thinking, you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: David Lynch when he makes it, when he makes the
Speaker 1: David Lynch films, it's a film about real life to
Speaker 1: him because these characters they exist or they're all there
Speaker 1: and they're not acting, you know that, it's just it's
Speaker 1: just rolling the cameras.
Speaker 2: So reckon that that record, that work in Phoenix record.
Speaker 2: It might might have come out one day. Might it
Speaker 2: suddenly just arrive? Well, I have no idea.
Speaker 1: I mean what I heard was that they were using
Speaker 1: the bits on the the rap record.
Speaker 2: It was going to come.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, which didn't come out either, So I have
Speaker 1: no idea. I mean, as far as I'm concerning to me,
Speaker 1: it's there with the the Chaps mythology. Yes, the which
Speaker 1: brings us back to col Barratt Ahotograph's is gonna be
Speaker 1: worth a lot?
Speaker 2: That was the Chaps. Where are we at with the Chaps?
Speaker 2: I feel that we brought it up well Chams, I
Speaker 2: should explain for anyone who is not familiar. Was I'm
Speaker 2: going to use the term supergroups you Cobraratt who else
Speaker 2: was in it?
Speaker 1: And that was this gig and Martin Duffy and then
Speaker 1: that changed quite quickly to Stephan from Clacson's.
Speaker 2: That's it, Yeah, and was Jamie from Claxton Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: We had two drummers for a while as well. But
Speaker 1: I say for a while we only did three gigs.
Speaker 1: But and then you know, we split up very unacrimoniously
Speaker 1: and have not spoken for years.
Speaker 2: You know. Okay, there you go, and that's the story
Speaker 2: of the Chads. Yeah.
Speaker 1: We had a five gig plan to get us from
Speaker 1: the Tapping Tin and Chatter and Chatter That was to
Speaker 1: the Caunugy Hall within five within five gigs and I
Speaker 1: like that drive and we wrote a song that lasted
Speaker 1: for an hour and that's all the hour.
Speaker 2: That's all I can remember. Okay, that's all right, isn't it?
Speaker 2: So I wanted to talk to you about the listening
Speaker 2: parties because that's been a big thing during Lockdown. I
Speaker 2: was saying to Greg, who did this podcast with we
Speaker 2: take turns to interviews, we were saying, we can't make
Speaker 2: We've got to make sure we don't make all of
Speaker 2: this series about COVID and about Lockdown. But essentially we
Speaker 2: have to talk about this because it's been such a
Speaker 2: great success and such a great thing to do. I'll
Speaker 2: let you explain what Tim's listening Twitter listening parties.
Speaker 1: At a certain time, a designated time, people all over
Speaker 1: the world listen to an album and someone who made
Speaker 1: that album, a significant member of the band or an
Speaker 1: artist you know, involved, tweets.
Speaker 2: Tweets a long along as we listen. It's a great
Speaker 2: it's a brilliant idea because it's so simple. Why didn't
Speaker 2: someone else come up with this years ago? But you
Speaker 2: actually did, right, you did. The first time you did
Speaker 2: this was ten about ten years ago.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was actually watching you know with Twitter, you know,
Speaker 1: I joined up and got a few thousand fans and
Speaker 1: would post about upcoming gigs and things like that and
Speaker 1: didn't really get didn't really know what all the fusses about.
Speaker 1: And then I posted something about coffee and it went
Speaker 1: a bit crackers, and so I was just kind of
Speaker 1: like trying to work out what Twitter was all about really,
Speaker 1: and then you you know, started to realize it was
Speaker 1: about engagement and and you know, people just you know,
Speaker 1: really wanted to talk about you know, funny stuff really.
Speaker 1: And I know one of the cast members, at rizamed
Speaker 1: Yes from Four Lions, said, if you watch Four Lions tonight,
Speaker 1: I'm going to tweet along, right okay, and you'll see
Speaker 1: when the fourth take that I get into the car,
Speaker 1: that's the one that I laughed the least, and that's
Speaker 1: the one that they used.
Speaker 2: In the film, right okay.
Speaker 1: And I thought that is amazing. Right, So this is
Speaker 1: years ago, this is like, this is like ten years ago,
Speaker 1: and I thought, I'm going to do a Charlatan's album
Speaker 1: and tweet along.
Speaker 2: And about what you remember from recording I remember from track.
Speaker 1: And yeah, exactly exactly, And it's like, so I put
Speaker 1: it to you know the Twitter, my Twitter followers, and
Speaker 1: they thought it was a good idea, and by the
Speaker 1: end of it, it was like, wow, this is great.
Speaker 1: So I did the next album, and did the next album,
Speaker 1: and you know, I'd done all Charlaton's thirteen albums by
Speaker 1: the Charlaton's five or six times over ten years. But
Speaker 1: so on the pretty much, you know, the first week
Speaker 1: of Lockdown, I just decided to do a listening party
Speaker 1: again for some friendly and then Alex Caprana said, great,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I can't wait for that. Bought that record
Speaker 1: when I was seventeen years old. It's a big one
Speaker 1: for me, and at that moment, I thought, well, why
Speaker 1: don't you do one?
Speaker 2: So he was the first one that you did of
Speaker 2: some bit of a different artist essentially was Alex Carranos.
Speaker 1: So yeah, and Dave Rowntree was pretty close, you know,
Speaker 1: behind and all of a sudden.
Speaker 2: So were they getting in touch with you saying this
Speaker 2: is I mean, well, you.
Speaker 1: Know, they're quite active on on Twitter anyway, so you know,
Speaker 1: they they saw that I was announcing that I was
Speaker 1: going to do you know, some friendly and they kind
Speaker 1: of were responding, and I thought Dave would choose I
Speaker 1: don't know, I don't know which album we would choose,
Speaker 1: but he wanted to do Part livee okay, and after
Speaker 1: and Alex wanted to do the debut Ferdinand album. This
Speaker 1: is like really great of them to do that, you know.
Speaker 1: Bonad did definitely maybe, and Wendy Smith, Steve McQueen and
Speaker 1: we had like five there. They were just like, you know,
Speaker 1: to me, really got I mean by the time we
Speaker 1: got to Wendy okay, so you know, the first run
Speaker 1: for the Ferdinand album, he was you know, Alex was
Speaker 1: the first, you know, and then Dave Browntree. He had
Speaker 1: all this memorabilia of Part Life that no one had
Speaker 1: ever seen before and and his girlfriend had laminated it.
Speaker 2: So it's like brilliant.
Speaker 1: And by the end of it, he realized that he
Speaker 1: could have a coffee table book if he wanted. Me
Speaker 1: I'm sure, I'm sure he hasn't thought about it again
Speaker 1: since that night, but you know, he just had all
Speaker 1: this like memorabilia and like lyrics that Damon had kind
Speaker 1: of like half written and he was presenting to Phil
Speaker 1: and you know, and then and then Bonet obviously had
Speaker 1: you know, the enormity of kind of like you know,
Speaker 1: Oasis followers and stuff like that. Liam was going to
Speaker 1: join in and then he didn't, and I was, I
Speaker 1: don't all that kind of stuff, and then Wendy just
Speaker 1: like took it emotionally to to a place that you know,
Speaker 1: I was it was, it's one of my favorite albums anyway,
Speaker 1: but the way she described it all was just it
Speaker 1: was just like it was mad.
Speaker 2: It's amazing the one that there was some really good things,
Speaker 2: some good like facts because by these people being involved
Speaker 2: and sharing the kind of stories about it, there's loads
Speaker 2: of things that you obviously nobody knows because it's not
Speaker 2: come out in interviews or whatever. I liked that Bonet shared.
Speaker 2: I wasn't boned. I think it was the guy who
Speaker 2: designed the sleep Yeah posted what Liam wanted the sleeve
Speaker 2: to receive it and it was like a block of
Speaker 2: butter with a knife in it, just said definitely maybe
Speaker 2: on it. I'll put a link to that in the
Speaker 2: in the base of this podcast. It's yeah, it's such
Speaker 2: a it actually looks like a real britpop album. Is
Speaker 2: it the kind of the kind of sleeve that Sleeper
Speaker 2: might have?
Speaker 1: Actually, well, he would never get asked that question.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, what was that picture going to be yeah,
Speaker 2: and and and that.
Speaker 1: You know, that's a really great thing to bring up
Speaker 1: because you know, people ask me all this and what
Speaker 1: is it that makes it?
Speaker 2: You know, and I always think that.
Speaker 1: This time passed, you know, between the making of the
Speaker 1: album and musicians open up a lot more, you know,
Speaker 1: as time goes on, I think. But you know, that's
Speaker 1: a really good point, you know, bringing in up the
Speaker 1: other people like who you know, the people who had
Speaker 1: significant roles but maybe weren't asking any questions at the time.
Speaker 2: And I also didn't realize one of the things that
Speaker 2: that Bonead said, this is just a g I think
Speaker 2: this is a great nerdy fact. I didn't know this,
Speaker 2: but like Morning Glory is over too vinyls because it's
Speaker 2: too loud to go on to one and that's because
Speaker 2: the grooves. I didn't realize this. But the louder song,
Speaker 2: the wider the groove on a record, right.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: Wow that I feel like I've been educated by Bonhead
Speaker 2: here in a big way. He's been incredible. He's quite
Speaker 2: a Twitter guy is and he's quite active on Twitter.
Speaker 1: He's been he's been really fantastic and and you know,
Speaker 1: really got it and and then and then finally did
Speaker 1: help with the liam on as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so how is so? So how does it like
Speaker 2: work now? In terms of oh, one thing I was
Speaker 2: gonna ask, is anyone as like, is there anything what's
Speaker 2: the most surprising thing that you that you can remember
Speaker 2: that someone said? Is there anything that stands out like that?
Speaker 2: Like a record? The record groove thing.
Speaker 1: Or someone said that I headline reading and I didn't
Speaker 1: believe them until they.
Speaker 2: Put you're just gonna remember that. What year is that?
Speaker 1: I know, we didn't we didn't, we didn't, I didn't
Speaker 1: didn't do that.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just everything is that, everything's a surprise
Speaker 1: to me. It's just like, yeah, I mean it's three
Speaker 1: hundred and fifteen hour of them.
Speaker 2: Wow, and did you do didn't you do one day?
Speaker 2: Where you did like loads in one day? Yeah?
Speaker 1: We're done festivals. Yeah yeah, yeah, And it's starting at
Speaker 1: eleven and finishing eleven. Yeah.
Speaker 2: It's such a great, as I say, it's so great
Speaker 2: because it's so it's kind of so beautifully simplar. The
Speaker 2: best ideas are normally like the simplest ideas and stuff.
Speaker 2: But do you where are you now with it? Like
Speaker 2: the people, the prs get in touch and say hey,
Speaker 2: can you do yeah next can you Oh yeah, you're
Speaker 2: now part of like people's promotional campaigns.
Speaker 1: Well yeah, I mean that's that's definitely been an increasing
Speaker 1: thing and and I think that's I think that's fine.
Speaker 1: But I also like the idea that someone would do
Speaker 1: it for because they like the listening party and because
Speaker 1: they because they follow what's going on because they're fans
Speaker 1: of it. So even if even if they do want
Speaker 1: to do their new album, I try and encourage them
Speaker 1: to do an older album first, you know, because I
Speaker 1: think then it doesn't you know, it's just more it's
Speaker 1: just more realistic, I think. And I think it's it's
Speaker 1: a very you know, it's evolved from a very natural place.
Speaker 2: And I keep it like that really and it's kind
Speaker 2: of no, no, sorry, I was just gonna say, it's
Speaker 2: kind of almost key that it's an old album in
Speaker 2: a way, because, as you say, with that distance from
Speaker 2: the record, they're maybe a bit more open about it.
Speaker 2: They remember different things. I suppose when someone's talking about
Speaker 2: their new record that's still in like I'm in promotion
Speaker 2: mode and I'm saying the things I need to be
Speaker 2: saying at this point to sell this record.
Speaker 1: That's true, that is true. I mean it was great.
Speaker 1: You know, most people have got into that, have got
Speaker 1: into that spirit, you know, and and every and everyone
Speaker 1: loves and everyone loves it after they've done it and
Speaker 1: can't believe how exciting it it actually is. And you know,
Speaker 1: Kevin Rowland has been a huge advocate of person, you know,
Speaker 1: and just you know, he's doing doing all his all
Speaker 1: his records. But I think, you know, it's it's an
Speaker 1: organic thing. It's like you say, it's very simple. And
Speaker 1: people have wanted to turn it into TV shows, people
Speaker 1: have wanted to do you know, everything with it, and
Speaker 1: it's like, you know, fine, and you know, I'm getting
Speaker 1: you know, do a lot of correspondence with people on
Speaker 1: emails and and people have offered, you know, suggested the
Speaker 1: suggestions of things like you know, Instagram live while it's
Speaker 1: all going on, but I don't really know what they
Speaker 1: would see. It would just be me on my computer
Speaker 1: and and kind of like putting a record, I probably
Speaker 1: you know, might pose the record putting the record bit
Speaker 1: on a bit more. But most of the time, I
Speaker 1: just like, you know, press and and go. You know,
Speaker 1: sometimes they have some prepared tweets you know already, you
Speaker 1: know that are prepared in the afternoon after.
Speaker 2: Listen, because obviously it started, I mean, it started so
Speaker 2: long ago, but then Lockdown has kind of given it
Speaker 2: this new lease of life and super charged.
Speaker 1: It is the longest Silver Knight sensation.
Speaker 2: Do you intend to just carry on doing it? Now?
Speaker 2: Is there like we're in this weird world, aren't we now?
Speaker 2: I mean just in the sense that Lockdown is ending
Speaker 2: and things will eventually get back to normal. And I
Speaker 2: think there's all these things that have been set up
Speaker 2: that people are like, is this my life? Do I
Speaker 2: is this my thing?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 2: What? Like? How do you feel about it? Do you
Speaker 2: think I feel it?
Speaker 1: It's my thing in some in some ways, you know,
Speaker 1: I meant at the time I jokes on on on
Speaker 1: Twitter that you know, you know, I am the Twitter guy.
Speaker 1: You know, now.
Speaker 2: You're a Twitter celebrity.
Speaker 1: But some people met two guys both called Liam, who
Speaker 1: never met each other before, fans of what I do,
Speaker 1: and and they helped to do the replay thing, which
Speaker 1: I think was an amazing really helped with everything. So
Speaker 1: if you miss it, you can actually like listen to
Speaker 1: it in real time on your on your own, which
Speaker 1: I just think is an amazing thing. And they also
Speaker 1: helped me with the diary because at first I had, like,
Speaker 1: you know, people, five people booked in the same spot.
Speaker 1: You know, it was just like, it's not my thing,
Speaker 1: you know, it's like trying to you know, trying, you know,
Speaker 1: just like people coming in and me asking and all that.
Speaker 1: But anyway, I'm trying to get it to one a day,
Speaker 1: but so far I had none yesterday and I've got
Speaker 1: three tomorrow.
Speaker 2: But you know, I love it really.
Speaker 1: I love the complicatedness and craziness.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's great. Yeah, it's great, and I think it's yeah,
Speaker 2: you're right, like I feel like the format it's in
Speaker 2: is the format it should be in. Yeah, it's like
Speaker 2: it's it's complicated. Yeah, yeah, don't mess with success, you know,
Speaker 2: leave it alone. One of the other things that you've
Speaker 2: had to that you and lots of artis have had
Speaker 2: to do, You've released a record in lockdown, which is like,
Speaker 2: how was that? Because obviously I felt really bad for
Speaker 2: anyone having to release a debut during lockdown, because I
Speaker 2: just thought, if you're especially if you're a young musician
Speaker 2: and you you just you dream of this moment and
Speaker 2: then your the day your record comes out, you're in
Speaker 2: isolation still and you're like in your house on your own.
Speaker 1: EA.
Speaker 2: I always thought that's rough, you know, to have to
Speaker 2: be in that position. But equally, I think it's probably
Speaker 2: been tough for returning musicians, doesn't matter how long you've
Speaker 2: been releasing records, Like you put all this effort into
Speaker 2: making something and then you have to kind of release
Speaker 2: it now because it's we don't know when we're coming
Speaker 2: out of this and all of those sorts of things.
Speaker 2: How did you find it was it? Was it tough?
Speaker 2: Were you just okay with with doing it that way?
Speaker 1: And yeah, I mean I didn't want it to not
Speaker 1: come out because I recorded it and finished it and
Speaker 1: started the process. In October, we were going to go
Speaker 1: to south By Southwest, and obviously that got pulled first,
Speaker 1: one of the first festivals to to to to not happen.
Speaker 1: But we booked tickets and there's a festival in New
Speaker 1: York that was still going ahead. So we went to
Speaker 1: that and did five shows there and then came back
Speaker 1: and then it was lockdown, and I wasn't kind of
Speaker 1: ready for it to stop, and I was asked if
Speaker 1: it was still going to come out in May, and
Speaker 1: I thought, yeah, you know, and I think it became.
Speaker 2: An album for the Lockdown, you know. I mean, I
Speaker 2: think it a strange I think maybe in like his history,
Speaker 2: I think certain people will remember certain records as being
Speaker 2: the thing that helped them get through Lockdown. That sounds
Speaker 2: kind of cheesy, but there were records that came out
Speaker 2: in Lockdown that I loved, and I probably listened to
Speaker 2: them more because I was in Lockdown, and I've got
Speaker 2: a certain I'll always have that connection to them that
Speaker 2: maybe I wouldn't have if it had come out when
Speaker 2: I was running all over the place and getting on
Speaker 2: with normal things. And it's kind of been date stamped
Speaker 2: in that way, So there is I mean, that's kind
Speaker 2: of maybe a very thin silver lining for artists to
Speaker 2: think that way, but I think there is. I'm glad
Speaker 2: records came out in that.
Speaker 1: Time me too, and I think for for that concentrated time,
Speaker 1: I think records became very important, you know, to people,
Speaker 1: And I think that's why the listening party works as well,
Speaker 1: because people were the most common thing that was said
Speaker 1: was that I've not listened to another minutes in Taris
Speaker 1: for years. Yeah, you know, because it's all you know,
Speaker 1: you know, ye street things, don't you or you listen
Speaker 1: to one track and things like that. And and I
Speaker 1: was very pleased that my album came down. I came
Speaker 1: out during lockdown because it was an album. I mean,
Speaker 1: I make albums to sound like albums, yeah, yeah, And
Speaker 1: I like the artistry that goes on in that, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, it's something that you think about, you know,
Speaker 1: what's truck are you going to be?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: You know, it's got to be good, and you know
Speaker 1: it's got to be like one of the most important ones.
Speaker 1: And you know track four Yeah, that's you know.
Speaker 2: There your two numbers for well, you know, they're all
Speaker 2: important over track one, right, yeah, track one's always good.
Speaker 2: If it's not good at track one.
Speaker 1: Track is important because if it fails, it too you like,
Speaker 1: what's the point that's true?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And then there's like there was a time when like
Speaker 2: this is maybe like mid nineties early nineties thing, which
Speaker 2: is when I guess I really started getting really into
Speaker 2: music and hold bands. I guess where I don't know
Speaker 2: what track it will, maybe it would be track four
Speaker 2: would always be the acoustic number. And they would be like, well,
Speaker 2: we need an acoustic one, No needs his song. Now
Speaker 2: I think maybe it was an old thing. No, maybe
Speaker 2: started that actually for everybody did that. But yeah, four
Speaker 2: and eight okay, so that but no, okay, so sorry
Speaker 2: I interrupted you at all. No, I mean, I mean,
Speaker 2: and you know, I'm kind of like just pulling out
Speaker 2: the numbers. Really it could be.
Speaker 1: I mean I just think, you know, I like the
Speaker 1: idea of making an album and and and the thought
Speaker 1: process that goes with the INN album. So for it
Speaker 1: to come out during lockdown when people were actually giving
Speaker 1: albums mhm.
Speaker 2: And before we finished, can ask you one question about
Speaker 2: an interview I read with you about posting drugs back
Speaker 2: to yourself in Jamerico Records, because this is what I
Speaker 2: loved about this that if you were caught, you could say,
Speaker 2: well I don't listen to Yeah, yeah, well that was
Speaker 2: then can you can you take can you just do
Speaker 2: you mind telling this story? I think it's great? Yeah?
Speaker 2: So uh yeah, I mean I would post.
Speaker 1: Things that I needed and uh, envelopes that had you know,
Speaker 1: Jamerica his name on on it, because when I received it,
Speaker 1: if someone would kind of like, you know, catch me,
Speaker 1: I could. In my head, I could. I was thinking
Speaker 1: that they would believe me because I wouldn't listen to
Speaker 1: his music.
Speaker 2: I told it very badly.
Speaker 1: But I kind of don't feel the same as I
Speaker 1: did when I wrote that thing, and and I thought
Speaker 1: it was legit.
Speaker 2: You know, would would you? You'd buy the record?
Speaker 1: I still have the record. I still have the record, right, okay, right,
Speaker 1: there's a recurring thing. Oh so you just take the Okay,
Speaker 1: I get you take right, that makes more sense. So
Speaker 1: you take the record with you and you post it
Speaker 1: back to you as the decoy record.
Speaker 2: Record. Yeah, record, Yeah, and I still have it.
Speaker 1: I still have it at the Sallaton studio just in
Speaker 1: case I relapse.
Speaker 2: It's also a brilliant defense. Yeah, that would stand. I
Speaker 2: think it would stand up being caught. Well, they can't.
Speaker 2: They can't be mine saying that.
Speaker 1: I would love your Miqui to do a listening part.
Speaker 2: Okay, JK, if you're listening Tim takes that back about
Speaker 2: the record, that'd be a good listening part.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, the thing is with the listening
Speaker 1: part is that everyone who's done it, you know, an
Speaker 1: eternal fun because it's really it really did help people
Speaker 1: through you know, a very very difficult time and and
Speaker 1: I feel, I feel really, you know, quite passionate about that.
Speaker 2: Great it should it's a it's a brilliant thing. And
Speaker 2: thanks for coming on the podcast. Has that been all right?
Speaker 2: I've been I'm rusty. And it's hot in here, isn't it.
Speaker 1: It's really hot in here.
Speaker 2: And I hope it was good for you. It was
Speaker 2: good for me.
Speaker 1: I mean, I always say too many ers and I
Speaker 1: always have a few vacant marriage staring space.
Speaker 2: That's all right, we can close those gaps. Thanks y,
Speaker 2: you know, but you can keep that bit if you want. Anyway,
Speaker 2: good night,