Star interview: The Charlatans lead singer Tim Burgess talks to go!

By dmorris

The Charlatans formed in March 1989, got a set together and started playing gigs, but it wasn't until January 1990, when they put out a single that sold 15,000 copies, that record companies started to take an interest.

Since then the band - now comprising of Tim Burgess (vocals), Mark Collins (guitar), Martin Blunt (bass), Tony Rogers (keyboards) and Jon Brookes (drums and percussion) - have faced numerous challenges - including the replacement of some of its members - produced 10 (often very different) albums and has still held onto a strong fan base.

"The history of the band is quite long", says Burgess. "But one of the most amazing things about this band is our fans know every single thing about us.

"It's not just like a passing casual thing, for anyone who has fallen for The Charlatans, it's been a full on love affair, which is something I have always been really proud of."

Despite having a strong fan base Burgess points out that the bands longevity has not been an easy thing to attain.

"Obviously staying together is a lot more difficult than people give you credit for. There are so many bands that just get so carried away with it all and they actually have real ideas beyond their actual talent and it's quite bizarre that three years later they're not around anymore.

"I always just wanted to make music and I enjoyed meeting people and sharing musical ideas. We live in a fame hungry society but for me it's all about music."

A particularly difficult period in the band's history saw the tragic death of keyboardist Rob Collins, which Burgess tells me, as he runs through the band's history, was the hardest challenge they faced.

"The biggest thing that ever happened to us was our keyboard player, and original co-writing partner, died during a car crash, which was obviously catastrophic and turned the band into a completely different entity.

"We kind of became survivors overnight really. But then we found our way over a couple of years and went to a couple of record labels, had a bunch of different managers and played a million gigs all over the world and here we are now."

Where they are now is they have just returned from Dubai and are arranging a tour in America for six weeks in September, as well as playing festivals this summer, such as Guilfest.

They are not working on a new album at the moment but Burgess is pursuing a solo career and is working on an album he describes as "weird pop" at the moment. He is also set to write a book about his life.

"I have a broad musical taste and for me that's perfect but some people like to be exactly the same all the time, but for me I just leave that to Oasis, you know.

"One day I can put on a Curtis Mayfield record and just get moving to that or I will go through a phase where I'm feeling quite wordy and I want to listen to Dylan."

Burgess's broad musical tastes may have influenced the band's tendency to take risks with their music without losing their identity.

"I think we have always taken risks. We have never really gone down a route where we were guaranteed anything.

"I literally halved our audience when I started singing in a falsetto voice on an album called Wonderland," he admits.

"That split our audience in two but it was something that I felt was the right thing to do. There are moves that you make that you just have to do."

Moves the band have made have included releasing their album, You Cross My Path, for free in 2008.

"The great thing is because we knew we were giving it away for free I was completely enamoured with the fact I thought it was a true anarchic statement, and should sound like a post punk statement. When I first started listening to music it was Manchester post punk, so I wanted to base it around Manchester post punk but with a post modern twist in it."

But despite his admiration for different movements Burgess has always been reluctant to let the band be categorised.

"I think people have put us in with many different kinds of things," he says, "and I guess for a journalist trying to educate a reader they have to put you in some kind of bracket, but I have always felt as soon as someone put me into a box I wanted to break out of it.

"That is my nature. I think people have slightly given up trying to pigeonhole me now.

"I'm just me and all through my life I have wanted to know what the true essence of myself is and trying to make music that I want to make and that I'm inspired by."

The band members lead very separate lives when they are not playing, with Burgess currently residing in Los Angeles, while other members are on different continents.

"I think everyone else works with the band and then takes loads of time off," Burgess says. "They all have families – I have a wife and a dog, which is in my opinion the perfect family. The rest have a bunch of kids, so it's quite different for all of us. As soon as I get off tour I get into the studio."

However, he adds: "I think we are close. We have been together for a long time and even though we have moments where we can't stand the sight of each other, it's more like a brotherly thing. Even though we hate each other at times, if anyone did anything bad to a member of the band I would kill them, you know."

But will the band be playing in another 20 years time I ask?

Burgess says: "Even TV programmes like Friends come to an end -even The Sopranos came to an end, so I can see an end coming to The Charlatans, but I can see an end coming to anything - we all die.

"But I like to think we will be playing for quite a bit longer."

He adds: "When I do interviews I occasionally think back about the good times I've had, but I think I'm very much into what is going to happen tomorrow.

"I think that's a reason why the band have never spilt or faded away, because I think we have always thought about tomorrow and tried to keep the dream alive."

Nicole Le Marie

●The Charlatans play the main stage at the Guilfest music festival in Stoke Park, Guildford, on Saturday, July 11.

Guilfest runs from Friday, July 10 to Sunday, July 12. For tickets, from £40 for Friday to £110 for the weekend with camping (adult prices), call 0871 424 0050 or log on to www.guilfest.co.uk.