Breakfast At Timothy's

There was a time when the name Tim Burgess was synonymous with Britpop, Madchester and some of the most seminal British guitar music of the 90's. Most people would be more than happy to call that a career. But merely being an iconic frontman, songwriter and hero to legions of fans wasn't enough for Mr. Burgess.

Not that it's unheard of for a musician to seek extra curricular activities outside of the hedonistic bedlam of rock and roll. Lest we forget Bill Wyman moonlighting as a metal detector salesman and Alice Cooper ditching the facepaint for PGA plaid. Burgess however, has his fingers in more pies than Mr. Kipling.



It started with a tweet. A tweet which evolved into the 'Tim Peaks' online diner, which is set to evolve from the virtual world into the physical at Kendal Calling Festival this Summer, where no doubt, Tim's own Kellogg's branded 'Totes Amazeballs' cereal will be on the menu, which the customers can devour while the world weary owner reads extracts from his upcoming autobiography 'Telling Stories'. 'Telling Stories' of course being the name of The Charlatans most commercially and critically successful album, released 15 years ago which the band will be performing in its entirety in a series of shows this year. Not bad considering he's had to fit that around running his OGenesis Record Label and recording his second solo album in Nashville.


Fortunately for us, music's finest entrepeneur swung by our own virtual kitchen to wax lyrical about his upcoming ventures. Put the kettle on . . .


The Soul Kitchen:You're set to be heavily involved with Record Store Day on April 21st, with "something very special" announced. What is it about records and record shops that has made you such a passionate supporter of them?

 

      Tim Burgess:  I grew up in record shops. They were part of the fabric of society in any given town/city – I feel that the passion I have for records has always shown up in my work as a musician and is now showing through the label now especially with Nik Colk Void's release where she pretty much shows how important we think records are by making the sleeve of her record – A Record….A Record Sleeve! We’ve got three singles coming out on the label and gigs in Manchester and London so it’s a big day. I worked out how long I spend in record shops and if they disappeared I’d have quite a bit of time to fill. 

TSK:  Any record shops in particular that you'd recommend?

TB:  Piccadilly Records in Manchester of course and Beatin’ Rhythm in Manchester for those soulful classics. Then Rough Trade East of course. Further afield there’s Amoeba Music in L.A. – lots of favourites around the world. Sadly there's less and less. It used to be the case that every town would have a great record shop but not anymore. I've just watched a documentary about a shop called Sound It Out in Teesside and it captured the unique atmosphere of a record shop. I've never been there but I've got a soft spot for the place. 

TSK:  Following in the footsteps of fellow Record Store Day luminary Jack White, you've recently decamped to Nashville to record your upcoming solo album. What's it been like to record there with the enormous musical history the city has?

TB: Wow I have big feet to fill! Erm isn’t Jack the Mayor of Nashville now? I went to Nashville to work with Kurt Wagner and Mark Nevers. Kurt I have known since 2001 though I knew of Lambchop since 1998 – I am a big fan. I loved recording in Nashville, its pretty laid back though the work in the studio is quite regimented just like you imagine clocking in and clocking out – yet these guys can play – so you could say clocking in and out  with soul – Mark Nevers and Kurt Wagner are both ex punks so they chose the musicians we worked with and chose with attitude. We had people from bands like My Morning Jacket and Clem Snide. It was like a holiday bromance, while I always knew I’d some back home. It was great to work with people like Chris Scruggs – his grandfather is Earl Scruggs who recorded the theme song from The Beverley Hillbillies. There’s history on every corner in Nashville. But spending a lot of time in Manchester teaches you that musical history is not something to get overwhelmed by.

TSK: What can we expect from the album? Any Honky Tonk, Gospel choirs or similar Nashville hallmarks?

TB:  Yeah all of the above kinda. Soul, Gospel, all sung with a northern accent backing vocals by Nik Colk Void who is from the deep south somewhere…..the deep south of England! I like to think that the place its recorded is often like an extra contributor to the album. Los Angelese can definitely be heard on Wonderland, when The Charlatans recorded there. Nashville doesn’t necessarily mean I donned a ten gallon hat but some of the atmosphere definitely sneaked in in other ways.

TSK: You're also set to release your autobiography 'Telling Stories' next month. Has the current deluge of rock and roll autobiographies hitting the market persuaded you to pen these memoirs or is it something you've been planning on releasing for a while?

 

 TB: For a while – I was approached in 2009 and I kept putting off the writing but going for the lunches / coffee. How am I doing I would be asked by my agent? “Fine” I would say. I didn’t write anything til end of 2010 november then everyday for all of last year til November. Sometimes from 10 am til 4am writing and re - writing and throwing stuff at the wall to see what would stick.

It was re – written 2 or three times. Penguin were publishing it, so I was confident they would want the best book possible. Some autobiographies these days are a bit like a big press release or an extended magazine article. I only wanted it to come out if it stood up on its own as a good book. I was happy with it, now it’s for everyone else to say. The initial reviews have taken me by surprise, lots of fantastic things being said. There was a launch at The Social in London so I was reading what I’d written to lots of journalists. Like I’d crossed over to the dark side. I really enjoyed it though so I’ll be doing a few readings with an acoustic gig at the end.

TSK: Tellin Stories the album meanwhile, is set to be performed in it's entirety in a series of shows later this year. 15 years on from it's release, how much does it mean to you that the album is still so loved by so many people?

TB:  It means a lot as it was a big album for us. 'North Country Boy' is probably the biggest song of ours – we played out first album, Some Friendly, track by track and we all really enjoyed it. Each album captures a time and it’s always good to look back. As long as we’re never judged just by one thing, then I’m happy to delve into the past. As long as your moving forwards then I think these things are pretty healthy. It’s an odd one as over the last 22 years, different albums have touched different people. There’s pigeonholes like Madchester or Britpop that different people think we fit in. At the time of Tellin’ Stories it was a big resurgence for guitar music and TFI Friday was huge on the TV – we fitted into what was going on so it had a big effect on a lot of people.

TSK:  Is there any added pressure to do the album justice by playing it in it's entirety?

TB:  Not really. Each gig means a lot to the people who are watching so we always try to do the best possible gig that nighT. It’s a performance that we want to be a success but it will be what it will be on the night.

TSK:  Which album would you most like to see played in it's entirety?

TB:  Twenty Jazz Funk Greats by Throbbing Gristle.

TSK:  You've recently set up your own Record Label, OGenesis Records. How does it feel to be on the other side of the coin? And what was the inspiration behind starting the label?

 TB:  Lots of reasons for starting it and lots of friends telling me I should start one.

Reasons for starting;

1. Because I wanted the groups me and Jim Spencer produced, groups who we really liked to do better than they would with the labels that wanted them.
2. Hatcham Social would’ve done better with Ogenesis and Eioh but…ah! Well it wasn’t to be.
3. I thought I could share my experience and put 100% `of my time in  from producing the records to making the sleeves to booking the adds
4. I knew a few people at the radio would share my taste and that was kinda it. 
5. With the team consisting of Jim Spencer, Nik Colk Void and Nick Fraser we can produce the records, do the sleeves, the videos and book the gigs. We're like ninjas!

TSK:  We can't possibly interview you and not ask you about Totes Amazeballs, the cereal you've produced with Kellogs. You've described the name as being like a phrase Willy Wonka would use. Do you think Mr. Wonka would give Amazeballs his seal of approval?

TB:  I reckon he would. It came from a tweet one morning where I said I’d invented a cereal by that name and that Kellogg’s were interested. Within an hour they’d got in touch and we were talking about making something. We’ll be serving them at Kendal Calling. It’s the perfect start to a day at a festival. Shakes off the cobwebs of the day before and sorts you out with a bit of a sugar rush. To me it was more about the power of crazy ideas and just going with something. I’d been talking to The David Lynch Foundation about working with them some more. We’d recorded a track for an album they released. The surreal cereal was just the thing we thought David Lynch would appreciate it. So from one tweet we’d sorted out a fundraising cereal for my favourite film maker. If life’s not about that sort of thing, then I’m not sure what it is about.

 TSK: Tim Peaks Diner also makes the step from the virtual world of Twitter into the physical world at Kendal Calling this Summer. So you're a singer, a songwriter, an author, the owner of a record label, a creator of cereal and you run your own cafe. What's next?

TB:  It’s hard to say really. I’m not sure I’d have predicted some of this last year, so I’m hoping it’s just as hard to know for next year. I can’t wait for 2013 – you won’t believe what I am going to drop. Not sure I’ll even believe it myself.

We're taking a wild guess at an edible concept album with Heston Blumenthal. Until then though, Tim's autobiography 'Telling Stories' comes out on April 26th with the author himself hosting a reading the evening before its release at the Piccadilly, London Waterstones which includes an acoustic gig at the end with Charlatans guitarist Mark Collins. 

The Tellin' Stories shows take place on;

Friday 1st June: Manchester o2 Apollo

Friday 8th June: London HMV Hammersmith Apollo

Saturday 9th June: Glasgow Barrowlands 

Until next time,

Keep on Keepin' on,

Baia

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