Richard Hawley - London, UK, Spring 2002
By: Toby L
Twenty-one years in the business and Richard Hawley shows no sign of stopping. 'I don't look back, mate,' he huskily drawls. 'I look forward.'
And, why not - especially when you possess such a songwriting and instrumental-ability as this man. Over his two decades in the world of music, Hawley has lent his hand and guitar over to many memorable tracks from a whole range of genres - that was even him playing 'Under The Bridge' on the girl-group All Saints' number-one cover of the Chili Peppers' classic.
Aside from that, he was the main six-string force in former shining indie-rock sensations of the mid-90s, The Longpigs, who wrote anthemic and dramatic pop as its most snarling and gritty finest, though sadly stopped after just two LPs (on this, RH comments, 'It finished just because of drugs and alcohol, and too much touring, record-company and management indifference; we just came to the end of the road. Bands split up, and they aren't supposed to last forever... Simon still plays with me, and is on the album - he's a great keyboard-player.')
Since the band's demise, however, you may find him doing the twiddly bits and providing backing-vocals for one of the UK's best-loved acts, Pulp - as well as fronting his own solo-project.
The latter, incidentally, is what has brought us here today at London's Cargo venue. This evening, Richard is playing a sold-out show to a crowd that will include not just keen admirers of his work, but also the elite of music's current-day crop, all united with the interest of hearing one man and his band produce some of the most exquisitely romantic, scintillating and timeless love-songs of our time. Radio and the media has picked up on Richard's unique vocal croon and talent, thousands of records have been sold in Britain and overseas despite a thus far low-profile, and Hawley has established himself as an underground hero.
Sadly, however, not all heroes get away with avoiding some of humanity's troublesome deliveries. Tonight, Richard is suffering from a severe flu. He's as pale as a ghost, continually polishes off bottles of Evian in order to prevent his throat from drying up, and feels immensely sick. Still, the ardent professional he is, the show must go on - which is later found to be an unmistakable triumph - and so must the interview.
So, first things first, just what is it like performing solo and then within a group?
'It's almost a new job - like the difference between a butcher, baker or a candle-stick maker, you know,' he utters, prior to letting out a cough into his hand. 'It's very different being a guitarist in a band and then being a frontman. It sort of freaked me out at first, but I'm getting used to it now...'
Which of the two does your personal preference lie within?
'It's different things,' Richard states clearly. 'It's completely different standing at the back with Pulp and then standing at the front of the stage. I like the opportunity of playing music, whatever it is, and the reaction to my stuff that I've done on my own has surprised me massively - selling this concert out tonight, for example - I didn't expect it! The whole tour's been mental: Dublin, Glasgow, everywhere - they've been like rock gigs!'
'... Like rock gigs'; the reason Richard sanctions off his own performances from those that you may anticipate from an emerging four-piece with big haircuts from somewhere like Bury-St-Edmonds is because what he produces is grander, more heartfelt, and indicates towards a touching earnestness that can only be achieved from a life full of up and down experiences and then being able to document them precisely in an intricate and full-sounding ballad.
Sometimes, though, it ain't all pretty - after all, Richard's well known for being rather loose with his tongue...
'Swearing onstage,' he ponders. 'It's probably down to nerves I think, really... I don't know: maybe it's my upbringing; my parents swore when I was a kid! It's not a problem to me, but you do get these people that it does upset, though, but what can you do? Apparently, there were loads of people that winced when I played the Fleadh Festival last year in London, but the thing is I don't want to offend people - I just want to make 'em laugh!'
For the large part of his hopes, luckily he succeeds - as he does in this very conversation, too. His being from Sheffield in the north of the UK, although this may be a gross stereotype, allows the sort of down-to-Earth approach you always hope to encounter with most people in the up and down madness of the music-industry. As such, his dryness in everything said and comments are more meaningful than the typical swagger of, 'Yeah, man, let's get a couple of beers and have it large.'
During his fruitful career, Hawley's had many opportunities to work with amazing characters from all walks-of-life - are there any other names he'd like to add to the list?
He smirks and reacts unmoved, 'Well, I've done 'em! One really great recent one was helping Nick Cave cover a Pulp song as a b-side for their next single; we all chipped in to help arrange it, and I came up with this waltz-riff to 'Disco 2000' and Jarv really liked it, so we proceeded down that avenue. Then, we got Nick Cave to sing it, and it makes it a really sensitive song, because the words are really sad... And it works!'
'But, with doing other things with people under the 'Richard Hawley' banner, I dunno... It's kind of a solitary thing, and I like doing it on my own... Makes me sound a bit sad, but that's the truth! It's only 'cos I don't really have many friends - Billy-no-mates, me! No, I did do half the record ('Late Night Final', on Setanta Records) with the band that I play live with because we were already playing it before at shows... I basically got them to play everything that I had played before on the mini-LP (his debut self-titled effort). At the time originally, I had to play really short sets because I only had six songs - and a Hawaiian instrumental!'
Your sound doesn't precisely 'fit in' with current trends - are you ever worried that you'll be perceived wrongly in some way or other?
He pauses momentarily to contemplate the issue. 'I don't tend to worry about what people think, because - if you do that - you tend to make music to please other people, and not yourself. I enjoy making music without having to satisfy a boring, commercial, corporate twat. I made the current LP to be the final record you put on in the evening, hence the title, 'Last Night Final' - which is incidentally what people shout when they sell 'Star' newspapers, calling out (adopts rough and shouty voice), 'LATE NIGHT FINAL!' So, it's kinda funny as well...'
Returning to the matter of collaborative efforts, Richard has recently been involved with the rising four-piece, Hoggboy, reportedly producing their debut sold-out single for just a packet of cigarettes and a pint of beer... Is this true?
'Pretty much, yeah,' he grins. 'They're managed by the same bloke who manages me, and he just said, 'Listen to this track'. I said it needs a middle-eight, it needs this, it needs that,' and he said, 'Exactly - can you produce them?' And I just went, 'Alright!' The single was all done in just two hours... I got 'em all to play completely live... It's very full-on.
'I love gentle music, and the stuff that I'm doing, but I still love rock 'n' roll,' he continues. 'The problem, though, is that I think a lot of loud music today is created by impotent mutants! They just shouldn't be allowed to hold guitars! It's called 'indie-music', yet it's all done on corporate labels. These bands have bought the identity of what people did in the eighties and the early-nineties and have realised that they missed the boat, and so a lot of these bands around now just don't have any passion... The last real great rock-records were by people like The Pixies and Nirvana, and there was good British stuff, but I think a lot of what's going on hasn't got a lot of bollocks, really.
'I enjoyed doing the Hoggboy thing because they wanted to create really nihilistic records - and I was well up for that. They've also just done a couple of b-sides with me recently, and I asked them to do a cover of Gene Vincent's 'Hey Mama' - and it's just unbelievable. There was a great moment where we brought four amps around one microphone and just did all this mental feedback - it can be quite beautiful.'
Is recording in such unusual ways an appealing aspect to you in making music?
'I try and record in the simplest way possible,' Richard reveals. 'A lot of the music that I'm influenced by is old stuff on Sun Records and all that was done live. For example, 'Love Of My Life', that's recorded with two microphones in one take, all of it live... It's just a really old-fashioned way of recording. The way people record now is just so anal, the more microphones you record with, the more it takes away the route-sound you're trying to record.'
'I'm really not a cerebral thinker about things - as long as it's got heart, then that's what I'm trying to get at: it's always what I'm after... I've got this theory that that gentle and really lovely music hits the same spot that a really great rock band does, I think... It moves you and you get passionate as a result of hearing people playing these things. Scott Walker moves me in the same way as The Stooges move me; I know that may sound perverse, but that's what happens!'
Perverse maybe, but surely not as much as the industry with which Richard chooses to surround himself - especially judging by the way he speaks of the 'corporative' nature to be found in certain aspects of the biz.
'It's full of c**ts,' he proclaims coldly. 'You know the 'Star Wars/Phantom Menace' film, and the bit when that Jedi goes in to buy a spare bit from that thing that flies, I don't know what it's called, and he tries to do a Jedi mind-trick on him, and the thing goes, 'No, no - only money!' Well, art is just like a Jedi mind-trick on the people - but the industry only sees the money to be made.'
Has it made your views cynical overall on what is out there?
He smiles. 'I was a steelworker's son - I was born cynical!'
Pessimistic or not, there must be certain aims to achieve still?
'Yeah - just to keep making music,' he responds hopefully. 'What it's all about is that I want to be around in ten years' time, you know? A lot of music is classed as youth-orientated, but Johnny Cash still makes music, and it's still relevant, so I don't see being a 35-year-old makes me irrelevant, so I just wanna keep going - and it's as simple as that... I've done most of the things I wanted to do: I've been lucky to headline at Glastonbury, release records... That's all I've ever just wanted - the idea of being a pop-star is just bollocks.
'What I make are very selfish records, because I made them for me. I didn't expect anyone to like it - I thought everyone would laugh me out of town! I kind of did it and then the record company would ring me up and say, 'You've sold 26,000 albums!' And, I'm like, 'What?! You're f**king joking! This is supposed to be old git music for me, you know!' I'm not moaning - but it's just amazing!'
Such great occurrences must prompt partying, you'd think... No, not really - if you're to take his reaction into account.
'Before,' he explains, 'I'd just drink as much as possible after a gig, but that doesn't really interest me as much now; I've kind of got bored of it. I like playing with my little son's train-sets, and I've just bought my daughter a Scalextric - and that's well good, too! I like hanging out at home, really - f**k touring! Parenthood is boss - I recommend it!'
Before he gets all lovey-dovey on us, we ask the final question - to do with ambition, and where five years' time he can envisage himself being.
'God, it sounds like a careers-interview,' he moans, in recollection to his past school-experiences. 'They actually said to me, 'You'll never do anything with your life, Hawley - ever!' I don't know how to answer it... I just want to drift along and continue making music... Though doing that and being on a yacht in the south of France might be nice an' all... But, knowing the way things go, it's more likely that I'll be on a peddle-boat in a murky English lake.'
Whether on a murky English lake, or aboard a yacht in the South of France, at least one thing will remain for certain: Richard Hawley's music and presence shall always be an essential experience to run alongside.
Artists in this article: Richard Hawley