Jade's Music Blog

“The last tour we did we actually christened the Diet Coke and Bananas Tour,� laughs The Charlatans frontman.
“Since I gave up drugs and alcohol it’s been all about the Diet Coke and the bananas. Alan McGee and I did this DJ tour. We were both clean – he inspired me to give up my old life actually – and that was all that was on our rider.
“But now I’m thinking I should probably cut down on the Diet Coke. I’m getting through too much of it. It can’t be good for me.�
How much are we talking here?
“Sometimes 20 cans a day,� he admits. “No, maybe not that much. But a lot though. So this tour might have to just be the bananas tour. Or the bananas and water tour. But that sounds a bit depressing.�
He’s looking good on it. Now 40, the pouty-lipped one is looking remarkably well preserved, and dare I say it, rather dapper.
“Thanks, you’ve made my day with that,� he grins. “I feel really good actually.
“I look back a few years and I was killing myself with drinking and taking drugs. I was bloated and exhausted. Now I feel like I can take on the world. I feel 10 years younger. So, yes, I’m very grateful to Alan for showing me that I was on the wrong path.�
The Charlatans/McGee relationship is like one big happy family it seems. As well as acting as mentor and best friend to Tim, Alan also manages The Charlatans, as well as Dirty Pretty Things, whose singer Carl Barât is Tim’s bandmate in part-time collective The Chavs. The band traditionally only play once a year, at the Tap'n'Tin club in Chatham, Kent.
Tim is also a member of Freebass, the occasional Manchester supergroup made up of three bassists – Andy Rourke (formerly of The Smiths), Peter Hook (formerly of New Order and Joy Division) and Mani (formerly of The Stone Roses and currently in Primal Scream) – plus a stellar cast of guest musicians.
“I’m kind of in the band, and so is Pete Wylie,� says Tim, originally from Northwich, but now living in Los Angeles. “We always have a laugh, and I try to meet up with him when I’m in Liverpool.
“I like Liverpool actually. I always have. People say there’s this rivalry between Manchester bands and Liverpool bands, but I’ve never seen it. We always get a good reception in Liverpool, and Liverpool bands always go down well in Manchester.�
Tim says he’s looking forward to playing Liverpool again on this tour, which they’re doing to promote their 10th studio album, You Cross My Path.
It’s possibly their best yet, and fairly rattles along with their distinctive sound, keyboards ablaze and tight drums keeping everything crisp and honest. Anthemic without being maudlin, it shows a band back on their best form.
So it came as something of a surprise that they’ve released it for free.
Radiohead may have grabbed the headlines in the autumn when they released their album In Rainbows on a pay-as-you-want basis, but Tim says it’s something he’s wanted to do for years.
“We weren’t influenced by The Radiohead thing at all,� he ponders. “It was a different thing.�
So you didn’t feel like you’d had your thunder stolen?
“No, no, I’m glad they did it. I think there’ll only be more of it if the music industry continues like this.
“We did ours because we wanted to stick two fingers up to the record industry. The way music is made and sold now is all about money. We wanted to step back from all that and make the music we wanted to and give it away directly.
“Luckily we’re in a position now where we can afford to do that, but for newer bands coming through it must be impossible. Something has got to change.�
The Charlatans play Carling Academy Liverpool on May 11. The album, titled You Cross My Path, is due for a physical CD/LP release on May 19 or to download free now at www.xfm.co.uk.