Tim Burgess Announces Solo Tour

He'll hit the road in January and February...

Ever recorded an album and then forgotten about it?

Tim Burgess (almost) did just that. Assembling some friends in the final weeks of 2008, he set about recording an album's worth of completely new material.

'As I Was Now' finally saw the light of day 10 years later, a Record Store Day treat for fans that was much more than a mere curio.

With The Charlatans bringing down the curtain on their live commitments for 2018 the singer is ready to step out on his own, joined by his good friends Average Sex.

Announcing a string of UK shows, Tim Burgess intends to re-visit 'As I Was Now' in a fresh context, throwing in a few surprises along the way.

Clash had a quick catch up with Tim – plus, you can check out the dates in full…

– – –

How do you go about building a set list for these shows?

I recorded a solo album back in 2008 which came out in 2018 so lots of the songs from that are fresh in people's minds – Average Sex are the support band at the shows but during the interval they metamorphosise into The Anytime Minutes, my backing band. So the set has to be the songs we have learnt.

Without giving too much away, it's a set that takes in tracks that I've recorded over the last 20 years – plus the between song chat that knits it all together, I'm not saying it's like a one man show in the west end but it's a guaranteed good night out… if you like my songs. If not I'd find it hard to recommend to someone.

But, yeah, we have a good time and we hope the audience will too.

Will you have new material to play?

The new stuff is 10 years old but nobody heard it until this year, so yes.

Average Sex are ace – congrats on getting them on the tour! What's your favourite song by them?

I feel to choose one song is unfair on all their those other songs. I genuinely listen to their set and think "oh, this is my favourite" then they play another song and I throw that one under the bus and realise that the current one they are playing is the best.

I'll say 'We're Done' and 'Ice Cream' are in my top three but 'To My Dead Friend' is number one at the moment for me – it's joyous and tragic at the same time. Whenever they start playing a song there's little bit of jealousy from me that it's a song I'd love to have written.

What can we expect from O Genesis in 2019?

Expect the unexpected – to be fair that's not just me being enigmatic but we are open to any ideas and as an independent label we can act pretty quickly – so, from spoken word to records by heroes of mine to the sound archive from Jodrell Bank or an Ian Rankin short story, we tend to let things happen and see what's what. That's the most brilliant thing about having your own label/

Keel Her will release an album; The Silver Field will release their LP Rooms in January; the next Daniel O’Sullivan record is the most gorgeous thing, that is coming out; also, hoping for more Average Sex too.

Do you have a New Year's Resolution?

I'm not so big on a rule that comes in on January 1st. I'm happy to give things up / start something new but that's a funny date to start – resolutions should kick in around January 5th when the pressure is off.

This year I'm going to make more pancakes with my son. A resolution that's not too demanding but has great rewards.

Who's your tip to breakout in 2019?

Myspace – retro social media is the place. My Bebo account is where I'll be spending quite a bit of time.

What will The Charlatans be getting up to in 2019?

We already have some shows lined up and we always quite like playing festivals – we just did a run of shows to end the year so we're kind of in a cryogenic state for a few months. We're never short of ideas, it's just a case of working out if they are good or not.

– – –

Catch Tim Burgess at the following shows:

January
26 Liverpool Jacanda Recs
28 Birmingham C&F
29 Leeds Wardrobe
30 London 100 Club
31 Bedford Esquires

February
1 Worthing St Paul’s
2 Bethesda Neuadd Ogwen
3 York Crescent
4 Norwich Open

Join us on Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.

Buy Clash Magazine

-
Join the Clash mailing list for up to the minute music, fashion and film news.