Words by Emily Jade Ricalton
Image courtesy of Student Music Network
When I was originally offered to interview Tim Burgess, there was no doubt I had to say yes. After all, I was raised in a household with a dad who obsessed with all things to do with football, Britpop and finally Madchester. The Charlatans became a part of my upbringing, so interviewing their lead singer was only inevitable for me to do really.
Earlier this year, Burgess himself had decided to release his fifth studio album, ÔÇÿI Love The New SkyÔÇÖ, which was released back in May during the depths of this yearÔÇÖs global pandemic; making him both a musical and entertainment hero, in some retrospect. He was one of few artists prepared to release an album within an industry so different to the one that we previously knew; one that was unstable and unlikely for physical promotion. As music consumers, we were and are still entering a world of online elevation within this particular industry, changing the whole dynamic of how the music world develops and progresses onwards within future years. Yet, Burgess didnÔÇÖt seem to be afraid of this by releasing both his album and online listening parties within the middle of global pandemic, creating success for himself despite unfortunate circumstances. And, because of this, this became the main focus point of our interview. I was curious as to how his album became such a success within the corona virus pandemic, and how, as a solo artist, Burgess found this newly embedded future of musical promotion.
QUENCH MUSIC: Do you feel like there has been a positive impact on you and your career by releasing an album in 2020 during the pandemic? What was it actually like to release an album within these circumstances?
Tim Burgess: I always thought that the album would grow with playing live. I spent quite a considered amount of time arranging the band and getting the right people involved in the band. We only got to play five shows, I think, and one of them fortunately was a filmed livestream for Paste Magazine in New York. Pretty amazing, and thatÔÇÖs really done the rounds now online and itÔÇÖs shown people what they would have been missing. We would have been playing live in May and then probably September, and all through the Festivals, and thatÔÇÖs how I thought the album would grow. But then the listening parties and all of that have kind of made people more aware of the album. So, itÔÇÖs hard to know which way would have been best, but youÔÇÖve just got to think on your feet really. I think itÔÇÖs given the album quite a bit of exposure, but not the kind of exposure I was expecting.
The album itself is encompassed within a sense of originality, one of which is very different to the psychedelic sounds of Madchester and The Charlatans as a whole. As stated throughout the interview, Tim pictures this album as an autobiography to his personal life; providing a perspective to his music that he has never expressed before. Through songs, such as ÔÇÿEmpathy For The DevilÔÇÖ and ÔÇÿSweet Old Sorry MeÔÇÖ, we picture the heartbreaks associated with real life circumstances, such as BurgessÔÇÖ divorce and issues with sobriety, allowing Tim to make the album depict raw concepts that listeners can relate to and sympathise with.
The album itself is beautiful. ItÔÇÖs sad, its poetic and itÔÇÖs personal, but in a way that doesnÔÇÖt appear obvious or overly dramatic to previous music associated with these kinds of topics. ItÔÇÖs definitely the perfect album to listen to through a national lockdown, making its release flawless despite its surrounding complexities. Burgess has an optimistic voice throughout this studio release, giving his listeners a sense of hope that is definitely needed during this current climate. From this, I decided to move the topic of conversation onto the reliance that individuals had upon music within lockdown; as for me personally, I wouldnÔÇÖt have been able to have functioned without music, and I believe that this was the same for Burgess.
During the pandemic itself, as mentioned before, Tim released his online listening parties, where people and fans of different types of genres could join these events in order to listen to the music, reviews and explanations of new and their favourite artists. It gave listeners an insight into the music world despite the decline of album releases, live concerts and the connections that both fans and artists share within music.
The first livestream took place on the first day of lockdown; preparing listeners for a very long and continuous break from live music. The listening party itself was dedicated to BurgessÔÇÖ own band, The Charlatans, where the stream was focused around their debut album ÔÇÿSome FriendlyÔÇÖ, with Tim himself holding the first of many listening parties. To date, Tim has done over 500 of these livestreams, with many listeners admitting that they hadnÔÇÖt listened to an album in full for a while until this particular movement had started.
The positive impact of these listening parties have even taken its effect upon myself. My favourite band, Wolf Alice, appeared within the livestreams on April 22nd, and of course I had to listen in. I found the party extremely insightful. It gave me a personal and first-hand explanation of one of my favourite albums, giving something to look forward to during a whole day isolation. Personally, I found these listening parties incredible to music fans; they gave people like myself a glimpse of hope during such a dark, depressive and hopeless time.
QUENCH MUSIC: Obviously, your listening parties have had a positive impact on people during the lockdown. Would you say that music became a coping mechanism for yourself too? What role did music play within your own lockdown?
Tim Burgess: Absolutely, yeah. Without me doing the listening parties, I think I would have lost it. And, without music, there would have been no listening parties. I think music has been so amazing. When I first started doing the listening parties, people were saying ÔÇÿoh my god, I havenÔÇÖt listened to an album in its entirety for so long!ÔÇÖ, and I think itÔÇÖs done a lot of good work for albums. Even though, I was only trying to be helpful. ThereÔÇÖs so many people doing amazing things in the world during the pandemic, and I just wanted to help a little bit. And I knew that the listening parties gave people some kind of enjoyment. I didnÔÇÖt really know how it was going to work out, but people have been saying that theyÔÇÖre listening to albums again now, which is an amazing thing because there is a lot of work that goes into an album.
All in all, Tim Burgess has been an incredible inspiration to those struggling throughout the mass tragedy of 2020. Through both his album and listening parties, he has given all kinds of music fans an outlook for hope and happiness. He is someone who has an incredible history throughout music, and still continues to add to the honoured reputation of which he holds. It was definitely a great achievement to interview such an inspirational man and I took great pleasure within speaking to him.
Tim Burgess continues to hold his listening parties, follow the link below to find out more now.
TimÔÇÖs Twitter Listening Party: https://timstwitterlisteningparty.com
To read more about the Mancunian music scene, click here.