What made you decide to become a solo artist?
I don’t think I ever wanted to be solo artist. I always wanted to be a guitarist and saw myself as part of a band. It wasn’t until I was 25 that I started writing my own songs but I had been in bands for about 10 years before that. So I think I couldn’t really find an outlet in the band I was in, Ash. I had a few co-writes here and there but I realised that the songs I was writing were quite different to what they were writing. So my first solo record was just a bit of laugh really. I went to San Francisco with some friends, made the record and ended up releasing it on Ash’s managers label [Double Dragon Records] and it got really great reviews and lot of downloads and did really well. So I when I left ash I thought ‘well what am I gonna do now? And I threw myself into another record and now I’ve done three! So its kind of crept up on me and its become something that I never really aspired to and I miss being in a band when im solo and that why I play with other people. But I think its about time that I gave it the time that it deserves.
When did you start playing guitar and did you take lessons or are you self-taught?
I started playing guitar when I was about 14 when my big sister played guitar and went to university and left her guitar behind. So I taught myself and then I got lessons at school in a Saturday morning music club. Then I had drum lessons, then guitar lessons and I joined a little group there. They I joined a band when I was 15. Actually I think being a band taught me more than the lessons did.
Why did you change the name of your new album from ‘Cinnabar City’ to ‘New Worlds’?
‘Cinnabar City’ I really liked and I had lots of graphic, cartoony artwork to go with it. Quite far in I sort of realised I didn’t want the title to be something that had to be explained as the music was very direct and much more direct than any other record I’ve made. I wanted the title to be more of a statement. I think Cinnabar City is quite fun and I think there is also a cinnabar island in Pokemon. So when I was in America there was lots of ‘So you must be a really big Pokemon fan’, and so I thought maybe not. So I wanted something that meant more to the record really, although I do really like it.
This is your third solo album now. Do you plan your albums or do they just come together when you’re ready?
More planning went into this record in a way. I kind of had the idea of what I wanted to do with the producer, which was to make a record, which I guess, fitted around the budget restrictions. I only had a certain amount of money so the idea was to do something live in a week really quickly. Beforehand me and Rob [Ellis] who was drumming, we rehearsed it and had made sure that if it didn’t sound really good with two people then it wasn’t gonna make the record. Whereas with the other records we really struggled to play it live and it came together in the studio. So this one is very different. It always seems that at the end of a record, like now, I’m thinking about the next one and I feel like ‘fuck, what am I going to write about’ and it feels quite daunting. It’s hard to explain how suddenly you just have a bunch of songs and you have a theme and inspiration lyrically from somewhere. Then you find a producer and get a band and you go and do it. But it can be quite different from record to record.
I notice a lot of your songs are in unusual time signatures. Do you think about things like that when you are writing songs or does it just happen for you?
I think that’s just how I write. I like things to be surprising and interesting like the music I respond to. So the bands that I’m influenced like XTC especially. Their arrangements aren’t just verse, chorus, verse, chorus, and middle eight. They go off in different weird places. Also bands like Todd Rundgren and Captain Beefheart use unusual time signatures and I like that stuff, it keeps me interested. Dirty Projectors as well. I think the musicians that I work with like Rob, who is a great drummer in the way that he will make a drum part that sounds complicated when broken down but in a song it works. So I think a lot of my songs can be deceptively complicated like ‘Bastado’. Its just a pop song but to learn it and to play it with whatever band I have at the time is always a struggle because the time signature is all over the fucking place. So its kind of deceptive at the time and I also think that’s kind of why musicians like my music more because they understand and when they sit down and try to play it they realise it’s a bit weird. But they still work as pop songs. But I don’t sit down and try to do that, it just happens.
Why did you decide to create your own record label?
This was before labels went bust really. It was on the verge of the record industry going a bit weird and just when people stopped buying records. So I was trying to get a deal and talking to labels like Parlophone and V2 and although they liked it there was a lot of waiting. I think people were sort of on the verge of loosing their jobs and its interesting that a few months later V2 collapsed and the guy I was talking to at Parlophone got sacked. So it seemed like a really unstable place and that it wasn’t for me. My manager at the time had set up previous labels and said look we can do it ourselves. Kind of naively I said ‘ yeah great!’ and it had been tough and it means I’ve had to put all my money into it and when I tour I don’t have a label supporting me. But then these days I think when you are signed to a label your not going to get that anyway. I think it was just a way of avoiding being sucked in to the complications of being on a major label. Bat for Lashes are on EMI and I’ve seen what its like to be involved in a big corporation. On one hand your marketing budgets are really great and the press is brilliant and the exposure is brilliant but artistically you are quite compromised and I don’t want to deal with any of that stuff. On the flip side I can do whatever I like artistically but sometimes I don’t have he money to pay for big videos and marketing. There’s good things and bad things but ultimately its been really great for me and i think being independent is good.
How did you end up as the live guitarist for Bat for Lashes on their recent tour?
Just a friend of a friend I think. Natasha was putting a new band together. I think previously that her live band had been quite twee in a way. She didn’t really have a drummer, she had a few girls on violin and had a load of weird instruments on stage. But for her new album I think she wanted a bigger sound. So a friend of mine recommended me to her and I sort of ‘auditioned’, in a really loose way. I think because I was girl it helped and she wanted women around and we are the same age, Natasha and I. It was to play bass, guitar, keyboards and all sorts of stuff so it was absolutely brilliant. I’ve been doing that for eight months and it’s been great.
What’s the difference between releasing a record and touring on your own compared to doing it with other people and which do you prefer?
It’s easier touring with other people because it’s not your baby and you don’t have to do any press, you don’t have to get involved in any other stuff. All you have to do is get on stage and play and all this pressure is taken off. Whereas when I do my own thing, it’s my name and its me up front it’s a totally different experience. They are both great but there’s obviously something in the solo thing that I don’t get anywhere else which is why I keep doing it. But its very stressful and more rewarding in a way than playing with other people.
What’s your worst gig experience?
I’ve had many. Quite recently at a gig in Chester the promoter was having a nervous breakdown and his wife just left him and he didn’t have the money to pay the band. So my tour manager and my bass player had to try to take him to a cash point so he could pay me and it all got a bit stressful and quite violent. It was really distressing. Its weird I’ve done all kinds of gigs and I’ve done stadiums and ring tours and I’ve played with all sorts of people but I always end up doing bizarre club shows with not that many people where you have fights with the promoter. So I’ve sort of experienced a bit of everything really. Hopefully that will change next year.
Who are your biggest musical influences, modern and older?
Not sure about recent influences. I don’t really listen to much music anymore, Its almost like when its your life when I want to switched off and relax I listen to Podcasts, watch films or read a book. But I did really like Fever Ray’s record; I like Dirty Projectors who are really brilliant they do something really interesting. Also Marnie Stern who is an American guitar player she’s on Kill Rock Stars label. She’s really amazing. But nothing really effects what I’m doing. I think all my influences in terms of approach to recording are people like David Bowie Roxy Music, Captain Beefheart, Kate Bush, all that sort of era. But some of that’s not even musically. Like for David Bowie its how prolific he was, how many records he made and how influential he was. With Kate Bush it’s her independence and the fact that she’s done everything in the way that she wanted to do it. She’s quite unique. With captain Beefheart its his approach to making music, so its not necessarily a musical influence. I don’t have any guitar heroes or anything like that but certain things do inspire me.
What have you been listening to yourself this year?
Well bat for lashes every single night. We had this cool band Yeasayer supporting us and school of seven bells supported us. I guess also more films than music. Moon was amazing! Yeah I’ve been influenced by all sorts of things.
I think I'm going to present my article as an interview rather than writing it up because I think it looks more appealing that way and was done like that in a lot of examples I looked at.
I also added an introduction to make it seem more proffesional
As Charlotte Hatherley releases her 3rd solo album, DUETS' own Niamh O'Neill talks to the ex-Ash guitarist about influences, touring with Bat For Lashes and 'New Worlds'
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