were nurses or carers, which says something about the men! Te blokes were all steelworkers, and we all played music. For us it was normal and I only realised that it wasn’t de rigeur when I’d go round my friends houses with my Action Man or my Marvel Comics and they didn’t even have a radio or any
records..it was odd. Homes just seemed very empty to me without music. I realised that we were quite different as a family. Mum would be ironing and dad would be doing a crossword and he’d pick his guitar up and start playing a tune and mum would start singing harmonies, and that was normal. In terms of songwriting…I was about eight or nine and my dad came into my room and I still had my light on and was playing my guitar. He was pissed off with me for still being awake at 10 o’clock at night on a school day. I told him I had a song going round my head and I didn’t know what it was. And he said, go on then, play it. So I did, and he said “Tat’s yours. Now go to fucking bed!” He took the guitar off me and turned the light off and I was laid there in the dark thinking “What does he mean, it’s mine?” Te concept that I could be creative and growing up in the rough end of the city…a lot of life is just to be interested in being interested, and interested in people who are interested in being interesting! Hahahaha! It’s important to be curious and I’ve always been quizzical about things whether it’s the arc of the stars or a guitar or watching a falcon. It
keeps you interested in being alive. You’ve played in other great bands, like the wonderful and much missed Longpigs and played with Pulp for a while. What did those experiences teach you about making music? I guess I learned not to be intimidated by things, be brave and to make the music you need to make, don’t make music you think folks may like. Te reason why you make music has to be the music, and no other reason really. It’s like life; you don’t do things just for
INFORMATION Richard Hawley plays UEA on 21st February. Tickets available from
ueaticketbookings.co.uk
money’s sake, it’s important to do things that have value and meaning. Before you leave your front door you’ve got to get your reasons for leaving the house straight in your mind, ‘cos that way, when you come back home you’ll be at peace. It doesn’t matter if one person turns up at a gig or a million because you know you’ve fired your arrow straight. If you can imagine meeting your 15 year old self, would you be happy with the way you
“If you want to impress do me,n’t bea dick.”
turned out? I guess my 15 year old self would be just about OK with me, thank God! Physically, at the age of 48 I’ve still got me own hair and I’m not massively fat which is a bonus. All my mates who I knew when I was young look like footballs with eyes now! Letting stuff slip affects you mentally as well. What were the inspirations behind your latest album, Hollow Meadows? I spent a lot of time not being able to move (Richard was very poorly for six months recently), and where we live on the edge of the city there are two main woodland bits. In the morning when the light breaks the crows fly from one to the other and then at the end of the day they fly back. So when you’re laid on your back the bit in between is pretty fucking boring! Hahahahaha! So the crows became the highlight of my day. Your greatest asset as a songwriter is boredom because you need to be like that ancient boat, the coracle, where you disturb the water in front of the boat in order to move. We live in a time now where all our nervous energy or boredom is occupied totally by the screen, so when you go to the bog or you’re queuing or going outside for a fag everyone looks at their phone. We become less and less observant about our environment and each other. So if you can get over that addiction and allow yourself to become bored you will be more creative. So I lay on my back for six
months, played guitar and wrote songs. Open Up Your Door is perhaps one of your best loved songs. Can you tell us a bit about the story behind it? I took literally 10 minutes to write. I’ve written other songs that I’ve crafted and people are not bothered! My song For Your Lover Give Some Time, I took ages over the lyrics and wrote it for my wife. In the back of my mind, being a
outlineonline.co.uk /January 2016/ 13
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