Being a member of a famous band surely unlocks many doors that would otherwise be off limits, but despite the perks and reputation, it's not always a guarantee of a successful solo career, as the likes of Mick Jagger, Pete Towshend and even Ian McCulloch can tell you. Besides, when these artistes have made solo records, it's usually been on downtime from their main bands.
Not so for CHARLOTTE HATHERLEY, who recorded her solo debut "Grey Will Fade" simultaneously with ASH'S "Meltdown". Instead of stiffing or becoming a critic's curio, it's just about to cruise into the Top 40 as I write. How does she do it - and remain so damn nonchalent and charismatic about all this? W&H couldn't wait to find out....
Charlotte is very laid-back, but still forthright and no-nonsense, speaking with a slight Transatlantic drawl that's no doubt the result of spending so long in the sunshine state of California. I don't think we need to discuss the fact that - despite the appearance of your solo album - your long-term future remains with Ash, but how's the idea of you making your own record gone down with the boys? Was Tim (Wheeler) encouraging towards your efforts?
"Well, the idea of me writing songs isn't that strange to them," says Charlotte reasonably.
"I mean, I've presented a number of songs as possibilities, several of which have been used as B-sides and I've co-written with Tim, bringing in guitar parts, so I asked Tim if it was cool for me to go ahead and make this record and he was really supportive, saying "great, of course you should.""
Of course you still have major touring commitments looming with Ash. Is it reasonable to expect you to chuck in the odd number from your album in an Ash live set?
"Mmm...well, I did have those sort of crazy ideas to begin with, but I don't think that would be good for my mental health, so I don't think that'll happen," replies Charlotte, a little cagily.
"However, I've been thinking about putting my own band together to do shows on my own, though obviously it'll have to fit around everything else I'm doing."
I believe it was the album's title song "Grey Will Fade" itself the fans liked so much (when it was recorded as an Ash B-side) that helped you to take heart and gain confidence as a songwriter. It's pretty complex-sounding and a cool track, but where did the idea for that one come from?
"Hmm, it was something I had for ages," Charlotte recalls.
"I wrote it and worked it out in LA and sat around playing the basic version of it a lot. I played it to Tim, he really liked it and that's how it became a B-side. It's a melange of ideas and I like that the harmonic side of it sounds so layered. It's true it was the one that made me think I should be thinking of using my songs for this kind of project rather than tossing them away as B-sides."
OK, well I know you recorded the album predominantly in LA with Eric Drew Feldman (Captain Beefheart, Pere Ube etc) and Rob Ellis (PJ Harvey) as your main collaborators. How did you rope in such well-respected guys?
"Well, I knew Eric through a friend who married him!" replies Charlotte, howling with laughter.
"He lives in San Francisco and I sent him some demos I had. He sent me back this really enthusiastic e-mail saying he was really taken by the songs. He sent me through his CV and you can imagine how impressive it was as it features the likes of Captain Beefheart, Frank Black and Deus."
Yeah, I think I get your drift....
"Right, but the other amazing thing was he was free literally the same two months I had to make the record, so that was too good an opportunity to miss. As for Rob (Ellis), I knew him through PJ Harvey, but while he's a superb drummer, people also forget he's a songwriter and arranger in his own right as well. Eric told me he wanted to play with us and I was just rejoicing, going "Yaayy!"
Even now, Charlotte's customary cool is still punctured by these revelations, but as to the sessions themselves, how much did Eric and Rob's input alter the shape of the songs and demos you had?
"Well, the intitial shape of the songs pretty much was organised when we entered the studio, " Charlotte reveals.
"I mean, I'm determined and definite and I knew what I wanted," she continues, very credibly.
"But Eric was great at reining in my excesses. Without him I'd probably have added too many layers to some of the songs. "Paragon", for instance, Eric was quite firm in saying: "no, I think you should stop now!" (Laughs). God Knows where it might have ended had I been left to my own devices."
The physical and mental toil of the sessions sounds pretty crazy to an outsider, with you shuttling between your own album sessions in one LA studio and then over to the Ash sessions across town - sometimes on the same day. Do you thrive on such pressure and excitement?
"Yeah, I guess I do," she considers, "although I think I should point out that I had mostly recorded much of my album before the Ash record started, so it wasn't maybe as frenetic as it's been painted. Actually, the Ash album was kinda sandwiched between my album and recording with International Noise Conspiracy. As you'll be gathering, I don't much like sitting around doing nothing and being unproductive."
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But isn't that the nature of rock'n'roll? As Charlie Watts once so famously remarked about "rock'n'roll being 5 years of hard work and 20 years waiting around being bored...."
"Yeah, yeah, that's about right," laughs Charlotte. "It's the 20 years inactivity I can't handle. I'd go mad."
You released the album's first single "Kim Wilde" as a download only. Did you expect it to do so well?
"No, I didn't expect that result. I'd have released it officially if I'd realised! (laughs). Seriously, though, I was really impressed that it got 8,000 downloads in the first week. But it's good because it's a good example of the sound of the album. The whole thing's snowballed, really, but it's great. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't exciting."
Indeed, but tell me more about "Kim Wilde". It does sound a tad like the peroxide blonde new wave Goddess herself, doesn't it? Were you a fan after the fact?
"No, not really, I'm certainly not a closet Kim Wilde freak," replies Charlotte, jokily, but firmly enough at the same time.
"It was more because I went through a period of hearing "Kids In America" (huge Kim Wilde hit - ageing Ed) in LA nightclubs and I seemed to gravitate to places that were very 80s obsessed. So I had it in my head to write something as classic as that. I do love that song and wanted a similar feel with an idea I had with the same kind of guitar and keyboard sounds. So in that way it's about her, and "Kim Wilde" was the song's working title, but she's not even mentioned in the lyrics, so there you go."
There's a fair bit of variety and risk-taking during the course of the album. "Stop" for example, sounds a little Beefheartian and also reminds me of the manic feel of The Soft Boys' "Old Pervert". Do you know that song?
"Yeah, yeah, I can see what you mean, it is a manic song alright," Charlotte agrees.
"Actually, "Stop" is about the oldest song on there. It's so fucking old. I demoed it and it was the one Eric picked out from the demos. It's true it IS very much in the Beefheart vein and very experimental. I love the whole fucked-up feel and the distortion and the way Rob double tracked the drums to get this kind of Brian Eno feel he wanted."
She stops for a second, as though enjoying the process a second time.
"So, yeah, I have a tendency to write stuff like that with a lot of phase and distortion. "Stop" is one of my faves and it throws a loop. Eric says it the one he's most proud of too."
Talking of fucked-up, you could say that about the cad you sing about in "Bastardo", who - if we are to believe the song's content - seduced you on a one-night stand that went wrong and then made off with your money and even your favourite guitar. Charlotte, tell me it's not true!?
"No, don't panic, it's not" Charlotte giggles.
"But I wanted to have a narrative song on the album and I wanted to take the idea of a one-night stand that goes wrong a bit further. It definitely owes a lot to The Pretenders, it's a very Chrissie Hynde kinda song."
You could make a cool video around it for sure...
"Yeah, definitely," she laughs. "Though I don't think people want to see me doing acting...badly. You could make a cool video featuring me starring opposite Antonio Banderas with Quentin Tarantino directing. How's that?"
Yeah...er, knockout. But, finally, should the BAFTAs not beckon and Ash should finally fall apart, can you see beyond "Grey Will Fade" to a second Charlotte Hatherley album and a time when that solo career is a permanent thing?
"Oh, that's a tough question," says Charlotte.
"But I do know I want to get another record together, for sure. It's something that's been inside me for a long time and now it's out I feel I could do it bigger and better in the future and I do have songs floating around. I just have so little time at present."
"But y'know," she finishes, "it wasn't ever my intention to be a solo artist and it's only now I'm beginning to realise the ambitious side of me that's been dormant. Who knows where it will go?"
Who indeed? Only time will tell and for Charlotte Hatherley it looks like that unwritten future will stretch to several bulky volumes. Just watch her go.
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