It’s been nearly twenty years since a group of five teenagers from Manchester formed one of Britain’s most enduring guitar bands. The Charlatans, all hair in their eyes and baggy jeans and fronted by the charismatic Tim Burgess, have stuck together through thick and thin. Two decades on, we spend a rainy London afternoon with the singer, who’s still charismatic, who still has his hair in his eyes, but whose jeans, thankfully, are a little more snug.

Meeting up ahead of the band’s intimate gig at London’s Hard Rock Café to chat about the group’s career and their tenth new studio album ‘You Cross My Path’, clambering over cables and squeezing past amps, the venue is a scene of mild pandemonium. There’s a line of press ready to do their interviews, a TV news crew setting up, waitresses walking around with burgers and milkshakes, and no Charlatans frontman.

Moments later, in wanders Tim Burgess, with his familiar ear to ear grin. He’s hurriedly manoeuvred to the TV crew first and 10 minutes later is sitting, polite as ever, in front of me asking if I’m okay for a drink and commenting on the bizarre set up in the venue.
“Smaller gigs are always great to do. I don’t get nervous really. I always remember seeing New Order do a gig in the foyer of a hotel in Ireland when I was about 17, it was great.”
Tim seems so much younger than his 40 years; he has a youthful, strong spirit which has obviously seen him through some tough times over the past two decades. Naturally, the conversation moves to the subject of the big TWO ZERO and the fact that The Charlatans have already released a couple of compilations.
“When we were approached to do a greatest hits, we were all in a bit of denial, people used to think that bringing out a greatest hits would mean you were over, which is why we chose to put [singles and b-sides collection] Melting Pot together. But I don’t really care now what people say. Your opinions change as you go along and learn”. There aren’t, he says, any firm plans for next year’s anniversary just yet but no doubt there’ll be some parties along the way.

The most recent notable event of the band’s long career was their decision to put ‘You Cross My Path’ up as a free download. Tim, being no stranger to the wonders of MySpace and music on the internet explains why they did this.
“The decision stemmed from the belief that people are more interested in music than anything, but people don’t want to pay for CDs. They want something for free and there are so many ways to get it illegally…our last three albums have all been downloaded illegally so we thought - let’s give it away. It’s bound to upset a few people but the majority of people will love us for it.”
It’s also a good way to introduce an ‘older’ band to new fans, right?
“Sure,” he agrees. “People who download the album and enjoy it would then hopefully go off and have a look at the back catalogue.”

Living off your back catalogue is certainly something The Charlatans don’t do; there are hits, such as Crashin’ In and Jesus Hairdo, from their previous albums that haven’t been played live for years. In fact, the more you look at their past, the more songs you remember. Ten studio albums and four compilations albums to their credit, they’ve clearly never been slackers as far as making new music goes. What’s more, they’ve always managed to stick at it through triumphs and tragedies. When Tim moved Stateside, many other groups would have called it a day – like many of their 90s cohorts, they could have disbanded, only to find themselves back together again.
“I was surprised at James reforming,” Tim says, “but I think they’ve done it before and once you get on that train, it’s probably easier to do it again, that there’s no shame involved.”
It’s also easier than going on Celebrity Big Brother, admits Tim.
“I’ve been asked!” he laughs. “There was an amazing one actually, by the makers of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. They tried to get me, Pete Doherty and Liam Gallagher on the show. They pitched it ’cause Johnny Rotten had been on there the previous year. I can’t imagine it; I think the three of us on there would have been quite funny. We could be like the indie Travelling Wilburys.” A few minutes discussing the effects of Pete Doherty on cold turkey attempting to swim to a giant star in a crocodile infested swamp and Liam Gallagher shouting ‘I’m not fookin eating them’ when Ant or Dec hands him a plate of Wallabies testicles ensues. It’d probably be the best reality TV show ever made.

Although some would argue that a few weeks in the jungle would do Doherty the power of good, neither he, Liam nor The Charlatans need that kind of exposure. The Charlatans aren’t a band to court controversy in a loud ‘LOOK AT US’ way, anyway – so what does Tim believe is at the heart of the enduring success of The Charlies?
“Obviously there’s a real passion for music. I think probably we’re quite entertaining in a bizarre way! We’ve pushed ourselves to the limit on some things, we take ourselves to the edge, be it through our musical passion, direction, influences or drugs or dancing with the devil. We’ve taken a lot to the edge and I think people appreciate that”.
‘Dancing with the Devil’ is a phrase that would prick any journalist’s ears up, so, nudged into wider enlightenment Tim explains the devilish streak.
“I was a very bizarre child. After watching The Omen for the first time I wished I had 666 on my head. That was my first ever wish… I kept looking through my hair but I never found it”.
So, let’s get this straight – you always wanted to be an evil demon child?! “Yeah! I always remember when I was a kid my folks would get really upset with how far I could push things, I’ve always been that kind of person. It’s found its way into the music.”

Tim’s battle with drink and drugs – perhaps his real dance with the devil – has been well documented over the years. But the past couple of years have seen the Charlatans singer clean up his act, succeeding where many have failed.
“I don’t drink anymore, I don’t do drugs and I’m healthier and artistically happier than I ever have been, I think that shows a lot in this album. As I say we always bring in a lot of our influences into the music we’re making”.
You Cross My Path is, indeed, a fantastic return to form. But should fans be worried about the title of the album’s last track, This Is The End?
“Well, it’s difficult to say, we knew people would pick up on that. I wanted to finish it with a song called This is The Beginning. There’s always going to be speculation – and there’s always ends and beginnings to all kinds of different things in your life. The new album is more like our very early stuff in lots of ways”.
As he says, endings breed beginnings. And there almost is the sense of a full circle to The Charlatans’ career, with a twenty year anniversary and this tenth studio album. But there’s also undoubtedly more to come. Another twenty, perhaps?

Ali Rees