Good Grief Charlotte

“I’ve turned into a complete tart!”

No, Charlotte Hatherley isn’t confessing to a sharp decline in her moral standards, but reflecting on how over the past couple of years she’s become a highly sought-after – and generously reimbursed – guitar-for-hire.
“The bottom line is that without taking those jobs I couldn’t have afforded to make New Dreams or gig in support of it,” Hatherley says referring to her ace new album, which Ed Power afforded a generous four out of five in the last issue of Hot Press. “I suppose the strangest one was getting a phone call in the middle of the night asking if I’d be interested in going to Kazakhstan and Marrakech with Bryan Ferry who – surprise, surprise – wanted a band of girls like in the Robert Palmer ‘Addicted To Love’ video. Having answered ‘yes’ and passed the audition, I went off and did a year’s worth of corporate-y shows in exotic places like Sardinia and Mexico. There were lots of private jets and 5-star hotels, which was a complete contrast to my own career as a struggling indie musician!”
Was there one particularly ridiculous moment when Charlotte thought, “How the fucking Bejaysus did this happen?”
“Yeah, the time we played at a millionaire’s birthday party in Moscow,” she recalls. “It was a total money-no-object affair in a converted loft, which looked more like an art gallery than somebody’s home. I don’t know who or what this guy was, but by the end of the night everyone had fucked off leaving just one friend and Bryan Ferry to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to him while he blew the candles out on his cake. It was totally bizarre.”
As well as receiving a decidedly non-struggling indie musician pay cheque, Hatherley also got to fulfill a lifelong ambition by playing the likes of ‘Virginia Plain’ and ‘Do The Strand’ with the man who authored them.
“I’m almost as obsessed with Roxy Music as I am with David Bowie, so getting to hang out with Bryan and play his songs was amazing. I’m still horrified that he saw me have a complete panic attack one day going through turbulence in this tiny, tiny plane which I was convinced was going to break up. I was sat there with my legs wide open, sweating, red-faced and unable to breathe. It looked like I was giving birth! He must have thought I was a complete mad woman.”
If clocking up air miles with Bryan Ferry was a bit surreal, Charlotte feels right at home at the moment as a guitar, bass, synth and drum-playing member of Bat For Lashes who broke many a fey indie boy’s heart in September when they pulled their Electric Picnic appearance.
“I think Natasha did her leg in whilst out walking, which wasn’t very rock ‘n’ roll!” she laughs. “What’s great about Bat For Lashes is that it’s not just replicating the records – I can be quite inventive with what I play. It actually feels like a little holiday going on tour with Natasha and not having to worry about every pound you spend in case it takes you over budget. I love having my own band and record label, but it can be bloody stressful!”
Although it only made it into the shops a few weeks ago, New Dreams was actually recorded over seven frenzied days in November 2008 – a time-lapse that Charlotte admits was pretty frustrating.
“I was going to release New Dreams in February, but then I met Natasha and decided to put it back six months. The only good thing about the delay is that, for the first time as a solo artist, I’ve really been able to plan what I want to do with the record. It also means that I now have a chunk of money with which to pay my band and crew.”
New Dreams’ release just happened to coincide with Ash launching their A to Z series of singles, which Tim Wheeler talks about as part of this issue’s HP Summit. Does Charlotte keep in touch with her former bandmates?
“Rick came to one of my shows a couple of weeks ago, and Tim was at the Bat For Lashes gig in New York. We stay in touch and hang out, but I’ve no overwhelming urge to hear what they’re up to and I’m sure they feel the same way about me. It’s like having three ex-boyfriends!”
Talking of New York, Ms. Hatherley is still in a state of hyper-excitement following her bigging up by one of the city’s most famous residents.
“David Bowie was doing a sort of Godfather of Music thing for Nokia and said how much he liked my song ‘Believe’, which is probably the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me. I was also pretty blown away by Johnny Depp being at Bat For Lashes’ L.A. gig. There’s something about meeting movie stars in America, which makes you feel like a teenage girl again!”
Which brings us to the question that I’m sure all Charlotte Hatherley fans have been itching to have asked – is it true that her mum was in the Carry On films?
“Yeah, she was in Loving, Behind, Girls and Camping, which was the really big one. I apparently sat on Charles Hawtrey’s lap as a child – a frightening image but there you go!”