Shooting From The Quiffs

Playing darts with Priscilla Presley, throwing tyre irons at Faye Dunaway and appearing on The Simpsons – all in a day’s work for Richard Hawley. The Sheffield songsmith has just released his seventh long-player Standing At The Sky’s Edge and on the occasion of his chat with Hot Press, is nursing ‘a bit of a hangover’ as a result of popping into his local, Fagan’s, ‘for one’. “That place is like the tardis – time just disappears” he rues.

Despite his poorly condition Hawley is polite, engaging and, of course, full of rib-tickling tales. The latest opus may come as a surprise to fans diverging as it does for the most part from his well-travelled road of lush orchestrations and slower tempos.
“I really wanted to just see if I could make a guitar interesting, not just loud,” he explains. “The guitar is my first love since I was a little boy... and guitars keep us from changing from a little boy (laughs).”
Dark stormy soundscapes are the order of the day for this psychedelic adventure, and new lyrical territory is explored through themes of loss and existentialism. The catalyst for the change was the passing of long-time friend and fellow musician Tim McCall, who Richard recommended to Jarvis Cocker, resulting in his recruitment for Pulp.
“Tim passing away was such a shock to us all because he was so young and it just got me thinking about where does everything go?” he says. “And anybody that asks big questions like that there are not necessarily definite answers, unless you cop out and turn to God, that’s the easy way out. It just got me thinking about what a miracle of molecules we all are. I don’t believe in God at all... I believe in molecules!” (laughs)
“It made me realise that all we have got is now, the past is gone, tomorrow is merely a myth. We have got now and we have got each other and that is actually quite fucking ace when you really think about it,” he continues. “ If I believed in anything it would be Nowism, i’m a Nowist monk!”
As with all Hawley’s records, Sheffield remains a prominent theme. What is it about Steel City that makes it so unique?
“I think it holds a gentle grip on you” he muses. “It’s a soulful place and its history is pretty dark. People in Sheffield have got a very self-effacing sense of humour which is something that I have always loved, you take the piss out of yourself to get in there before somebody else does! (laughs) I have always liked that. And big hairy tattooed bus drivers call you ‘love’. It’s very got a very unique way of thinking.”
He celebrated the musical output of the city recently on Made In Sheffield – an album of covers recorded with Tony Christy.
“That was a real hoot!” he smiles. “I got this idea that we do an album of Sheffield songwriters and it wasn’t just the great and the good it was street singers and all sorts people to reflect the city’s history in some way. I did get bolloxed by a dance producer because Sheffield is also known for dance music. He said, ‘You didn’t represent that side of Sheffield, did ya?’ And I was like, ‘Well what’s Tony going to do ‘Whoo! Yeah!’?’ Dance is not exactly known for penetrating wit or emotional depth. He had to take that one.”
Other extracurricular activities include producing the latest album from Priscilla Presley.
“She just rang me up, it happens a lot. The phone goes all the time you know!” he laughs.
Did she exhibit any of her father’s talents?
“She has her own talent and that’s the main thing when I work with somebody I try to find their voice. She got really good at ordering chips by the end of it!”
Was Priscilla partial to a cold ale after a hard day’s work?
“Definitely! And a game of darts. We did that on a couple of occasions. She was a bit rubbish although I was worse!”
Richard got to flex his own acting muscles when he was invited by the producers of Flick to grace the silver screen.
“Firstly they asked me to write some songs for the soundtrack and then they asked me to act in it,” he says. “ I just thought it was going to be flipping a burger or something, maybe ask someone if they wanted ketchup! It ended up that all my scenes were with Faye Dunaway and it freaked me out! I had to throw her to the floor and I sort of did it in a gentlemanly way and she got really pissed off and she was like, ‘No! Throw me to the floor!’ I had to thrown a tyre-iron at her as well! I think I was more frightened of her. It was a laugh but it terrified me, being on stage in front of thousands of people doesn’t really scare me as much as that!”
Hawley also featured in The Simpsons thanks to the series parodying celebrated artist Banksy who featured ‘Tonight The Streets Are Ours’ in Exit Through The Gift Shop.
“One afternoon I came home from the pub and my missus was quite pissed off at me so she had sent me to hang the washing out,” he says. “So I was half cut hanging the washing out and then the phone rang and it was Banksy! The best thing about that though was when The Simpsons did a pastiche of the Banksy and they used ‘Tonight The Streets Are Ours’, my kids were freaked out, ‘Dad’s on The Simpsons!’”

Standing At The Sky's Edge is out now on Parlophone.