Interview with Chris T-T | 30th October 2008
 

Altsounds.com caught up with Brighton-based singer / songwriter and all-round nice bloke Chris T-T. This is what he had to say for himself.

Altsounds: So how has the tour been with Frank Turner so far?
Chris T-T: It's been really good. Because we already got on, and the bands have got on really well which is great. I spent the summer playing with his band, so it's just easy, and really comfortable. For example, we've hired our van from Tarrant, Franks bass player, who runs a van hire company, so it feels like a big family.

Altsounds: How did it come about, you playing in his band?
Chris T-T: Once I got signed to Xtra Mile, and we toured the States in January, as two songwriters. We really got on there, had a really good time, got trollied together and became friends basically. We're on the same label, and halfway through one of his previous tours, the keyboard player had to go off and play with The Kooks, so he found himself on the road, and literally the next night he wasn't going to have a keyboard player. So he phoned up and asked if I could help him out. I went and played keyboard for the last 5 shows of that tour. And I loved it, it was a great experience!

I'm not a session player, I don't go and play for other people very often - I've done some playing for Jim Bob, and Tom Robinson, but it's usually because they are friends and I want to do it. I just had an incredible time. I mean, you've seen Franks crowd, they're an incredible crowd to play for, and the band are brilliant musicians.

Altsounds: So did you do all the festivals with him over the summer?
Chris T-T: Yes, basically after that tour, we just agreed that I’d play piano for all the festivals - I think we did 26 in total. Again, it was just brilliant. Franks been building on such an incline this year, and you could see it at the festivals. So early on when we were playing it felt quite normal, still good crowds and good gigs, but normal. Then, as it got towards the end of the summer it got bigger and bigger, and then Reading and Leeds were basically the most exciting gigs I’ve ever played. One of the best things about playing piano for other people is there's no responsibility - you just have to play and enjoy yourself. You don't have to worry about the organising or the nuances of the gig.

You know it's possible, although I haven't experienced it, for Frank to have a really bad gig but for me to still really enjoy myself. We'd already planned this current tour, the label had planned it from the beginning of the year. We didn’t know whether I was going to play keyboard, but really, I can't be doing a whole tour of playing with my band and then playing piano, but now Matt's in the band and he's really good.

Although the first couple of shows I really missed it, but at least we always come on to do Franks encore, and I play keyboards then. And that's good fun. It's perfect in a way because I still get a little taste of it, without having to work all night.

Altsounds: So what were your top 2 festivals you played at?
Chris T-T: Reading and Leeds. OK, Reading and Leeds count as 1. If I must choose one then Reading, and once you get beyond that it gets really tricky. I played a small festival in Hertfordshire called Bramfield, as me, not with Frank, and I really enjoyed that, thought that was brilliant. 2000 Trees was incredible. Most of the festivals this year have struggled, there have been ticket problems, and some of the festivals have been badly run this year. But 2000 Trees, I played as me, and then piano with Frank. It was a great weekend.

Altsounds: I was at the Reading set, it was brilliant, absolutely amazing.
Chris T-T: I'm really beginning to think it's more important than an up and coming artist that has an enthusiastic crowd. Take any artist at the moment that's up and coming, and they can have a lot more hype and a lot more press than Frank, and they won't have audiences like that. Most up and coming artists now, even if they're selling out live shows, the kids come and they know 1 or 2 songs, and the rest of the time they're checking out the band to see if they like them. Whereas with Frank, every person knows every word from the get go. Everyone is already in there, it's already one club. I haven't seen anything like it for 10 years.

Altsounds: So how did you get into writing for the Morning Star?
Chris T-T: They turned up at a gig and said they'd love to put me on a gig, which they never did get round to organising. At the time I was trying to learn to be a columnist. It's a really specific art in journalism, and it's very tough. I wanted somewhere that wasn't local, because if you write for a local paper you have to write about local news and I don't consider myself that way. I needed something national that was small enough to take me on. So when they came round I got to know a couple of them, they were really nice guys. I had a bit of a set view on the Morning Star, I'd put it in the same category as the Socialist Worker, which of course it's not at all. It's a proper newspaper that you buy in the shops, it's not a newspaper that's given out in the streets. It's really legitimate. Pilger writes for it, Tony Benn wrote for it until Hilary Benn was in the cabinet, so it's a really good place to cut my teeth basically.

They did a feature on me, and during a conversation about something they said 'I wish we could have got you to write about that for the paper' and I said that I would have loved to, and so it really came out of that.

Altsounds: You're looking to write a book as well?
Chris T-T: Well, I’ve got a load of short stories, so I’m trying to get together enough good short stories to publish. The problem with writing a novel is I’m not very consistent in my writing style, so if I wrote 5 chapters, by chapter 3 it would look like it's being written by a completely different writer. So I kinda backed off that idea.

Altsounds: Do you see yourself doing a lot more writing in the future?
Chris T-T: Yes, it's a great other thing to do, and you can do it anywhere. For example, I filed my last column for the Morning Star in the dressing room at Aberdeen or somewhere.

Altsounds: You've been on tour with loads of people, who was your most memorable (apart from Frank)?
Chris T-T: Ben folds. Ben Folds was awesome to tour with, and he's really sweet and nice. I came away thinking there is no way he would ever remember me. I did a whole tour with him, but if I saw him tomorrow I bet he wouldn't know who I was, maybe he would vaguely remember. Um.. and British Sea Power, they're really lovely, and crazy. They're very eccentric - I saw them in LA when they did this huge American tour earlier this year and I saw them at Spaceland - they were amazing.

Altsounds: Do you have any more plans to do radio?
Chris T-T: I'm currently planning to go back to the radio station I was working at before, and maybe do 4 shows a year - I can't do much more because I’m just too busy. Tom Robinson has really opened my eyes as he now thinks of himself as a radio person rather than a pop singer. He had loads of hits and was a big star, but he's much happier as a DJ, and likes that he doesn't have to tour anymore. The difference is I love touring. Maybe the day that I get tired of being on the road is the day that I become a DJ.

Altsounds: Well there's a current opening at radio 2...
Chris T-T: Ha ha, yeah I was gonna say! It's a bit risky though...

Altsounds: Well, as long as you haven't been having sex with anyone’s granddaughters, I’m sure you'll be fine!
Chris T-T: Nope, no granddaughters in my life so I should be fine.

Altsounds: Tell me about the Midwinter Picnic - it sounds delightful!
Chris T-T: Yes it should be. Basically everyone's going to come and bring their own booze and food, although we'll have tea/coffee etc. for sale. And then it's a whole afternoon of really good, no shit, really good acoustic stuff. They'll be some proper traditional folk, and also some punky acoustic stuff. I've just tried to pull in as many people as I know that are good to do it. We've got a great line up and some really amazing people that I’m not allowed to announce yet, some really heavy names and exciting people.

It's in aid of Amnesty - Amnesty is my favourite charity. I do find it uncomfortable sometimes doing charity things, I love to do them but when it's anything medical related I find it a problem because I’m so against animal testing. So for instance we do breast cancer stuff for Lexapalooza, who are involved in the Midwinter Picnic, and I have to admit I do find it uncomfortable. Breast cancer is a really serious, really important thing, but I know that some of that money will be used for testing on animals. But it's still amazing to be doing this for charity - especially Amnesty, because it's great.

Altsounds: So you're single, 'We are the King of England', was out last week, and your video sees you and Frankie T, walking through the desert, then sitting having a beer on a rock, and...
Chris T-T: Then he murders me, and steals my guitar!

Altsounds: That's not very nice is it?
Chris T-T: No, but it's a great idea for a video.

Altsounds: So how did that come about?
Chris T-T: We were on tour in the States, and Joshua Tree National Park is unbelievable, it's one of the best places in the world. We did 2 shows out in the desert, then we had the idea to do this video. I have to admit, Frank worked his arse off the whole day - at any point he had the right to go 'look, we've been doing this for hours now, lets stop', but he was brilliant. In fact it's really funny because the video is almost all Frank - the songs kinda weird because the song is quite short but there there's this jam at the end and we wanted to include that, and that's basically all Frank walking in the desert with our guitars after he's killed me. It's a pure metaphor for our relative careers.

Altsounds: One day you think he might....
Chris T-T: ... I think he already has, I really do!

Altsounds: What made you decide to do it there?
Chris T-T: I'd been there the previous year, and there's a venue there in Pioneer Town, which is the home venue of the Desert Sessions that Josh Homme does. Even though it's just a biker bar, lots of famous people have played there. It's just a crazy beautiful area that I wanted to see. It's huge as well, it's about the size of South East England. It's where Gram Parsons died too. Everyone should go there.

Altsounds: So if you were the king of England, what would you do?
Chris T-T: I would open the borders, I’d massively re-distribute wealth.

Altsounds: Maybe give us a couple more bank holidays?
Chris T-T: In a way, well, the whole system needs to go out the window really doesn't it. I would personally favour a more nomadic existence, that exists far more in harmony with what our resources are. I mean, I don't despise technology, I’m happy to use a laptop, but wouldn't it be great if all our laptops were solar powered? Once you've created a solar powered laptop and it's totally independent from anyone else in the world, but it's still a laptop. That's a really weird answer to your question. It's far too complicated to say what I would do.

Altsounds: OK, what about if you were just king for a day?
Chris T-T: Do you know what? When I’m on tour on in the studio, quite often than not there is no place that I would rather be. So if I was king of England, or a millionaire - you could give me 10 million quid right now I wouldn't say that I wasn't doing the gig, in fact I would be just as excited about doing the gig as I was before you gave me the 10 million quid. I might then start hiring private planes everywhere though.

Altsounds: You spend a lot of time touring, and you have an array of side projects - how do you find the time to do it all?
Chris T-T: I'm just really lucky in the sense that the majority of those side projects can be done in a tour van. But it's great, that's the way we should be - pick the things that we love to do and then do them.

Altsounds: What's your favourite thing about playing live?
Chris T-T: When it goes right. There are several things that add up to a perfect gig - we all play well, we enjoy it, the audience is well up for it and we get the set list right. Sometimes you can play really well, but your songs are in the wrong order.

Altsounds: Who was your favourite discovery of 2008? Old or new artist.
Chris T-T: James Yuill. I've known him since he was 10 but he's a new signing to Moshy Moshy - he does electro folk stuff. He's so talented, he could be the new Beck. There's a lot of songwriters who are a bit different - Sandra and the Memory Machine, an Australian girl living in London - she's got the most extraordinary voice. She's also beautiful and has the most amazing personality on stage. She's also got a slightly unconventional line up with percussion, keyboards and a eucalaly. So she comes across as almost a step above normal female singer songwriters already.

Also, in my band I have Jen who normally plays with Charlotte Hatherley, but is also in a band called Something Beginning with L. My bassist Johnny has a folk project called Thirty Pounds of Bone, and they’re really good as well.

Altsounds: Album of the year?
Chris T-T: Well the Girls Aloud album is amazing. Their new single is alright, not their best. For me, their best song in the past couple of years is ‘Call the Shots’, they haven't beaten that.

Altsounds: Do you watch the X Factor then?
Chris T-T: No, hate it. Can't stand it.

Altsounds: Not even for Cheryl?
Chris T-T: I am a Cheryl fan on Facebook but I don't watch the X Factor. Even for Cheryl I couldn't bear to watch it - I bet you watch it avidly.

Altsounds: Er, yep.
Chris T-T: Going on tour rescued me from my addiction to Celebrity Come Dancing, thankfully.

Altsounds: What are your plans for the future?
Chris T-T: I'm going to Europe with Frank after the British dates, then Christmas off, then back to the States in the new years after the Midwinter Picnic. I'm doing 2 shows with Tom Robinson in London and Belgium, then as I said back to the States and have a go, do South by Southwest, then tour up the West coast. Also, before I came out on tour, I promised everyone I'd hand in the demos for the next record, and I’m a bit behind. I basically owe my manager loads of demos so that needs to happen pretty soon! Once the demos are handed in, we can start talking about the next album.

Altsounds: You mentioned earlier about being in the US with Frank - what's going for you over there? It must be a hard place to crack?
Chris T-T: The tour we did at the beginning of the year was really enjoyable, and we've definitely begun to get an audience up the coasts. It's really hard to do the interior, and I haven't really tried yet. Frank's been back since and done the interior, so I’m going to follow him and do that in the next 6 months. But they love us English songwriters. Also, because we're both quite posh, as soon as we open our mouths they're like 'oh my gaaaad'.

I absolutely love the States in terms of making music. In an odd way they're far less body fascistic, perhaps because they're all really fat but perhaps because they just are. They're also far less caught up in scenes. You can get metalers at your gig, and they'll check you out. If they like you, they like you. Metal fans in the States are not metal fans to the exclusion of all other music. A metal fan will go 'I like this, this and this, and Neil Diamond'. There's just a little less of the barrier going on, and they don't mind that I look the way that I look, so I have a great time.

Altsounds: Facially, you look a lot like Kevin Smith, has anyone ever told you that?
Chris T-T: Yeah, and on this tour, more than ever I’m getting Jack Black. Someone the other day said 'You've gotta smile more on stage, you look like a grumpy Phil Jupitus', which was nice! It's a look though isn't it, and there's not much I can do about.

Altsounds: Anything you want to say to promote yourself?
Chris T-T: The single, ‘We are the King of England’ is out now, it's fucking great, and it also comes with these two fantastic sexy electro mixes. One is of 'We are the King of England’, and one is of ‘Black Music’ which is off the album, done by OneKitten from Brixton, who's a female DJ/Producer, and they're really good. Also, come to the Midwinter Picnic. There are only 120 tickets though, so it's going to sell out pretty quickly. So get tickets quick!

Download the Single - Chris T-T - We Are The King Of England MP3 Downloads - 7digital

Midwinter Picnic - WeGotTickets - Your Online Box Office - A MIDWINTER PICNIC (IN AID OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL)