‘Folks might have this impression of me playing this nostalgic music, but, like most musicians, I’m always looking to move forward,’ Richard Hawley tells M. ‘Nostalgia is a funny thing, though: with Coles Corner, it feels right to look back and celebrate. That record changed everything for me.’
Released in September 2005 and featuring some of Richard’s most remarkable solo songwriting moments to date — including the title track and the lead single The Ocean — Coles Corner is a love letter to his native Sheffield. The record’s title even refers to a popular meeting place in the city for lovers old and new, and its lush charm continues to be cherished two decades later.
‘The 20-year anniversary is a big line in the sand as [Coles Corner] was a pivotal moment for me,’ Richard explains. ‘Sometimes it’s healthy to look back. You can measure the distance between then and now to work out how far you’ve come.’
Coles Corner came to life at a point when, Richard admits, he was questioning the longevity of his career. Having parted company with indie label Setanta Records, he was actively seeking a new home for his music while writing new material (‘I needed to make this next record in a bid to secure another deal,’ he clarifies). Borrowing money from his good friend John Roddison to fund the recording, Richard says the whole situation felt like a last roll of the dice.
‘It was funny: I’d somehow got to 38 and sustained this [music] career,’ he tells M with a laugh. ‘I’d managed to hang on like some desperate mountain climber on a ledge with his fingernails. I still had some relevance and wanted to keep it going. Despite [the situation], there was nothing desperate in the studio — I remember being quite calm while recording. If this was the last chance to make an album, I just wanted to leave something beautiful behind.
‘I’m very grateful that it wasn’t the end as I still had some things to say and people still seemed to believe in what I was doing. From people in the music industry to my friends, fans and family, there’s a lot of people who I owe a great debt to.’
'Coles Corner changed everything for me.'
Richard’s home life proved to be a key songwriting inspiration on Coles Corner. During one quiet spring day, Richard was pushing his two sons — then aged five and two — on the swings in their local park when a rhythm crept into his head.
‘It came from the downbeat of me pushing the kids on this swing,’ he explains. ‘It was one of those moments where I was lost in [the music]. I then had this beautiful moment pushing my sons in this double buggy where I realised I had this incredible melody in my head. These days I would have got my phone out and hummed into it, but back then I had this cassette player and a Dictaphone. I’d left both at home as I just wanted to be with my kids, so I had to spoil it by dragging them kicking and screaming up to the house so I could record it!’
With his kids asleep in the buggy by the time they returned, Richard rushed to capture what would become Coles Corner before it slipped away: ‘I banged it down onto this Dictaphone as quickly as I could, scribbled some lyrics down and that was kind of it. This is the thing about [creative] inspiration: you sit there, you do it and then you’re like, “I’m a bit hungry”. I think I might have reached over and had a Jaffa Cake, then took the boys back to the park.’
A similar ‘eureka moment' happened with The Ocean, which came to life after travelling from a gig in Ireland to Porthcurno in Cornwall to meet up with his wife and children. ‘Porthcurno is where they launched the telegraph cables to communicate the first messages with America,’ Richard explains. ‘It’s an historic beach and a beautiful place — there’s also the Minack Theatre, which is carved out of the hillside.’
Having arrived at their accommodation, Richard was walking down to the beach when he caught sight of his family playing by the sea. Once again, inspiration took over.
‘I just ended up with this incredible melody in my head,’ he recalls. ‘It was one of those moments where your mind just shifts to this temporary, other world. I still don’t know to this day how it happened. The lyric “You lead me down to the ocean” just came into my head and I felt this overwhelming emotional surge, like a wave, [come about through the] beauty of just watching my little family playing by the sea. After talking to my wife Helen, I then ran back up the hill to where we were staying to record my idea.’
Coles Corner was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2006, which was awarded that year to Richard’s fellow Sheffielders Arctic Monkeys. It was a quip from the band’s frontman Alex Turner, though, which helped further elevate Richard’s profile.
‘It was incredible for them to win, and what they’ve achieved as four lads from a Sheffield council estate is amazing,’ Richard says about Arctic Monkeys. ‘But Alex’s famous quote from their acceptance speech — “Someone call 999, Richard Hawley's been robbed!” — meant the coverage around [Coles Corner] then went nuts.’
Sparked by this very public namedrop, Richard and his live band found themselves playing in much bigger venues to an ever-increasing number of fans. ‘People were turning up in their droves to hear this super-gentle music,’ he recalls. ‘[Coles Corner] was the opposite of what was going on at the time [in music] and still is. It’s been like a quiet revolution in a way: you don’t have to kick open all the doors, you can just gently push them open. I’m not saying these things with any degree of arrogance. Looking back, I’m proud of the record as we did it like this.’
'If this was the last chance to make an album, I just wanted to leave something beautiful behind.'
For Richard, authenticity and loyalty are two traits he clearly holds dear. Rather than indulging in what he dismisses as ‘pop star shenanigans’, he maintains a low-key lifestyle: writing music; walking the dog; spending time in his local pub. He’s very aware of the need to tread lightly on the line between his artistry and succumbing to the trappings of ‘fame’.
‘As a songwriter, the more successful you become, the harder it is to be the observer. You become the observed,’ he says. ‘This is why people end up living in isolation after they’ve experienced fame and success, or you just end up hanging around with other people who are successful as well. It’s to be avoided like the plague. What are you going to write about that’s worth anything?’
As Richard continues to celebrate 20 years of Coles Corner this year with a string of live shows and a special anniversary edition of the record, his creative focus remains as grounded as ever.
‘I come from a steel working family, and they used to tell me about looking for the seam of coal,’ he says. ‘Every time you get your pickaxe and whack that rock, don’t expect a diamond to come out. Similarly, don’t expect that every time you pick up whatever [instrument] you play that lightning is going to strike. You need to plough on. There’s a lot of spade work that goes into it, as well as perseverance — it’s about not giving up just because you’ve written a bad song.
‘Think of those miners digging for diamonds — there’s a hell of a lot of rubble you’ve got to get through first to find them.’
Richard Hawley's album Coles Corner will be re-released on a variety of formats to mark its 20th anniversary on 1 August. Richard will next perform at Museum Gardens in York tomorrow (5 July).
