SMASHING IT TO PIECES!
Gill Sherry
Modern technology is a wonderful thing, particularly as it allows me to chat with Chesney Hawkes as he cruises the Atlantic Ocean, somewhere north of Lisbon.
In fact, thanks to Zoom, I can actually see the Atlantic Ocean through the window of his cabin. It makes the backdrop of my own home-office seem ever-so-slightly inferior.
Having established that he’s on the cruise ship for work rather than pleasure, and agreed that there are worse places to work, I begin by asking about the young, pre-fame Chesney Hawkes.
“It was always music,” he tells me. “My dad always says I came out singing. I never had any other aspirations, and I didn’t have a back-up plan either. I just went straight into it. I was playing piano at a very young age. Even at 14 I was playing at local pubs doing Elton John songs. That’s how it all started. I grew up in a rock ‘n’ roll household… all my dad’s mates were musicians or singers, some of them 60s superstars.”
His mum was an actress and a game show hostess, so Chesney and his two siblings were perhaps always destined to follow in their parents’ showbiz footsteps.
“The three of us were never going to be accountants, put it that way!”
His brother, Jodie, is a drummer, and has played with the likes of Robert Plant and Deacon Blue. He’s also been Chesney’s drummer since day one and will accompany him on his upcoming tour. More on that later. For now, I’m heading back to 1991 when his starring role in the comedy drama Buddy’s Song and his smash hit ‘The One and Only’ catapulted him to stardom.
“It was pretty wild. I was so young. It was like being thrown into the eye of the storm. One minute I was playing in the local pub and within a month or two I was selling out arenas all over the world. There were fans camping outside the house! It was a wild time.”
Thankfully, some of his co-stars in Buddy’s Song were able to help him handle the transition from teenager to superstar.
“Roger Daltrey is a rock legend, but the thing about Rog is that he comes from music. He wasn’t known for his acting at that time, so I felt a kindred spirit there. He took me under his wing. Him, Michael Elphick, and Sharon Duce who played my mum, were just brilliant. I had good people around me who helped me through it.”
As well as appearing on the soundtrack for Buddy’s Song, ‘The One and Only’ also featured on Chesney’s debut album of the same name. In total, he’s recorded six studio albums, the latest of which was released last year and is titled Living Arrows. So, does he still enjoy the process of writing and making music 35 years after it all began?
“More so than ever. I’m more free, more open, more cathartic and more therapeutic with my songwriting these days. I’m doing a lot of looking back and getting a bit deep. I think you get to that stage in life when you realise that if it doesn’t mean something to you as an artist, if it’s not coming from the heart, it’s difficult to connect. My songwriting has become my therapy… I honestly think that’s why this particular record has done so well because I really went there. There are topics in this record… songs that just had to be written. Some of it is pretty intense.”
Surprisingly, his European Tour – which includes a date at Glasgow’s Òran Mór on Sunday 8th March – has a different title to his album. Why Smash It To Pieces?
“Smash it to pieces was the first line from one of the singles, ‘Live Forever’. I lost my best friend last year and one of the last things he said to me, just as the album was being released, was ‘I want you to go and smash it to pieces. I want you to get out there, do everything, say yes to the crazy stuff, and just go for it because life is short. You’ve got nothing to lose, just go and enjoy it’. And he loved that song… it’s actually written about him. That’s why we called it the Smash It To Pieces Tour.”
It’s obvious the song means a lot to Chesney. Is it his favourite?
“That changes daily to be honest. Right now, it’s just so enjoyable performing these new songs. This is the first record I’ve put out in 12 years and actually having people sing them back to me is really emotional, because I haven’t had that for such a long time. I’ve carried on making records… but I obviously haven’t reached the kind of success with them as I did in the early days. But this record took off… and playing these songs now at my gigs is just amazing. I’m on cloud nine, I’m loving it.”
Back in those early days, as well as being inspired by his own father, who else influenced the young Chesney?
“So many different artists. Back then it was The Beatles and John Lennon. He was a huge inspiration for me and still is. In fact, my dad acquired John Lennon’s piano when I was a baby – that was actually the piano I learned to play on. I always feel like I had John Lennon under my fingertips. And I’ve written about him in the past. There’s a song on one of my albums called ‘John Lennon Lived Here’. He’s just followed me around!”
Other influences, he tells me, include Prince, Stevie Wonder and Elvis Costello.
“And Nik Kershaw. I’ve loved him since I was 13 years old when Human Racing came out, his first album. Obviously, I have a connection with Nik, and over the years we’ve written hundreds of songs together. I still pinch myself because I was such a massive Nik Kershaw fan and now he’s one of my bezzies.”
For those who may not know, Nik actually wrote ‘The One and Only’, Chesney’s most successful song and one which remains proudly on his setlist.
Talking of proud, in addition to his brother playing the drums, Chesney’s son, Casey, will also be joining him on his tour.
“It’s awesome. He’s my lead guitar and he’s having the time of his life. It’s the best internship ever!”
Casey is hugely successful in his own right and is already enjoying his second West End run.
“He’s so talented, he’s like a comet!”
I wonder where he gets that from…
“From his grandad!” he laughs.
“What I will say about Glasgow…” he volunteers, “it is the best audience in the British Isles. It’s well-known to be the most rowdy, the most fun, the most responsive, and the most receptive crowds in the UK, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
That’s good to know! And does he have a message for those fans heading to Òran Mór?
“Get ready for a party! Hang your inhibitions at the door and come in and relive your youth! It’s always a really fun night. Everyone there is remembering a certain time in their lives and I’m just a conduit for that. I was young too, so I have the same kind of memories of those years as well. It’s like a collective, fun night… a really fun party night with nice energies.”
I must admit, thanks to Zoom, I’ve been reliving my youth throughout our entire conversation – and I’m looking forward to doing so again on 8th March!
Proving that technology is indeed a wonderful thing, you can buy tickets
for Chesney’s Glasgow gig, as well as his album, Living Arrows, from:
www.chesneyhawkes.com.
