2009 is all good for Hatcham Social. They released their debut album ‘I’ll dig the hole you hide the soil’ in March and an extensive tour followed, taking in places from brooklyn to buxton. As if that wasn’t enough, they’re now stepping up to North America supporting the Charlatans on a 22 date tour.
I photographed hatcham social at 3 gigs in the UK over the last month, probably the last time they’ll be playing the smaller regional venues. All the photographs appearing here were taken at those gigs.
The first time I met the band was in Manchester. We had agreed 6.30 but it was more like 8.30 by the time we got it together. Their van had broken down the day before and they were having a few troubles with it. I found this out later by reading their blog, ‘a clearing in the woods’ (which by the way is what a hatcham apparently is).
So after they had sound checked and were ready for a few photos it was dark, and I had drank a few red stripes by then too. The band were more than happy to pose on the street, under a street light whilst some of the supporting bands were doing their thing. They were not due on stage until after 10, so we had plenty of time to chat about the album release, working with Tim Burgess, touring and Dave the bass player’s reaction to Manchester United getting into the Champions League final. (He was pleased, he’s a Man U fan, but it’s OK his Dad is from Manchester).
Toby talked about The Charlatans Big Mushroom studio out in Cheshire where they recorded the album. “Tim has such a deep knowledge of music I’d recommend anyone to work with him”.
Even though the band love touring and meeting new people they are keen to get back into the studio and get their new songs down. “The next album will be the orgy after the finding of the clearing” Toby says.With the band touring so much it was easy to keep in touch and meet up again to do some more shots, second time backstage at Buxton Opera House where they were supporting Razorlight. The set up was pretty nice and the band sounded great on stage to a full house of 900. Highlight had to be Dave’s thanks to Razorlight for asking them to support “Thank you to Razorlight for asking us to be here”. Perhaps more enthusiasm next time Dave. They were off then for 10 days or so across Italy and Germany, then back for a final few dates around the UK.
The last time I photographed the band was at the Royal in Derby, a pretty nice venue but lacking people. But then it was a Tuesday night and there is a recession on you know! It was good for me, I was able to get up pretty close to photograph the band, without it being a pain for the guys out there enjoying the show.
The band looked pretty tired and were talking about perhaps scaling down the smaller regional shows in favor of bigger venues. They had just got back from gigging around Italy and Germany. Anyway, we enjoyed pizza backstage and talked about how they felt about being asked to support the Charlatans US tour in September/October.
The Derby gig was great. There were only red spotlights, but shot in black and white it turned out cool. Oh, and we didn’t mention Man U’s kicking in the champions league final the week before.
So a few dates in New York City and Boston, back home then a return to the US on tour with the Charlatans. Do they ever sleep? I had a quick few emails with toby on the day they arrived in New York, pretty excited.
He said “We are signed to a really good label in America, TBD records, and it will be interesting playing more across the continent. So far we have had a good warm reception”.
Hatcham Sotial are touring supporting the Charlatans on all the North America dates:
"You only get to appreciate what you do when you're not doing it," says bassist Rob Canning, slurping on a tea. "and now we're back, we're buzzing to go."
PART ONE: WELCOME TO 2008
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nice work Charlie
Great shots.. very nice journalism work Charlie
BEST ARTICLE I HAVE EVER READ
AWESOMNESS, CHARLIE INGHAM IS AMAZING !!!
sandor
Great work
Loved the photos-- the conversions came out real nice, and the one w/ the bloke in the jean jacket staring is top-notch.
Great article on Hatcham
Great article on Hatcham Social, interesting hearing it from the photographer's side.
And loving the backstage pictures particularly.
Neat work!
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