Sharon Horgan turns musician as she records track with her favourite band The Charlatans

Making music: Sharon Horgan and Tim Burgess of The Charlatans have been working together
Daniel Hambury/Stella Picture
Craig McLean18 May 2017
The Weekender

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Sharon Horgan inspires devotion. There are few Londoners who aren’t in love with the Hackney-based Irish writer/actor.

Couples recognise the relationship hits, tics and hiccups she portrays so brilliantly in super-sharp, super-funny sitcom Catastrophe, co-written with co-star Rob Delaney.

Parents relate to her skewering of school playground politics in Motherhood. London homeowners wince at the characters’ trauma of being bricks-rich but cash-poor just when, it seems, property in the capital isn’t selling.

Even Sarah Jessica Parker is a fan, tapping Horgan to write US HBO series Divorce. Then there’s Jason Bateman. Horgan is in Atlanta this week filming the final block of Game Night, the latest film from the comedy actor/producer.

But who sets Horgan’s pulse racing? “I’ve been a fan of The Charlatans since the Britpop era,” the 46-year-old Bafta- winner begins.

“You listen to bands and they’re always in your life to a certain extent — but then they’ll have a resurgence. So The Charlatans came back into our lives the summer my brother stopped playing rugby and moved to London.

"We started partying very hard because it was so exciting to have him here. And every night we’d play The Charlatans — I’d put them on constantly on the jukebox in The Good Mixer in Camden.”

That effusive fangirl enthusiasm is the reason why Horgan is sitting in a quiet corner of Shoreditch House next to Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess.

In their first joint interview the pair are explaining how, alongside “writer”, “actor” and “producer”, Horgan can now add “singer” to her CV. She supplies backing vocals on the title track of the band’s upcoming 13th album, Different Days.

“Like all back-stories now,” Horgan notes, “it started on Twitter…”

“I was watching the second episode of the first series of Catastrophe,” recalls Burgess, a still-boyish 49 and the father of a four-year-old. “And I tweeted something that it was the best and funniest writing that I’d seen in a long time, and told people to watch it.”

“That was really early days, and really special,” chips in Horgan. “I hate re-tweeting any kind of praise because I think it makes you look bad.

"My cringe-level is too low — I don’t know if that’s an Irish thing,” she smiles. “But Tim’s tweet was the only time I’ve ever retweeted ’cause it was such a fan moment for me.”

A mutual Twitter appreciation was born. Horgan entered a competition to win a pair of tickets to see the band in Manchester, “and I think it was made so that I could win — along with other people!” she quickly clarifies.

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Did she go? “Yeah! Are you kidding? Me and my family went up and had an amazing time.”

“We’ve had a little journey of meeting up at music festivals,” continues Burgess, “and Sharon came to see us play in New York, and then I got to go on the set of Divorce.”

That visit, it seems, was just the tonic Horgan needed. “It was exciting when Tim came on set and to my writing office. I didn’t really have anybody in New York so it was nice having a friend there. It felt a bit more real, like, ‘someone knows what I’m doing out here’.”

Indeed. A New Yorker magazine profile of Horgan at the time painted a picture of the loneliness of the long-distance writer.

“Yeah, I was on my own a lot. It was difficult. I still have the scars. But actually a lot of good creative stuff comes out of those times of feeling grim and being on your own.

"You are thinking about things in a slightly skewed way but your brain opens up. I got a lot done. But I wouldn’t super-recommend it,” she laughs, “for your mental stability!”

Horgan admits that, accordingly, she’s “non-residentially” involved with the second series of the critically acclaimed show.

“It’s being shot right now but I’m not actually writing for it, I’m just exec-producing it and reading scripts.” That, she acknowledges, is better for her mental and emotional wellbeing.

“I love the show and I think the new series will be great, but it’s also good that someone else is doing it ’cause it’s too hard to be away from home for that long.”

Salford-born Burgess wrote much of Different Days in isolation, too. After many years in Los Angeles, and a recent stint in Seven Sisters, he and his musician partner Nik Colk Void and their son now live in a quiet corner of Norfolk.

The album features a starry roster of collaborators, including Paul Weller, Johnny Marr and author Ian Rankin. What made Burgess think an untried comedy actress was right to sing on the title track?

“Well, I did think she’d enjoy singing a line about headless horsemen…” he says. “But actually we didn’t work out what she was going to do till about one minute before we pulled into the studio.

"But in the writing I could hear another voice in the song. And I figured that Sharon’s such a good communicator that singing would be a piece of cake.”

And can she sing? “Not really!” laughs Horgan. “Well, just about! I love singing — I love singing to my children, and in the bath.

Fan girl: Sharon Horgan is a huge Charlatans fans
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

"Music’s a huge part of my life. But my first thought was: ‘I’m gonna let you down, Tim, so thank you so much for asking…’ But I was jumping around the room when he phoned, giddy with excitement. So I thought that nervous energy was a good sign.”

Nervous but committed, Horgan made a quick day-trip to The Charlatans’ studio in Middlewich, Cheshire, smack in the middle of the edit of the recently finished third series of Catastrophe.

She’s similarly juggling this afternoon. Back in London for a week’s break from the set of Game Night, she’s come straight from a writing session for the first series of Motherland.

Judging by last year’s hilarious pilot, the BBC comedy promises to be Game of Buggies: pitiless rivals jostling for power and survival, with questing knights recast as harried mums, more toddlers than dragons, and iron thrones replaced by school gates.

It starts filming in London in July.

Are playground politics now more tricky for Horgan — parents nervously whispering, “She’s writing this down”?

“I think so,” admits this mother of two with a slight wince. “I went into school the day after Motherland came out and I’ve never felt so aware of myself and that people might be thinking: ‘What’s her game?’ But even with Catastrophe there are characters I think are so obviously lifted from people I’ve met. And no one seems to notice.”

More challenging still are the story arcs she and Delaney need to address in the fourth series of Catastrophe.

They’re starting work next month on the follow-up to the third series where the pre-existing darkness — Rob’s drinking, Sharon’s dad’s passing — went pitch-black with the death, a week after filming wrapped, of Carrie Fisher, who played the mum of the fictional Rob.

Have Horgan and her creative partner discussed how they’re going to write about the absence of Fisher’s character?

“Only in terms of how difficult it’s going to be,” she replies, her natural ebullience fading. “We feel very sad that we can’t write about that character any more, or work with her. And we had loads of plans. But now it’s about finding a way to honour her and not be maudlin about it.”

Before that, thankfully, Horgan can glory in the excitement of starring on an album by her favourite band. I ask Burgess about the album’s roster of guest vocalists. Can he quantify their respective vocal skills?

“Well,” Horgan interjects, answering for him, “they’re good and professionals. I’m just an amateur and a chancer. That’s the difference!” she laughs.

Might she want to supersize her rock ’n’ roll excitement by appearing onstage with The Charlatans? She splutters. “I think no. I mean, I’ll go watch…”

“You have to do Brixton Academy with us,” says Burgess.

“I don’t want to ruin your thing, Tim,” she grins. “The Charlatans are cool and you should keep it that way. You’ve got to protect that. You don’t need a comedy actress coming up on stage! But have you got a gig in Ireland?”

“I think so,” Burgess nods. “Would you do it there?”

“Hah!” Horgan exclaims.

Well, it’s not a no.

The Charlatans’ album Different Days is released on May 26

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