Hi Tim, how are you?

I'm good. I'm at Charing Cross station in London, but I like walking around when I do interviews, so I might look a bit odd!

Let's start with the big questions then. Tim Westwood recently told me there was "room for more than one Tim in this game". Do you agree?

No. And I bet you don't either. I always used to think that my name wasn't cool enough for a frontman, so I like to think I've done well to change that concept.

On behalf of all Tims, thank you. I've been reading your book Telling Stories (1 ). There is a chapter called Cocainus …

Yes. Well, I can imagine that phrase being on a T-shirt. A summer slogan. Yeah, just made it up. Two words. Throw them together. Portmanteau, is that what they're called? (2)

The word refers to the art of blowing cocaine up each other's bottoms. How often did this happen while you were a member of the Charlatans?

Not that often, to be honest. Although it was a memorable moment. I have no idea how we got to that point, but it definitely wasn't an everyday occurrence. It was just on tour we tried it. And … er … now I'm telling the world!

Did you ever try any other substances through that, er, entrance?

I tried a lot of different drugs (3) but none through that method.

There is also a chapter called "Diet Coke and bananas". I can't lie – this doesn't sound as exciting.

That refers to a DJ tour where I got through about 13 cans of Diet Coke in a day. It was a replacement in some ways – you still got a buzz. I've read about other people blowing coke up each other's arses – you know who I'm talking about (4) – but you never knew if it was true. I thought it was important with this book to be as honest as possible, that's the most important thing about any book.

Did you get any writing tips from anyone?

I spoke to John Prescott on Twitter (5) about how you write a book. He said "research" and I followed his advice – I realised it was important to get stuff like chart positions and dates right. We would chat a lot in the mornings, actually – he seemed to be a bit of a fan. He said he liked a bit of Hammond organ. He sent me a clip of Deep Purple doing Hush and said "Sound a bit familiar?", because it's a similar riff to The Only One I Know. I just replied with "hush". We were definitely on a taking-the-piss-out-of-each-other thing.

You talk in your book about journeying to the Haçienda as a teenager, where you'd get back at 8am …

Well, I lived in the sticks. It shows how important music was for me. And what lengths I would go to get the music I craved.

Do you think the Stone Roses' reunion will be a success?

I've no idea. I don't really care. I don't care if they're good or bad. I've seen them twice before. I'll probably go; my mate's got 100 tickets.

Is there still a sore point from when Ian Brown claimed you were imitating him back in the day?

No, we wrapped that up pretty quick.

In the book you hint that Liam Gallagher took frontman tips from you …

[Laughs] I don't really care … All I remembered is that my friends used to call Liam "Tim" and I thought that was funny. But you know, we were all coming from the same source.

Has Britpop got an unfairly bad reputation these days?

Well, I don't think Alex James does it much good, does he? Him praising McDonald's … that's a bit depressing. But I don't really know about Britpop. I don't think it's aged that well, but at the same time I love Can You Dig It? by the Mock Turtles.

What do you think your most enduring haircut was?

I'm quite enjoying the blonde bombshell look at the moment. I've always had a thing with hair – it's some kind of weird fetish or something. Who has good hair? The Horrors, Julian Casablancas, Liam, Weller … I used to really base my hair on Michael Clarke from the Byrds. It's more like that now because it's got the blonde beachy California look going on. I think I've mastered it, finally, at the ripe old age of 44.

The band have faced some tragic incidents, none more so than when your keyboardist Rob Collins died in a car crash. In the book you say that you had grown apart and had even made moves to throw him out of the band. Have you admitted that before?

No, I've never admitted that before. Unless Mark [Collins, guitarist] had mentioned it to the rest of the band, they wouldn't have known either. It was something I'd kept to myself. I was nervous about putting it out there but then I was nervous about putting One To Another [the first single after Collins's death] out there. It's good to be nervous; if you're not, then what comes out won't be that great.

You're gearing up to release a solo record you recorded with Lambchop's Kurt Wagner in Nashville (6) …

Yes! I remember he did a solo gig in Manchester in 2001 and I met him outside and carried his stuff in for him. We ended up doing something together from there – he said he'd write the lyrics and I would do the music. Which we did, 10 years later.

Let's end with your celebrity cereal – Totes Amazeballs. Are you making this for Kellogg's or was that a particularly weird dream I had?

No, it's true! I was on Twitter and a thought went through my head so I said: "Wouldn't it be amazing if there was a cereal called Totes Amazeballs, Kellogg's should make one." And then @KelloggsUK got in touch and said they'd do it. It's a cereal you can wake up to at a festival if you're hungover and need a bit of energy. It's got rocky road, marshmallow pieces … a bit of everything really.

You've done well out of Twitter – book advice from the former deputy prime minister and your own cereal. Thanks for talking to us Tim!

I'm exhausted now. I've done three laps of Charing Cross station for this one. You're keeping me fit!

Footnotes

(1) Telling Stories by Tim Burgess is published by Penguin at £12.99 Back to article

(2) Correct, Tim, although they probably didn't have "cocainus" in mind when they first invented it Back to article

(3) To prevent himself getting caught, Tim would smuggle his cocaine in Jamiroquai LP sleeves in the hope that nobody would ever believe it was his record Back to article

(4) Stevie Nicks has denied this story ever applied to her Back to article

(5) We spoke to Prezza on Twitter once – and he ended up writing a blog for us Back to article

(6) Oh No I Love is out this autumn Back to article