Provocative comedian, deluded lothario, or serious musician? Tim Hughes asks: ‘Who the hell is Har Mar Superstar?’ OUTRAGEOUS, sweaty and bombastic, Har Mar Superstar has cornered the pop market in prancing around in just his pants.

Not that he has much competition… well, not from rotund, deluded R&B singers, anyway. And without wishing to burst anyone’s balloon – and brace yourself for this – Har Mar is not real.

Of course, he exists in the sense that he is a larger-than-life, narcissistic, lusty lothario. But the man in the Y-fronts is the creation of singer, songwriter and producer Sean Tillman.

At first, he explains, he attempted to pass off his fleshy alter-ego as his brother Harold Martin (Har Mar, geddit?), though he now admits the name came from a Har Mar Shopping Mall in his native Minnesota.

“The character was a reaction to boring indie-rock and how people were taking themselves way too seriously,” he says.

And he includes himself in that criticism.

At the time Sean was playing what he would now consider dull indie-guitar.

“Every aspect of playing and touring was no fun after a while, and I realised that if I went to a dance party and sang an R Kelly song on a couch, the girls were going to go crazy. So I started transferring that to the stage and doing more R&B oriented songs. It really was a no-brainer after I’d done it a few times. I thought ‘why don’t I just make this gross; why don’t I just start writing songs like that?’ And as soon as I did, it was obvious. It was like a lightbulb went on, and I got aggressive.

“The shows became this weird exercise in sexual tension, and I really learnt how to play with that fire and make it work.”

Har Mar is only the latest in a series of incarnations for Sean, who began his musical life as frontman of Minnesota three-piece Calvin Krime and went on to perform as Sean Na Na.

A respected writer and actor, he has supplied songs for the likes of JLo and Kelly Osbourne, and features on Stainless Style – the Mercury Music Prize-nominated album by Super Furry Animal Gruff Rhys’s Neon Neon project. He even appeared in the 2004 movie version of Starsky & Hutch, as a disco-dancing star.

But the love between Sean and his more mischievous persona seldom runs smoothly. “I kind of got sick of the Har Mar persona for a little while,” he admits. “I thought it was time to go away for a little bit, so I hung up the Har Mar jacket and made a new Sean Na Na album, had fun doing that, toured a lot with Neon Neon, and started film projects with my friends.

“But I got sick of playing guitar music again,” he confesses. “I realised I really missed Har Mar.”

On Sunday he plays the O2 Academy Oxford. The tour, his first in the UK for two years, comes as he releases his third album Dark Touches – which he describes as “the soundtrack to a retro-futuristic dance party”. It’s an exuberant pastiche of ’80s R&B grooves, crisp synth samples, Sean’s soulful falsetto, and cheeky lyrics describing Har Mar’s courtship practices.

His song I Got Next, for example, was inspired by his habit of asking cute girls to sign a contract agreeing that, if they break up with their boyfriends, they promise to take Har Mar next.

“I have a lot of contracts signed, on napkins and things,” he explains.

Another song, Tall Boy, was actually written for Britney Spears while Girls Only was penned for the Cheetah Girls. Both turned him down. Fortunately.

And he finally feels comfortable with his Jeckyl and Hyde split-personality.

“Har Mar has always represented the most out-there, outrageous and in-your-face aspects of me,” he admits.

“I’ve gone through phases where there’s been angry Har Mar and different versions of this guy.

“But lately it’s all been about the vibe that everyone’s included and everyone’s part of this thing. It’s about me going out and getting as sweaty as possible, moving around as much as I can and, in a sense, ‘glamouring’ everybody for the night and making them feel better about themselves.

“It all really is an extension of myself,” he explains. “There’s not too much of a division between Har Mar and Sean at this point. I guess it sort of fulfilled the prophecy – I’ve become my own guy.”

Har Mar Superstar plays the O2 Academy Oxford on Sunday. Doors open at 7pm. Tickets are £9