Laura Cantrell in conversation  with David Eastaugh

Cantrell reached wider recognition in 2000 with her debut album, Not the Tremblin' Kind. The album reached the attention of legendary UK DJ John Peel, who wrote of it, "[It is] my favourite record of the last ten years and possibly my life". She went on to record five sessions for Peel and dedicated her 2005 album, Humming by the Flowered Vine, to his memory.

In the spring of 2011, Cantrell released Kitty Wells Dresses: Songs Of the Queen of Country Music, "a recording she made in honor of one of her heroines, the great Kitty Wells", taking its title from an original song of Laura's written in tribute to Wells.

The Nightingales - with Stewart Lee & Michael Cumming in conversation - discussing King Rocker A film about Robert Lloyd & The Nightingales 

PREMIERES: SATURDAY FEBRUARY 6TH ON SKY ARTS (9pm)

Direct Hits with Colin Swan in conversation with David Eastaugh

Way back in 1982, Battersea based mod heroes The Direct Hits had released one single on Dan Treacy’s Whamm! record label, ‘Modesty Blaise’ earlier in the year.

Live gigs showed they had a mighty powerful set of catchy mod / pop tunes in the back pocket. Whamm! were struggling to provide the funds to record an album, the songs were too good not to commit to a full 12’ set, so the Direct Hits pooled their limited resources and self financed a very cheap one day recording session in a tiny studio in Tooting, South London called Broadway Sound.

Early on the morning of August 12th 1982 the band, comprising of Colin Swan, Geno Buckmaster, Brian Grover and their trusty roadie ‘Robbo’ assembled at the tiny studio to begin recording as many of their songs as they could get down on tape for the tiny budget they had scraped together.

Oxbow with Eugene Robinson  in conversation with David Eastaugh

Oxbow began as a recording project. In 1988 bandmates Eugene Robinson (vocals, lyrics) and Niko Wenner (guitar, bass, keyboards, music) wrote songs with an approach decidedly different from their band at the time Whipping Boy. Wenner concocted an underlying musical architecture for his abrasive-then-plangent music, through use of arch form and musical palindromes unusual in the noise music genre the band was often placed. This organizing structure later grew to encompass the second Oxbow recording as well, and drew relationships between the two. For his part Robinson changed his vocal approach to include in-the-studio improvisations and extensive vocal multi-tracking. This first record, titled Fuckfest has drumming split evenly between Greg Davis and Tom Dobrov. Dan Adams (bass in Oxbow, drums in Whipping Boy) joined immediately on completion of the first recording.

Robin Mayhew talking about David Bowie, Presidents, Lou Reed & much more with David Eastaugh 

Begun life in the Presidents from 1958 to 1965 - and then becoming a roadie and sound engineer for a band named "Tucky Buzzard", produced by Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones. 

Tucky Buzzard had recently signed with the same management company that had signed David Bowie. Robin quickly became adept with the band's unique Turner PA system, a sound set-up that Bowie fell in love with. When David created his "Ziggy Stardust" persona he brought in Robin - along with the sound system - to handle his front-of-house sound. Robin engineered every Ziggy Stardust performance until Bowie broke-up the Spiders from Mars in 1973.

The Nightingales with Rob Lloyd in conversation with David Eastaugh

A feature-length documentary about the band - King Rocker - fronted by comedian and writer Stewart Lee and directed by Michael Cumming will be shown on  Sky Arts channel on February 6, 2021.

Daniel Takes a Train with Dan Synge in conversation with David Eastaugh

London based Daniel Takes A Train started as an 80's guitar pop band, rehearsing in a cellar off the King's Road and playing West End nightclubs, attracting a cult following before splitting in 1988.  They famously signed their first record deal in 2018 and have recorded enough new material to release their first studio album, Last Ticket To Tango. Here the band revisit their earliest musical influences -- new wave, soul, ska and synth pop -- for one last spin on the dancefloor.  

The Roxy - with Andrew Czezowski and Susan Carrington in conversation with David Eastaugh

The Roxy was started by Andrew Czezowski, Susan Carrington and Barry Jones.The main entrance was on street level where you would walk into a small bar and seated area. Downstairs there was a small stage, bar and dance floor.

In December 1976, Czezowski, Carrington and Jones organised three gigs at the Roxy.They financed the venture with borrowed money (Jones, a musician, pawned his guitar to stock the bars, and hire sound equipment, etc.). The first show, on 14 December, was Generation X, a band Czezowski managed. The second on the following night was the Heartbreakers. The third, on 21 December, featured Siouxsie and the Banshees and Generation X. 

The Folk Devils with Kris Jozajtis in conversation with David Eastaugh

Founding member Ian Lowery had previously been the original singer in late 1970s punk rock band The Wall and then signed to Killing Joke's Malicious Damage label as leader of the group Ski Patrol.[1] Politics and the general tensions that seemed endemic to the Killing Joke scene led Ian to leave Ski Patrol and recruit long-time friend of Jaz Coleman - Alan Cole on drums, Kris Jozajtis on guitar (now Dr Kris Jozajtis at Greenfaulds High School) and Mark Whiteley, from Wales, on bass to form another group, Folk Devils, in 1983.[1] Mark had been active in both the London and Welsh music scene. He worked with Anrhefn, Wales' seminal punk band and with the ill-fated Hack Hack on the album Despite Amputations. He left the band midway through a gig at The Fridge in Brixton unhappy with the band, their label (Shout Records), and musical direction. A fight ensued and Mark became a Folk Devil.

JoBoxers with Sean McLusky in conversation with David Eastaugh

The band's debut single, "Boxerbeat", peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart. while the group were the opening act on the Madness 'Rise and Fall' tour.At numbers 1 and 2 at the time were David Bowie's "Let's Dance" and Duran Duran's "Is There Something I Should Know?", respectively.

However, it was their next hit, "Just Got Lucky", that broke the band internationally. This single sold over 250,000 copies, made the UK Top 10, and cracked the US Top 40, reaching number 36 during November 1983[1] and has been featured in a number of films including Just My Luck and The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

The third single, "Johnny Friendly", is a homage to the Marlon Brando film On the Waterfront. British boxer Frank Bruno appeared in the promotional video for the song.