Creative Forces with Guy Kilty

Adam Gibbons, better known as Lack of Afro, is a musician, multi-instrumentalist and producer. His first studio album, Press On, was released by Freestyle Records in 2009 and he's since gone on to release six more, all of which are infused with his unique take on funk, soul, break beats and rap. In our chat, Adam tells me how he became inspired to produce every aspect of his records, why taking control of his music and releasing it on his own label became so important to him, and the role his gran played in his early musical development. 

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In 2010 Oliver Jones founded Deer Shed Festival, a family-focused music, arts and science weekend camping festival in North Yorkshire, with his wife Kate. Since then, it's gone on to become one of the best family-friendly festivals in the UK and celebrated its tenth anniversary this year. Oliver spent more than a decade working in the music industry in Bristol and London, which included playing at Glastonbury and studio engineering for Massive Attack, and ended up working in all sorts of jobs before setting up Deer Shed. In this honest and funny interview, which was recorded in front of a live audience at the Podcast Social Club (which he also founded) in Thirsk, hear Oliver describe the ups and downs of setting up a festival, the highs and lows of the music business, and the joys of heading down a YouTube wormhole.

Andrew McMillan is a poet and lecturer in creative writing. His debut collection, physical, published in 2015, won a host of prizes and was the first poetry collection to win the Guardian First Book Award. Earlier this year, it was voted one of the top 25 poetry books of the past 25 years by the Booksellers Association. Growing up in Darfield, south Yorkshire, Andrew spent his early years looking to go into politics, but switched to poetry in his late teens. In this interview hear Andrew describe why he decided politics wasn't right for him, how he dealt with the merry-go-round of awards ceremonies when his first book took off, and the influence his dad Ian had on his career.

Joanne Harris is the author of more than a dozen novels, most famously Chocolat, which was made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. Born in Barnsley, Joanne started writing at an early age and worked as a teacher for over a decade before the success of Chocolat allowed her to become a full-time writer. Her books are now published in over 50 countries and have won a number of British and international awards. In this interview, hear why Joanne never thought she could earn a living as an author until Chocolat's success, why her brief stint as an accountant was 'like being in a Terry Gilliam film', and how she and her bandmates have managed to stay together for more than three decades.

John Nicholson is a football writer, novelist and web entrepreneur. Born in Hull and raised in Stockton-on-Tees, John has enjoyed a wide-ranging career which includes setting up the online t-shirt businesses DJTees & TShirts365, submitting a weekly column for Football365 for almost two decades, and writing 16 novels. His 2010 book We Ate All The Pies was long-listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year and he’s been short-listed for Writer of the Year by the Football Supporters Federation. Along the way he’s lived in over 20 locations including The Black Isle in Scotland and Laguna Beach, California. In this brutally honest and funny interview, hear John talk about his love of rock and roll, vinyl records and Middlesbrough FC, how he fell into writing professionally by accident, and how he found out he is related to William the Conqueror. 

Matthew Cope is a magician and magic teacher who performs under the name Matthew J Magic. Growing up in Yorkshire, Matthew started juggling at the age of 10, performing magic as a street entertainer at 14 and was playing all over the country as a magical illusion act just a year later. Now, after a stint as a school teacher and extensive travel around the world, he’s a full-time entertainer, performing his unique combination of magic and variety to audiences around the UK and beyond. In this interview, hear Matthew describe why he became fascinated with magic and variety from such a young age, why he loves travelling, and how his Grandad helped him fulfil his ambitions.

Rebecca Swift is global head of creative insights at the world-renowned photo agency Getty Images. Since joining the photography industry over 20 years ago, Rebecca has pioneered the use of analytics to find out why we are attracted to certain images rather than others, and been instrumental in ensuring Getty’s stock photographs portray women and people with disabilities in realistic ways, including the banning of photoshopped body shapes. In this interview hear how Rebecca got into the industry by accident, how it’s been revolutionised completely by technology in the last two decades, and which musical instrument she plays to relax.