Creative Minds Podcast

Hannah Wants is an international artist who you may have seen at Creamfields, Parklife, We Are Fstvl, Reading & Leeds festival, Printworks, Hideout, Annie Mac presents Lost & Found, Pacha, Amnesia terrace, EDC in New York, Vegas, Mexico, during her tours of Australia, America, four consecutive years of sold out large scale U.K and Ireland tours for her PLAY and WHAT HANNAH WANTS concepts, then further sold out intimate tours across the UK & Ireland in more recent years.

Some of her awards include being crowned as Mixmag’s Best Breakthrough DJ in 2012, DJ Mag’s Best Breakthrough DJ in 2012, Mixmag’s Star of the Year in 2014 + so much more.

Hannah’s talent combined with a vision for success & an unwavering relentless work ethic has seen her become one of the true international superstar DJs, a position that she has rightly maintained as well.

In this episode we discuss her musical influences growing up, her grandad being an original don of a DJ in the post WW2 era, the importance of starting from the bottom as a DJ, work ethic, lessons learnt about physical & mental well-being due to the demands of being a touring DJ, her stand out moments from over the years, maintaining success & longevity, and also her upcoming releases with vocalists Nathan Nicholson & Clementine Douglas.

This episode of the Creative Minds podcast is in partnership with Birmingham based independent streetwear brand Dark Circle. Their pre SS21 drop is launching on 10th Feb. Show some love to the independent brands out there and #SupportLocal.

Dark Circle: https://www.darkcircleclothing.com

Hannah Wants Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hannahwantsdj

Hannah Wants Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannah_wants/?hl=en

Hannah Wants is an international artist who you may have seen at Creamfields, Parklife, We Are Fstvl, Reading & Leeds festival, Printworks, Hideout, Annie Mac presents Lost & Found, Pacha, Amnesia terrace, EDC in New York, Vegas, Mexico, during her tours of Australia, America, four consecutive years of sold out large scale U.K and Ireland tours for her PLAY and WHAT HANNAH WANTS concepts, then further sold out intimate tours across the UK & Ireland in more recent years.

Some of her awards include being crowned as Mixmag’s Best Breakthrough DJ in 2012, DJ Mag’s Best Breakthrough DJ in 2012, Mixmag’s Star of the Year in 2014 + so much more.

Hannah’s talent combined with a vision for success & an unwavering relentless work ethic has seen her become one of the true international superstar DJs, a position that she has rightly maintained as well.

In this episode we discuss her musical influences growing up, her grandad being an original don of a DJ in the post WW2 era, the importance of starting from the bottom as a DJ, work ethic, lessons learnt about physical & mental well-being due to the demands of being a touring DJ, her stand out moments from over the years, maintaining success & longevity, and also her upcoming releases with vocalists Nathan Nicholson & Clementine Douglas.

This episode of the Creative Minds podcast is in partnership with Birmingham based independent streetwear brand Dark Circle. Their pre SS21 drop is launching on 10th Feb. Show some love to the independent brands out there and #SupportLocal.

Dark Circle: https://www.darkcircleclothing.com

Hannah Wants Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hannahwantsdj

Hannah Wants Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannah_wants/?hl=en

Jack Brabant is the founder of Digbeth Dining Club, a multi award-winning street food event that has transformed the city's food landscape by turning some of the Midlands most unique venues into vibrant, street food destinations.

Even when abbreviated, when someone mentions “DDC” in Birmingham or further afield, it’s become one of the main brands that people associate with Digbeth. DDC is a brand that has become synonymous with this cultural hotspot & it embodies everything the district is about.

Digbeth Dining Club isn’t your usual dining experience, they strip back the frills and fanciness of fine-dining and offer an authentic, unique experience where they let the food do the talking.

In this episode, we discuss the pilot of the free school meals and the other amazing pieces of charity work they’ve been doing since last October to ensure all children are fed, Jack’s upbringing & organic path into street food, the inspiration behind bringing the DDC vision to life, the realities of the struggles in the first few years when developing the business, the exponential growth in recent years, the ambitious calculated risks that paid off when they worked with the likes of Warwick Castle, and overall how DDC has stayed true to its roots by retaining the core family values that's in turn taken the brand to where it is today.

Whilst there are no definitive ingredients to success in business, Jack shares inspiring wise words on the importance of giving it a go, taking risks, treating people right & knowing your worth.

Website: https://www.digbethdiningclub.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DigbethDiningClub

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/digbethdiningclub/

Joe Hunt is a DJ, promoter, former radio host on Silk City's pirate radio, owner of NICE Underground, and a viral sensation who raised over £30,000 in 2020 for NHS charities through his live streams.

In this next episode I was joined by a true 0121 legend and someone who is still very much a key player in the scene even now after 20+ years. We go right the way back to his musical influences passed down from his lovely mum, his first encounter with garage on West End Bar, becoming a DJ, his iconic pirate radio shows, being a pioneer of the “Phunky Basslines” sound, the inception and vision of NICE Underground, winning awards, raising over 30k for NHS charities through his live streams & there’s some proper wise words about how you can authentically stay relevant and achieve longevity in such a competitive and cut throat industry.

Joe opens up about the struggles and harsh realities he faced before his music career even started for the very first time in this exclusive interview. He also reflects on some of the other knock-backs he's experienced along the way, so I cannot thank Joe enough for his honesty as he provides the real lowdown.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letmehearthedj

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joehuntdj/

Bradley Gunn is still championed as one of the most inspiring figures to enter the music industry. We could all do with some positivity at the moment, and the story of Bradley Gunn Raver is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Bradley unintentionally went viral through his sober raving antics, attracting everyone from all corners of the industry for all the right reasons by breaking down barriers worldwide with his message of positivity and advocacy of inclusion.

In this very special episode and a personal one for me, Bradley reveals his first experience in a rave, the dancing videos from his early days unintentionally going viral, dancing everywhere from Vietnam to Italy and America, why he realised it was the right time to withdraw from the industry, his favourite memories and best events he went to around the world, and numerous spontaneous moments including staying at Joris Voorn’s house, dancing on a beach with Seth Troxler & lunch with Kölsch.

There’s some great advice in this episode on authenticity, retaining integrity, doing what’s right for your happiness & mental health, building your brand gradually, not forcing the message of sobriety on people, and there’s some very inspiring words on how Brad overcame his barrier of nerves to do a keynote interview in Ibiza for International Music Summit.

You can also find out if Bradley Gunn Raver will return to the dancefloor in a post-Covid world.

Brad was one of the first people I met in the industry, and bringing his story to life when I was editing his monthly rave review through Ministry Of Sound is a memory I’ll never forget.

Keynote interview at IMS 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkalxb5HNRY

BBC Three's Amazing Humans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSx_v0klPUM

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bradleygunnsailor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradleygunnsailor/

Jordyn Young is a Research Associate in the Psychology Department at the University of Pennsylvania, one of America’s most prestigious Ivy League research universities (ranked #6 by Forbes in the list of America's top colleges in 2019).

In my first Creative Minds podcast of 2021, we discuss the pros and cons of social media and general smartphone use to improve your mental well-being, and to help people try and use them in a productive & positive way.

Likes, followers & feeling like you need to buy certain things or living beyond your means to keep up with the world of social media isn’t necessarily the key to true or long term happiness, and this is something I can vouch for from my own personal experiences in the past.

Never tell yourself you’re not good enough based on how many likes you get, how many followers you have, what material possessions you own or how you look. You are good enough and remember that we’re all on our own journeys. 

Most of what you see is “perfectionist presentation”, a highlight reel and not the reality for over 95% of people. Be grateful for what you do have instead of focusing too much on what you don’t have.

Watch: The Social Dilemma on Netflix - https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224

“The Pros and Cons of social media in our lives” w/ Dr Melissa Hunt on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qPTgPDu4rM

Read: No More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression (PDF available for free on Guildford Journals) - https://guilfordjournals.com/doi/10.1521/jscp.2018.37.10.751

The Four Pillar Plan by Dr Rangan Chaterjee - https://drchatterjee.com/book/

 How To Break Up With Your Phone by Catherine Price - https://phonebreakup.com

Kieren Lythgow is a Senior Bioinformatics Scientist specialising in virology, phylogenetics, genomics and outbreaks. Kieren’s selfless hard work and dedication to this field over the years has earned him numerous accreditations, the likes of which include a degree in Biology, a Masters in Genetics and a PhD in Genetics. He has worked in disease research for 20 years, with the last 10 of those years in viral genomics and public health.

With everything going on in the world at the moment with Covid-19, I felt it was absolutely necessary and important to bring on my friend Kieren for this next episode. As someone who I only knew on social media at first from working in the music industry, I noticed that after the pandemic broke out and with the constant ongoing developments - Kieren was and still is consistently putting his platform on social media to good use by educating others by breaking down the science as simply as he possibly can.

To be clear, this instalment of the Creative Minds podcast is not about forcing anyone to do anything, or trying to push an agenda about mandatory vaccines or masks. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, to educate themselves, and if you wish to challenge the status quo then that is your choice and have the right to do so. I wanted to do this to try and reassure people and educate others about the importance of getting their information from reliable sources, because we live in an age now where social media is a breeding ground for misinformation and this can be dangerous at times, especially of course during a global pandemic.

I’m sure most of us have questioned the shambolic way in which this government has dealt with the situation and the fact they haven’t held themselves accountable when they’ve made mistakes. I am certainly not taking the moral high ground as I’ve had my own doubts at times, but this is about the science behind the virus.

We discuss the origins of the virus, why we are still in the position we’re in now in the UK, the governments handling of the pandemic, the dangers of social media & the wider media during a pandemic, pros and cons of vaccines, progressive medicine, when we’re likely to return to normal & we round things off on a lighter note by sharing our passion & love for house music.

Reliable media sources recommended by Kieren: https://www.theatlantic.com/world/ & https://www.ft.com

Facebook (regular updates from Kieren as ongoing developments relating to Covid-19) unfold: https://www.facebook.com/kieren.lythgow

Liz Cass is a singer ~ songwriter, DJ & Producer based in London. Liz has over 18 years experience as a singer ~ songwriter and has collaborated with everyone from Hot Since 82 to Leftwing & Kody, and Jansons to Hot Natured's Ali Love. She is known for her melancholic sultry tones and highly emotive style of writing. She has previously leant her iconic vocals to globally recognised imprints including Defected, Anjunadeep, Knee Deep In Sound & Classic.

This is the longest podcast I have done so far, but the conversation flowed so naturally and there was so much to take away from speaking to the lovely Liz. We discuss everything from moving away from dance music as she has found her voice with her solo career, cutting her teeth in jazz & blues growing up, the importance of being open minded & listening to different genres when you’re seeking inspiration, being strategic when getting noticed by high caliber artists, not comparing yourself with others, building confidence, networking, executing a solid promo strategy for your releases, protecting yourself as an up and coming artist & what she has in the pipeline in a post-Covid world.

New singles - Chaos & Bad Love: https://open.spotify.com/track/1CnoVYjGLtRwFK8ZFtShgO?si=lpkBQODEQXC6qiymX3G8Hg // https://open.spotify.com/track/10TiqosXjC00zZziJjM1uL?si=SYehXqoZTgmx5bvcNjHMfQ

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liz__cass/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lizcasslive

Lee Harrison is one of Birmingham’s most respected and consistent promoters in the nightlife industry. Lee is now General Manager at Henman & Cooper, a venue situated in Colmore Row that has become one of the most talked about in the city for all the right reasons. For the first time in his career he has agreed to sit down to discuss his journey so far.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/henmanandcooper/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/henmanandcooper/?hl=en

Steven Braines is a successful and well respected artist manager in electronic music. He is the co-founder of He.She.They. - an open minded house & techno rave for everyone which places an emphasis on the importance of inclusivity over exclusivity.

Steven has been a manager for the pioneer Maya Jane Coles for the last 12 years, and has also managed other iconic artists such as Tale Of Us, Magda, Tricky and has been an instrumental player in projects that include KDA beating One Direction to number 1 in the charts.

In this episode, Steven tells his journey from humble beginnings in Sunderland to London and touring around the world, and the struggles he’s been through on the way on a mental and financial level to get to where he is today. We also discuss what he looks for as an artist manager, when management might be necessary for an artist, what’s required to breakthrough and make it in such such a competitive and saturated industry, and also the importance of inclusivity for the LGBTQIA community through his and Sophia's He.She.They. brand.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/he.she.they/ & https://www.instagram.com/andthewonderful/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HE.SHE.THEY.OFFICIAL & https://www.facebook.com/theweirdandthewonderfulofficial/ 

Website: https://www.heshethey.me