K&A Podcast

In episode 29, Karl and Aidan talk to Nia Collins, who introduces herself as a musician, singer and educator. As we progress through the episode however, we discover that she has many more strings to her bow besides these, including event management, creating a whole range of music projects and even writing jingles! She is also Aidan’s line manager at Southampton Music Hub, but we’ll let you decide if Aidan managed to conduct himself appropriately…

Nia talks about her time organising Cheltenham Jazz Festival, putting on huge music events in the south of England and how her career has progressed to leading the Isle of Wight Music Hub. She also reveals an insight to the inner workings of music education, and the challenges that come with bringing together hundreds of students to perform in mass choral events.

p.s. It’s pronounced JIF, not GIF…

Find out more about Nia’s work here:

Southampton Music Hub

Isle of Wight Music Hub

Listening to the podcast is all the support we need, but if you’d like to go a little further then you can make a donation to the show HERE. Include a message, and we’ll read it out on the show!

In Episode 28 of the podcast, we sit down with Jim Denbigh, the singer and guitarist for the awesome Dave Grohl tribute band, Grohlercoaster. Jim takes us through his journey as a musician, including when he was a drummer for Southampton regulars The Strings

Jim discusses his early years in the music industry, including his decision to switch from drummer to the role of frontman. He talks about the inspiration he drew from Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters, and how he created Grohlercoaster.

CLICK HERE to hear Inch Punch, a lockdown iteration of Grohlercoaster - performing their original song Victory March

LINKS

Grohlercoaster

The Strings

Listening to the podcast is all the support we need, but if you’d like to go a little further then you can make a donation to the show HERE. Include a message, and we’ll read it out on the show! aidanhampson.co.uk

Note: the RSS extract I can access does not expose the actual URLs behind the "Grohlercoaster", "The Strings" and donation links, so I have left those link labels as they appear rather than inventing URLs.

In episode 27, Aidan and Karl welcome Harry Younger to the podlodge, a renowned drummer and music educator. In this podcast, Harry takes us on a journey through his early beginnings as a musician and shares some fascinating insights into the world of drumming.

Harry's exciting work with Roland instruments is also a highlight of the conversation, as he shares his experiences with some of the most advanced and innovative drumming technology available today. Aidan also leads Harry and Karl in a Mike Portnoy vs Mike Mangini quiz, which they found much trickier than he expected - predictably.

Be sure to listen right to the end, where we get to hear Karl try and rhyme the word ‘religious’… We bet you can’t guess word he ended up with!

Listening to the podcast is all the support we need, but if you’d like to go a little further then you can make a donation to the show HERE. Include a message, and we’ll read it out on the show!

In the second of what is becoming a yearly tradition, Karl and Aidan meet up for catch up. As well as a general chat about their lives since the last episode, they also bring in three tracks that have made recent additions to their ‘Good Stuff’ playlists to play for each other.

Kelly joins in for the last part of the episode, to talk about Chic to Chic’s recent run at Butlin’s, meeting some 80’s legends and her opinions on Karl and Aidan’s music choices.

You can also find the link to the Spotify playlist HERE and the Youtube video to McRad’s Weakness HERE.

Listening to the podcast is all the support we need, but if you’d like to go a little further then you can make a donation to the show HERE. Include a message, and we’ll read it out on the show!

Peter and Karl go way back. They were in their first band Savalas together which morphed into Sine Star Project. Sine Star Project (an anagram of Peter’s name) are a tricky act to pin down, but you can hear influences from the Buckleys (Tim and Jeff), Elliott Smith, Aimee Mann, Love, Ry Cooder and Pink Floyd to The Flaming Lips, American Music Club and Grant Lee Buffalo…even Berlioz and Bruckner.

We learn about Peter’s start as a musician on trumpet and piano, though to achieving his dreams fronting a band signed by One Little Indian (who also have Skunk Anansie and Bjork on their roster). Peter is also a talented producer, and talks us through his time working as a producer and engineer on a host of bands, most notably The Delays.

We finished with a glimpse of Peter’s current projects, fusing classical and electronica genres together and taking them out on the road as a solo act.

Keep an eye on his Instagram page, and make sure you catch a show!

Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/sinestarproject/

You can also find Peter’s SoundCloud page HERE: https://soundcloud.com/peterjcroissant

and his BandCamp HERE: https://sinestarproject.bandcamp.com/

Listening to the podcast is all the support we need, but if you’d like to go a little further then you can make a donation to the show HERE: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DZLSZP3ZWC5N2

Include a message, and we’ll read it out on the show!

Mark Jones is a the luthier at Jones Basses, a maker of bass guitars in the south of England. He brought a bass in for Karl and Aidan to look at, whilst discussing how basses are created, how materials are chosen and the thought process behind creating boutique instruments.

Dan is a saxophonist, composer and educator. He has been recognised nationally for his work in jazz and commercial music both as an educator and practitioner.

He’s possibly the busiest musician in Southampton - alongside composing and performing, he is a lecturer in Jazz & Popular Music at the University of Southampton, leads Saints Brass a tutor for the NYJC and runs the pioneering youth jazz organisation, SYJO.

He popped into the Podcast Lodge to chat to Karl and Aidan about his beginnings as a musician, working with Mark Hill (Artful Dodger) and Craig David, arranging for Band of Skulls and much more besides.

We’re also treated to a stunning exclusive track from his upcoming album and an unreleased Band of Skulls track, recorded live with an orchestra!

Dan’s Website: http://danmm.co.uk/
Band Of Skulls - Himalayan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS9NYvTsIvY

To support the podcast further, you can buy Karl and Aidan a coffee HERE: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Kandapodcast

Neil and Aidan go way back, over 25 years in fact, which made them both feel older than they would like to admit!

He popped into the podcast lodge to tell Karl and Aidan about his life as a musician, educator and workshop leader. He has appeared in blockbuster movies with his viola and treated the podcast hosts to a track that he wrote for Paul Smith and Voces8 which was quite frankly stunning.

The new Red Hot Chili Pepper album is discussed of course, as well as many enlightening and amusing stories from his many and varied experiences across his career.

Find Neil HERE

Reflections, his album with Paul Smith and Voces8 can be found on Spotify HERE

Buy Karl and Aidan a coffee HERE

Watch this episode on YouTube HERE:

Dirk Lance is the bassist for East of June and former bass player for Incubus. He started playing bass in high school, where he met Brandon Boyd, Mike Einziger and José Pasillas. The four of them bonded over Phish, Primus, Red Hot Chili Peppers and formed Incubus.

Dirk zoomed into the podcast from his home in California to chat to Karl and Aidan about his introduction to music and the bass. He offers a wealth of experience and knowledge from his 30 years in the music business including touring, recording, songwriting and navigating the ‘business’ of music.

Check out Dirk’s new band East of June HERE

And listen to them on Spotify HERE

Buy Karl and Aidan a coffee HERE

Not only is this episode the podcast’s 20th, but is also our three year anniversary!

Rather than bring a guest in, Karl and Aidan take the opportunity to catch up on how their lives have changed since January 2019, and have a very jolly time showing each other artists and tracks from their current ‘Good Stuff’ Spotify playlists.

HERE is a link to the Spotify playlist of the six songs played, and HERE is a link to the live video of ADHD.

Buy Aidan and Karl a coffee HERE