Life in Scents

In this episode of Life in Scents Jo Barratt speaks to Gabriel Stebbing, the man otherwise known as Night Works, ahead of the release of his debut album Urban Heat Island. Gabriel recalls the cooking smells growing up in the homes of his respective parents. We hear of Lynx Africa (Axe to International listeners) in suburban...

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Richard Wentworth has been a major player in New British Sculpture for over thirty years. His work often focusses on the idea of objects and questions our understanding of them within the context of our daily lives. In this episode of life in Scents he talks to Jo Barratt about his relationship with smell. Chemical, glue and workshop smells sit alongside a consideration of how we think about and relate smell in a wider sense. As well as many other things Richard muses on the meaning that humans ascribe to that moment after a thunderstorm and how ideas of ‘clean' or ‘dirty' relate to how we see ourselves within the world, as well as his hatred of perfumed candle shops.

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Scissors and tape-measures at the ready for this episode Life in Scents, as tailor Timothy Everest MBE shares some of his favourite smells. For over two decades, Timothy has designed bespoke suits for prime-ministers, musicians and screen icons from his workshop in Spitalfields, East London  - including costumes for the recent film adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. From the workplace smells of hot irons and chalk to his impressive wardrobe of fragrances, and the patchouli wafts of his time training with Timmy Nutter (outfitter to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones) Timothy brings to life the olfactory world of the sartorialist, whether the perfect cologne, or the scent of a good tweed.

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Astronomer Marek Kukula is our guest on the latest episode Life in Scents. Based at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, Marek's role is as public astronomer, translating and communicating the latest in space discovery for the public. Marek shares with us some theories on what the planets or inter-stellar gas might smell like (if we could survive the experience to tell the tale). He talks about the aromas he associates with the eerioly remote, high-altitude observatories at which he has spent nights watching the stars, and jolts us back to earth when remembering the scents of butterfly hunting in the English countryside as a child, or the smells of the Rock gigs he was dragged along to as a student in Manchester.

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This time on Life in Scents we sit down for a cup of tea (or five) with Henrietta Lovell, founder of The Rare Tea Company. Henrietta quit her job in packaging to find and import fine teas made by hand, and is utterly passionate about the subject and its associated smells. We hear of her memories of sitting by Lapsang Souchong smoking-huts and of swooning from the scent of jasmine flowers mingling with tea on Chinese mountain tops. Outside of tea, we hear about her love of all sorts of organic scents, of hidden bits of parks and of her grandmother prescribing her first perfume.

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Gerhart Jenne is the konditormeister behind London bakery Konditor & Cook, who's famed confections include Magic Cakes, over 3,000 of which will be put together to create a giant ‘cake' portrait of the Queen for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Together with partner Paul Cons he oversees a small empire which now occupies 6 distinct locations across central London. Gerhardt recalls the nostalgic, and not always pleasant, smells from his childhood in rural Germany, as well as many more from a career spent immersed in food. We also hear of Paul's childhood smell recollections as well as those from his time running Flesh, at Manchester's legendary nightclub, The Hacienda.

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This time on Life in Scents, we meet legendary bartender Tony Conigliaro, whose drinks grace bar menus around the world and who loves nothing more than to introduce techniques from perfumery and science into his work, developing new ideas at his London-based research centre, Drinks Factory. Tony talks about why Soho to him will always smell of violets (and not in a good way), how he once used camphor to create a Narnian wardrobe moment, and how he managed to turn a memory of walking in a peaceful Portland forest into a drink. Tony also reveals an early interest in fragrance, starting with miniature-scent-bottle collecting in his teenage years.

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This time on Life in Scents, we welcome landscape designer Cleve West who has won an incredible six RHS Gold Medals and Best in Show award at the Chelsea Flower show for his beautiful and innovative gardens. Naturally, Cleve gets stuck into the scent of manure, forests and sniffing out deer through the park, reveals why he has a thing for plasticine, and shares his Anglo-Indian Heritage, including the unforgettable aromas of curry leaves and how to make the perfect cup of aromatic Chai.

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In this special seasonal edition of Life in Scents Jo Barratt and Odette Toilette speak to Father Christmas.  Known by several names around the world this legendary elusive figure is the man perhaps most associated with This time of year. We hear about the smells that have punctuated his life, from his childhood in central Asia to his current home in the north of Europe.  It is a life  drenched in the warming Christmas smells that we are all so familiar with. We also learn what an elf smells like, that time travel smells of coconut and the connection between Old Spice and the Northern Lights.

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Our guest on this edition of Life in Scents is S.J. Watson, a new writer whose novel, Before I Go to Sleep, has been a huge bestseller in 2011. Winner of best crime novel in the Galaxy National Book awards, it has been translated into 30 languages and acquired for film by Ridley Scott's production company. S J Watson's vivid scent memories which he shares in this episode include the Bonfire Nights of his childhood, the unmistakable smell of an ear infection from his days working in the National Health Service, and his penchant for unusual fragrances, including a scent that smells of dry cleaning and another of garages.

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