Matters

The Prodigy’s fourth studio album, Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, was released on August 23rd 2004, and I was lucky enough to chat with Liam Howlett on July 13th of that year. This is that brief encounter.

Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned marked a significant departure from the group’s earlier work. It featured no live vocals from frontman Keith Flint or other guest vocalists, instead relying solely on samples and instrumentals.

The album was primarily the work of Liam Howlett, who produced, arranged, and played most of the instruments on the record. He was joined by guest musicians such as guitarist Jim Davies, Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher, and actress Juliette Lewis, who provided vocals on the track “Hotride”.

Musically, Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned continued to push the boundaries of electronic music, incorporating elements of rock, hip-hop, and even country into the mix. The album’s opening track, “Spitfire”, featured a guitar riff reminiscent of the Rolling Stones, while the track “Girls” used a sample from the Beastie Boys’ “It’s the New Style”.

Overall, the album received mixed reviews from critics and fans, with some praising its experimental approach and others criticising its lack of live vocals. Nevertheless, Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned remains an important and influential work in The Prodigy’s discography, showcasing Liam Howlett’s versatility as a producer and willingness to take risks and try new things.

In 2004, I had the privilege of speaking to Rykodisc co-founder Arthur Mann. Sadly, he’s been written out of critical modern music history today. What’s tragic is that his role was pivotal and needed tremendous respect.

If you want to commit to this VERY analogue recording of that interview, captured in a busy office (apologies for the ambient noise), there is sage wisdom shared to take away here.

For context - Arthur Mann was a record producer and executive who worked at Rykodisc, an independent record label founded in 1983. He joined the label in the mid-1990s and became its president in 1999. While at Rykodisc, Mann signed and released diverse music, including jazz, world music, and classic rock.

Mann was known for his passion for music and ability to identify and promote talented artists. He was instrumental in helping Rykodisc establish itself as a leading independent label, earning a reputation for quality releases and innovative marketing strategies.

Under Mann’s leadership, Rykodisc released albums by many notable artists, including Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, and Robert Wyatt. Mann also oversaw the acquisition of Hannibal Records, a world music label, and worked to expand Rykodisc’s presence in the digital music market.

Mann left Rykodisc in 2006 to pursue other opportunities in the music industry. However, his legacy at the label continues to be felt, and he is celebrated as a passionate and visionary leader who helped shape the independent music scene.

This interview, captured in early 2023, has taken 30 years to realise.

For context, Frederick Botha, AKA Drikkie to those who know and love him, formed a band in the late 1980s called The Gathering in Pretoria, South Africa, a country coming out of the State of Emergency brought on by the then Nationalist Party and government of the day. So, not a convenient time to be unconventional; everything The Gathering was, in the very best way. This is that untold back story.

I will hand it over to Drikkie to explain best. “Recording the first versions of “Perfect Souls” and “Wooden Walls” was not a nice experience. Out-of-step engineers and a shitty record company typical of the time. “Lamb Stricken” was, however, more pleasant.

“We could play the song how we wanted, without the producer trying to change it. They probably didn’t understand what we were doing in the first place, which was funny. Recording the final single was great. We could do exactly what we wanted, and it was fun.

“The fifth band member will always be Charl; he ensured the image was always taken care of, designed all the posters, and even helped with the live shows. I think he was sadder when the band broke up than I was 😉”

thegathering, thegatheringsa, perfectsouls, woodenwalls, drikkiebotha, frederickbotha, theoutsiders, lambstricken

In 1998, Culture Club was all things reunited, something that became somewhat of a theme from then on out.

This interview, captured in 1998, at the start of the band’s first official re-start after disbanding, is something special and a snapshot worthy of capturing for posterity.

Culture Club made up and informed our pop culture and music landscape right through the 1980s, 90s and comfortably into the nulls – a fact no one can or should deny.

If you want to get a sense of who these creatives were back then and where their original motivations lay all those years ago, this is one for you. Enjoy.

Culture Club, Boy George, Karma Chameleon, I Just Wanna be Loved, Church of the Poison Mind, Virgin, Virgin Records

My relationship with The Smashing Pumpkins goes back to their debut Gish, but this interview was recorded a good few years later when, in mid-1998, Adore landed. Not by me, sadly, but captured nonetheless, thanks to my working at EMI and an advance CDR recording of the interview landing on my desk, and I was ready to tell anyone who cared.

I shared the interview on The Cutting Edge, a weekly show I hosted at the time, along with the inimitable Tiene van den Berg, back in May 1998. Yes, it’s all mono and analogue horrible, but it remains a slice of modern rock history worthy of resharing.

Yes, there are poorly captured mono recordings on this session, which copyright oddly allows, but which make my heart gratefully happy for past and future generations to appreciate, so enjoy and, more importantly, go dig out or purchase the rich catalogue that exists. If this band doesn’t move you, consider yourself already dead.

Smashing Pumpkins, Adore, Billy Corgan, Gish, Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, The Cutting Edge, Tuksfm, Tuks FM, Virgin, Flood, Ava Adore, James Iha, D’arcy Wretzky, Virgin Records

This is the second Sugardrive interview I conducted with lead singer Paul E. Flynn. Of the five albums this seminal band released, I somehow managed to convince the band to head out to Pretoria and perform, ‘unplugged’ on a little show I did each week on @tuksfm back when Noah imagined his ark.

Here we joked a lot and didn’t get much work done, but it was a glorious one-of-a-kind night, huddled in a small studio, one I will treasure forever.

My relationship with the band began in 1994, and over the years, I would like to think that, in some small way, I was pushing the needle in trying to get the world to pay attention. I miss their gigs and their self-deprecating humour.

Sugardrive was a band always a year ahead of their peers, a lot like The Outsiders, which, if you know anything about this business, is entirely unhelpful when it comes to being in the right place at the right time.

·  Disclaimer – there is music played that’s not cleared for broadcast. Still, due to the nature of my mono-captured cassette sessions, the Universe will allow us all to rekindle a memory and perhaps cajole Paul to reform the band sans the sadly departed and much-loved and missed Garth McLeod.

Three months into the new millennium, I got offered an interview with Jude Abbott, one-eighth of the English rock band Chumbawamba. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity to discover how they intended to replicate or surpass the success of their previous album, Tubthumper.

Their eighth album, WYSIWYG (an abbreviation of What You See Is What You Get), and its 22 tracks, sadly did not chart anywhere in the world. Still, they did get to land their multi-layered, overtly politically driven messages. A year after capturing this recording, the band left EMI and headed off to blaze new trails for the rest of the decade.

It’s an interview that contextualises their sudden global appeal after having been around for some 15 years before that. Enjoy.

On the 18th of March 1998, I got to speak to one part of the critical twosome, Gert Bettens, known as K’s Choice, Belgium’s duo who turned the world on its head with the 1995 debut single “Not an Addict”.

From there, the world welcomed them, and the band spent the next two years touring the better part of the US and Europe.

On the eve of their third album’s release, Cocoon Crash, this humble, wonderful man opened up and shared the story to then. If you followed the band then, or simply enjoyed their musical delivery, give this interview a listen and get a better sense of who these two siblings were some 24-odd years ago.

This was the second of many interviews I was privileged to host throughout Faithless’ lifespan. 

Having first spoken to Maxi Jazz while he was ordering a pint in a busy London pub on the eve of Reverence’s release in 1996, two years later, a few million albums sold subsequently and tours aplenty, Maxi and I reconnected again.  

It was hard to listen back to this while converting it from its original cassette recording, if only because the great oral disseminator recently and unexpectedly left us. The world has lost a true gentleman, a humble soul, a respected producer, and a spoken word lyrical genius.   

Enjoy and keep their music alive with multiple replays of “God is a DJ” and all that Sunday 8pm and the rest of their glorious emotional rollercoaster ride offers that will forever be faith-filled, Faithless.

Each week, give or take, I post an interview I have conducted, either legacy or current. This week’s contribution comes kind courtesy and hot-off-the-press (as it were) from creative agitator, initiator, serial entrepreneur, and extraordinary all-around human being David Chislett. I count him as a dear, dear friend and equal inspiration.

What David has not poked, questioned, or contributed to in the arts, corporate business, training, workshops, or keynote addressing over decades is extraordinary.

Finding his ‘voice’ and realising his contribution has seen him go down many a rabbit hole to where he finds himself successfully installed today. As we close out 2022, this is where David’s at.

It’s apparent, upon listening, why his contribution to the world at large is so significant and his role invaluable in unlocking what each of us carries, known or otherwise. As a Change Pilot, he holds the key.

To find out more and engage, plug in here:

https://davidchislett.com

https://www.patreon.com/davidchislett

YouTube: @DavidChislett or https://www.youtube.com/c/DavidChislett

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidchislettcreativity/