My Teenage Band

My series of conversations with current musicians about their earliest projects continues with none other than Sophie Ellis-Bextor! She talks all about her time fronting britpop band theaudience from the age of 16 including the whirlwind experience of big support tours, music videos, countless interviews, sigining to a major label at 18 before it all ended before she'd even hit 20.Love. Food. Family: Recipes from the Kitchen Disco by Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Richard Jones is out now, published...

HEY! MY TEENAGE BAND IS BACK! In a little break from the norm, this is a special short series made up of conversations with current musicians about their earliest musical project. And we're kicking off with none other than the wonderful indie-art-pop artist Ezra Furman whose new album All of us Flames is out now on Bella Union! We talk about open-mics, frantic studio sessions, performing at frat parties and a short stint in a band named by an actual modern legend of American rock.CREDITSJingl...

It's the season 2 finale! And we're going out on a My Teenage Band-first as special guest Emma Brodie guides us through the world of ACAPELLA! Emma is a book editor and author, her debut novel Songs in Ursa Major is set against the backdrop of the American folk/rock scene of the late 60s and early 70s, partly inspired by the relationship between James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. In this conversation Emma talks about how her time in John Hopkins University's comedy acapella group The Mental Note...

It's the penultimate episode of series 2! This week Nick talks to comedian and writer Charlie George about her days drumming in super-experimental punk outfit Femmes Fatales. Featuring stories of Wonderwall-obsessed guitar teachers, on-stage theatrics and a unique use of the Pocahontas soundtrack.Find out more about Charlie and her latest work on her websiteFollow Charlie on Twitter and InstagramListen to Nick on the Temporary Fandoms podcast discussing Mclusky and Future of the Left CREDITSJ...

Our two-part musical comedy special concludes with a chat with the brilliant comedian and musician Paddy Gervers! Paddy is the comedy-partner of previous guest Jonny Donahoe - together they perform as the satirical musical duo Jonny and the Baptists. Alongside that Paddy is also an actor, podcaster, sound designer, and solo musical artist in his own right, including appearances as a singer, guitarist, saxophonist, bassist and pianist.This chat takes in more about the history and craft o...

In the first of two episodes touching on the world of musical comedy, Nick talks to the amazing comedian and musician Jonny Donahoe! One half of the satirical musical duo Jonny and the Baptists alongside Paddy Gervers, and real-life partner of former podcast guest Josie Long, Jonny talks about going from very briefly fronting an electro-pop band to being part of a musical comedy group from the tender age of 14. Together they sang about a range of topics from morose bears to unsatisfactory cus...

This week Nick's guest is the film critic and musician Mark Kermode! Mark has been in an astonishing amount of bands, from very early skiffle-related days, to actually building his own electric guitar in order to play in teenage bands that embraced the worlds of punk, no-wave, and just making a general racket in school music rooms. These days when he's not Wittertaining the nation with Simon Mayo, reviewing films for the Observer or selecting his favourite film music on Scala Radio, Mark can ...

This week Nick talks to the brilliant comedian and actor Felicity Ward about singing and playing guitar in grunge bands while growing up in Australia. We hear about gigs in shopping centres and ice rinks, instruments and other paraphernalia gathered from local tips, and why performing music is always scarier than stand-up comedy.Follow Felicity on Twitter @felicitywardMore info on Felicity including upcoming gigs at her websiteCREDITSJingle and beds composed by Anya Pearson - Insta: @anyaplay...

This week Nick talks to the brilliant stand-up comedian, musician and graphic novelist Josh Weller about his punk adventures on the Norwich pub circuit with volatile band managers, playing hundreds of solo gigs in London and his (very brief) experience signing to a major label on the continent before returning to his punk routes fronting The Kenneths. Follow Josh on Twitter and InstagramListen to Josh's single 'Jizzy Pop - Put Your Titties'Listen to the episode with Abi Palmer here or wh...

This week Nick talks to the wonderful comedian and broadcaster Josie Long! Josie talks about four teenage bands - three of which even involved actually playing music. From abortive attempts at piano, clarinet and trumpet, we hear about how Josie went on to emulate the stars of Bassist Magazine, performing in band with names that ranged from the problematic to the bizarre, playing in bohemian warehouses and attempting to recruit South-East London's best teenage guitarist.Josie's websiteArts Em...