Soundman Confidential

Andrew Fearn is one half of Sleaford Mods (with Jason Williamson), and the man behind the band's beats and compositions. No other band in recent years have stirred such intensity as Sleaford Mods. When I hear them, I'm taken back to the time when punk exploded in the seventies. The DIY vibe and their energy amazes. Check them out.  And listen to Andrew's work here.  Support the show at soundmanconfidential.com. Thank you. 

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Guitarist and vocalist, Davey Johnstone, is best known for playing and touring  with Elton John since the early 1970's. Plug in for my wide ranging chat with Davey, covering his life in music, and the challenges those of us in the touring business face after spending years on the road. I rely on your support to keep the show going. It has been an amazing ride so far. To keep it going, I need your help. Please consider supporting the show. You can do so at the website.
www.soundmanconfidential.com

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Steve Lillywhite is a legendary record producer. He has worked with U2, The Rolling Stones, The Pogues, Peter Gabriel, Siouxsie and the Banshees, XTC, Psychedelic Furs, Joan Armatrading, The Killers, Morrissey, Dave Matthews Band...the list goes on. Plug in! 

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Billy Sloan  has been at the center of Scottish music journalism and broadcasting for four decades. Tune in for an amazing show with Billy recounting stories of his  years covering music. You can catch Billy's radio show on BBC Radio Scotland. Tune in.

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In the 1980's, OMD drove their electronica sound straight into the charts and the clubs. Classics like Electricity and Enola Gay remain on the goto playlists for legions of fans. The band was founded by Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys in Liverpool, England, in 1978. I had the pleasure of touring with OMD in 2019, on my last tour mixing The B-52's. Plug in for my blether with Andy McCluskey. 

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Listen to The Psychedelic Furs and you'll be hooked.  The band is fronted by  the voice of Richard Butler, one of a kind. Tracks like Pretty in Pink, Sister Europe and Love My Way were at the heart of the post-punk/New Wave sound. Check out their latest album, Made of Rain, released last year. I first met the band  when they opened for Talking Heads. At the time,  I was the live sound engineer with Talking Heads. It's great to have Richard Butler as my guest today. Plug in! 

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I got to know the amazing talent of Vernon Reid of Living Colour fame through booking him for shows at Irving Plaza in New York City back in the day. We've been good pals ever since. Tune in for the hour for our chat.
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Richard Jobson was a teenager when he fronted The Skids, one of the most influential punk bands to come out of the UK scene in the 1970's. With Stuart Adamson on guitar, (later of Big Country fame), The Skids produced memorable punk anthems like Into the Valley, The Saints Are Coming, and Working For The Yankee Dollar. The Skids albums Scared to Dance and the brilliant Days in Europa stood out as lyrical and musical beacons of the punk/post-punk era. Post Skids, Jobson fronted The Armoury Show, named after the famous 1913 art show in New York that introduced America to the European avant-garde. The Armoury Show featured John McGeogh on guitar, perhaps the most creative guitarist to come out of the punk/post-punk scene, having played in Siouxsie and the Banshees, and the influential, Magazine.  Richard Jobson is a writer, television host, filmmaker and actor. He can be seen playing the father of Alan McGee of Creation Records fame in the upcoming biopic, Creation Stories, about McGee's life. The film is set for release in the UK in March 2021, and is written by Irvine Welsh of Trainspotting fame, and Dean Cavanagh, starring Ewen Bremner as Alan McGee.

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Luke "Skyscraper" James fronted the band, Fashion, in the post-punk, late-seventies. Tune them as a hybrid of punk/primal-techno/and reggae sounds, often in the same track. Coming out of the Birmingham scene that produced bands like Duran Duran and a bunch of others, Fashion were signed to open for The Police on US and UK tours, playing with a host of other acts like Squeeze, The B-52's and Joy Division. After Fashion, Luke went into the long journey of being a musician without a deal, and finally settled in California where he lives today. He has written a memoir, Stairway To Nowhere, a tale of rock and roll madness, and the pursuit of fame. Currently, he plays in five-on line bands.  

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The Clockworks' James McGregor sent Creation 23 Label Head, Alan McGee, a message on Instagram, 'Come and check out my band playing live.' McGee went. McGee watched. McGee signed them. The energy in The Clockworks sound buzzes straight at you. You want to jump and dance around. And the lyrics hit the mark, bang on! From Galway in Ireland, and now based in London, The Clockworks are the type of band I love to mix. They are going to be big. Plug in for my chat with Sean Connelly, lead guitarist, and James McGregor, lead singer and guitarist. And stick around to the end of the show to hear their cracking track, Enough Is Never Enough.

Check out soundmanconfidential.com. Upcoming guests include Richard Jobson from The Skids; Luke Skycraper James from Fashion; Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go's; Vernon Reid from Living Colour and Richard Butler of The Psychedelic Furs. 

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