The Curator Podcast

Wildcard short number 2 is go! On this episode I caught up with Charlie and Omar from Fightstar at Hevy Festival 2015. Even though the interview was short we actually talk about some quite revealing stuff:

• The energy behind the new record
• How the 10 year anniversary show is what pushed them into writing an album
• How the band had to take a break or it could have been over
• Chili sauce

You can also hear how I was a little drunk and how my sound guy almost ruined the podcast.I used the capsule mic on the Zoom H6 for this and I think it fared pretty well. You can definitely hear the band playing on the stage nearby but it doesn’t drown out the voices, so it gives it a nice festival ambience I guess.Other things to note about this episode:

• The press area, where this interview was conducted, was directly behind the main stage. We were shielded only by a truck. The other mic I used, my Shure SM58, was completely unusable cause of the volume from the main stage.
• My sound guy Craig is a MASSIVE Fightstar fan, so this was a pretty huge deal for him.
• Initially we thought the interview was cancelled until we got a last minute text nearly two hours later asking if we could drop what we were doing and do the interview.
• We obliged. Naturally.

I dunno how you guys feel about these short interviews. I’m in two minds – I don’t particularly enjoy conducting them because I enjoy a longer form conversation where people can answer questions at their leisure. BUT, I actually think I should do more so as to hone my interview technique.If you guys want more interviews of this length as bonus content to the regular podcast, do let me know!The interview I’m sharing this coming Thursday took place about five minutes after this one and was completely impromptu.Featured MusicIntro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).Fightstar - Deathcar'Deathcare' is taken from One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours.LinksCheck out their webstore here.You can find them on Facebook and Twitter.

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There aren't many things weirder than sitting across from an experienced broadcaster and interviewing him. It's like the tables have turned. Usually Vic's the one doing the interviewing.It's also an experience which is pretty fraught with self-doubt - this guy talks to people for a living and here I am, some fresh out the box, self-styled, new media interloper talking to a guy who has literally thousands of interviews under his belt. How can I compare? Am I being judged? Is this going badly? I should have had more questions. What am I even doing? etc.It's best not to think about it.Vic's an interesting guy who's lived a lot and experienced a lot. Being in his company is an experience which can only be described as kinetic. He exudes a very unique, intense, and passionate kind of energy which is akin to the buzz one used to feel as a kid when you walked into a toy shop.Except for people like us, it's not a toy shop. It's a record shop. And we're not kids anymore. We're grown ass men who love music. From this interview I think you get the sense that Vic just absorbs everything in the world that fascinates him, wide eyed and open armed.It's infectious, sure. But most of all it's pure. There's no pretension.We cover a lot of ground in the podcast, some of the highlights include:

• His current (and resurrected) band Khartoum Heroes.
• Growing up with 50s rock n roll and classical music.
• Adam Ant as a musical turning point.
• Buzzcocks covers before his voice even broke.
• Never being discouraged by his parents to pursue an artists’ life even if they don’t understand the art he makes and enjoys.
• King Creosote, James Yorkston, his old band Huckleberry playing T in the Park, doing an NME Tour, playing Reading and Leeds,  having music played John Peel's and Steve Lamaq's radio shows.
• Hedonism, perhaps being dead now if he’d have made it at 22.
• Most artists who are good get better with age.
• Jim Gellatly and how it used to be much harder to get heard. Alternative music used to be alternative, now it’s seeped into the mainstream.
• How he hadn’t thought about journalism at all and how he got involved at the BBC almost by accident.
• How he just took as many jobs related to music as possible, like doing lights in venues, writing for fanzines, doing PR for labels, putting on club nights, DJing…
• Choosing not to move to London and deciding to stay in Scotland.
• The best way to keep your interest in new music is up to keep your interest varied and to mix it up. People get bored of new music because they’re not finding the good stuff.
• Feeling lucky and honoured to have the job he has.
• Songs in the Key of Fife – how that came about and the bands from Kingsbarns and St Andrews: KT Tunstall, The Pictish Trail, The Beta Band, the Fence Collective, King Creosote, The Withered Hand etc.
• How Vic got into acting at school, was in the youth theatre and used to run acting workshops in school, how he applied to RADA but rock n roll got his soul. He hopes to go back to it one day…
• Also discusses how he thinks humans are penned in by themselves and you need to push yourself to have new experiences. If you’re interested in something you have to chance your arm and try it.

Featured MusicIntro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).Henry Mancini - The Pink Panther Theme,Adam and the Ants - The Day I Met God,The Beta Band - Dry the Rain.I make no claim to the copyright of any of the music in this episode.LinksCheck out Vic's BBC page here for all of his latest shows, podcasts and news. You can check out Khartoum Heroes on YouTube. Their album is available on Google Play and other streaming services.Follow Vic on Twitter!Picture courtesy of the BBC.Thank you!My thanks are eternal to you and everyone else who has listened to the podcast and helped me get it to where it is. It’s no longer on the front page of iTunes but YOU can help me get back there. If you could take a second to rate and review this podcast on iTunes I’d love you forever and ever.Questions? Feedback?You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.Or you can hit the contact link to show me some love by using the cool email form.Social MediaI’m on a few social media sites, so it’d be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.Check out the Facebook page.Or you can get me on Twitter.Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing.

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WILDCARD, BITCHES!So, I went to Hevy festival 2015 and recorded a few interviews. Some were long, and some were short. This is one of the short ones. I was accompanied by my handsomely bearded friend Craig who did sound for me. We briefly talk about his beard.Some quick insight into "press" life - at festivals you are not allocated very long with the artists you want to interview. I originally only had ten minutes with Ben. This then changed to one question. Which is fine, because if you're an artist and you're talking to press all day I can see why it would get tiring.We talk a little about how their music has evolved out of writing a record they hadn't heard to now doing things that people don't expect them to do.After the interview he said he hoped he could do this again the next time they play Glasgow. I hope so too. He was also happy I didn't ask random stock questions like "what animal would you be?" etc. I guess people are as tired of being asked them as I am hearing them/reading them.I hope you like it.Thoughts?If you guys like the idea of super short interviews that exist alongside the podcast then I can definitely do more of them. Please let me know!Featured MusicIntro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).The Dillinger Escape Plan - Prancer'Prancer' is taken from One of Us is the Killer.LinksCheck out DEP's entire discography here.You can find them on Facebook and Twitter.Picture courtesy of Music Radar.

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I understand why people do their podcasts over Skype. If you want to get good content and get it quickly then our 'connected' world makes it easy for you to do that. In time, I'll surely do interviews via Skype too. After all, it's the quality of the conversation you have which is important.While using the internet to do interviews is great, you ultimately miss that human connection. The feeling of being in someone else's company, feeling an actual connection and really spending time with a person. You're also unable to have surreal, weird, memorable moments happen to you.I've been a fan of Ignite since 2006 when 'Our Darkest Days' was released. I'm probably going on about that too much, but it's important that you understand the context: this band are one of my favourites, and way back then they hit me in a way that few others had before or have since. I love Zoli's voice, I love the message.Interviewing him was a cool experience. He's clearly a very deep, thoughtful guy and he's got the unmistakable intensity in his eyes of someone who really cares about what they believe in. None of what was said in the interview was particularly unexpected to me - I knew there would be a lot of political chat, and my questions were designed to foster that.But what I wasn't expecting was actually spending time with him afterwards. Usually you do an interview with someone and unless you know them, that's it. You leave. Go about your day and if it's a band from out of town, you'll see them and perhaps speak to them later on that night. Highlights from the conversation include:

• The tale of the exploding back and how that cut short the Pennywise album tour
• Interviewing the guy from Sea Shepherd and how he got involved with the Sea Shepherds
• The Pelican Rescue Team and how community service made him aware of environmental issues
• His story of growing up in a communist country and moving to the US
• The environmental damage the Russians wrought on Hungary
• Communism is Ponzi scheme
• Super capitalism and North Korea
• The new album and writing what you know – believing in what you do.
• Reflecting on his life, upbringing and family
• People don’t talk to each other cause of technology
• We celebrate the commonplace our phones
• Positivity culture, how it’s okay to murder and bomb places for political ends but we’re afraid to voice our opinions and be critical of more common things.
• Candide by Voltaire – there’s no hope to save the world, so tend to your own patch in order to make a bigger impact on the world. If we all tend our own garden, take care of our own and take responsibility we’d make a better world.
• We’re selfish as human beings, but there’s ugly stuff going on.
• Music and art can drive change just like back in the 60s.
• Need a bigger audience to get to the message out.

After the interview we went to the Horseshoe Bar, had some Irn Bru, walked through to Princes Square, into the Argyle Arcade and along to Sloans. Taking photos along the way, me being some kind of tour guide. That's a surreal moment that you can't get from a Skype connection.The conversation will always be king, and the human connection in that moment is what it's all about.Spending time with someone you admire when you really weren't expecting anything more than 20 or so minutes of their time? That's something you can never account for but it is a personal moment you can treasure forever.I hope you enjoy the episode.Featured MusicIntro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).Ignite - A Place Called HomeIgnite - Live for Better Days'A Place Called Home' is taken from the album of the same name. 'Live for Better Days' is taken from Our Darkest Days.LinksYou can buy both of those Ignite albums mentioned above here.Please take some time to check out the Pelican Rescue Team and Sea Shepherds (UK site here).And as ever, you can find the band on Facebook and Twitter. Their official website/Tumblr is here.Picture courtesy of Salad Days Magazine.Thank you!My thanks are eternal to you and everyone else who has listened to the podcast and helped me get it to where it is. It’s no longer on the front page of iTunes but YOU can help me get back there. If you could take a second to rate and review this podcast on iTunes I’d love you forever and ever.Questions? Feedback?You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.Or you can hit the contact link to show me some love by using the cool email form.Social MediaI’m on a few social media sites, so it’d be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.Check out the Facebook page.Or you can get me on Twitter.Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing.

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I'm waiting for culture to turn dark and deep again. The culture I came from was counter culture and it was angry and introspective. It has been utterly been pushed into invisibility by the rise of "be happy" culture. The ideology of positivity. We've been recycling this forced positivity for a decade now.It's like too much health food or some advert for happiness stuck on a loop. We're thoroughly sick of it and we can see through it to the structures of repression behind it. We're tired of the lie that we can all be everything we want to be if we just stay positive and believe in ourselves.The repetitiousness of that inane self promoting grin, the fake smile of competitive consumerism and artificial camaraderie:"Yay-culture".I predict we're going to go dark and angry soon.We have to.We're not adverts for god sake.

- Ewan Morrison

Ewan Morrison is a man of many talents: an author, a journalist, a screenwriter and a director. He has written a short story collection and a number of critically acclaimed novels, contributed extensively to The Guardian and been involved in writing and direction for film and TV for a number of years. Recently his first novel Swung was turned into a movie of the same name.I encountered the writing of Ewan Morrison in 2012 when I heard about his novel Tales from the Mall. At the time I was knee deep in studying for a Scottish Literature degree. I always meant to get the book but I never did. The following year I took a module on Contemporary Scottish Literature and Tales from the Mall was on the reading list. I devoured it almost instantly. I was captivated by its unconventional style, its raw subversion of capitalism, how it questioned the very concept of identity in a consumer driven world, and the way it weaved fiction and non-fiction together as it explored what a mall is and represents on every conceivable level.The following summer I consumed his entire oeuvre.I spent so many years studying historical Scottish literature and when we did read something more up to date it was hardly contemporary - the newest thing on the reading list was Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh. It was refreshing to finally observe the Scottish literary landscape as it is now, and Ewan's work is vital to that landscape. Ewan's work deals with many things that we now take for granted, and poses questions that I feel are very important in the current age - what is identity, community, individuality and the very meaning of our relationships to each other in the current, transitory digital age . We're being sold individuality as the ultimate expression of human existence,  being told that there is an ideal person we should strive to be which is unlike any other. Yet when we step back we all look, sound and act the same.So far I've mainly spoken to people who are involved in punk rock - the troubadours who sing their songs outside of the mainstream, who choose to do things their own way. The parallel between a musician outside of the mainstream and a writer outside of the mainstream is clear: unless you are in the mainstream you will find it extremely difficult to make a living from doing what you're doing. The internet, with its infinite everything, its boundless choice, is forcing us to "like" the same things. In our strive to be individual, to create culture, we're reposting and retweeting all of the same content as everyone else. Our voice just blends in to the binary din.If this podcast stays outside of the mainstream, then that's where I'm happy to be.My chat with Ewan was broad, interesting and one of the most challenging, thought provoking discussions I've ever had. I really hope you think so too. It's long but it's worth every second.Highlights include:

• Where Ewan's creativity began and how it's rooted very firmly in community
• Nirvana, Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain - how sometimes creativity and the darkness beneath it can lead one to their demise
• Being in a community of artists in the Glasgow School of Art and how he spun off into TV
• Making an hour of crazy arts TV every week for STV, including getting to interview Sonic Youth and Ivor Cutler
• Missing the days of artists banding together and operating outside of the mainstream
• How those that do band together in the millennial age don't have much to say
• But also how his generation's biggest political achievement is ironic slogans on T-shirts.
• Contemporary apathy happening as an accident by way of being too positive about everything all the time
• Extensive discussion about Tales from the Mall and Close Your Eyes
• The way the search for individuality has paradoxically lead to the homognoisation of culture and how individuality is the engine that drives his work
• Facebook, twitter, the internet, consumerism, streaming, Amazon and endless choice causing the destruction of the arts industry
• How we love to see our heroes fall and are often encouraged to gloat in the failure of others as it is chronicled a minute at a time by the internet
• And a massive rant from myself on why the punk community is not a community in the way we would like it to be.

It's taken me a little while to get a writer on this podcast. Well, it's taken a while to get anyone other than a musician on this podcast, so I'm extremely grateful to be able to expand the scope of this show. This podcast has always been about creativity and passion from creative people from all walks of life. In time I hope to talk to as many people in as many different fields as possible. It'd be great if you came along for the ride.We all experience and create art in different ways. I've come to realise that the themes musicians, artists and writers discuss in their work come from a very dark place. How we come to that creativity, the journey into and through it, is where the inspiration lies. Where the good stuff.It's the fuel that powers this podcast.Featured MusicIntro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).Grouper - ClearingRussian Circles - Harper LewisSwans - The Seer ReturnsAll music can be purchased on the links above. I make no claim to the copyright of these tracks.Links Go buy any of Ewan's books from a book store. A bricks and mortar one. That'd be well good.You can see his website here and his column in The Guardian here.Thank you!My thanks are eternal to you and everyone else who has listened to the podcast and helped me get it to where it is. It’s now on the goddamn front page. How cool is that? If you could take a second to rate and review this podcast on iTunes I’d love you forever and ever.Questions? Feedback?You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.Or you can hit the contact link to show me some love by using the cool email form.Social MediaI’m on a few social media sites, so it’d be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.Check out the Facebook page.Or you can get me on Twitter.Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing.

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The Curator Podcast – Episode 10: Derrick Johnston from Make that a Take Records

My fascination (or perhaps obsession) with punk rock began when I was 12 years old. I heard ‘Pretty Fly for a White Guy’ by The Offspring on the radio and instantly fell in love. It’s probably a stretch of even the most liberal definition of what punk is to place that song in the category of “punk rock”, but through it I bought Americana, and from that I heard Smash and the rest is, as they say, history.

We find comfort in familiarity. The comfort zone is a very real and often very dangerous thing. How can we expect to grow as people if we never challenge ourselves? How can we expect to overcome stagnation and boredom if we never try new things? Right now I’m in the comfort zone – talking to people with whom I’m reasonably confident that I’ll share common ground with. Punk fans. Punk bands. People who I’m pretty sure had similar eye opening, brain expanding moments to the one I had back when I was 12 years old.

I have a number of interviews lined up which are definitely outside of my comfort zone, and you’ll get to hear those in the coming weeks but for now, I’m sticking to what I know.

My guest today is Derrick from Make That a Take Records. Deeker has been running Make That a Take for almost ten years. The DIY ethos that the label espouses is one that I try to follow in any of my creative endeavours (this one included). This interview reminds me a lot of the one I did with Steven Hill from Struggletown Records, and both labels seem to be cut from the same cloth: this is about passion, and helping people out, creating a supportive community and hopefully making some new friends along the way.

When I started playing live around the Glasgow music scene at the age of about 20, Make that a Take were one of the first punk record labels I’d ever knew of in Scotland. It’s also just occurred to me that they probably started around the same time that I did nine and a bit years ago. Their approach and drive hasn’t changed at all in that time, and hearing Deeker talk about the things he loves is, I hope you’ll find. Inspirational.

Highlights include:

• Being in a punk band from an early age
• Coming from a small town and having no other option but to be DIY
• The genesis of Make that a Take Records
• Stuck in Summertime and Book Yer Ane Fest.
• Rubbing up against commercial interest
• The success of the label
• DIY gigs, finding venues and having your shit together

I hope you enjoy the interview.

Podcasting Resources

I mentioned in the intro that there’s a ton of great resources out there if you want to start your own podcast. Here’s some links to the sites that have really helped me out.

The Showrunner
The Podcasters’ Studio
The Audacity to Podcast
Music Radio Creative
Transom

You should sign up to my newsletter – I only send out one a week it and all it contains are ten cool news storys from the past week in the music/media/film and TV world.

Featured Music

Intro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).

Kaddish – Treading,
Get it Together – Hole in the Head,
15 Minutes – You’re Still All That Matters to Me.

‘Treading’ by Kaddish can be found on the album Thick Letters to Thick Friends.
‘Hole in the Head’ by Get it Together can be found on the Rebuild, Recovery 7″.
‘You’re Still all that Matters to Me’ by 15 Minutes can be found on the album Together Forever.

Links

You can buy all of the aforementioned releases on the Make that a Take Bandcamp alongside a whole bunch of other really great, varied stuff.

You can find Make that a Take on Facebook and Twitter as well as their website.

 

Thank you!

My thanks are eternal to you and everyone else who has listened to the podcast and helped me get it to where it is. It’s now on the goddamn front page. How cool is that? If you could take a second to rate and review this podcast on iTunes I’d love you forever and ever.

Questions? Feedback?

You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.
Or you can hit the contact link to show me some love by using the cool email form.

Social Media

I’m on a few social media sites, so it’d be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.
Check out the Facebook page.
Or you can get me on Twitter.

Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing.

The post TC10: Derrick Johnston – Make That a Take Records appeared first on The Curator Podcast.

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Despite having somehow stumbled upon good fortune of late it’s important to remember that this podcast is still new, and that I’m still learning. I’ve heard people like Jerod Morris and Jonny Nastor over at the showrunner, Daniel J. Lewis on the audacity to podcast and Ray Ortega from the podcasters’ studio talk about how their first few episodes are now difficult for them to listen to. A feeling which presumably continues to grow the longer one podcasts for (and make no mistakes, these guys have been a part of hundreds of podcasts between them). I wonder if one day I’ll feel the same…

It’s important to remind ourselves that this is still a new thing and in these early days there will be some hiccups. Shows will ebb and flow, episodes will peak and trough and consistency will come slowly but surely.

This interview with Derek was a timely reminder at how new to this I still am. I interviewed him after Defeater had finished playing, and by that point I’d imbibed a number of alcoholic beverages. I would like to pass the responsibility for consuming many beers onto my friend, because if I’d have gone alone I wouldn’t have consumed nearly as many.

Nevertheless, I don’t think it’s altogether too apparent in the interview. I had some reservations about talking to someone after they’d just played a show – I can say from experience that after you’ve had the huge, passionate, cathartic relief of playing live that it can often take time for your head to return to a normal place.

However Derek was very gracious in taking the time to sit down and chat with me, particularly when one considers that he’s also not been feeling too great on this tour. I appreciate that he took the time to talk to me.

Highlights include:

• His bionic hip
• Their new album ‘Abandoned’
• Signing to Epitaph records and how that’s “selling out” to some people
• The narrative of the whole Defeater project
• Influences from hardcore to Brit pop
• Clarifying some things said in other interviews which have been mis-reported
• Literary inspiration

I was eager to keep this one short because of the aforementioned circumstances – it was after playing a set, he was ill, it was getting late etc. Being in a band usually means late nights and poor sleep, even if you’re not the kind of person who likes to drink whilst on the road, so if you combine that with feeling ill then you can understand why I didn’t want to drag it out for too long.

I had some trepidation about sharing this interview. After factoring in all of the above I still felt like the interview could have went better. I’d be eager to know your thoughts on it so please do leave a comment.

I hope you enjoy it.

You should sign up to my newsletter – I only send out one a week it and all it contains are ten cool news storys from the past week in the music/media/film and TV world.

Featured Music

Intro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).

Defeater – Forgiver Forgetter,
Defeater – Bled Out.

‘ForgiverForgetter’ is taken from Defeater’s debut album Travels. ‘Bled Out’ features on their last album ‘Letters Home’.

Links

You can buy all of Defeater’s and Alcoa’s records over at the Bridge 9 webstore.

You can find Defeater on Facebook and Twitter.

Derek’s other band Alcoa can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

The new single ‘Spared in Hell’ from Defeater’s upcoming new album Abandoned can be streamed below. Abandoned is out on Epitaph Records on the 28th of August 2015.

Image courtesy of Speed of Sound magazine.

Thank you!

I’m now number FOUR in the New and Noteworthy in iTunes. My thanks are eternal to you and everyone else who has listened to the podcast and helped me get it to where it is. It’s now on the goddamn front page. How cool is that? If you could take a second to rate and review this podcast on iTunes I’d love you forever and ever.

Questions? Feedback?

You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.
Or you can hit the contact link to show me some love by using the cool email form.

Social Media

I’m on a few social media sites, so it’d be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.
Check out the Facebook page.
Or you can get me on Twitter.

Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing.

The post TC9: Derek Archambault – Defeater/Alcoa appeared first on The Curator Podcast.

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You have to wait for good things.

This interview was the third one I conducted. It’s also the first and only episode where I’ve interviewed more than one person. This was not by design, and it was extremely lucky that I’d brought a shotgun mic with me, otherwise I’d have been screwed. I also had a friend on hand to help. So thanks must go out to David Rees. He’s a good sound recordists and an even better guitar tech.

This was a total pain to edit, particularly because Departures (who are a great band, by the way) started playing pretty much the second I hit record.

What transpired was, I think, a pretty good interview. The whole band were in the room at the time, but Lags and Stu were really the ones who wanted to talk. The interview is kind of split into two parts. Not deliberately, it just so happens that the conversation kind of went that way. First half is about Venn, second half is about Gallows. There’s a Milk Teeth track in between because goddamn they are good.

Highlights include:

• The ethos behind Venn Records
• The reason Venn Records was formed
• How Gallows is harder to organise than it used to be now that they spread out all over the world
• And how Venn is actually easier because it’s mostly done by email
• How Scandinavian hardcore bands were the biggest influence on the band
• When they realised that the band was going somewhere
• How luck played a big factor in their rise to fame
• Where they fit into the punk/hardcore scene in the early days
• The way their sound has shifted over the years
• The way the band has went from playing small venues to huge venues and now back to small again
• And a whole bunch of great bands were mentioned: Beecher, D-Rail, Send More Paramedics, November Coming Fire, JR Ewing, Cave In, Milk Teeth, Liber Necris, Baby Godzilla (who are now called Heck) Jesus Fucking Christ and Marmozets.

This interview was quite daunting for me. I’ve been a fan of Gallows since Orchestra of Wolves came out in 2006 and I’ve also been a fan of Alexisonfire forever, so to walk into a room to be greeted by a bunch of guys I have some serious respect for was an awesome and nervy experience.

The ethos behind Venn Records really appeals to me, and their approach is refreshing compared to many other labels. It was great to hear them talk about that in the interview.

Enjoy!

You should sign up to my newsletter – I only send out one a week it and all it contains are ten cool news storys from the past week in the music/media/film and TV world.

Featured Music

Intro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).

Gallows – Chains,
Milk Teeth – Vitamins,
Gallows – Cross of Lorraine.

‘Chains’ is taken from Gallows new album Desolation Sounds. ‘Cross of Lorraine’ is taken from their last album, which is self titled. ‘Vitamins’ is taken from Milk Teeth’s EP Sad Sack. You can find all of these for sale at Venn Records. Milk Teeth’s EP is also available from Hopeless Records in America, and you can find Gallows’ latest album on Bridge 9 in the US.

Be sure to check out the Venn Records website for a ton of great bands.

Links

You can find all of the aforementioned releases over on Venn Records. You can check out Venn on Facebook and Twitter.

You can also find Gallows on Facebook and Twitter.

Milk Teeth’s EP can be found here. You can also catch them on Facebook and Twitter.

Thank you!

I’m now in the New and Noteworthy in iTunes. This is a pretty big deal and I’d love to get to the front page. If you could take a second to rate and review this podcast on iTunes I’d love you forever and ever.

Questions? Feedback?

You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.
Or you can hit the contact link to show me some love by using the cool email form.

Social Media

I’m on a few social media sites, so it’d be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.
Check out the Facebook page.
Or you can get me on Twitter.

Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing.

The post TC8: Laurent Barnard and Stuart Gili-Ross – Gallows/Venn Records appeared first on The Curator Podcast.

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Usually I try (with varying levels of success) to use these show notes to provide some context for the episode, but the fact of the matter is that this one is just so rich, so loaded with meaning and intention and love and weirdness, that I’d really rather you listened to the episode and not have the surprise of it ruined.

But that’s unfair. Of course it is. You want to know what value this episode provides to you, and to do that you need context.

I’ve known of Jonah Matranga for many years, and we met once a long time ago. Everyone that I know who’s met him always says that same thing – he’s such a nice guy. That’s true, he definitely is. You get a good sense of that in the interview. He’s also a very passionate and engaging guy. At some point in the interview I ask him a question which I hadn’t seen many people ask him before, a kind self-evident one: what musicians led you down the creative path? Jonah explodes with passion about his favourite artists, the records he loved when growing up, the things that gave him that creative spark. It’s those moments that make this podcast worthwhile.

Some highlights:

• Two week bursts of touring giving the illusion that he’s always on the road
• Being productive
• Family
• Finding love in new places like Dunlop
• How Dunlop became a thing (it’s his fourth time in as many years in this tiny village outside Glasgow)
• How it is literally impossible to act like a rock star of any kind when you’re playing in a bowling club
• How this is DIY and punk rock at its very core
• Why treating people well is important and how learned how not to treat people through years of being a musician
• The things that break musicians
• Not having that aspiration to super stardom despite the allure of money
• The Beatles, Joe Jackson, The Who, Jackson Browne, Mission to Burma, O Negative
• Working with J. Robbins and how Jawbox were something of a blueprint for Far’s approach to labels
• The IDEAS project

Dunlop is a small, sleepy village just outside of Glasgow. It’s about twenty minutes on the train from the city centre and feels so…distant from those big city lights. The gig took place in a bowling club; the interview took place outside next to the bowling green; the venue served food in between each of the two gigs he played that day and everyone there, young and old, had an appreciation for this man from a world away. Then there was me, some stranger who was imposing himself on what felt like the most intimate experience I’ve every had an in any venue.

All the while there’s Jonah, breathing in every last second of it, super appreciative of everything that’s going on.

That show was all for him and somehow, it also wasn’t.

I hope you love the episode as much as I do. I think it’s the best so far.

You should sign up to my newsletter – I only send out one a week it and all it contains are ten cool news storys from the past week in the music/media/film and TV world.

Featured Music

Intro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).

Jonah’s Onelinedrawing – I Really Love Yr Company,
Onelinedrawing – We Had a Deal,
Jonah Matranga – It’s the Skin.

‘I Really Love Yr Company’ and ‘It’s the Skin’ can be found on Jonah’s bandcamp alongside a whole bunch of very cool, very amazing stuff. You can find ‘We Had a Deal’ on the Onelinedrawing album ‘Volunteers’ over on the Jade Tree Records bandcamp, or on any streaming services you care to imagine.

Links

Jonah is a very active internet user and his website is a magical place where you can see awesome stuff and get in contact directly. Also, the IDEAS Project is cool as fuck. Be sure to check that out.

You can also find Jonah on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Questions? Feedback?

You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.
Or you can hit the contact link to show me some love by using the cool email form.

Social Media

I’m on a few social media sites, so it’d be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.
Check out the Facebook page.
Or you can get me on Twitter.

Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing.

The post TC7: Jonah Matranga appeared first on The Curator Podcast.

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This podcast is now four weeks old. Which is weird. I feel like I’ve been doing it for a lot longer.

Of course it probably doesn’t seem like I’ve been doing it for very long when you listen to it but these things take time. I’m learning as I go. Trial by fire ‘n all that.

On this week’s episode I have Paisley’s second favourite son (after Paolo Nutini, I guess) and St. Mirren enthusiast Kenny Leckie. He also plays in a wee band called Carnivores. They’re pretty good.

When I told my friend and fellow Carnivores fan that I had interviewed Kenny his immediate reaction was, did you ask him where they fuck they’ve been? And I did. Sort of.

We covered a lot of stuff:

• Starting out playing gigs at the tender age of 13.
• Record label interest at a young age and how that affected him.
• Playing 100 shows in a year whilst working full time.
• How the small break Carnivores have had has helped him to feel normal.
• But also how being in a band is really not normal.
• Touring in cars and how being on the road makes you better.
• The eclectic nature of Carnivores’ sound.
• Why he dislikes guitar solos.
• Moving away from political songwriting.
• How older songs were informed by political apathy and how that’s changed in Scotland with the indy ref and general election.
• Joe Strummer and Billy Bragg on being political artists and that Elvis Costello has more to say on politics than Billy Bragg.
• Having a political hangover and how politicians must have issues.
• Worst gigs –dodgy venues, fights and a crazy night in Oban.
• Smalltown America records.
• Not turning into a cliché.

As ever we spoke about influential songwriters, and covered a bunch of diverse stuff like Blur, Weezer, Radiohead, Wilco, Dillinger Escape Plan, Elvis Costello and The Beatles.

I honestly could have talked with Kenny for hours. It’s often difficult for me to judge how much of myself I should have in these podcasts, but when I listen back I’m usually always happy at how much space the interviewee has to speak. Kenny had a lot to say about music and politics, a lotof which I agreed with.

It’s an insightful and intelligent interview and I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.

At some point during the interview I seemed to lose the ability to speak properly. It’s hard to regulate the accent and Scottishisms when you’re chatting to someone who’s prone to the same thing. I’ll be less mumble-y in the future.

You should sign up to my newsletter – I only send out one a week it and all it contains are ten cool news storys from the past week in the music/media/film and TV world.

Featured Music

Intro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).

Carnivores – Let’s Get Metaphysical,
Carnivores – Watching Fireworks,
Carnivores – James Maynard Keynes.

All of which can be found on the Carnivores album ‘Let’s Get Metaphysical’ which is out now on Smalltown America.

Links

You can buy Carnivores’ latest album on stunning pink vinyl over here.

You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.

The band are also on tour this summer:

July 22: Edinburgh Mash House
July 24: Glasgow Audio
July 28: Tuts Midnight Show
July 30: Belfast BWNN
July 31: Derry STA Studio
Aug 01: Portrush Atlantic
Aug 02: Paisley Bungalow

Photo by Gobo Photography.

Questions? Feedback?

You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.
Or you can hit the contact link to show me some love by using the cool email form.

Social Media

I’m on a few social media sites, so it’d be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.
Check out the Facebook page.
Or you can get me on Twitter.

Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing.

The post TC6: Kenny Leckie – Carnivores appeared first on The Curator Podcast.

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