The Hardest Part

In this episode of The Hardest Part, Kieron Banerji sits down with Dream Nails to unpack the making of their track “The Information,” a song that went through multiple versions and nearly did not make the album.

The band explain how the track began as free writing for a completely different idea before evolving through co-writing, shifting styles, and eventually returning to their post-punk sound with new hooks in place. The line “I’m gonna download all the information” became the one constant, anchoring the song even as everything else changed.

They talk about using stream of consciousness writing to explore the idea of wanting to experience everything at once, and how working together in real time helped them push through doubt and finish the track with renewed energy and humor.

The episode ends with an exclusive acoustic performance of the song recorded specially for the show.

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What happens when two ideas don't fit — until they finally do? What does that process actually look like?

In this episode of The Hardest Part, Kieron Banerji is joined by Ulrika Spacek to break down the making of their track “Weights and Measures.”

The song began as two completely separate pieces. One was built around a heavy fuzz section. The other drew on early 2010s London electronic textures. For a long time, they simply would not work together. Bringing them into one track meant shifting tempos, adjusting pitch, and committing to the contrast rather than smoothing it out.

The band talk through their collaborative writing process, building ideas from a shared sample bank and starting with drum sketches recorded remotely. They unpack the technical challenges of blending digital and analog sounds, recreating MIDI parts, and pushing themselves beyond what felt comfortable.

They also reflect on creative block and how time and collective thinking helped the song eventually find its shape. Despite being difficult to finish, it has become one of the tracks that means the most to them.

Guest: Ulrika Spacek

Track: “Weights and Measures”

Album: EXPO (2026)

Host: Kieron Banerji

Produced and Distributed by: Palm Tree Island

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How do you turn fear and anxiety into something creative? In this episode of The Hardest Part, Kieron Banerji sits down with UK band Chartreuse to unpack the story behind their song “I’m Losing It” — a deeply personal track written by vocalist Hattie following the news that she’d need major surgery at just 29, forcing her to relearn how to walk. Hattie shares how months of anxiety and fear about becoming a burden turned into a creative outpouring.

The band speaks candidly about the power of songwriting as emotional processing, how they instinctively built the song from a small demo, and how they recorded it with handmade tape loops in an Icelandic studio overlooking the ocean. They also reflect on burnout after their first record, how they reignited their creativity in a remote Yorkshire cottage, and why they now trust the flow of collaboration. This episode ends with an exclusive live acoustic version of “I’m Losing It,” recorded backstage at Bush Hall.

 

Guest: Chartreuse

Host and Executive Producer: Kieron Banerji

Show Mixed and Produced by: Kieron Banerji

Mix Engineer: Max Walker

Creative: Callum Baker Recorded at Bush Hall, London.

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In this episode of The Hardest Part, host Kieron Banerji is joined by Hrishikesh Hirway — musician, composer, and creator of the iconic podcast Song Exploder.

Known for helping artists dissect their songs and uncover the stories behind them, Hrishikesh does something rare in this conversation: he breaks down his own song — a track called “Between There and Here,” written in the wake of his mother’s death. It’s a deeply personal piece, one that reflects the quiet complexities of grief, love, and the gaps left by what’s unsaid.

Hrishikesh talks about the emotional expectations in his household, how his mother shaped his creative instincts, and the way music became his private outlet for feelings he wasn’t always encouraged to express.

We hear about the inspiration and restraint behind “Between There and Here,” his approach to songwriting, and why telling his own story has often been harder than pulling stories out of others.

For once, the man behind the questions becomes the subject — and what unfolds is a conversation about grief, identity, legacy, and the music that holds it all together.

This special episode also features an exclusive acoustic version of the track, recorded just for the show

 

Guest: Hrishikesh Hirway of Song Exploder

Host: Kieron Banerji

Produced by Palm Tree Island

Mix Engineer: Max Walker

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What do you do when you have five separate demos and no idea how they fit together?

In this episode of The Hardest Part, host Kieron Banerji sits down with NYC psych-pop collective Psymon Spine to unpack the twisting, turbulent process behind their song Wizard Acid. Written remotely during the pandemic and born from five conflicting demos, the track became one of their most ambitious—and hardest to finish.

They break down how Wizard Acid evolved piece by piece: from early voice memos and lost choruses to Bowie-inspired edits and haunted house energy. Along the way, they reflect on collaboration, overthinking, and the surprising value of returning to the first idea.

Artist: Psymon Spine
Song: “Wizard Acid”
Album: Head Body Connector

Host and Executive Producer: Kieron Banerji

Recording Engineers: Max Walker
Creative Team: Callum Baker (Photography), Giovanni Almonte (Videography)
Recording Studio: The Thin White Duke, London.

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In this episode of The Hardest Part, host Kieron Banerji sits down with Elles Bailey to unpack the long, personal, and painful process behind “Ballad of a Broken Dream,” a track that sat in her voice notes for over five years before she could face recording it.

Originally written after an emotional phone call, the song felt too raw, too unresolved, to finish. Elles shares how she rewrote it again and again—changing verses, adjusting melodies, pulling back—trying to make it more manageable. But every version felt wrong.

We also talk about:

• How trauma can freeze the creative process

• When you know a song is too close to touch—but too important to ignore

• Why voice notes can become emotional time capsules

• And the challenge of singing something you’re still going through

The episode closes with a stripped-back performance of “Ballad of a Broken Dream,” recorded live at The Thin White Duke in Soho, London.

Artist: Elles Bailey
Song: “Ballad of a Broken Dream”
Album: Beneath the Neon Glow

Host and Executive Producer: Kieron Banerji

Recording Engineers: Max Walker
Creative Team: Callum Baker (Photography), Giovanni Almonte (Videography)
Recording Studio: The Thin White Duke, London.

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In this episode of The Hardest Part, host Kieron Banerji is joined by Adult Jazz to unpack the long and winding process behind “Earth of Worms,” one of the most technically complex and emotionally unruly songs on their album So Sorry So Slow.

The song had been in progress for nearly seven years, and at one point, it was too clean—too correct. The band talks openly about how chasing technical polish nearly stripped the track of its emotional weight, and how they had to unlearn their habits in order to start again. The final version was built by embracing instinct, letting the form collapse, and trusting that songwriting didn’t need to be perfect to be meaningful.

We talk about:

• Why they scrapped the original version after years of demos

• How harmony, rhythm, and “bad piano playing” helped reanimate the track

• What it means to write a song that’s falling apart by design

• How process panic, musical overthinking, and care can sometimes clash

• And why “Earth of Worms” had to be messy to make sense

The episode ends with an exclusive stripped-back live performance of “Earth of Worms.”

Artist: Adult Jazz
Song: “Earth of Worms”
Album: So Sorry So Slow

Host and Executive Producer: Kieron Banerji

Recording Engineers: Max Walker & Chris Goldsmith
Creative Team: Callum Baker (Photography), Giovanni Almonte (Videography)
Recording Location: Thin White Duke Studios, London.

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In this episode of The Hardest Part, host Kieron Banerji sits down with Deep Sea Diver at Third Man Records in Soho to unpack the complicated road behind their track “Shovel.”

It started out as the easiest song they’d ever written—and nearly became the one that didn’t make the record at all.

The band explains how the song went through multiple versions, two cities, and nearly three scrapped attempts. They talk about trying to hold together wildly different ideas—from Nick Cave-inspired spoken word sections to a Kate Bush–style pop outro—and the challenge of making something cohesive out of sounds that didn’t seem to belong in the same world.

We also talk about:

• The feeling of getting sick from your own song

• Creative burnout caused by high expectations

• How co-producer Andy Park helped salvage the track by remixing old material the band had abandoned

• Why some songs only work when you finally let go

And in one of the episode’s most revealing moments, Jessica Dobson explains how a random writing exercise—based on the word “shovel”—led to some of the most vulnerable lyrics on the record, confronting her inner critic in a voice that was both joyful and aggressive. The result is a song that’s part destruction, part self-preservation.

The episode closes with a stripped-back live performance of “Shovel,” recorded at Third Man Records in London.

Artist: Deep Sea Diver
Song: “Shovel”
Album: Billboard Heart

Host and Executive Producer: Kieron Banerji

Engineers: Max Walker (Mix) and Grant Frampton (Recording)
Creative Team: Callum Baker
Recording Location: Third Man Records, London

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In this episode of The Hardest Part, host Kieron Banerji sits down with Sophie Jamieson to explore the writing of “How Do You Want to Be Loved?”, a delicate and emotionally loaded song from her album I Still Want To Share.

Unlike many of her songs, this one had a clear emotional target from the start — written for someone close to her, while navigating a mix of love, frustration, and grief. It wasn’t just a songwriting challenge. It was a personal risk: how do you tell the truth when the person it’s about might hear it?

Sophie talks about the careful balance of being honest without being hurtful, and how that shaped every line — especially when deciding how much anger to let through. She also reflects on the power of the outro, a section she says redefined the entire track and gave meaning to the rest of the album. 

We also talk about:

• Writing a song mid-album and knowing it had to be included

• When songwriting becomes emotional processing

• How to finish a song when the person it’s about still matters to you

• Why outros are where the truth often lands

The episode ends with an intimate live performance of “How Do You Want to Be Loved?”, recorded exclusively for The Hardest Part.

Artist: Sophie Jamieson
Song: “How Do You Want to Be Loved?”
Album: I Still Want To Share

 

Host and Executive Producer: Kieron Banerji

Mix Engineer: Max Walker

Recording Engineer: Chris Goldsmith

Creative Team: Callum Baker (Photography), Giovanni Almonte (Videography)

Recording Studio: Thin White Duke Studios, London

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In this episode of The Hardest Part, host Kieron Banerji is joined by Anna B Savage to unpack the long and winding process behind “Donegal,” a standout from her album You and i are Earth.

Anna reflects on her changing relationship to songwriting—from the painstaking process behind her early work to a more forgiving, open approach that still carries its own challenges. “Donegal” took over two years to finish, shaped by periods of creative block, ongoing emotional reckoning, and the pressure of articulating a feeling that hadn’t fully settled.

She talks through the tension of trying to write honestly about home, identity, and colonial history as an English person living in Ireland—and the discomfort that came with confronting what she hadn’t learned about her own past. The song explores the idea of home as both place and feeling, and how complicated that can become when personal desires meet historical realities.

Anna also shares how shifting the instrumentation—moving between guitar and piano—helped unlock parts of the track, and why rhythm was key to expressing its emotional core. We discuss how songwriting can capture a moment in time before you fully understand it, and why you don’t need clarity to be honest.

The episode ends with a stripped-back performance of “Donegal,” recorded live at Thin White Duke Studios in London.

Artist: Anna B Savage
Song: “Donegal”
Album: You and i are Earth

Host and Executive Producer: Kieron Banerji

Recording and MixEngineers : Chris Goldsmith & Max Walker
Creative: Callum Baker
Recording Location: Thin White Duke Studios, London

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