the
music podcast

 

that does

music


differently

Season 16 Episode 9 www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com/podcast When Segs and I were messaging trying to organise this podcast, Segs wrote something like “we’ve got lots to talk about…the world is changing what feels like day by day”. Now with my meticulous research – OK, it was just by luck! - I was reading back at an interview Segs, Ruffy and me did a couple of years ago just after they’d done their first tour of Spain. And we were talking about movements getting big and Segs said “The bigger the movement gets it has to get okayed by the government and the it becomes “you can demonstrate here and here and here between this time and that time, don’t make too much noise and we won’t kettle you”. And that was when Sunak – a Tory - was Prime Minister. Fast forward to now and talk about speed of change - we have a Labour government who are now probably more aggressive in shutting down dissent and protest than anyone in my memory. So, talking about the speed of change in the world, there you go….. Segs and Ruts DC are producing some of the most passionate and accomplished music that’s entirely in tune with the groundbreaking music from The Ruts and just as relevant as The Ruts music was and still is. Having them around, producing great music, taking a stand against the injustices, governments and corporations that blight our world, and doing it all with an unflinching, unwavering message of “people unite … never surrender” is, I think, one of life’s victories that we should honour.

Season 16 Episode 8 www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com/podcast One area of my being that I’ve been working on is not feeling the necessity to be ultra-prepared for things. Things like my podcast episodes. I’ve been able to trace this back to when I was a kid – long story which I won’t bore you with. I think this is tied into this obsession that a lot of society has with perfectionism – don’t make a mistake, be ready for all angles, get it right first time – when really, human beings are far from perfect and we don’t need to dig too far into the newspaper headlines to see many examples of this. So, I took the very brave (for me) step of doing something that’s really important for so many reasons – getting out of my comfort zone. So, I have avoided any research on my guest today, other than he is a co-founder of the band Afrodream who have recently released their second and totally inspiring album called Guiss Guiss, a beautifully uplifting, diverse and rich mix of rhythms, instrumentation and vocals at the core. It’s really, really special. This conversation with one of the founders of Afrodream, Luca Vergano, was perfect - fun, informative and inspiring.

Season 16 Episode 7 www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com/podcast I do think of my formative years a lot – and I think this started to happen more when my parents died in 2022. Music started to become huge for me around 1976 when I was 8 and started playing the cello…but I did have some music differences of opinion let’s say as I got a bit older and started to listen to “bang and thump music” as my dad used to call it – I really struggled to reconcile what I now know is a beautiful instrument with the Ramones, who were changing my life and pulling me in the other direction – it was like I had an alter ego. I mean, it’s not a big deal in the whole scheme of things, but you know, each to their own. Anyway, I just devoured more and more music – bands like Killing Joke, Siouxsie, Au Pairs, Minutemen, Husker Du - and as I found more and more stuff through, mainly listening to Peel and other local radio – like Steve Barker’s On The Wire and Tony Michaelides on Piccadilly or just taking a chance based on whether I liked the sleeve, I started to get into more of the avant garde, off kilter, skrunky, weird – Neubauten, Alien Sex Fiend, Bush Tetras, The Fall, Butthole Surfers and then there was a bit of a lightbox moment with Tackhead’s Hard Left around 86, I think before Public Enemy came along and changed things again. There was also another band who completely flummoxed, intrigued and excited me - and that was Fini Tribe. There was the underground and there was Fini Tribe. I had no idea how to describe them. They didn’t sound like anyone else. I had no idea what they looked like. And I didn’t know much about them. And I had no idea what to expect. And of course, we lived in an age of genre obsession – still do - so they were real genre party poopers. So, by the time I was listening to Splash Care or Detestimony, there were frequent shouts of “turn that shit off”. I was very used to this. Especially from the fella that liked Dire Straits. But Fini Tribe awakened an excitement in me – listening to them was like Alice Through The Looking Glass stepping into another world that felt as distant and exciting to me as when I got those first Killing Joke records… I never got to see them live so to now have a wonderful compilation of their 1982-1987 years called The Sheer Action of Fini Tribe, diligently and lovingly brought to life by the band with tracks I’ve never heard before including some live tracks, well, it’s well worth the wait. This is such an exhilarating and fascinating insight with Christopher Connelly and Davie Miller.

Season 16 Episode 6 www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com/podcast As we were recording this episode, Natalie Hoffmann was a week or so away from releasing a third album with her band Optic Sink called Lucky Number and you’re in for a treat. It’s like a modern day film noir on the rainy, lonely streets - well, the streets were definitely rainy where I grew up – trying to discover who you are. After all these years, I’m still taken aback with how music evokes strong feelings of time and place. It makes me wonder if we are more receptive to songs or parts of songs - whether they be riffs, synth flourishes, percussion or whatever - when we feel particularly connected - with that time or place. I wonder if we are also, y’know, wired to be nostalgic to an extent. I guess we are and our brain is always looking for reference points so it can make its decisions. That line in The Buzzcocks’ Nostalgia: “I guess it’s just the music that brings on nostalgia for an age yet to come” ….it brings up such an interesting way to think about nostalgia. Future nostalgia - not the Dua Lipa album - but situations where you are nostalgic now when you know you are going to lose something or someone in the future but r where you will be nostalgic at some stage in the future for what’s happening now. So, the big question is: will I be nostalgic in 20 years time about the music Natalie is creating today – I’d be pretty confident in my answer but check back in 20 years time in a podcast from the future...

Season 16 Episode 5 www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com/podcast Over the years, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about Emotional Intelligence and how it fits in to how many people live their lives now, lives which, for many, are much more multi-hyphenate, multi-stage. With that comes much more uncertainty. I’ve read a lot by Daniel Goleman, who argues unequivocally that EI (or EQ) is as important as IQ for success in all elements of your life, especially how you navigate your working life, private life, relationships and physical and mental wellbeing. I’d also argue that society collectively benefits from investing in its emotional intelligence learning. Dr Goleman talked about the Dalai Lama addressing a group of gatherers in India: "Like physical education, learning emotional hygiene is in great need today.” I’d definitely agree with that as capitalism and all its symptoms – racism, fear, inequality, intolerance – becomes much more visible in everything we do. So, Emotional Intelligence covers things like empathy, self management, self awareness, social skills….and I must admit that, with some of the horrible shit going on in the world, I’ve found it harder and harder to maintain particularly empathy and self management towards others that are displaying some of the most toxic behaviour at the level where I want them to be. But, I was reminded when the good old Instagram algorithm worked and showed me an interview with a woman reaffirming just how important empathy is – even when we feel at our most desolate - if we are going to tackle the divisions that the world faces. And I think that affirmation was what I needed, I guess to believe again. So, with my little piece of self-righteousness over, it’s time to clumsily segue into introducing Iris Gold @IrisGoldOfficial who is the most wonderful singer, songwriter, artist and, dare I say it, fashion icon. I really love the energy, creativity, vitality and honesty in her music. When I thought about how I would describe her, the one phrase that comes to my mind is from Toi Derricotte’s poem The Telly Cycle and that is….. “Joy Is An Act Of Resistance”

Season 16 Episode 4 www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com/podcast One of my interests that started well before I started this podcast - so we're talking maybe 8/9 years ago - was what sort of characteristics and attributes do we need as people to get stuff done in a world that was becoming more complex, uncertain, volatile and ambiguous. Fast forward 7 or 8 years to now and that world has changed at a pace that I’m not sure many predicted. One aspect of music that always intrigued me was how bands evolve. I’m not really talking about whether they evolve from one genre to another (although everyone knows that I really hate the notion of genres), but what they need as a band and as people to evolve. And I think curiosity has a big role to play here. That beautiful thing we’re born with – you know, like when the next question from a small kid is always gonna be “but why?” - and gets kicked out of us at an early age by the establishment, cos hey, who in the establishment wants curious, challenging thinkers? Brian Amalfitano is with a band that I love dearly and epitomizes curiosity for new ideas, for new ways of doing things and one which in my opinion has a unique open mindedness for experimenting with sound and performance. Their recordings and live performances push sonic boundaries with as much significance as the early output of bands like Cabaret Voltaire, The Pop Group and early PIL in the late 70s / early 80s. And I have to say that they have a particularly unique ability to create an observant and prescient soundtrack that’s scarily representative of a decaying world, in a similar vein to what The Dead Kennedys were able to create back in the 80’s. In short. Listen to Deaf Club!