Ep 128: Anna B Savage - podcast episode cover

Ep 128: Anna B Savage

Apr 22, 202441 min
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Episode description

London-born musician Anna B Savage talks to Stu in this particularly freewheeling episode of Midnight Chats that covers topics including meeting Cillian Murphy, present-opening etiquette, music industry anxiety, and what the hell is success anyway?! 

Stu also reveals to Anna where she is/was on the Loud And Quiet 2023 Albums of the Year list. And then there's a song to end.

Give the show a follow on Instagram at @midnightchatspod for clips and more.

This episode was recored in November 2023.

Further links:

Listen to Anna's cover of 'A Girl Like You'

Read our most recent interview with Anna from issue 157 of Loud And Quiet

Read the full L&Q Albums of the Year 2023

Credits:

Interview and editing by Stuart Stubbs

Mixing and Mastering by Flo Lines

Artwork by Kate Prior

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Speaker 1

Let's do that thing where you have to sing the song together looking at each other's mouths. Who's leading and who's following? You lead and I'll follow.

Speaker 2

Evening, everyone, Welcome to Midnight Chat's the music interview podcast. My name is Greg Cochrane. I'm Stuart Stubbs and on this week's podcast, Stu, you got to speak with someone and sing with someone. Yeah, thankfully this is the first episode and probably the last episode in which you'll hear me sing tell me about Anna, because listen, I don't know Anna's work that well. So Anna is a relatively new artist. She's from North London. She's released two albums

to date. Last year was our second album in Flux. We were talking in November early November twenty twenty three, and in this conversation you'll actually hear me reveal to Anna where she is on our Albums of the Year list. So that's a little bit of context. We were just dealing with, like what was our top forty going to be? Anna's album in Flux was on that list. Her previous album was called A Common Turn, another beautiful record. Anna's music I think if I was to describe it would

be it's very raw. It's very confessional, plays the guitar beautifully, sings very very beautifully, and it's very emotional music. And you hear it and you sort of think, oh, maybe this person is going to be quite an intense interview, but she's not. I've met Anna a few times and she's such a good laugh and I think we had a good time together recording this. We'll talk about Killian Murphy. She met Killian Murphy last year. It's a very free

wheeling conversation. This it's exactly sort of what I've always hoped Midnight Chats to be, and it was made a little easier because Anna's very good at this. I want to hear you singing, stew I've been waiting a long time for this. Here is Anna be Savage on tonight's episode of Midnight Chats. Hello, Anna, Hello, Welcome to the podcast. Anna B. Savage's it's a hell of a name.

Speaker 1

Thank you very much.

Speaker 2

It's good, isn't it?

Speaker 1

Yeah? It's pretty good.

Speaker 2

You pleased with it?

Speaker 1

I am?

Speaker 2

Yeah. You get a lot of people asking about the bee.

Speaker 1

I do, yeah. I also yeah, I get a lot of people not really believing that it's my actual name. I get people congratulating me.

Speaker 2

A lot like I just did.

Speaker 1

Yeah, but like passport control, they're like, oh sick.

Speaker 2

So people are thinking it must be a stage name. Yeah, because it's it's the Savage.

Speaker 1

It's good, it's too good.

Speaker 2

It's the Savage.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 2

The BEE, of course stands.

Speaker 1

For Brian, Brian famously.

Speaker 2

Is it common knowledge what the BEE stands for?

Speaker 1

It is not.

Speaker 2

Let's keep it that way. I when I was at school, when I was a child, my mum had all of these little tags, these little ribbons that said Stuart M. Stubbs that she'd put in all of my clothes. My brother had Peter K. Stubbs.

Speaker 1

Not as good, I don't think, But Peter K is quite fun.

Speaker 2

That's quite fun. This was pre Peter K. Yeah. Sadly. People in my cast, when they would ask what the M stood for, I would always say Maurice. Oh, which it isn't. That's not what the M stands for. Well, that's fun, But I just thought it was more interesting than what the M does stand for.

Speaker 1

This is that's kind of the exact opposite problem that I have, which is that I have zero imagination, so I couldn't come up with a name for my artist version of me. So you just put the I just put my actual initial in the middle.

Speaker 2

Did you what made you not just go for Anna Savage? Because I mean, the bee is making it, isn't it?

Speaker 1

Yeah? The B makes it.

Speaker 2

Well.

Speaker 1

I thought it was a fun pun for a start. Yes, it is my actual initial, and I don't know Anna. I am Anna Savage like I've been Anna Savage since I was little. I needed some differentiation between me and my.

Speaker 2

Person Yesterday I went to a fancy screening of a movie that's not out yet. Okay about the darkness no way? Yeah, darkness fan.

Speaker 1

Yes obviously. Can you see the glee in my face? And here it's in my voice?

Speaker 2

You know, it's like the Darkness. I mean. The reason I've mentioned that is because what you were just saying about personas is really good film. By the way, I can't rate it rate it enough. It's called Welcome to the Darkness. I don't know when it's out.

Speaker 1

It's a documentary.

Speaker 2

It's a documentary. It's it's their spinal tap and it's very spark tap obviously, but Justin Hawkins talks in it about his persona and how he became quote unquote Justin Hawkins even though that's his real name, and he talks about how, you know, his drug addiction was essentially him method acting his way into being a rock star.

Speaker 1

Yeah, I think that I feel like that would be a real danger if if you do use completely your real name, like mine's still very very close to my real name, Like my family will be like, oh, Anabe Savage is here.

Speaker 2

You know do they find it amusing?

Speaker 1

Yeah? Yeah, that you have that tiny differentiation is enough to be like, I think I'm saved as Annabe Savage in my sister's phone and stuff. But yeah, I can totally see how that would especially if you're so successful, like the Darkness and it just kind of comes out of well, not nowhere, but like comes very quickly. There would be you know, moments where it's like, wait, does this real me?

Speaker 2

Or so you're do you feel that you put on a persona at what points, like when you're on stage?

Speaker 1

Well, this is also the funny, naughty, difficult thing. It is that I feel like the music I write is so kind of exposing, and I try and be so emotionally honest that it would be weird if I then put on a persona to like perform them. Yeah, but I guess it's like a tiny bit of it's like just to give me that tiny bit of wiggle room. I think that when I when I perform, I definitely

recently have become more myself, which is really nice. I think in the past I used to try different things out because I was quite nervous, whereas now I can add in the kind of like goofiness and silliness of me and not feel like it's too difficult to pair with the music, I guess, Whereas in the past I was just like absolutely bringing it all the time, so I just needed something to feel like I was in control.

Speaker 2

Sure, Well, this like, so we've we've spoken a fair few times. I'd say we know each other close friends.

Speaker 1

I would say we're friends.

Speaker 2

One thing I don't think we've ever spoken about, but this, this is the origin story that I have heard. I think about your music, okay, and you can tell me if it's correct or not. Am I right in thinking? There was a time where you started releasing music and you went on a tour with father John Misty and things were looking things were going well, and then you decided I don't want to do this right now, I'm not ready for this right now. Is there any truth in that?

Speaker 1

It's adjacent to the truth, Okay for sure. So I yeah, released music I think it was like twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen ish, and people seemed to like it, and then I got asked, I know, and then I got asked to go on this tour with father John Misty, which was obviously absolutely dreamy. Can I swear on this there's been okay, cool, There's been a couple of instances where I'm.

Speaker 2

Like, no, go for it, that's fine.

Speaker 1

It was fucking dreamy and went on this.

Speaker 2

Tour dreamy guy, very dreamy guy, very dreamy.

Speaker 1

Guy, like a total sweetheart. I really he was so kind to me that whole tour and so generous and yeah, big love for Josh. I found myself then being like, okay, cool, I need to write this wave because famously the music industry is quite fickle and they want you.

Speaker 2

To watch the Darkness documentary.

Speaker 1

Okay, yes, and yeah, I want you to create stuff a lot and be putting stuff out a lot. And I was quite a low ebb at that point in my kind of personal life, so I wouldn't say it

was a decision to step away from the industry. It was more like a crushing lack of self confidence and load of self loathing that kind of stopped me from actually writing anything because I had this weird like duel thing in my head where I was like, either I really lucked out and managed to convince everyone that that was good, but I can never create anything again, or everyone's like playing this trick on me, and you know,

just like classic low self confidence stuff. So I didn't write anything, and I couldn't write anything I was trying to, and everyone kept being like, this is your one chance. If you don't take this, then you're not going to be able to do music, which obviously is super helpful when you're feeling the pressure. And so yeah, basically that happened,

and I couldn't get anything out. And then one by one, all the people that I knew in the industry kind of disappeared or left or went to a different industry or except for my wonderful booking agent, and I was a bit like, oh, okay, well, now I don't have any pressure and I've got myself out of this like bad personal scenario and I've kind of built my I guess like built my confidence, built my personality back up.

I'm going to try writing a fucking album. So I wrote this album with zero pressure, zero interest, zero anything really and then had it and then didn't they what to do. So just kind of like, you know, did stuff at the same time, but not really any music stuff.

And then I went on a music residency in Canada and I started kind of tentatively playing it to these people who I just like, I hadn't known them before, but I admired them all so much that incredible musicians, incredible creators, creatives, and they were like, oh, this is fucking good, Like you should do something with this. I

was like, oh, OK, maybe I will. So I came home after this and spent all my savings paying my producer Will Doyle to record the album with me, and then had the album and then I had to start like sending out to people being like, hello, do you remember me from me five years ago?

Speaker 2

But did you find that point at that point did that sort of pressure kick back in once you were like had the thing to sell it or had it gone because you'd created the thing?

Speaker 1

It had gone because I created the thing. I just felt so tough to myself. I genuinely was like beside myself with glee at the fact that I had managed to complete this thing which had previously seemed completely unfathomable to me, like insurmountable. Didn't know how anyone would write an album, And.

Speaker 2

Now you've written two in flux released earlier this year. Correct, How's twenty twenty three B twenty.

Speaker 1

Twenty three has been actually quite hard?

Speaker 2

Has it?

Speaker 1

Just like personal stuff?

Speaker 2

Right?

Speaker 1

But professionally it's been good?

Speaker 2

I think it is a serious question. Oh well, I guess it's serious. Yeah, is do you when you release a record like that or any record, do you have you personally? What is your barometer of success for you? Like?

Speaker 1

Oh, a serious question that makes me sound entirely unhinged. Great, I well, you have like you have like your your hopes for it, and then you have like your hopes for it, so like you know, the hopes are like, I hope I can get to make another album. I hope this one like touches people in a similarish way than the first one did. I hope people like it as much as people seem to like the first one. And then there's like to win the Mercury breads film all the money.

Speaker 2

That's good. That should be in your mind. Though in a way, right, I think.

Speaker 1

So it makes things very disappointing.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I remember Orlando Weeks. Do you have me met Orlando?

Speaker 1

I haven't met him.

Speaker 2

No, Lovely ma'am came on the podcast and he I don't know if it was actually in the recording or afterward finished, but he was saying to him, success is I think I was probably moaning about something afterwards, and he was saying, like, success to him is just being able to make the next thing. If the thing that he makes, whatever that is, allows him to make another one, then it's all good and that's the goal. And then the success of that one will be to carry on

doing the thing totally. Anything to stop you having to get a real job, I guess is another way of saying that, right. But I also think it's natural for you to want to win the Mercury. I want to, you know, yeah whatever, have those sort of plaudits, because I think that's sort of just quite a natural part of being a performer totally an artist and a creative.

Speaker 1

Yeah, And I think that well for me, and perhaps this is my super naive not having got close to any of those things at all. View But like with those things for me would come money, I think, which then affords me the opportunity to make stuff again in the future, because there's this, like, you know, they're really it does feel like you're on the edge of a precipice all the time trying to be a creative and it is like, I do think it's miraculous that this

is my job. Like it's wild to me that I, you know, get by doing this just about and it feels like an imense privilege being able to just express myself. I mean, I've listened to enough celebrity podcasts to know that when you win the prizes, it doesn't feel the same way as you think it will feel when you

want to win the prizes. Yeah, yeah, but I think there's that that mix of yeah, potentially getting welcomed into the club to be like, maybe now you have enough gravitas behind you to be able to sustain this for

that little bit longer, you know. I feel like this year, I've complained a lot about money because it feels quite scary being trying to go on tour and all that kind of stuff, And I've complained to my therapist about it, probably more more than I should have done, and at a certain point she said, I mean, it's so good that someone can be this honest with me and really just hit the nail on the head. She basically said

to me. She was like, you know that the way that you write music and the kind of music you're writing, you're only writing to express yourself. You're not writing to make money. You're not writing like you know, pop bangers or whatever. So it's really funny that you should expect to make loads of cash and like feel financially confident when all you're doing is being like, this is my emotions and this is my heart and this is how

I feel like. It's you know, that's an anomaly when that happens, when those two things overlap.

Speaker 2

That's Radiohead.

Speaker 1

That's exactly my example that I always use.

Speaker 2

That's my go to thing.

Speaker 1

And that was really fun because she kind of said that to me and I was like, huh, that's completely accurate.

Speaker 2

You have earned your money.

Speaker 1

She's so great though, she doesn't let me get away with any of my ship any more more money. Yeah, it's like, well, change what you're working through exactly.

Speaker 2

How about end of year lists? Is that something you will be paying attention to? Do you ignore that stuff?

Speaker 1

I mean, it's always nice, isn't it if you end up on an end of year list? Weirdly, I don't. I haven't hadn't even kind of hadn't remembered that my album came out of this year.

Speaker 2

It's going to be a surprise cycle.

Speaker 1

Yeah, exactly. I feel like the cycle for me feels like it's finished at the moment, so it'll be fun if it does turn up on anyone's end of your list. Oh yea, it's November.

Speaker 2

It's November. It's happening. We're currently putting ours together at the magazine. It's on the list. Oh f in flux? Do you want to know where it is on the list? Yes, because this podcast is going to come out. The list will be out by the time this goes out. Oh my god, So we have a top forty?

Speaker 1

Yeah?

Speaker 2

Where do you think you'd be on the list?

Speaker 1

Forty?

Speaker 2

No? No, you're higher? Are you ready join me? Say?

Speaker 1

Yeah?

Speaker 2

Number three?

Speaker 1

Are you fucking serious?

Speaker 2

Pretty good? Pretty good on the list?

Speaker 1

That's fucking up.

Speaker 2

Yeah. I think you're gonna be on a lot of lists though.

Speaker 1

That's so cool.

Speaker 2

That's not bad? Is it? Number three?

Speaker 1

Fucking great?

Speaker 2

Shall I let you know who's who's Who's whose?

Speaker 1

Number?

Speaker 2

Who's beaten you? Number one is Lankham legit? And number two oh we can circle back to Lancam in a second. Actually put a pinion Lancam for a second. Number two is Danny Brown and Jpeg Mafia. Oh they did like a collab album.

Speaker 1

Okay, then it's you La Force on your top forty unbelievably good album. If you haven't listened to it.

Speaker 2

I don't think I have skeleton, Okay, I mean things could change. I can listen to that, could put that number three maybe, yeah, that sounds good. Then just moving back.

Speaker 1

To forty, that's amazing. Is that why I'm getting interviewed?

Speaker 2

No? No, You're just You're You're just, you know, always a allowed and quite fixture. I feel, and I thought, you know, I thought I may as well tell you where you are. It's tricky, isn't it? Because I feel you've taken this news very well, fucking Jeff, because you know, I mean, it's it's but also like I am personally am really bad at taking anything any good news. I think I'm worse at good news, like how you are

opening a present at Christmas? Oh awful, and like people are watching you, people like.

Speaker 1

I cannot hide my real emotion from my face, Like it will just show up on my face.

Speaker 2

Oh that's good though, so like because I'm my issue is if someone buys me a gift that is lovely and I love it and it's the best thing. It's a ferrari. It's what matter what it is? Number one, couldn't matter what it is because I'm a ten year old constantly whatever it is, I can't EXPI I'm like this sort of just this Mannikin. We went to stay with a friend for Christmas one the one time I've not been at my family home. I guest for Christmas.

I was in Australia, if you've heard of that, And it was weird because you know, it's very sunny and it's like just a different whole from thing going on. And I had never met Tristan, our friend Tristan, my wife feels friend Tristan, and I'd never met his family before. And they did a thing where when they exchange presents, they give you a present from like oh, this presence for Annah, they give it to you, and then everyone just watches you. Oh God, and you unwrap it and

then you talk about it. Oh yeah, this is another thing I'm bad at. Let's say I got you this box and you open it and we're all watching it. There's a room people watching you open it. Would you get it, unwrap it, and then start unpacking it from the box, look to look at the thing in the box, or would you unwrap it, say oh thanks, it's that microphone, put that to one side and think I'm going to I'll get it all out later.

Speaker 1

Yeah. I think that I probably would feel the pressure to open it and then open it more, because that looks like kill more into it, even if I'm super into it.

Speaker 2

That is the I think you're correct, And I forget that second stage every single time, so it looks like I don't really I'm ungrateful because I am next. Yeah, exactly, I unwrap it. I just put it there next to the box of old ties. As I wrap, I'm wrapped before every year I go into Christmas thinking need to be better at that. Yeah, and I'm going to my brothers in all this Christmas.

Speaker 1

I'm going to get on with your brother in law.

Speaker 2

I do love that I do.

Speaker 1

Do you have to say that because it's a podcast.

Speaker 2

He won't listen to. No one I know listens to this, so no, he won't listen to this. But that no one we do get on. But that's what I'm going to try and do.

Speaker 1

Oh no, but what if it looks really insincere?

Speaker 2

Oh it will? You have been in Ireland recently?

Speaker 1

I have yet.

Speaker 2

I saw a photo of you sat with Killie Murphy.

Speaker 1

That's correct.

Speaker 2

He looked okay one, yeah, explain yourself. Two. In the image he looked very enamored with what you were saying.

Speaker 1

So you've seen the good image. There's two images, one where he looks like he is barely tolerating me and the other one where he's like, oh this is funny. Yeah, it was really fun we had I went to Sounds from a Safe Harbor.

Speaker 2

This is his festival, right or he's involved.

Speaker 1

He's involved in it. Yeah, and the guys from a lot of yeah, a lot of big dogs in Cork this festival. Yeah, this one was in Cork. They've also had them in Wisconsin and Berlin. It was an incredible experience. It was so you have like a week's residency and then the weekend festival and the residency is just all of these gigantic, amazing musicians who are you know, unfathomably talented.

The first day, I was in a room with like Caroline Rose and Olive for Arnold's and like some other people, and I, oh, god, I jamming is not really my vibe. I get really overwhelmed.

Speaker 2

You sort of winced at the word jam. Yeah.

Speaker 1

Yeah, it's not my happy place. And I, you know, I'm just very lack of self confidence in the kind of I'm going to show you my prowess on my instrument.

Speaker 2

Okay, that sounds.

Speaker 1

Terrible my guitar. And so I ended up in the corner of the room trying to play a glass in like a jamming session.

Speaker 2

How did that go down?

Speaker 1

It was great, It was great. I knew where I needed to be.

Speaker 2

So what's the what's the deal? Someone says, how does this information get to you? Today? You will be playing improvised music with this list of people.

Speaker 1

So there's a woman called Mary who organized is the whole residency, right. She is a magnificent person, and she just kind of gently pushes you towards a room and goes go in there. You'll have fun and I And.

Speaker 2

It's the idea that your you're is it being recorded? Are you coming up with something that.

Speaker 1

It's totally free from You could just be for that moment, just for that moment. You could be making something to perform at the end of the week. You could be making something to maybe like record it later down the line. You could be like, oh, I think we should start a band, right, you know, it could be any number of things.

Speaker 2

That group of people did you had you met them before? No?

Speaker 1

I hadn't met a single person. Oh no, I'd met them before I walked. I'd met Neve before I walked in the room. Everyone else i'd kind of seen the night before.

Speaker 2

At dinner and they say, right, we're gonna let's let's does someone just pick up something? And like Oli forgets on the piano. Maybe yeah? And then what you.

Speaker 1

You with me?

Speaker 2

I was going to say, what you you certainly think? What leads you to think I'm going to pick up that glass?

Speaker 1

No. Caroline Rose, who is a creative genius, was like, I think we should play some glasses because there were so many glasses in each room. No, I think by design so that we could drink water and not have to leave the room to get.

Speaker 2

Water, so you're sort of imprisoned slightly.

Speaker 1

They pulled all the curtains down, shut the windows. No, it wasn't even that. It's so it's so weird because it it sounds so confusing, and it was so confusing. All of us were kind of sat there for the first ten minutes being like, how do we do this? What are we doing? Who's in charge? Who starts? Who

are you? Like? It was it was a lot, and it was It's it's funny because there are you know, there are certain I guess like cultural societal things that happening as well, which is often, well in my understanding of it, Often the women are like, oh no, I don't know what's happening, and then the men are like sick, I love jamming. Let's do this, and then start and then say, oh no, why don't you do something a bit like that? You know, one one of them will

kind of take charge of the room. As it were, sounds like.

Speaker 2

It's got a sort of big brother vibe of like.

Speaker 1

It's all all good vibes, it's all love. Yeah, it is all love. But I was annoyed at myself for being for not having you know, spent thirty years learning my theory and learning my instruments better so that I could be like, Okay, let me be in charge.

Speaker 2

Can you have you have you performed on Later with Jules Holland? Yeah, no, that's coming out, that's coming up. But you know, I always think that at the start when they're all playing, like, you know, I don't know if they even do that anymore, but you know, they used to all start playing a song and he'd sort of introduced who was going to be on the show.

That sounds like an anxiety dream to me. But would you be in that situation if you had your guitar instead of a glass sad times, then would you have would you be like you'd know what what key to stay in?

Speaker 1

I have no idea about keys. If someone told like three chords, I could probably do it right, single notes, could probably do it. Sing along. Yeah, fine, a glass glass beautiful my favorite.

Speaker 2

Your new album will strictly be class music. Yeah. Yeah. So this this shot of you with Killian, what was that? What part of the festival was that? Was that like a talk?

Speaker 1

No, that was part of the residency. So basically the beauty of the residency is that everyone just kind of meshes in together, and uh, everyone kind of ended up in this like smoking area in the nighttime. And so I've just been in there and we were just having a chat. Nice sky Dreamboat looks like we chatted about six music playlists and episodes because I absolutely cannot get enough. I think they're the best.

Speaker 2

I went to a wedding this year in where was she Tonado O'Connor from, I don't actually know, Bray Bray nice? Yeah, beautiful love it Yeah, yeah, really really amazing, best wedding I've been, well, one of the best weddings I think I've ever been to. And I'm at the end of my wedding career.

Speaker 1

Now why was it so great? Is it because it was full of Irish?

Speaker 2

Yeah? I think so, because island is just amazing, isn't it?

Speaker 1

Full vibes all the time?

Speaker 2

And you spend lots of time there?

Speaker 1

I do.

Speaker 2

Yeah, why why is the wrong question because I've just sort of said why, But like how how? Because do you have Irish family? What made you? What made you go there in the first place?

Speaker 1

It was during the pandemic.

Speaker 2

And remember, because I think we've spoken, we have spoken about Ireland before. And I think the.

Speaker 1

Last time we did the podcast, I was living in Dublin. I was in Dublin when we did it.

Speaker 2

You just moved there in a pandemic because you're like, that sounds nice.

Speaker 1

Yeah, I kind of. I well, like my album was meant to come out at the beginning of twenty twenty. I mean everyone felt like this. I'd slightly lost control of the landmark points of my life. Like I was like, Oh, then the album's going to come out, Then I'm going to tour. They we're going to do this, Like the whole schedule had just disappeared, and so I felt like I really needed something to kind of hold on to.

And I knew that the album was going to come out some point, and one of my friends, who is infinitely smart, was like, oh, I'm actually moving to Sweden to go and do a filmmaking masters for two years. I was like, that is absolutely genius to do during a pandemic when you don't you know, necessarily know what's going to happen. So I decided to start applying for

music masters. Is because I had so little confidence and faith in my ability around music or also like being a musician as a business because I didn't have a manager at that point, and you know, people were starting to ask questions to me where I was like, I don't know what that is. So I was like, right, I really need to buckle down and actually learn this stuff before I start this career.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

So, yeah, I applied to a couple of music masters.

Speaker 2

Is one is to learn about like the biz, to learn the sort.

Speaker 1

Of They had all different types. So it was learning about like events management, learning about the business side of it, learning about like production.

Speaker 2

That's the world we're in now, isn't it. As a musician, It's not enough to just be a good musician or a songwriter. You need to know the business side of it. You need to know to promote yourself social media.

Speaker 1

Yeah, you need to know photoshop, video editors.

Speaker 2

All of these things that you know, even ten years ago it would never have been in the game. Yeah, and it's sort of crazy. Your one thing we have in common is, I think, is a sort of hatred. I would say maybe maybe that's not even too strong

for those social pressures that social things. Yeah. Yeah, because you and I. So you started a newsletter, I mean, did you start yours for the same reason that we started as at a magazine, which is essentially to try to do less social media and build a sort of just one place where people are genuinely sort of there and you're not beating algorithms and you're not trying to like work out how to reach the people following you. How's it going.

Speaker 1

I've sent one newsletter in the last two years.

Speaker 2

I was going to say, because I have not seen it much and I am a subscriber, but that, you know, I mean, that's it's another thing. Isn't it on the list?

Speaker 1

Another thing on the list?

Speaker 2

Is it not enough? Like I now have to do a newsletter.

Speaker 1

Well, there's a lot of different things around it. So yeah, it's really good to have like a newsletter subscriber base because if you have people's emails, it means you are not being sold anything or selling anything yourself by being on the social media platform that is like, you know, connecting you with these fans. But then mail Chimp, which I was using, started like monetizing over a certain amount. So now if you have over like is it like

five hundred subscribers, you have to pay. And then also I found the setup of it really confusing. And then also every time I sent an email, like twenty people would unsubscribe and I can see them, my friends, Oh.

Speaker 2

I feel you. I'm so so we have to that point. I'm with you, like when you send a male Because we use mail Chimp for as as the magazine, but we use a different, more different We've got all of these sort of plug in, all these things working for us. And the way the subscriptions on the magazine work through this other platform called Steady, and I receive to my

personal email acca is it connected to my account? I receive a little alert when someone has subscribed to magazine because I have to to send them a copy of the magazine. And it's joy. It's a joint. Someone has subscribed to magazine. Isn't that great? But I also received them every single time somebody cancels, and I cannot take it. I cannot take the rejection at all. It's like death by a thousand cuts every time there is one. And

I get it. There's something I've subscribed to magazines or to other you know, services, film channels, whatever, movie and done it for a bit and then going I'm not really like, I'm not finding the time for this, and I can say I've been that person, but I can't. But however logical I think about it, seeing that rejection in real time is little Daggett as hard grim, isn't it.

Speaker 1

Yeah, it totally is.

Speaker 2

And you're right. When you send something to the people who you think, well, they've signed up for this thing, so they want this thing, send it to them, and then you just get ding ding ding And what are these people?

Speaker 1

People leaving the see you later, miss you.

Speaker 2

Yeah, it's like, yeah, it's like arranging a party and then when you turn up, some people go, ah.

Speaker 1

Actually, really you.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I'm off on WhatsApp. Do you leave voice notes or do you type both? So here's something I found out about. You'll probably know this because you're much younger than I am. But I I text because that's my generation.

Speaker 1

Right.

Speaker 2

Leaving the voice note thing is new to me. And but I left one to a friend who's Tristan, you know Tristan. And I left him. I left him a note, a voice note, and I think I commented in it saying, oh, I mean this is the least cool thing in the world, saying isn't this young and cooler? And he wrote back, I think he might have left. He came back to me basically and pointed and pointed out that apparently, if you leave a gap at the beginning of the recording, you're a boomer. Have you heard this?

Speaker 1

No, I haven't heard that. That's genius.

Speaker 2

Yeah, so so, and I had obviously.

Speaker 1

I want to make sure it's recorded except right exactly.

Speaker 2

And I was like, oh, man, that's so embarrassing that I'd managed to get that so wrong. But I had never heard that before. I'm glad you haven't, but but I get it right. Because for my generation, when our parents started getting mobile phones or texting or they would look at it like it was a sort of alien object in the hand and they wouldn't just like use it like this. They would sort of hold it in

one hand and indexinger jabbing, jabbing at it. Yeah, my mum still like that right, and this voice note gap at the beginning. That's the younger generation's equivalent.

Speaker 1

That's there's so much stuff like that. Side partings, they're like, Jugy, what, yeah, you've got to have a center barting skinny jeans, said JUGI.

Speaker 2

Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I know that about skinny jeans, But I mean, who's got a side parting anyway.

Speaker 1

I've been known just side barting.

Speaker 2

But that's a weird one, isn't it to say.

Speaker 1

Like long hair jugy on men and women?

Speaker 2

Anyway? Long hairld women?

Speaker 1

Yeah. If you notice all the gen z Is are now cutting their hair really.

Speaker 2

Short like Bob's. Yeah, sure, okay, I.

Speaker 1

Can't really do that. I mean I could, but it just looks terrible on me. I've done it before.

Speaker 2

Genuinely speaking, are you you're are, how you're dealing with You're not? You're still very young, but like getting old.

Speaker 1

I think we're quite similar in age. You said that I was a lot younger, but I don't think I am sixty. Oh fair, I'm sixteen.

Speaker 2

Oh there's a difference. Yeah, yeah, Do you do you like it? Do you like getting older?

Speaker 1

I fucking love getting to you? Holy fuck?

Speaker 2

Is that because you hated being younger? Or is it because you're just a more measured person than I am.

Speaker 1

I hated being younger in my brain, obviously, I liked it a lot more in my body because I could, you know, do things like drink and not feel the repercussions of it. But I just despised myself so much and really struggled with anything to do with like self esteem. And yeah, as I get older and older, I feel like I'm learning more and more about the beauties of life and they are not, you know, ripping yourself apart, both physically and mentally at all times. Yeah.

Speaker 2

Progress, progress, This is what it's all about. One thing I wanted to ask you about. I didn't do much research for this. You may have sort of.

Speaker 1

Noticed that I actually didn't.

Speaker 2

But I did find an old cover you did of Edwin Collins. Like you great, Thank you you do some good covers. You did come for us, and you did Golden Scans. Bye Clackson's Edwin Collins very sort of moody, different vibe.

Speaker 1

Very different vibe.

Speaker 2

It taught me that I've been getting a lyric wrong though in it, because you know the lyric. I've written it down here. You know the lyric. You may you made me acknowledge the devil in me since that song came out? What's the devil a bit? Since that song came out? I I thought he sang Edwin Collins the devil in Me ah, and I thought that was the lyric.

And when I listened to your version of it, I was there rubbing my hands before it got up, by thinking, I wonder if Anna's gonna say Edwin Collins or if she's gonna put her own name and make it her own. God. And then it came to it, you didn't say Edwin Collins at all, and I looked up the lyrics. I realized how wrong I'd been.

Speaker 1

You made me acknowledge the devil in me. Oh God, I'm talking murtiforically. Oh I love that.

Speaker 2

So yeah, but that is the sort of beauty of those sort of you know, of a cover that is so much sort of slower and.

Speaker 1

And measured, nunciated, quiet girl.

Speaker 2

Yeah, then you know you sort of learn learn the lyrics. Yea, how should we end this?

Speaker 1

Let's do that thing where you have to sing this song together looking at each other's mouths. Do you know that one? Just make it up?

Speaker 2

You just make up the song, okay.

Speaker 1

You have to sing it together. Who's who's leading and who's following? You lead and I'll follow. So you just make up a song and I will try and sing it along with you.

Speaker 2

I think maybe you should be making it up because I've got no musical You should lead, okay, because I will lead us into a wall.

Speaker 1

Okay are you ready?

Speaker 2

Yeah?

Speaker 1

This was so far fun.

Speaker 2

Wait one last time? Are doing? Is it starting like that again? You give me no?

Speaker 1

We hope you join the so lots of love from.

Speaker 2

Stew Midnight Chats is a joint production between Loud and Quiet and Atomized Studios for iHeartRadio. It's hosted by Stuart Stubbs and Greg Cochrane, mixed and mastered by Flow Lines, and edited by Stuart Stubbs. Find us on Instagram and TikTok to watch clips from our recordings and much much more. We are Midnight Chats Pod. For more information, visit loudan Quiet dot com

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