My guest in this episode is Irishman Stephen McNulty. Stephen grew up near Dungannon where his piano teacher Victor was an early musical influence introducing him to the delights of Marc Bolan, T.Rex and Electric Warrior at a tender age . That early interest in music was cemented on June 22nd, 1992 when Stephen's first real gig involved a trip to Belfast to see Nirvana supported by Teenage Fanclub and The Breeders at The King's Hall. After that there was no turning back. In 2005 Stephen moved to...
Aug 20, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 17
When Ewan Dalton was my guest on Episode 16 he said "You HAVE to get Dave Stewart on to the show" and I'm really glad I took his advice. Dave was the Librarian at Microsoft UK and that's where we first met, but in Dave's own words he enjoyed work, but it was never a priority. What is and always has been a priority and a passion, from an early age, is music : listening to it watching it live, reading about it, writing it, and playing it. In December 2013 Dave went, with his brother, to see the Uk...
Aug 06, 2020•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 16
My guest in this episode is Peter Tubb another dear friend, ex-colleague and amateur musician. Peter and his wife Stella are celebrating 40 years of marriage this year and, together with their three children James, George & Vanessa, its clear this is a family that loves their music. Peter was born and raised in Bristol but at the age of 6 his family spent 3 years in Zambia where his father was helping the newly independent nation to set up its Post Office service. This was a memorable and fo...
Jul 23, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 15
At the start of this episode Lucy Boulter describes herself as: “a perfectly average middle-aged woman who has achieved relative success in a reasonably ordinary life” For the next hour or so she then regales us with a series of fascinating stories (and great musical choices) that clearly show there is nothing average or ordinary about Lucy. From being a child roadie at the age of 7, having her first newspaper front page spread at 16, driving massive change management at BT , starting a new busi...
Jul 09, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 14
This episode is entitled The Anniversary Edition because 12 months to the day I published the first edition of Music Talks, with my guest Steve Clayton. As I have stated several times most Podcasts don’t get past Episode 7. This is a very important milestone for me and I am incredibly grateful to everyone who has listened over the past year and for the great support I have had. Downloads are now running at 1000 per month and that is way above what I was targeting a year ago. More important than ...
Jun 25, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 13
My guest in this episode is a gentleman called Mike Pegg, who has been a mentor and friend for almost 25 years. Mike has been a big influence on me, and is a man full of ideas, insights, and words. So many words in fact that our discussion ran just over two hours. I do edit these episodes, but I wasn’t about to cut out almost a half of this conversation, and so, we have our first two-part episode with this being Part 2 , spanning the end of the 70's through to the present day. In what can only b...
Jun 18, 2020•50 min•Season 2Ep. 12
My guest in this episode is a gentleman called Mike Pegg, who has been a mentor and friend for almost 25 years. As you will hear Mike has been a big influence on me, and he is a man full of ideas, insights, and words. So many words in fact that our discussion ran just over two hours. Now I do edit these episodes, but I wasn’t about to cut out almost a half of this conversation, and so, we have our first two-part episode with Part 1 being published today (11th June) and Part 2 going out in a week...
Jun 11, 2020•50 min•Season 2Ep. 12
In this episode my guest Nigel Kirkham takes us on a fascinating musical journey from his early years growing up in Streatham & Morden in London , via Liverpool, Chennai, Abu Dhabi and New York , to his current life in the leafy lanes of Mapledurwell in Hampshire , where he lives with his partner Daisy and their wire haired dachshund Mabel. Nigel’s musical tastes are as wide ranging as his travel has been and that is reflected in the fact that this Playlist of songs and artists mentioned in ...
May 28, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Egbert Schroer was born in the small but historic town of Dorsten in Westphalia, Germany , in 1958 . He grew up with a love of water that has stayed with him all his life as has his love for music, both listening and playing his beloved guitars. Egbert's musical choices cover a wide range but his real love is the big , powerful challenging Rock music (and lyrics) of the 60's, 70's and 80's. . He is also a bit of an anglophile and a fan of Douglas Adams and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. As you...
May 14, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 10
My guest in this episode is the well-known and much-loved Seattle musician Kim Virant. In her own words she is “an Air Force brat” who arrived in Washington state in 1980 after a four-year stint in the UK where the music scene had been transformed by Punk and Thatcher’s Britain was kicking off. After college and 3 months back packing trip around Europe Kim decided to follow her passion and become a singer. As she describes in this episode, her first live performance was in her mid-twenties at Mu...
Apr 30, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Rosie and I met in January 2019 when we both signed up for an 8-week course run by Action for Happiness (actionforhappiness.org). Since then , I am delighted to say we have become good friends and not just because Rosie has been a vocal and active supporter of Music Talks since the very first episode (when she realised that my guest , Steve Clayton, had been taught by the father of one of her closest friends!) Rosie has a fascinating circular story that takes her from an idyllic childhood in Nor...
Apr 16, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Ian Shanahan – Quintessentially English (with attitude!) A Cornishman by birth and from good working-class stock, Ian is someone who embraces life to the full whatever the situation. With a keen eye for detail, the serious and the ridiculous he has a finely honed sense of humour which, in my view, is quintessentially English. As can be seen below Ian is an inveterate list maker and he uses these to take us on a journey through his life and shows, in a really engaging way, the relationship and im...
Apr 02, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 7
My guest in this episode is Jeffrey Bryan who is not only a music lover but also a professional musician. Born and raised in Los Angeles his music career started at a young age in the 80’s, playing clubs like The Roxy, Whisky-a-Go-Go, Madam Wongs and everywhere on the famed Sunset Strip and beyond. During this time Jeff also landed various film and TV appearances (aka Jeff Fishman) including The Karate Kid. He is a composer, singer, keyboard player & guitar player and is currently Keyboardis...
Mar 19, 2020•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 6
John Noakes is a dear friend I have had the pleasure of knowing for over 20 years. Like me he is a veteran of the I.T industry, but before joining IBM in 1988 he was a Merchant seaman for 14 years from the age of 16. The title of the episode refers to the Andy Williams song about a seafarer finally making it home but it’s also a reference to the strong family man that John has always been. John and his lovely wife Stephanie will be celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary this year. Proud pare...
Mar 05, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Ewan is another long-time colleague and friend about whom I found out things I didn’t know, by having him on Music Talks. I knew he had a passion for many things including cars, antique watches and technology. What I hadn’t realised was how deep his love for music is, nor that we shared a deep and common interest in the Space Program of the 60s. It’s a wide-ranging musical discussion that spans Perry Como to Stormzy and, as can be seen in the 41 songs in the Spotify playlist, an awful lot lot in...
Feb 20, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 4
I’m delighted that Becky is another listener who liked the show so much she agreed to be a guest on it A proud Cornish girl from Hampshire farming and Geordie mining stock, life was never going to be dull for Becky and so it proved. After an idyllic childhood growing up in Bude, Cornwall, she departed UK shores in 1992 for a gap year in New Zealand followed by 5 years at Manchester University. In 1996, continuing to indulge her travel bug Becky took a solo trip to Seattle that was to change her ...
Feb 06, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Omar is a young Jordanian with a real passion and a compelling vision for the field he studied and now works in which is media and education. In the chapters I have specifically pulled out a section were Omar paints his vision for Education in the future. He gives a great fun example about teaching what an eclipse is by using a song and Spotify data. You can find the video that accompanies that discussion at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Kot3zr5VSdCaYakiSEAxN2kR9r2NN5_h/view Omar has a simila...
Jan 23, 2020•59 min•Season 2Ep. 2
"Renaissance Man" is a big tag to apply to anyone but in Andy's case it is completely justified. I have had the pleasure of knowing Andy for over 20 years and he is a remarkable man in so many ways. Of Maltese/Welsh parentage he grew up in New Zealand before returning to the UK to go to Cambridge to study Maths & Physics. The proud father of two children , he is a self-confessed Physics & Astronomy geek with two masters degrees in AI who also happens to love Rugby (The All Blacks) and Fo...
Jan 09, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 1
I am marking the end of the year and the start of the New Year with a two-part "Best Of 2019" episode. My guest in this endeavour is a previous guest on Music Talks and now a good friend, Steven Routledge . In the last epsiode Steven and I choose our favourite 10 songs from the year , talked through our choices and played a few clips from those songs. In this episode we do the same but this time around its our Top 10 Albums of the year that we review, This Spotify Playlist contains a song from e...
Jan 01, 2020•1 hr 8 min
I am marking the end of the year and the start of the New Year with a two-part "Best Of 2019" episode. My guest in this endeavour is a previous guest on Music Talks and now a good friend, Steven Routledge . In this Episode Steven and I each choose our favourite 10 songs from the year , talk through our choices and play a few clips from those songs. Full versions of our choices are available in this Spotify Playlist : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6bt9xHZNUpxLWz7qI87WQy?si=gI1xmVtNQLKib3XNMIE...
Dec 31, 2019•58 min
This episode contains my favourite choice for each decade from the 12 episodes I have done this year and its a great introduction to the Music Talks format and the great musical choices and stories it generates. As I say in the intro to this episode this one really is for me as I just wanted to see how it sounded if i put all the clips and intro's together. The good news is that , at least to me , it sounds pretty good. In amongst all the festive cheer if you need a quiet hour, with some good mu...
Dec 24, 2019•59 min
Mike Blanchard was my guest on Episode 12 of Music Talks. As I keep telling anyone who will listen this man is a Podcasting machine and must be considered a veteran given he is now in his 12th year of Podcasting. During that time, he has produced over 2000 episodes of various Podcasts. Given all of that I was very excited when he invited me onto his Geek Cast Radio show as a guest. In typical Mike style he insisted that he wanted to use my own format on me , not least because I had mentioned in ...
Dec 16, 2019•1 hr 8 min
Mike Blanchard is the founder of the Geek Cast Radio network and a Podcast veteran. In the past decade, he has been involved in over 2000 Podcasts and as you will hear in the episode has interviewed some pretty famous people in the gaming, movie and TV worlds. With that sort of background and experience, I am incredibly pleased and flattered that Mike has become such a vocal and active supporter of Music Talks. Mike is equally enthusiastic about music generally and it was no surprise that his ch...
Dec 03, 2019•58 min•Season 1Ep. 12
I am delighted that Ian Braisby, my guest in Episode 11, is another listener who has decided they would like to be a guest - long may that trend continue ! Ian was born in 1972 in a mining town near Nottingham , in the U.K. Inspired by a certain Mr, Springsteen Ian decided in 1991 to "get out while he was still young and run" 50 miles to the SW and attend Birmingham University where he graduated in Commerce and German. Married to Sally-Jayne Ian now has an interesting career that combines his ow...
Nov 19, 2019•57 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Chris Bloom was born in Cambridge in 1970 and that's where he grew up and lived until 1990. He then decided to give up the historical splendour of his hometown and his job at Kodak to go and see some of the world. Due to family connections his first port of call was South Africa but as is often the case it became his permanent home. That was an interesting and sometimes very challenging choice for someone who had attended the Artists Against Apartheid concert at Wembley Stadium in 1988 to celebr...
Nov 05, 2019•59 min•Season 1Ep. 10
This is a ground breaking episode for me and one I am excited by and proud of. . Jen is the first guest who I got to know because she is a listener. She is also the first woman to be a guest and I hope she will be the first of many ( although to be clear middle aged guys are still very welcome :-)) Jen has over 16 years experience in marketing and communication. That experience and the innate desire to analyse and tell a story comes over loud and clear in this episode, as does her energy, positi...
Oct 22, 2019•56 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Richard is a dear friend, a dedicated muso with an incredibly wide range of musical tastes and most importantly, at least for me, he's the man who introduced me to the delights of the Austin City Limits Festival each October. He's also from Jersey but unfortunately in his case it’s the small island which is a British Crown dependency located near the coast of Normandy, France not the state on the east coast of the US. Richard covers a raft of music in this episode (the most so far) and has a set...
Oct 01, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Paul is a dear friend, an ex-colleague, an accomplished musician and singer , a member of my favorite Seattle band The Professors , a proud family man and a thoroughly nice guy! He also has a host of stories to tell and to give you an indication of the depth of stories , we didn't even get to his stint as a nude portrait model in his youth ! Maybe we will revisit that as a B sides episode at some point. In the meantime enjoy his journey and story over seven decades. From : his first recording in...
Sep 17, 2019•59 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Steven and I met last year after we were guests on Jesse Jackson's Springsteen Podcast Set Lusting Bruce (Setlustingbruce.com) I started following Steven's excellent blog (powderfingerspeaks.com) and a dialogue was struck up. Having connected digitally over a love of music in general we then realized that we only lived about an hour apart. Subsequent discussions and listening sessions have taken place over a few beers and a bit of lunch and it made perfect sense for Steven to be one of the first...
Sep 03, 2019•58 min•Season 1Ep. 6
The title of this episode reflects Paul’s lifelong passion for technology and the creative arts, and most significantly the common themes that exist between them. With over 30 years’ experience in the technology industry and as the CTO of Accenture and the Chairman of Avanade, Paul is uniquely placed to see emerging technology trends, such as AI, and help us understand the impact they will have on all of us. The passion and expertise Paul puts into his work is mirrored in his love of the arts an...
Aug 20, 2019•57 min•Season 1Ep. 5
