The StageLeft Podcast

It’s about time, after 9 years, we did an entirely filmed episode isn’t it? So, whilst you enjoy this audio only version, do feel free to search for ‘The StageLeft Podcast’ on Youtube and you’ll find this episode in beautiful 4K, filmed in Andy Crofts stunning seafront hit hut.   “Chris and Andy, excellent interview. Informative. Heartwarming. Honest.” – Debra, StageLeft listener. Thank you to Sophia at Bearlane Productions for filming this, Darcy Dewar for editing, Beth Iles for making our YouTube page look gorgeous, and Tymon Firmin for the clipping on Socials such as Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok.  We do this for free to ensure equity of access to music education globally, so if you can help sponsor us or locate us funding - email me at chris@thestageleftpodcast.com. You can also buy us a coffee at www.thestageleftpodcast.com. Should your day to day work need any leadership development programmes, executive coaching, bespoke eLearning or Mental Health First Aid training, you can support the podcast that way, as I’m qualified in each area. I deliver learning both face to face and online. #sidehustle Here we go, this is Andy Crofts!

What’s it like getting feedback from Robert Plant when playing on Led Zeppelin songs? How do we best deal with song changes on the day of the gig? How to best negotiate fees to ensure everyone is paid fairly? What makes Paolo Nutini unique to work with? How did the recent Florence and the Machine Royal Albert Hall show work logistically? Hosted by Chris Simpson - you can reach out to Chris directly for 121 professional development coaching, or Mental Health First Aid training via www.thestageleftpodcast.com/coaching Edited by Darcy Dewar. Thank you too, to Beth Iles, Tymon Firmin and Annabel Rose-Jones for their help with this episode.

An episode almost a decade in the making.  Finally, James Walsh, frontman of Starsailor appears to discuss the final ever recordings with Phil Spector, the impact that episode had on his wellbeing, negotiating with Allen Klein, how he wrote 'Fever' and 'The Greatest Story Never Told', plus how to best work with a singer when you're a session musician.  Thank you to Tymon Firin, Darcy Dewar, Beth Iles, Anabel-Rose Jones and Sophia Franklin at BearLane Productions for making this episode happen.

Sting 3.0 drummer Chris Maas joins The StageLeft Podcast mid-tour! We explore: How to fill the ‘space’ in a trio when playing Sting classics. The auditions, rehearsals and soundchecks for Sting 3.0 Locking with Sting as a bassist within a rhythm section. Drumming long sets with high BPMs with Example. The challenges of fluctuating salaries as a musician. How the music education systems differ between Luxembourg and the UK. Thanks to Chris for appearing. Edited by Darcy Dewar. Host Chris Simpson is available for 121 coaching and can deliver Mental Health First Aid training to your business. Please get in touch via www.thestageleftpodcast.com/coaching

Ginger shots at the ready! What would someone learn from working with Damon Albarn they wouldn't learn from anyone else? How does sobriety work on gig days in an environment so conducive to drink and drugs? How is Self-Esteem approaching her new record, given the success of her last? When does practice end and rehearsing begin? What happened to the Youth of the Apocalypse (YOTA)?! All these questions, and more, answered by the visionary Seye Adelekan, songwriter and bassist with Gorillaz, Self-Esteem and Paloma Faith as he joins Chris Simpson for the newest episode of The StageLeft Podcast. Feedback on our episode welcome by contacting chris@thestageleftpodcast.com.  Hustle - Please too reach out if your business is interested in equipping their staff with Mental Health First Aiders, as Chris is one of only two people in the UK who can deliver this fully accessibly. 

Ralph Rolle joins Chris Simpson to discuss his unique open-hand drum technique, walks us through the Grammy's tribute to David Bowie with Lady Gaga (which without Ralph's genius almost ended us a disaster), working with Nile Rogers and Prince and.... cookies. #chic #davidbowie #ladygaga

After 8 years, we’ve finally done a live episode! We are joined by Polly Money, Gabi King and John Waugh (touring band with The 1975) in front of a live audience of BIMM students, recorded in London just before the European leg of The 1975s most recent tour. The interview begins with a 30mins interview with Chris, then then band jammed three songs of The 1975 with BIMM students (“If You’re Too Shy Let Me Know”, “About You”, and “UGH!”), before a Q and A from the students themselves. We discuss the value of music education, navigating external vs internal validation, fear of failure, how AI and creativity might entwine, playing Madison Square Garden and more. P.S. we’re going to do more of these – do get in touch if you’re a venue who’d like to host :) Thank you to BIMM London and in particular Seda Beysal and Sam Hong. Engineered by Matteo Cortinovis @waitate @thestageleftpod @thestageleftpodcast chris@thestageleftpodcast.com www.thestageleftpodcast

The Oscar shortlisted composer Erran Baron Cohen joins us to dig deep into how the music industry has shaped him as a person, plus breaks down the creative process of writing music for the Borat movies, Da Ali G show, The Infidel (with David Baddiel), being signed to Miles Copeland III's label, and having Snoop Dogg, Elton John, Sting, Bono & Chris Martin perform on his original 'Dove of Peace'. “I think it’s hard to not be exploited in the music industry at some point (of your career).” You can find more of Erran's work at erranbaroncohen.com and you can contact us by emailing chris@thestageleftpodcast.com to let us know what you think of the episode, or via www.thestageleftpodcast.com Happy listening! Chris

Jess Greenfield of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds talks openly about some troubling experiences within the industry that took place over ten years ago, the treatment she received for post-natal depression, how NGHFB bandmates model how to best support parents separated from children when touring, and what needs to change in the music industry. Useful resources for those impacted by the topics include.... Music Minds Matter - 0808 802 8008.  If you work in music and are struggling to cope then call Music Minds Matter, a free, 24/7 charity, which will listen, support and help. It doesn’t have to be a crisis, or even about music. MIND - 0300 123 3393 Survivors Trust  - 08088 010 818 Monday- Thursday: 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-4pm & 6pm-8pm Friday: 10am-12.30pm & 1.30pm-4pm Saturday: 10am-12.30pm Sunday: 6pm-8pm https://maternalmentalhealthalliance.org/resources/mums-and-families/ Support for new parents juggling work commitments. https://survivorsnetwork.org.uk/resource/helplines-webchat-services/  A comprehensive list of a range of free numbers and web services. You can reach out to us too at  chris@thestageleftpodcast.com  Chris Simpson is one of only two people in the UK qualified to train people fully accessibly in supporting others experiencing a mental health crisis, and is also available as a personal and professional development coach should you need support for yourself or your business. www.thestageleftpodcast.com 

Currently, an artist would need 62million streams on Spotify to break even on a £25k budget. This needs to change and our guest today Tom Gray is leading that change. Tom is Chair of the prestigious Ivor Novello’s, and founding member of Gomez, and is doing more to try to change the music industry than most, through his Broken Records campaign which was backed by The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and many more, to ensure the fairer distribution of streaming royalties to artists at every level.  Today we’ll be taking a deep dive into this topic, hearing how we as listeners can help, Whippin’ Piccadilly, and how the Ivor Novello's choose winners.  There’ll be no Pussyfooting around. Hosted and Produced by Chris Simpson. Photo @scottishkenny

Liz Hanks is currently performing onstage with Pulp and James, and is the go to cellist for Liam Gallagher, Richard Hawley and Self Esteem. Hear about all these experiences, what needs to change in the music industry and the creation of new album 'Land' on our new episode. Enjoy!

Imagine being an incredible singer- songwriter but finding time be in Game of Thrones and play Andrea Bocelli in "The Music of Silence." What a career Toby Sebastian is having, hear how he tackles deciding setlists, what the music industry could learn from the film industry and how he walks the tightrope between feeling under from over rehearsed.  Toby also currently is appearing with Kate Nash in Coffee Wars, available now.

"All the heads of every major label or big indie labels should be made to resign." This episode was supposed to discuss Kate's new film Coffee Wars, but we began by touching upon the issues within the music industry that emerging artists need to navigate (such as being stolen from, a lack of inclusive design for women and how to identify trusted people) and we NEVER. LOOKED. BACK. Within lies Kate's step by step process as to how the music industry needs to drastically change. It's very thought-provoking. The film is great by the way, and you should see it. It's called Coffee Wars and is available on Amazon Prime. Kate's co-star Toby Sebastian talks more about the film in our next episode.

Arguably our most important episode to date. Bastille and Elton John backing vocalist Bim explains how the music industry has not been built for women, from the design of touring patterns to tour buses facilities, and covers what needs to change. We pick up this conversation in future episodes with Kate Nash and Liam Gallagher cellist Liz Hanks. We also are joined by Bastian Hues to ask questions from an upcoming artists' perspective. A thought provoking listen.

Imagine knowing you are about to perform live to a billion people watching the Royal Wedding. Bim, singer with Bastille and Elton John, walks us step by step of every thought process of how to perform under the greatest of pressure, when coordinating 'Stand by Me' at Harry & Megan's wedding, plus discusses playing MTV Unplugged as vocalist with Bastille and how to best get legal representation as an up coming artist to avoid exploitation. Part 2 - possibly one of out most important episodes to date, will be coming soon. 

Today we discuss creativity with the mind of Dr Tucan Taylor Michaels, drummer & producer with international banging tune-makers Superorganism, one of the most ingenious, innovative, inventive, experimental and original bands of recent times, often using extremely random objects as instruments as a back drop to colourful pop perfection. We also explore playing their first ever show on Later with Jools Holland no less, the merits of forming online, onstage tech failures, mixing Jungle and collaborating with Stephen Malkmus. “Production can’t cover a bad song.” We are also joined by Bastian Hues who asks questions as an emerging artist. Do follow us on Insta, Twitter and Facebook by searching @thestageleftpod, we get a little adrenaline kick when we see a new follower, which is something we should probably speak to our therapist about. Thanks!

“The sign of any good musician is the amount of sh*t jobs they've had." Ivor Novello and Grammy winning producer Fraser T Smith (Future Utopia) takes a deep dive with us into the navigating the tightrope between commerce and art from his time as a co-songwriter and producer with Adele, Stormzy, and Dave. Thank you to Kate Thornton & Denise Welch for making this episode exist. Produced and hosted by Chris Simpson. Future Utopia's new collaboration with Kae Tempest 'We were, we still are' is out now.

Imagine recording ABBA songs with the actual members of ABBA 😲 Dom John discusses playing on the Grammy nominated album ABBA Voyage, as well as playing each night at the jawdropping ABBA Voyage live experience that has to be seen to be believed. We also discuss supporting Liam Gallagher,  Miles Kane's melting guitar pedals and what Lars Ulrich thinks the future of live performance might look like.  #abba #domjohn #mileskane #abbavoyage Produced by Bastian Hues Presented by Chris Simpson

Whatever you’re going through right now, you can contact Music Minds Matter on 0808 802 8008. Is there enough mental health related resource within the music industry to support artists mental health?  Music Industry Coaching founder and Mental Health First Aid instructor Stephen Daltrey joins us to explore the answers to that question, plus provides tangible resources for musicians.  Stephen's fascinating new book "Deep Satisfaction in Life and Artist Management" is available now at www.stephendaltrey.com Stephen’s book may help on a personal level but also provides guidance on how to best coach artists you may work with. It’s a great read. Hosted by Chris Simpson who is available for 121 coaching too. Hit us up a DM on The StageLeft Podcast Facebook, Instagram or Twitter feeds.

Hans Zimmer drummer and all round percussion prodigy Lucy Landymore joins us to discuss; - How Hans Zimmer overcame his self-publicised stage fright. - How the drum solo on Dune was recorded. - The tension between following dreams and being in an overdraft as a upcoming artist! - Which leadership style gets the best out of Lucy, and which works best for Lucy when leading big bands. - Recording a live lounge with Charlie XCX and playing Happy with Pharrell Williams.  And much more! Produced by Bastian Hues Hosted by Chris Simpson