Episode 83: Gary Crowley

Explicit content warning

11/22/22 • 59 min

I’m talking to one of my heroes on this episode. And one of the voices that introduced me to indie music, and in turn someone who set me up for the life I’ve lived since my early teenage years. If you’re of an age – my age – broadcaster, TV presenter and DJ, and a whole lot more besides, Gary Crowley, was the UK’s voice of indie for a time, and since he’s put his name to an excellent new compilation record – Gary Crowley’s Indie 90s Playback, a 3CD set that takes in curios and rarities from the realms of Britpop, Madchester, Baggy, Shoegazing, Alt. rock, Trip Hop, Big Beat, and a whole lot more besides, I thought it was about time I got him on the podcast.
And we go deep – on Gary’s early days making fanzines, his teenage encounters with The Clash, his days at Decca Records, breaking into radio at Capital, replacing Danny Baker on the receptionists desk at my beloved NME... and we’d have gone even longer if we hadn’t ran out of time. Which means there’ll almost certainly be a second episode, sometime in the New Year. We ran out of time before we could get into The Beat, XFM and breaking the news of Princess Diana’s death to a generation of indie kids. Keep your ears pealed for that. But for now, I hope you enjoy this episode...
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Twitter - @jamesjammcmahon
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Previous Episode

Episode 82: Eugene Hütz, Gogol Bordello

First things first, have you joined the Substack yet?
It’s Monday. I won’t hang about. The new Gogol Bordello album – their eighth – is an absolute rager. It’s called Solidaritine and it sees the gypsy punks connect with their roots like never before. It was produced by hardcore legend Walter Schreifels, it features HR from Bad Brains, it has a Fugazi cover on it for Christsake! But there’s also essential commentary on the conflict in Ukraine from one of that countries most famous sons, Eugene Hütz.
I’ve wanted to speak to Eugene ever since fighting broke out in Ukraine back at the start of the year, and I was extremely grateful that he found the time to speak to me, despite the band being on tour – when are they not – at the present moment.
It’s a good one, this one!

Twitter - @jamesjammcmahon
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Next Episode

Episode 84: Jamie Lenman

Despite long being positioned on the frontline of some of British rock’s most eccentric excursions – first with the much missed Reuben, then in his increasingly valued solo guise – I’ve never actually interviewed Jamie Lenman, whose new album The Atheist is released this Friday (25/11) on the consistently ace Big Scary Monsters records.
Until now that is.
I was nervous about speaking to him. I’ll explain why when we get into the episode. But the man I found was as interesting and creative a soul as anyone I’ve had the good fortune to speak to for this podcast, in all the episodes to date. Let’s get into it!
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Watch this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wJ6OdnVAJ0&t=10s