My Music

MyMusic Podcast: Casii Stephan – Finding Happiness, Grief and the Freedom to Make Music Your Own What does it really mean to be happy? And can a song sound full of sunshine while hiding some much deeper questions beneath the surface? In this episode of MyMusic, host Graham Coath talks to award-winning American singer-songwriter Casii Stephan about her new single Happy, the stories behind her songs...

What do Karl Marx, Liam Gallagher, Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, social media, cover bands and a four-hour Bruce tribute set have in common? Apparently, quite a lot. In this episode of MyMusic , Graham Coath talks to Nick and CJ from Triers — The band don't pronounce it that way! ...We get into the story behind the band, how they came together and why their latest single Common Goal is ab...

How do you sing Tom Waits without trying to sound like Tom Waits? Eddie Skuller joins Graham Coath to talk about Blind Love , his four-song EP exploring Waits’ songwriting through his own voice. From slowing down “Downtown Train” to finding a different feel for the title track, Eddie explains how he chose the songs and made room to tell their stories. Recorded live to tape at The Chicken Shack in...

Jenny Jam: Finding Her Voice and Making Music That Means Something Jenny Jam grew up surrounded by music, but it took time to discover the sound that felt like hers. Trained in musical theatre, she found herself drawn to soul and jazz, and a chance karaoke session helped her hear what her voice could do. In this episode of MyMusic , Graham Coath talks to Jenny from Los Angeles about finding that v...

What happens when a song comes to you in a dream? And what happens when another one ends up painted across a listener’s wall? Graham Coath talks to Los Angeles singer-songwriter Sam Lapides about the stories behind Kisses in My Pocket and Tonight , writing more than 100 songs, and the strange places those songs can take you. Sam tells Graham why his 94-year-old mum finally called him a poet, and h...

MyMusic: Graham Coath talks to Lydia Reddy What happens when an artist known for bigger pop and rock productions strips everything back to a voice, a guitar and a vintage tape recorder? Lydia Reddy returns to MyMusic to talk about her new single, “This Is How…” Recorded live in one take, the song takes a darker route through comparison and self-doubt before arriving at a more hopeful thought: you...

What happens when three siblings, three distinctive voices and a lifetime of shared musical experience come together? In this episode of MyMusic, Graham Coath talks to Miccoli, the British-Italian alternative folk-pop band formed by twin brothers Alessio and Adriano Miccoli and their sister Francesca. They discuss the close harmonies at the heart of Miccoli’s sound, growing up surrounded by music...

Graham Coath talks to Dave Jackson from The Room Dave Jackson returns to MyMusic for round two, this time talking about The Room's brand new album, Doom Pop — a collection of tight, narrative-driven pop songs threaded together by an "end times" theme, following on from their more conceptual previous record. Graham and Dave get into what's actually eating away at the modern psyche...

Graham Coath talks to Cody from 13th Floor Sound This week, Graham sits down with Cody, the man behind 13th Floor Sound, an independent Las Vegas record label blending vintage analogue recording with modern production, pressing everything from soulful records to psychedelic blues straight to vinyl. They swap stories about the records that changed their lives (Cream's Disraeli Gears gets a well...

Trauma might sound like the title of a dark album and there is darkness in there, but what Geoff Downes and Chris Braide have created is ultimately filled with beauty, melody and hope. In this episode of MyMusic, host Graham Coath talks to Geoff and Chris of the Downes Braide Association about the experiences behind their new album, Trauma, and why the difficult moments life throws at us do not ha...

Nobody expects a conversation about investment banking to end in tears over a piano. That's exactly what happens on this episode. Stephen Ridley walked out of a top investment bank at 11 am on a Thursday, having had no plan to quit that morning. Thirty minutes later he bought a £100 piano from a bloke in a thrift shop on Brick Lane, dragged it onto the street, and started playing. Over a decad...

Graham Coath talks to Mark Hamilton from Ash as the band celebrates the 30th anniversary of their landmark debut album, 1977 . Mark looks back at how the album was written and recorded at Rockfield Studios, the last-minute decision that gave it its title and the stories hidden inside one of the defining records of the 1990s. They discuss the newly completed track “Bittersweet Blue,” originally rec...

In Part II of Graham Coath’s conversation with Dream Delay, Sam returns—and this time Anna joins him to tell her side of the band’s story. Anna reveals how a chance connection on a musicians’ app changed the direction of her music, why building confidence as a singer takes more than believing in yourself, and how she learned to deliver emotion on stage without becoming overwhelmed. The conversatio...

Graham Coath talks to Helsinki-based musician Tuomas Ahva about growing up with copied cassettes, rediscovering music on vinyl and creating music somewhere between technology, art and culture. Tuomas explains how experimenting with an iPad led to his solo project, Ahva, and the creation of Padworks an EP he describes as “experimental play” rather than simply extended play. They also discuss The Bi...

Graham Coath talks to Olly (Oliver) Forget Them Wendy What happens when music is allowed to be beautiful, catchy and accessible — but still has something slightly uncomfortable going on underneath? In this episode of MyMusic , Graham Coath talks to Edinburgh-born producer and guitarist Oliver Price of Forget Them Wendy , the project he created with songwriter Laura James . Forget Them Wendy brings...

What happens when you know exactly how you want your music to sound… while still insisting you don't really know what you're doing? In this episode of MyMusic , Graham Coath talks to Jorge Wilson about creativity, perfectionism, independence and finding a sound that actually feels like your own. Jorge describes himself as a self-taught musician who often plays by ear, layering instruments...

Graham Coath talks to Australian singer-songwriter Caddy Callaghan about the music we carry with us, sometimes for years, before finding the courage and space to bring it fully to life. Caddy remembers sitting at her grandmother’s old wooden piano at just four years old and feeling something she describes beautifully: “It gave me resonance.” That connection has remained with her ever since, throug...

Steve Hackett | The Roaring Waves | My Music with Graham Coath Steve Hackett has spent more than five decades creating some of the most influential guitar music ever recorded, from his groundbreaking work with Genesis to an extraordinary solo career that continues to evolve. In this episode of My Music , Graham Coath sits down with Steve to explore The Roaring Waves , his long-awaited collaborativ...

For nearly four decades, DEARDARKHEAD have quietly built a reputation as one of New Jersey's most distinctive underground alternative rock bands. Now, after a 25-year gap between full-length albums, they're back with The Pendulum Swings – a record that proves creativity doesn't have an expiry date. On this episode of MyMusic , Graham Coath sits down with drummer Robert Weiss to explore...

What happens when an artist stops trying to impress people and starts telling the truth? In this episode of MyMusic , Graham Coath welcomes New York-based singer-songwriter ROREY for a thoughtful conversation about vulnerability, creativity and the emotional honesty that sits at the heart of her music. Ahead of the release of her latest single, "Binary Thinking" (out 31 July ), ROREY exp...

MyMusic with Graham Coath – Jonny Couch What does it take to step out from behind the drum kit and become the artist at the front of the stage? In this episode of MyMusic , Graham Coath is joined by Jonny Couch , the New Jersey singer-songwriter whose journey has taken him from pounding the drums in touring punk bands to becoming an acclaimed solo artist with a love of classic songwriting, unforge...

Mixed Signals: Ben Gardiner on Building a Band, Breaking Out of Scotland & Why Great Music Deserves to Be Heard How do you build a band in a world where social media can matter as much as the songs themselves? In this episode of MyMusic , Graham Coath talks to Ben Gardiner from Scottish alt-rock band Mixed Signals about the realities of being an independent artist today. From the thriving loca...

What happens when an award-winning filmmaker, healthcare activist, songwriter and storyteller all exist in the same person? In this episode of MyMusic , Graham Coath is joined from New Jersey by the remarkable Julia Greenberg for a conversation that moves effortlessly between music, creativity, protest, poetry and the stories that shape the songs we write. Julia talks about her beautifully intimat...

Dream Delay are proving that modern rock doesn't have to choose between big guitars and meaningful lyrics. In this episode of MyMusic , Graham Coath is joined by Sam (known as SCR) , guitarist and songwriter for Dream Delay , for a wide-ranging conversation about how the London-based band came together, why they deliberately write songs that lean towards hope rather than division, and how a ch...

Music has a way of bringing people together, and this episode of MyMusic is a wonderful example of that. Host Graham Coath is joined by Mandi Seekings , speaking from Las Vegas , for a warm and engaging conversation about songwriting, vinyl, musical influences and the journey that has taken her from growing up in Hawaii to recording and performing in Nevada. Mandi talks about her lifelong love of...