The Green Man Podcast

The worlds of pop and rock owe a much greater debt to the classical canon than we realise. A direct and fascinating lineage draws from the experimentalism of Pierre Henry to The Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows, from Stockhausen to Donna Summer’s I Feel Love. In her new book Everything We Do is Music, Elizabeth Alker shines a light on the fertile ground that exists between the borders of classical mu...

Two of our comedy heroes putting the world to rights? Oh, go on then. Stew and Josie talk political activism in comedy, and pessimism of the intellect vs optimism of the will. How does one engage revolutionary optimism, and when did Josie come to realise that her comedy shows have been doing just that? They discuss the desire for physical media and the impermanence of "clip comedy", and how to rid...

Power, resistance, and the race to save our world. By the end of this century half of the world's 7000 languages will be gone. Killed by war, climate breakdown, migration, nationalism, or neglect - and losing with it the vital knowledge that they have sustained for centuries. Sophia Smith Galer - inspired by her Nonna's passing, who spoke an endangered Italian "dialët" - journeyed across the globe...

Cameron Picton is the former black midi guitarist and bassist and his new project, My New Band Believe, has hit upon a sound that could have taken multiple albums to establish. The debut album released in April is urgent and jangly, almost tripping over itself in its eagerness to be heard.  After thrilling the Walled Garden, Cameron heads to backstage Mountain for a natter with Horsegirl, and...

In his astonishing and subversive memoir, Bless Me Father, Kevin Rowland lays bare his unvarnished life story for the very first time. From the juvenile courts of his troubled teenage years to the early days of the New Romantic scene in the late ’70s and beyond, he recounts his darkest hours, deepest desires and greatest joys. Back with a new album as Dexys Midnight Runners, Kevin Rowland is joine...

Green Man Rising winner tall child — aka London-based Nigerian-Indian songwriter Zha Gandhi and their band — melds intense, stormy emotion and grungy riffs with sweet melody and happy-go-lucky indie jangle, to irresistible effect. The name “tall child” comes from a Mitski lyric: a marked influence, together with Radiohead, Arlo Parks, and Rachel Chinouriri. tall child released their debut EP Someh...

Two tremendous talks to set your mind whirring. “Every day when I wake up, I thank the Lord I’m Welsh…” If the story of Wales in the ‘90s was a movie plot, it would all seem so far-fetched. Thankfully, it was all true. Featuring fresh analysis and new interviews, International Velvet: How Wales Conquered the '90s Charts revisits the unforgettable 'Cool Cymru' era when Manic Street Preachers, Catat...

They say "never meet your heroes," but here at the Green Man Podcast we can't pass up an opportunity to make dreams come true. So when Johnny Lynch aka Pictish Trail told us he's a HUGE fan of The Beta Band (his words, "probably the most important band of my LIFE") we knew what we had to do.  Electrocuted by illuminated stage suits, leaving £4000 worth of velcro costumes on the tube, accident...

Emmy-nominated actor Maisie Williams and collaborator Lowri Roberts talk activism, creativity and criticism in a world that’s Just. So. Online. They talk to journalist Teresa Delfino about environmental action, climate care, the power of ‘having a go’,  and getting comfortable with not getting it 100% right every time.

Leeds band Bathing Suits closed Rising on Saturday night with their club-ready noise-rock. Hear them sat under the shade of a Green Man tree, with South Korean riot grrl trio Sailor Honeymoon, who had opened Far Out that same morning.  Seoul’s antidote to K-Pop, Sailor Honeymoon are a punk band who’ve been going against the grain since 2022. Formed by photographer Abi Raymaker...

We Were Here is a reclamation of rock’n’roll for the Black artists who tore up and re-wrote its rules, by Big Joanie guitarist Stephanie Phillips. It promises to rip up our received history of rock’n’roll and alternative music and repopulate it with the extraordinary Black artists and influential figures who truly steered its course from the 1930s to the present day, including vital figures like S...

Way Dynamic’s Dylan Young drops in after a secret set at Round The Twist. The Melbourne singer-songwriter’s classic style feels like an homage to a golden age of pop, and brought euphoric bliss to a sun-soaked Walled Garden on Sunday.  Dylan chats to Marisa Dabice of Mannequin Pussy. The Philadelphia punks brought their synth-laden rock to Far Out on Saturday. Marisa and Dylan talk about life...

Flo Dill is a London-based broadcaster and otherworldly music savant. Flo meets Ata Kak, the Ghanaian artist who earned much-deserved acclaim after his 1994 self-released tape Obaa Sima was rediscovered. Ata and Flo talk after his Mountain Stage set, going deep on Ata’s incredible origin story, and bonding over a shared love of old skool. Over a decade ago, Ghanaian artist Ata Kak was living off-g...

Buckle up for music and mischief aplenty as trailblazing comedian Josie Long and slime-loving folk ogre Johnny Lynch give us a flavour of their eighteen-year-solid friendship.

These two need no introduction. Beloved authors Caitlin Moran and Pete Paphides treat us to a sneak peek of Caitlin’s new book, How To Be Hopeful. Content warning: litter picking, armageddon anxiety.   Recorded live at the Talking Shop.

South London vocal harmony group Woom may have a new member. Straight from captivating the crowd at Chai Wallahs, they sat down with indie-folk singer-songwriter Haley Heynderickx ahead of her mesmerising Walled Garden set. We await the collab with bated breath! Take me out to the Green Man. Eddie Green from post-punk rockers Shame joins American crooner Tyler Ballgame to swap stories about Rough...

Comedy legend and "world's greatest living stand-up" Stewart Lee chats to national treasure and Pop Dungeon ringleader Charlotte Church. They natter about Stewart's involvement in the origin of the dungeon, and it's latest End Times incarnation, which took Far Out by storm on Thursday night.

We’ve never been more back. For a few days, we came together in the mountains to listen, dance, wander, discover and reconnect. The curiosity and good spirit you brought to Bannau Brycheiniog helped to create our own little world. And it doesn't have to end there - not entirely. Over the next few weeks, eavesdrop on some backstage chats with the artists and performers who replenished your spirits...

Iona Zajac and Simon from The Itch share some of their most memorable Green Man experiences and discuss what they’re most excited to see at this years’ festival. Scotland’s Iona Zajac plays harp and sings with the Pogues, but she also finds time to make music as an artist in her own right, releasing her debut album, Bang, at the end of last year. She describes her sound as “dark indie folk with gr...

Last year Jessica Winter released her solo debut My First Album, a title that raises an eyebrow to the fact she’s been grafting away in the music industry for well over a decade: first in punk bands in her hometown of Portsmouth, and then as Pregoblin with Fat White Family’s Alex Sebley. As a solo artist, though, she wears a coat of many colours — sunrise piano beats, alt-90s rock, 2000s pop — nev...

Ahnansé from London-based afro-punk band Steam Down chats to Birmingham producer and vocalist Tony Bontana.  Tony Bontana calls his approach to his music “Splayed”: open, blown apart, chopped samples, wonky rhythms, destructive and degrading processing, “messing it up to make something beautiful out of something that isn’t considered beautiful”. His recent projects have included last year’s S...

National treasure and Green Man’s Talking Shop curator Huw Stephens meets with Meg and Emily from Cardiff's Panic Shack.  The Welsh punk girl band have a “no f***s given” attitude: they opened their album with voice recordings from the smoking area of an Amyl and the Sniffers gig, give their songs excellent titles such as Gok Wan, The Ick, and Who’s Got My Lighter?, and st...

Green Man Rising winner tall child — aka London-based Nigerian-Indian songwriter Zha Gandhi and their band — melds intense, stormy emotion and grungy riffs with sweet melody and happy-go-lucky indie jangle, to irresistible effect. The name “tall child” comes from a Mitski lyric: a marked influence, together with Radiohead, Arlo Parks, and Rachel Chinouriri. tall child released their debut EP Someh...

GWEN is the solo project of Welsh artist, songwriter and producer Gwenllian Anthony. As co-founder and creative force behind the acclaimed band Adwaith, she helped bring music sung in Cymraeg to international audiences. As GWEN, she creates music that blends industrial textures, minimalist electronics and hypnotic rhythms with emotionally direct songwriting. As she prepares for her debut solo perf...

SNL UK star Jack Shep has a transatlantic yap with Nora, Penelope and Gigi of Horsegirl. The Chicago trio chat about life on tour, being best friends and housemates in New York, and working with the great Cate Le Bon. Jack Shep will play Last Laugh in the early hours of Saturday morning; Horsegirl will take to the Mountain Stage on Saturday afternoon.