Justin Hawkins Rides Again

We're back again this week with the ultimate questions "Originality VS Success". Can you have both as an artist? Do you sacrifice originality in pursuit of success? What is it that makes songs successful? Is it even originality? Let's discuss. I'm joined by my producer Jenny May Finn. Justin's Stuff: https://beacons.ai/justinhawkins Jenny May's Stuff: https://beacons.ai/jennymayfinn

Today I am joined by the legendary Rick Astley! It was such a joy to speak to him about music, the music industry and life in general. What a fantastic musician and music lover. I hope you enjoy it.  Produced by Jenny May Finn. Recorded at Sessions Arts Club, London. 🎫  Tickets for Justin Hawkins Rides Again tour in London & Liverpool: https://tinyurl.com/kneukve2 Join my special Mailing List...

Today is all about fans and fandom or rather I like to call them "music enthusiasts". How do you navigate this world when you start garner attention and people start becoming actual "fans" of you and your work. What are the ups and downsides to it and why is there such a negative connotation with being called a "fan" in the first place? Let's discuss. Follow us on Instagram: @justinhawkinsta or @j...

I'm sorry, I have to take a break. The podcast will return in January EVEN BETTER, as we will record some new episodes with some exciting new guests lined up when I'm not gigging with The Darkness. Thank you for being such committed listeners and tuning every week, I really appreciate it and I hope you will join me again in the New Year.  Tickets for my UK Tour - LIVE! Justin Hawkins Rides Again (...

I’ve been looking forward to announcing this…  LIVE Justin Hawkins Rides Again...for the first time! This is so far outside of my comfort zone that I’ve already got the butterflies. I can’t wait to get cracking, I have no idea what will happen. All I know is, it’ll be beautiful. Come witness the chaos.  So apologies for there not being a longform podcast this week as I'm been on tour with The Dark...

The music industry is notoriously known for drugs and artists developing issues with addiction, rehabilitation and even tragedies. I generally refuse to discuss my experience and past regarding this issue with the press, as I feel they are only looking to sell papers when they ask. So, today, I'm going to try and talk about it here. Why do musicians fall into this drug taking habit and how does it...

I'm so happy to be speaking with Myles Kennedy today! For those of you unaware Myles Kennedy He is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Alter Bridge and the lead vocalist in guitarist Slash's backing band, known as Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators.  He is one of the pre-eminent rock vocalists of our time and I think you'll really enjoy this conversation! We talk a lot about si...

Today I'm debating whether or not elitism has any role to play in music, culture and the music business? Should we feel shame for the music we listen to? I'm here with my producer Jenny May Finn who is taking the role of what we might think somebody who listens to more "mainstream" music might feel. What do you think? Am I just a snob or am I right?  Follow us on Instagram: @justinhawkinsta or @je...

What is the life of a frontman of a cult band like? What does working in the music industry look like for people like that? Well today I'm speaking with arguably the best frontman in the industry right now, Eric Nally of Foxy Shazam. Some of you may recognise him for his collaborations with Macklemore. He is incredibly talented and he's had an interesting career. Join my special Mailing List here...

Collaboration is key to working in the music industry. What does the art of collaboration look like when it's broken down? What are the dos and don'ts? The good and the bad things about it?  Tell me your experience with collaborating, do you have any horror stories? Or tell me the best person you ever worked with! I'm joined again by my producer Jenny May Finn and this time we're filmed by Bobby f...

W does hat failure looks like for a musician or a band in the music industry and what does success actually mean? How does it feel to fail and what is the importance of failure? I also talk about the times that I have “failed” and how it really felt. I think failure is a beautiful thing. Join my special Mailing List here to get emails from me about stuff you might like: https://beacons.ai/justinha...

What is it like being on of the best musicians in the world? Well, today I am speaking to one of those. His name is Nate Wood. If you want to acquire a different perspective on what it's like growing up and working in the music industry. Stick around. Nate is great. He is considered one of the greatest in industry by other musicians, so you know he's good. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Mak...

What role does alcohol play in the music industry? Is it possible to work in this industry sober? Why do so many musicians end up fighting battles with addiction? I try to open up a bit about my struggles with alcoholism in today's episode, though I'm still a little guarded around that for variety of reason that I will reveal.  If you're struggling with alcohol or feel it's not playing a good role...

What goes on in the inner world of the most underrated member of a band, the bassist? How do they feel? What do you they pontificate about? What's it like for them being in the music industry? Well, today, I am speaking to one of the most interesting men in rock, Frankie Poullain. You will be left fascinated, confused and educated all in one go.  You can sign up to my top secret mailing list of dr...

How does being a music journalist work? What's the point of them? Do we even need them anymore or are they an important voice in the industry to help us curate our music tastes? I'm speaking with Pat Carty today, my favourite music journalist in the business. We discuss the pitfalls and merits of this particular trade. Make sure to check out Pat's excellent show The Record Machine here: https://ww...

What is it like being a touring musician? How does it affect our mental state, our bodies and our relationships? Today I talk about this as I have a big tour approaching this year. We talk a lot about body image and the affects being a live performer has that. I also open up about how it affects my anxiety and how I try to cope with it. It's a complex episode today, full of wandering meanderings b...

What it's like being one of the best drummers in the world and being considered part of rock royalty? I'm interviewing Rufus Tiger Taylor, drummer of The Darkness and according to a lot of music fans, one of the best drummers amongst us right now! We talk about how he started, his first proper drumming jobs, what it's like being the son of a drummer aka of Roger Taylor of Queen, his musical influe...

Welcome to Justin Hawkins Rides Again…the podcast where I discuss the pitfalls of the music trade and what it’s like working in this fickle industry. This week is all about Publishing aka how songwriters make money. I’m joined by my producer Jenny May Finn who grills me on how I earn a living through through writing songs. How does it work?! What do you need to do if you want to become a professio...

Welcome to Justin Hawkins Rides Again...the podcast where each week I’ll be discussing the pitfalls of the music industry. This week I'm speaking to one of the greatest guitarist and vocalist amongst us right now, Richie Kotzen! You may know him from his time in Poison and Mr Big, or currently as the frontman of The Winery Dogs. If not, this is your introduction to an incredibly talented human bei...

Welcome to Justin Hawkins Rides Again…the podcast where each week I’ll be discussing the pitfalls of the music industry. This week I’ll be speaking to someone very interesting and very experienced in the world of rock and guitars - it is Pete Malandrone, guitarist Brian May from Queen’s longstanding guitar tech. He is a dear friend of mine, so we had a lot of fun during this conversation and I hop...

Welcome to Justin Hawkins Rides Again…the podcast where each week I’ll be discussing the pitfalls of the music industry. This week it’s time to get down to business. My producer Jenny May Finn is intrigued about how a band actually becomes a business, and how does this affect you as an artist? What goes into running a band in order for it to succeed?  It’s quite business-oriented, however as alway...

This week on Justin Hawkins Rides Again...the podcast, I am interviewing the legendary award winning guitar player from The Darkness, my brother, Dan Hawkins.  I really enjoyed this conversation, I don't usually speak to my brother in this nature so it was a lot of fun! He's an incredible music producer and he shared some really insightful opinions during this podcast. We also remember some fun st...

Welcome to Justin Hawkins Rides Again…the podcast where each week I’ll be discussing the pitfalls of the music industry. One of the biggest questions I see asked is “how do you make it in the music industry” so this week my producer Jenny May Finn has decided to probe me about my life to figure out “how I made it” to see if we can figure what the basic recipe is to making it big. The industry was...

Welcome to Justin Hawkins Rides Again...the podcast. In this episode we are discussing the trope of the “Tormented Artist”. Does all of the greatest music and songwriting come from being in pain and having a chaotic life or can you make great songs and whilst being happy and content? Am I a happy songwriter or do I battle or even fetishise the idea of being a tormented artist? I take on the role a...

This week we're discussing creative burnout and the effect this has on songwriting. What causes burnout? How does it affect musicians like myself and the process of writing a song? We also dig into why so much songwriting feels lazy these days - what is causing this? Let's go! You can follow us both over on Instagram if you like @justinhawkinsta and @jennymayfinn You can also watch all of these ep...