Steve’s Mix Tapes

My guest mixer this week is Andy Gillespie I have known Andy - a fellow Wedding Present fan - for the best part of 20 years, online. But this was the first time we'd ever met face to face (albeit via Zoom).  Originally from Middleton, Manchester, Andy has for many years lived in Simi Valley , California. As well as being on good terms with previous guests David Gedge and Terry de Castro, we also g...

My guest mixer this week is Terry de Castro Terry is a bassist, vocalist and songwriter based in LA who has played in several bands (such as Goya Dress ) as well releasing music under her own name . She is also, other than David Gedge,  the longest serving member of The Wedding Present, and was the bassist throughout the lifespan of Cinerama. (Slightly dodgy internet connection in places, apologie...

My guest mixer this week is Eleni Poulou Eleni is a musician, composer, radio host and curator of musical events. She has released music as a solo artist and as part of a wide range of groups and collaborations. She is also the 7th ex-member of the Fall to appear on the show - her distinctive keyboard style and vocal sound having been an important feature of the last period of the group. Eleni lik...

My guest mixer this week is Ian McCulloch No, not that one... Not yet anyway. This Ian (my third Ian in six weeks!) is another fellow Fall enthusiast. And he's been very patient, as we recorded this nearly three months ago - hence the rather dated reference to Donald Trump's golf skills!

My guest mixer this week is Alan Edwards Alan is both a work colleague and a very good friend, who my wife describes as my 'work husband'. Initially, we talked about him coming on the podcast as a bit of a joke, as musically (and in many other ways) we inhabit very different universes. But when I mentioned  in episode #024 his offer to provide a playlist that would 'bring in the girls, gays and th...

Daryl is a music writer whose work has appeared in Mojo, Record Collector, Q, The Guardian and The Independent, and has published several books on subjects as diverse as Chic, Slade, Madonna, Peter Gabriel, Cher and Sparks. In addition, if you have a few reissue or box set CDs in your collection, it’s fairly likely that at least one of them includes some sleeve notes written by him.

My guest mixer this week is Steve Shelley Steve occupied the drum stool in Sonic Youth for 26 years and has played with musicians such as Michael Rother, Howe Gelb, Tom Verlaine, Ron Asheton and Mark Kozelek. He also founded a label called Smells Like Records (now Vampire Blues ), and has been instrumental in promoting the careers of artists such as Cat Power, Blonde Redhead and Lee Hazlewood. Des...

My guest mixer this week is Ian Clayton Ian is an author who came up in conversation several times last week when I talked to Ian Daley , as he has had several books published by Route . They include Bringing It All Back Home (a book about searching for a soundtrack to your own life story), Song For My Father (a reflection on a lifelong search for a father figure), and It’s The Beer Talking (a boo...

My guest mixer this week is Ian Daley Ian set up Route Publishing in 2000, and since 2005 has run the company from his home in Pontefract alongside his wife Isabel Galán.  Route has published several books about The Fall (including those by Steve Hanley, Simon Wolstencroft, Paul Hanley and me!) They've also put out a range of titles about Bob Dylan, as well as books by Helen O'Hara (Dexys Midnight...

My guest mixer this week is David Gedge David is the sole constant member of indie legends The Wedding Present , the band that I have seen live (by some distance) the most often over their 40 year career. I have also written blogs about TWP and Cinerama . He remains relentlessly busy with work, so I'm grateful he managed to squeeze this interview in. N.B. We had a slightly dodgy internet connectio...

My guest mixer this week is Chris McAvoy Chris has been mentioned quite a few times on this podcast, because over the years he has supplied me with dozens of mix tapes / CDs (some examples in the pic on the website). We've known each other for the best part of 40 years, and have spent countless weekends in Manchester going to gigs, eating curries and drinking beer. Speaking of which, please bear i...

My guest mixer this week is David Hughes David is one of those people I know from the Fall Online Forum, and is also a fellow supporter of the excellent Sombrero Fallout podcast. Although he lives in Australia these days, he is - like me - a native of North East England. He's also addicted to travel, and estimates that he's spent more than 3 years of his life in India alone.

My guest mixer this week is Stephen G. Titley Steve is, by his own description, a writer, standup, actor, singer and (dad) dancer. He is the man behind the Church Of The Fall , and was recently seen performing in a highly entertaining production of Hey Luciani! at the Prestwich Arts Festival.

My guest mixer this week is Chris Ruth aka 'bzfgt' Chris is the man behind the remarkable website The Annotated Fall, as well as the Grateful Dead blog Every Dark Star . He was also one of the esteemed judges on the Fall Cup panel.

My guest mixer this week is Terry Christian TV and radio presenter, journalist, comedian and author - he was memorably described in 1994 as ‘the most hated man on television.’ Although, as he points out, this was, ironically, by none other than Piers Morgan. A friend of mine texted me in advance of the interview to say that Terry is 'one of life's good guys and very, very opinionated so it should...

My guest mixer this week is Kirsty Pringle In celebration of her birthday, I invited my lovely wife Kirsty to select a set of songs that she loves and - just about - fit the criteria. (There was some bending of the rules that nobody other than her would have got away with!) She has appeared on one of my podcasts before ( episode #29 of the Fall in Fives Radio Show) and we got a lot of positive fee...

My guest mixer this week is Thurston Moore Thurston is, of course, a founder member of the premier noise-rock band of the late 20th / early 21st century, Sonic Youth. Post-SY, he has had a rich and varied career including a multitude of solo projects and collaborations as well as a well-worth-reading memoir, Sonic Life. This is another longer than usual episode, but hey... it's Thurston Moore ferc...

My guest mixer this week is Doug Evans Doug and I crossed paths via a shared love of the Sombrero Fallout podcast. He resides in North Carolina (the ' Tarheel State ', apparently), but in a truly random coincidence it turns out that his great-great-grandfather hailed from the same small Welsh village as my wife! It's great to have musicians, authors, journalists on the show; but it's also a joy to...

My guest mixer this week is Billy Reeves Billy is a songwriter, musician, producer and broadcaster who you most likely know from ' A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed ', a song that he wrote and played on that was a 1998 top 30 hit for Theaudience (featuring Sophie Ellis-Bextor on vocals).  In the 2000s, he turned to travel and sports broadcasting, and has also gone on to record three solo albums, a...

My guest mixer this week is Rob Barbato Rob played bass in The Fall in 2006-07 as part of a lineup fondly remembered as 'The Dudes'. They were highly regarded as a live outfit, although they never recorded a studio album that did them justice - something that we discuss in the interview. We also talked about the fact that he was the only ever member of the group to be permitted by MES to have a be...

My guest mixer this week is Johnny Mac. Johnny (real name John McMahon) and I have known each other - via the Wedding Present online forum - for years. As it turns out, we know each other well in some ways, but not so well in others! He was very nervous about doing this interview (the written word is more his thing - but I'm sure you'll agree he made for a great guest, displaying real passion for...

For the first time in a while, this is one of my own mixes... and that's because it's my birthday tomorrow (or at least it will be the day after this mix comes out). I toyed with various ideas for this mix, but in the end, I just went for songs that mean a lot to me. I hope you enjoy them. Cheers!

My guest mixer this week is Daren Garratt Daren drummed for The Fall in 2013-15, appearing on The Remainderer and Sub-Lingual Tablet. He appeared with the group when they played Glastonbury in 2015 (about which we hear an interesting tale in the interview) - you can see the whole performance here . He has also played with The Nightingales and Dave Lance Callahan (of The Wolfhounds).

My guest mixer this week is Simon 'Ding' Archer Ding not only played bass for The Fall in the early 2000s, he also played a substantial role in much of the group's output in the last 15 years of its existence. He's also played with a wide range of artists such as PJ Harvey, Pixies, Imperial Wax and Red Lorry Yellow Lorry. We caught up on a Sunday afternoon in mid-May: a bit earlier in the day than...

My guest mixer this week is Keiron Melling  The Fall's final full-time drummer, who occupied the drum stool for the last quarter of the group's existence; he played on the final half a dozen albums, from Imperial Wax Solvent to New Facts Emerge. He then went on to play in the band Imperial Wax alongside Pete Greenway, releasing Gastwerk Saboteurs in 2019 and Tranquilliser in 2024.