Steve’s Mix Tapes

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.

My guest mixer this week is Paul Hanley The second ex-Fall member to appear on this show (but definitely not the last!), he played drums alongside Karl Burns during what many would argue is the classic period of the group. He is also a successful author, having published Leave The Capital: A History of Manchester Music , Have A Bleedin Guess: The Story of Hex Enduction Hour (which in my view is on...

My guest mixer this week is Tim Goodbody I first met Tim nearly 40 (!) years ago when we were both students at Wentworth College at the University of York.  I am pretty hopeless at keeping in touch with people from school and university, but Tim and I have (very loosely) kept touch due to a shared love of The Wedding Present - both being members of the Facebook  group . He is also the first man of...

My guest mixer this week is Tommy Mackay Tommy is an author, comedian and musician. He’s also the man behind the website Daily Reckless (the Bandcamp page is here ; there's also a full discography here ). The song I use in the intro to this episode is Totally Weird . As well as a shared love of Beefheart and Ivor Cutler, Tommy and I have something notable in common: we both wrote blogs about The F...

My guest mixer this week is Gavin Laird Gavin, as well as being a fellow member of the Fall Online Forum, was the bass player in Telstar Ponies (alongside David Keenan (ex-18 Wheeler) and Brendan O'Hare (ex-Teenage Fanclub)). The song that I use in this week's intro is Last Outpost from their excellent 1996 LP Voices From the New Music. He has subsequently been involved in several other bands, suc...

My guest mixer this week is Jonny Swift I first met Jonny online during lockdown when he set up the Facebook group 'HIP PRIESTS - every album by The Fall', which resulted in him contributing to the introduction to my book You Must Get Them All . He's a singer-songwriter from Dalton-in-Furness in Cumbria - his Bandcamp page is here .

My guest mixer this week is Gavin Watts Gavin is one half of the duo (along with Steve) that is responsible for the  We Are The Fall  podcast, which I  appeared on recently . He is also a musician in his own right: his Bandcamp page is  here. He and Steve do a great 'deep dive' job with The Fall on their podcast, and his enthusiasm makes him a pleasure to talk to - a top notch guest.

It's about time we had a Fall-related  playlist... I recorded this in a hotel room in Future Inn, Cardiff Bay, the same place where I recorded my interview with Gavin Watts for his We Are The Fall podcast (who will be the guest mixer on next week's episode). It was a very good day: a pleasant journey in the sunshine, accompanied by a playlist of perfect length, and an excellent curry at one of my...

My guest mixer this week is Ian Grice aka Gricey aka Iggy. Known to the good folk of the Wedding Present Forum as Iggy, to the rest of the world he's Gricey. A primary school teacher for 32(!) years, he and I first met and bonded when I was working in the secondary school down the road. One of the joys of doing this podcast has been catching up with some old friends that I haven't spoken to for fa...

My guest mixer this week is David Quantick Music journalist, novelist and comedy writer whose credits include Harry Hill’s TV Burp, On The Hour/The Day Today, Mitchell & Webb and Smack The Pony, he has even won an Emmy in 2015 for his writing for Armando Iannucci’s political satire Veep.

Another  guest mixer, but this time one submitted via email... 'Caped Hector' is - like Eric ( ep004) and Richard ( ep005 ) a regular contributor to the Fall Online Forum . He is, I think it's fair to say, one of the more eccentric members, seemingly obsessed with women wearing capes, whelks and Slade.  He sent me his mix via email, describing himself as a 'retired crime-fighter.' I do know his re...

My guest this week is Neil Syme. Neil is another acquaintance made via the Fall Online Forum, where he goes by the name 'Cactus' (for, as we discover, for no particular reason).

My guest this week is Sally Hamilton. Like Gavin Morgan, my guest on Steve's Mix Tapes #003, I originally know Sally from the Wedding Present forum - and if you were paying attention to that episode, you might have worked out that she is Gavin's better half! Sally has worked in education and publishing and is currently doing a  PhD in English Literature . As well as 'alternative music culture', sh...

My guest this week is author and music journalist JR Moores. John is the author of Electric Wizards: A Tapestry of Heavy Music, 1968 to the Present and Off the Ground: Paul McCartney in the 1990s , both of which are excellent books (and I'm not just saying that because my name appears in the former!) He also writes the psych-rock column Columnfortably Numb for the Quietus, and he has also written...

My guest this week is none other than founder member of The Fall Martin Bramah. Martin very kindly took some time out from preparing for House Of All's upcoming tour to share and talk about a mix he put together for me. Amongst other highlights, he used the word 'sexy' more often than I'd anticipated...

After a run of excellent guests, I'm taking back control of the compiling for this episode... Although she was very positive about my first episode, it was pointed out to me by Joanna Burnett (a fellow member of the  Wedding Present forum ) that  mix #001  was 'a bit male' - and she does have a point. And when I looked at my planned tracklist for mix #006, it was another set of male artists. There...

This episode's 'guest mixer' is Richard 'Gappy Tooth' Catherall. Richard, like Eric who appeared in the last episode, is a long-standing member of the Fall Online Forum , and was one of the judging panel in the Fall Cup . Amongst other things, he is a music promoter in Oxford, responsible for Gappy Tooth Industries . On the FOF, Richard is renowned for his quirky, left of centre mixes, and he didn...

The 'guest mixer' for this episode is Eric Smith, a US navy veteran, writer/blogger and many other things besides.   

My latest guest mixer is Gavin Morgan, educational psychologist, media star, seasoned traveller and long-suffering Northampton FC fan. I've known Gav for the best part of 20 years but haven't seen him in ages, so it was a real pleasure to catch up and have him curate an excellent mix.