Sweetman Podcast

An in-depth conversation with Matthew Pender - he's the singer of Wellington band Odessa. But our conversation here is mostly about the influence of Prince and our shared Prince fandom; in fact our friendship was formed through mutual Prince appreciation. This conversation is our wee tribute to Prince, marking five years since his death. Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.co...

An in-depth conversation with the writer and journalist Steve Braunias. We plug his new book of crime reporting, Missing Persons. But we go back to how he fell into writing and talk about his life and work. We talk, too, of other writers; poets, journalists, novelists, the writers that he's met and interviewed, the role models and heroes. Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.c...

An in-depth conversation with Hawke's Bay jazz singer Margot Pierard. We talk about being born into a musical family and growing up with music as the "sport" in the house. We talk about the great jazz divas and falling under the spell of singers like Nina Simone and Billie Holiday. We talk about performance and anxiety and the barriers to success when life and work gets in the way. We talk about c...

An in-depth converstion with Mike Blue - aka 'Dr Blue'. We talk about music and poetry and he performs some of each live. We talk about his life in England and the musical and poetry he discovered and saw live over there. Then to his move to NZ - and the Covid Lockdown he experienced in his new home. We talk busking and gigging and a live spent in love with music and the travel and time dedicated...

An in-depth conversation with actor and singer Mere Boynton. She studied opera and was then cast as Mavis, the karaoke singer in a pivotal scene in NZ classic, Once Were Warriors. Since then she's worked on stage and screen around the country and indeed around the world - with theatre a key passion. She also works in arts administration and has a new role as Director Ngā Toi Māori for Tāwhiri, the...

An in-depth conversation with Auckland-based actor, voice talent, DJ, artist, stone carver, glass blower and storyteller Greg Smith. We chart his life as a series of happy accidents moving from one town to another, one girlfriend to another, one story to another - threaded through it a tale of drugs and art and happiness. We talk about his time as a glass blower, actor, voice talent, DJ and musici...

An in-depth conversation with comedian and podcaster, Gavin Hewitson. Gavin does stand-up and he also hosts "Gavin Learns", which I've been a recent guest on - in fact we've set up reciprocating podcast episodes this week. Here we talked about his motivations behind podcasting and the development of it - also his interest in comedy and what it's like to bomb on stage. We also talk about interviews...

An in-depth conversation with performance poet and songwriter Nadia Freeman (aka Miss Leading). She has her debut full-length solo show at this year's Fringe Festival - one show only on Thurs March 11 at the Pyramid Club in Wellington (730pm). So, there was that to plug. But we talked through her life and focus on writing, her time overseas and learning the craft of slam and performance poetry - t...

An in-depth conversation with Dunedin-based poet and essayist Talia Marshall. We talk about social media (Twitter in particular) and books. Reading. Writers. Writing. We talk about her development as an essayist through work for The Spinoff and Pantograph Punch to North & South and now a regular column in the Sunday Star Times. A deep chat. Lots in here. Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonswe...

An in-depth conversation with Wellington-based composer and musician Jeremiah Ross aka Module. We talk through the highs of his music production in the early/mid-00s as an electronica artist in a boom time for Kiwi music; signed to LOOP, touring and making soundtrack for video games. We also talked through the lows of feeling lost from music and from the world, mental health overloads, psychotic e...

An in-depth conversation with author, psychologist, buisnessman and Pulitizer Prize-nominated poet, John Wareham. There was so much to talk about - and we gave it a good go! We talked about his books (novels, memoirs, a play, poetry) and his new podcast that he started over lockdown. We talked about his famous children (including writer Louise and musician Dean). We talked about his time in Americ...

An in-depth conversation with Maggie Tweedie, Breakfast host at Radio Active. We talk about her path to that job through other radio gigs and her passion for the format. We talk books, music, interviews, prep, freelance writing and working alone in the studio as producer and host. We also talk about her childhood in rural Hawke's Bay. And we chat about our previous encounter where she interviewed...

An in-depth conversation with music industry legend, Murray Cammick. We talk through his life dedicated to photography and music - from collecting soul records, through the founding of Rip It Up and Shake magazines, to DJing on radio and then to DJing more recently in bars and restaurants; to photography - including his current exhibition in Wellington at Photospace Gallery ("Flash Cars") and on t...

An in-depth conversation with drinks professional, Jules Van Costello. We talk about his brand new book, "Beyond the Vines: The Changing Landscape of Wine in Aotearoa New Zealand" and his previous book about craft beer, Brewed. We talk about his rise through the hospitality industry and into winemaking, distributing and promoting; to writing and blogging and to shares in restaurants. Get full acce...

An in-depth conversation with poet and academic John Newton. We talk about his brand new novel-in-verse, Escape Path Lighting. We talk through his love of music - including his sideline in songwriting and the band we both used to play in. We talk poetry and his critical history of New Zealand writing (he's one volume in on a three-book deep-dive). We talk about a life spent dedicated to writing, t...

An in-depth conversation with Wellington-based comedian and sex-worker Lucy Roche. We talk about her background in comedy and her rise through the talent quests, open-mics to headlining shows. We talk about how she generates material, the writing process, her aims and ambitions. And we talk about her other job - a sex worker. She talks about this often as part of her act. We talk Covid-19 and the...

An in-depth conversation with Andrew Armitage, owner of one of the last video rental stores standing in New Zealand, the legendary Aro St. Video Shop (Aro Video). We talked about his life and beginnings, his passions of music and film and where they came from and how they were shaped. We talked synth-pop and discovering the guitar to be a singer/songwriter later in life. We talked about the develo...

An in-depth conversation with Alec Bathgate (Tall Dwarfs, Toy Love) about his solo career, his return to music, the bands he was in, his musical relationship with Chris Knox and their shared approach to music across several bands and projects. We talked about his return to recording and releasing with a brand new instrumental album (Phantom Dots) and his appearance on Instagram where he's clearing...

An in-depth conversation with Wellington-based writer, librarian and now bookstore owner, Jackson Nieuwland. We talked about their brand new collection of poetry, I AM A HUMAN BEING and about all of the steps on their journey to publishing. We talked about basketball and hip-hop, depression and finding yourself in online communities, recognising yourself as non-binary. We talked about the bookstor...

An in-depth conversation with Claire Mabey, co-director of Verb (Litcrawl) and organiser of many literary events, political talks and writing-related shows, festivals and ideas. Claire's been on the podcast twice before, with partner Andrew Laking. This time it was Claire solo - to talk about this year's upcoming Verb Festival and Litcrawl event and also to discuss the impacts of Covid-19 on event...

An in-depth conversation with actor and comedian Peter Rowley. We talk through his life and career from theatre aspirations to appearing on A Week of It and McPhail and Gadsby to the connection with Billy T. James that resulted in some of the most important TV comedy in the history of New Zealand. There were films on the side, including voicing Dog in Footrot Flats. We talk through it all. Get ful...

A Tribute To Eddie Van Halen. The day we heard the news...me and my good friend Ben Fulton (musician, guitar pedal maker) sat down to process the news and pay tribute to one of our heroes, celebrating some of his best music and discussing what made Eddie Van Halen so special. Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.com/subscribe

I sit down (with myself) and read poems from my debut volume of poetry - The Death of Music Journalism. I read from the book and discuss the process around it and some of the stories behind the poems. The book is out now (through The Cuba Press) and can be found in (or ordered from) all good book stores in NZ. We launch this Sunday, October 11, 4pm at Meow in Wellington. With readings also by Frey...

This is the third time I've spoken with Wellington-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Darren Watson. This one is specifically about his brand new album, Getting Sober For The End Of The World. We walk, track by track, through the recording and talk about its creation - including the lockdown, the pandemic and the new way of living. Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.com/s...

An in-depth conversation with Geoff Stahl, Media Studies lecturer and DJ. As TV Disko he puts on DJ sets in bars and via radio shows. As a lecturer he's interested in popular music and the "other social media" of coffee, craft beer and wine. We talked about his upbringing in Canada and his move to Wellington, NZ 15 years ago where he took up a teaching position at Victoria University. We talk pand...