Sweetman Podcast

An in-depth conversation with comedian Jerome Chandrahasen. We talk open-mics and getting started, from school debating teams to the Edinburgh Fringe and to mental health and understanding the highs and lows associated with speaking from the stage. We also talk about reviews and criticism and some of his favourite comedians as well as some of his favourite music gigs. Get full access to Sounds Goo...

An in-depth conversation with Kiwi-born, Australian-based pianist Jan Preston. We talk through her recent double wrist-break injury and then back to her classical training and her time spent with Red Mole and Coup d'Etat ahead of reinventing herself as film soundtrack composer (often collaborating with her sister Gaylene) and to the stride and boogie woogie styles that have captivated her as a sol...

An in-depth conversation with drummer, Heavy Metal fan, tour promoter, swim-coach, horror-movie obsessive and the driving force behind the band Bulletbelt, Steve Francis. We talk about his childhood in Masterton his addictions to metal, horror films and tattoos - and his time spent in and around the Wellington heavy metal scene. We talk about Bulletbelt's song for the movie "Deathgasm" and his hop...

An in-depth conversation with violinist Miles Golding. A classically trained chamber musician, Golding, born in Australia, lived in New Zealand during his childhood and was an original member of Split Ends/Enz - he left the group in 1973 (before they'd recorded a full album) and moved to England to continue his classical studies. We talk through his memories of the early Enz and his musical upbrin...

An in-depth conversation with writer (and friend) Carl Shuker. We talk about the long road to his new book, A Mistake. We go back to his childhood in Timaru and work from there to the IIML in Wellington when Bill Manhire was at the helm. To Carl meeting Katy (now my wife) and Anna Smaill (his wife). To the influences that shaped him and the insecurities that can still plague. This is a long chat -...

An in-depth conversation with actor Sophie Hambleton. We talk about her role as "Carol" on popular TV show, Westside. Her training and work - to this day - in theatre. We preview the upcoming "Burn Her" theatre work at Circa and discuss here recent turn as Nora in an updated rendition of Ibsen's classic, "A Doll's House". We talk, too, of what it was like growing up with her actor dad, Peter Hambl...

An in-depth conversation with Beastwars' lead singer Matt Hyde. We talk through his early life and careers including his stints in hospitality and music; he was all but ready to chuck the towel in (again) when he found himself fronting the Wellington-based metal/rock band Beastwars. They released three great albums and then broke-up. Matt was diagnosed with cancer. He responded well to the treatme...

An in-depth conversation with comedian and podcast host and producer Tim Batt. We talk through his journey into comedy and focus on "The Worst Idea Of All Time" - a podcast by Tim and Guy Montgomery that sees them reviewing the same film every week for a whole year. We talk about the seasons to date and the lack of an exit plan from that podcast. We chat all things comedy including criticism and r...

An in-depth conversation with Split Enz keyboardist, songwriter and arranger Eddie Rayner. We talk through his life and times including stints with Space Waltz and Crowded House. We talk through the career of Split Enz and to ENZSO, solo albums, recording with Paul McCartney and the many other highlights in Rayner's long musical career. Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.com...

An in-depth conversation with Wellington-based, Auckland and Far North-raised poet Sugar Magnolia Wilson. We talk about - and she reads from - her book, "Because a Woman's Heart is Like a Needle at the Bottom of the Ocean" and we talk about poetry in general and have a big discussion also about critics and criticism. We talk too about her life and upbringing and all of the elements that go into po...

An in-depth conversation with American session drummer Gregg Bissonette. We talk through his incredible career and how through his timing, talent, luck - and faith - he has played with many of his heroes. He went from being a Maynard Ferguson fan to playing in his band, from wishing he could join Van Halen to playing with David Lee Roth and he's currently the touring drummer for Ringo Starr and hi...

An in-depth conversation with Jon Toogood - frontman for Shihad and creative mind behind The Adults. We talk through his life and career, also on his mind was the Christchurch terrorist attack and we talked a lot about that and about Jon's conversion to Islam. Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.com/subscribe

An in-depth conversation with Hawke's Bay based art critic, collector, commentator and former high school art teacher Roy Dunningham. Roy taught Phil Judd - also among his four top students are Matthew Couper, Freeman White and Regan Gentry. I was at school with all of them, they're friends, two of them are previous podcast guests. So I wanted to talk to Roy about his philosophy, his teaching secr...

An in-depth conversation with Marnie Karmelita, the new head of programming at the NZ Festival and Wellington Jazz Festival. We discuss Marnie's background in arts administration and preview the upcoming Wellington Jazz Festival (June 5-9, 2019) Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.com/subscribe

An in-depth conversation with musician, audio engineer, record label owner, curator and archivist Rob Mayes. From Christchurch to Japan, via a stint in the UK, Rob has dedicated his life to music - playing, recording, capturing. He has an archive of important recordings from New Zealand bands and he curates collections via his label, Failsafe. He's also a musician in his own right, playing bass in...

An in-depth conversation with New Zealand-born musician Graeme Jefferies (aka The CakeKitchen). We talk through his life with The CakeKitchen as band and solo entity (and duo). We talk about the work he created with his brother Peter (Nocturnal Projections, This Kind of Punishment) and his recently published memoir, "Time Flowing Backwards". We talk touring and living abroad for many years - openi...

An in-depth conversation with Wellington actor Heather O'Carroll. We talk all things acting - and we talk too about her time working behind the scenes, in arts admin and event management, running BATS Theatre for a time, working with the NZ Festival. We talk about her return to the stage for the upcoming Moodporn and we talk about processes and other behind-the-curtain things from learning lines t...

An in-depth chat with radio host Yadana Saw. We talk about her time on student radio and ahead of that the fun days of growing up being a music fan, working in a record store, joining fan clubs...We talk too of RNZ and to hosting the flagship show, "Music 101" as well as contributing to the "Songcrush" podcast. We talk, as well, about the recent Christchurch shooting and the RNZ decision for Music...

An in-depth conversation with Paul Crowther. As "Emlyn Crowther" he was the drummer in Split Enz in the mid-70s, playing on the classic debut album, "Mental Notes". When he was kicked out of the band he took his tinkering electronics hobby a bit more seriously and created the "Hot Cake" guitar pedal. We talk through his life from the drums to guitar pedals and back, to live sound engineering for T...

An in-depth conversation with Auckland-based writer Graham Reid. We talk about his days at the NZ Herald, being flown to gigs and interviewing famous people. And the establishment of his own website "Elsewhere". His commitment to writing - his interest in travel and music and arts and politics. We talk about changes in music and journalism and about a life dedicated to the love and pursuit of both...

An in-depth conversation with writer and performance poet Hadassah Grace. We talk about the upcoming release of her debut collection, "How To Take Off Your Clothes". We talk poetry and writing and how she found her way to it; we talk depression, travel, growing up in America, moving to New Zealand, being the child of "minor Christian celebrities". And we talk about her time as a sex worker. Throug...

A phoner with the great singer/songwriter Alejandro Escovedo, ahead of his first ever NZ tour. We talk Trump, "The Crossing", touring, his background in punk and country and how fitting in with any one genre was never his thing. We talk film and family and health and many things besides. Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.com/subscribe

An in-depth conversation with drummer, singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist in fact, Caroline Easther. She played drums in seminal NZ bands throughout the 1980s and 90s - including The Chills, Verlaines, Spines, Beat Rhythm Fashion, Let's Planet as well as working with Barry Saunders, Hobnail Boots and many others. She has a brand new solo album out, "Lucky"; her first in nearly a decade. We c...

An in-depth conversation with Wellington-based, internationally-published journalist and author David Cohen. We talk music writing, his history in journalism and pay particular focus to his near-lifelong love of Leonard Cohen and how his latest book, Cohen on Cohen, is part-memoir, part-music-bio, part-travel-story, a set of separate essays that talk to one another, that aim to explain or understa...

An in-depth conversation with multi-disciplinary artist, musician, manager and producer Mike Weston. He is one half of the artist entity Weston Frizzell (with Otis Frizzell) and he runs a studio space (The Area) where he enables graphic design, art, music and many other projects out into the world. We talk through his history as, variously, a DJ and music producer, live sound engineer, artist, con...