The Corona Diaries

It might seem like there is a somewhat cavalier approach to TCD (...sorry Lucy) this week, what with the big reveals, and the joining-of-the-dots with the last piece of purple bonus content. So if you are feeling a little confused, here are the three things we are juggling: The announcement, which I haven't been able to talk about for nearly three months, can now be made public...and it marks a bi...

So, here’s how it went down this week… 1.⁠ ⁠Our normal in-depth production schedule exchange took place over WhatsApp on Monday 2.⁠ ⁠Recording commenced bang on 10:37am on Tuesday morning, conditions were normal with a gentle pace and favourable headwinds. 3.⁠ ⁠Approximately 20 minutes a largely throwaway comment, somewhat metaphysical in nature, threw Ant off course. 4.⁠ ⁠We took that concept on...

The first question that most people ask when I reveal I have recorded nearly 500 episodes of this podcast is "surely you must have run out of things to talk about by now?" Well this week's TCD (...sorry Lucy) is a perfect example of how we have got to 261 chapters and a similar number of bonus episodes. Firstly we can get half a podcast out of literally anything, the example for today is me making...

Now you might be wondering why this chapter of TCD (...sorry Lucy) has turned up a little bit early, because let's be honest we don't have a reputation for being this on the ball. It kind of revolves around my birthday (today), the fact it is a significant one (three score and ten) and the upcoming special edition releases of Ice Cream Genius. And that is all I am going to say at this point in pro...

In a change to the normal way of working it is Ant here, providing you with the episode notes for the latest chapter of TCD (...sorry Lucy). What that does mean is I can take this opportunity to put the podcast title into some form of context, and offer up a grovelling apology to my co-host. Through the course of the pod you are going to get an explanation as to the specifics, but the fact is I wa...

You don't have to have been following TCD (...sorry Lucy) that intently to know that the beat combo is in the middle of writing and recording a new album. Now I have been around this world for a very long time, and I am here to tell you that I don't think it really matters who the artist or band is, there isn't a particular definition of normal for this process. That said, the Marillion way is pro...

It’s all about personal growth this week as Ant and yours truly open ourselves up to the process of re-evaluation. It all started a few weeks ago when we happened to mention, quite casually as it transpired, that neither of us were moved by the music of Rush. As it turned out a goodly number of the purple community were a little vexed by this admission. So we decided that maybe we should take some...

So…outside through the open sliding door is the calm azure Caribbean and above, a wide open blue sky, as the tap tap on my cabin door - exactly on time - summons me to welcome in a genius, a legend and someone fast-becoming a “goofball-brother”. It takes one to know one (a goofball I mean…). Now I could bang on for hours about what he has achieved, his extraordinary playing, or the records he spri...

Before we start I need to draw your attention to something. If you have been listening for a while you know that TCD has never shied away from the odd expletive or two. However today's chapter is a little more littered than usual, and I wanted to give you ample warning, and beg forgiveness from Christine. There are a couple of reasons for this, but the most obvious is that drink had been (and was...

Now, even by our standards this is a little confusing. Last week we sat down to record a patron-only Q&A, and we weren't 100% successful. We did manage to record, and we did end-up with a piece of purple content, but we didn't get around to actually answering any of your questions. This week we should have been recording a non-patron episode, and one that did include a guest contributor. We di...

I seemed to recall that we said at some point that we would try and get a few more guests on TCD (...sorry Lucy), it could have been as a result of passing the 250 mark or it might even have been a sort of NY resolution. Now clearly anything that either of us states as an intention (or even a hard-and-fast truth) should be taken under advisement, but in this case it is playing out as described. Sa...

Buses. You wait 251 episodes to get one of my boys on the pod, and just like that you get the other one. Actually it was all a bit odd this week, Ant is away in California so we have been juggling and crowbarring, just to find a suitable moment to sync the time zones and press record. And yes before you ask, crowbarring is a word. Anyway not wanting to be the odd brother out, Nial was able to join...

I don't know if it is because we are in a new year (Happy 2026 btw) or because it feels a while since the 250th, but this episode feels like a new start, maybe a do-over, or even a hard reset. (of course all of that is merely a figure of speech, and for those of you that worry about these things I am not currently trying to press a little button on the base with an unfolded paper clip). Anyway Ant...

It's not every week that you get all five members of the beat-combo on the same episode of a podcast (in fact it is possible that we were popping the 'ol podcast cherry, collectively speaking). But then it isn't every week that we record the 250th episode of TCD!! It made for an eventful recording process, and indeed a game of two halves, as we huddled around a single microphone in my hotel room i...

I had a rare old time in Poland last week, in fact it may well be the best h natural show I have played there. Despite a little apprehension on my part, it all went swimmingly, as you are about to hear as we discuss the gig and the set-list in some detail. Of course the next few weeks are going to blur a bit, what with the upcoming Marillion Weekend in Utrecht, and then the run of solo shows that...

There are so many reasons why we don't do a video version of TCD (...sorry Lucy) but we got the sense that many of you didn't believe us. So as Ant was round at ours anyway, and as Vibes was on hand to assist with production duties, we decided to tiptoe out 'till our feet only just reached the floor. What that means is that you get a few mins of audio-only, before we will redirect you to the YT li...

It’s a full on chapter of TCD this week (….sorry Lucy) with all the bells and whistles that are now synonymous with our artform. Firstly we have a guest. The inimitable Lucy J. joins us, bringing with her that wonderful frisson, that you only get when a special personality has rocked up in your own backyard. And of course when Lucy J. is in the house, we get some insider goss, and this time it's a...

It's all got a bit of a 'rockumentary' kind of a vibe this time, as I take you behind the curtain at the ProgStock festival in Noo Joizee Recorded from my hotel room overlooking Manhattan, on the morning after the night before, and with me not altogether compos mentis. So in amongst the normal TCD bants, we talked about the gig a bit, as well as the details of a fab few days grooving around NY &am...

Listening back to this weeks chat, and it is fairly obvious that if you have never been to Cornwall, or holidayed in the UK for that matter, then a lot of the references might seem a bit bewildering. I am not sure it is possible to explain in a succinct enough fashion for the purpose of these notes so lets try a few images... This is a fairly typical example of static caravans on a UK holiday park...

There are certain things in life that are absolutes. For a start - the fastest way to find a stray piece of lego is to walk across the floor in stockinged feet, and you will find it in an instant (and with more than a modicum of extreme pain). Toast always falls butter side down, and if it is a pair of sunglasses or a laptop charger I am going to misplace it. The TCD absolute (...sorry Lucy), is t...

I happened to listen to the opening credits today, and this week's chapter is certainly a bit random, and a bit irreverent. What it really needs to accompany it is one of those maps that you get on travel programs, that indicate the route taken as the story unfolds. You know the kind of thing I mean, I have the one from Antiques Road Trip in mind but numerous other examples are available. You star...

Let’s start with the plaudits. High fives, if not big tens are due to John Sturm and Seamus Colgan for being the purple folk who said that we needed more chat about the Europeans. Tim Glasswell deserves the freedom of Luton for all the work he has put into the Rainbow Room website, which is dedicated to all things How We Live and Europeans. And next we move to whatever the opposite of plaudits is…...

It’s a case of life imitating art this week. It’s a minor bloody miracle you are actually listening to this at all because Ant had one of those head in hand moments whilst trying to download the episode from the Zoom recorder, and managed instead to format the SD card and delete everything we had . Fortunately he managed to rescue one half of the recording using some whizzy software that was able...

It’s a gentle and meandering affair for this chapter of TCD (…sorry Lucy) which is podcast code for not really planned, and certainly not thought through. Saying that, the vibe is about right for a chat that takes place at the seaside and touches on fence repair, cricket and Susie Dent. The thing I can’t forget is to mention the chaps in the boat, who are called Adam, David, Jack and Sam and you c...

For this week's episode of TCD (...sorry Lucy) we have been remembering Luis. So much of what Luis did had a touch of the mystical about it, he sprinkled musical magic wherever he went, and helped music transcend with just the shake of his tambourine. Of course that goes a long way to explaining his career, and the legacy he leaves behind, but it doesn't explain the multiple ways he has touched th...