The Corona Diaries

For this years Christmas special episode we decided to unburden ourselves from the shackles of pre-episode preparation and exacting production standards and show our rarely-seen playful side. And what better way to get the party started, than by welcoming Linette to TCD - even if that did mean distracting her with a glass of Kylie's Prosecco, whilst simultaneously placing a microphone into her oth...

*excerpt from production notes, TCD chapter 137 1: Preamble - use a bit of the Zoom audio from Tuesday, the audio quality isn't great but it sets the scene and if it turns out the episode is late for the purples it will add credibility to the excuse. 2: Intro - try and 'Christmas' it up a bit, after all it's half way through December 3: Main Section - we might be struggling for time a bit this wee...

Listening back to Chapter 136 of TCD (sorry Lucy) it struck me that maybe a few explainers were in order. Now that isn't because I think that any of you are anything other than fully-rounded citizens of the world, broad of knowledge and generous of spirit. Rather that there are a few references this week that may only resonate with a person of a certain time, from a certain place. So here we go......

Well we tried... Ant had a look under his bed, but couldn't find any mention of Less Is More in the back copies of The Web magazine he's been hoarding. And as promised I gave the album a listen through...but alas, it didn't provide the aural kick to my synapses that I had hoped. Of course we are nothing if not a pair of old pro's, and so when the red light went on we gave it our best shot anyway (...

After all the excitement of bus drivers and percussionists, long haired sound men and keyboardists this feels like a very run of the mill chapter of TCD (sorry Lucy). So for 134 Ant and I pick up on our semi-regular album chat feature, and for those of you who have been paying attention that means Less is More. Of course in our case it's a little bit more Less is Less as there is, at this point, a...

For those of us that lived through his achievements in real time, it's easy to close my eyes and be taken right back to the moment when Seb Coe lined up in the final of the 1500m at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. Middle-distance running took on almost rock'n'roll stature at the time in Britain, as Steve Ovett, Steve Cram & Seb Coe dominated both the centre piece events of 800 & 1500 bre...

One of the purples mentioned in the comments for a recent chapter (I think it was Paula Collewijn as it goes...) 'just curious, who is the creator behind these funny episode titles?' Well Paula it's a bit of a mixed-bag. Sometimes it's Ant, sometimes it's me, but more often than not they kind of come up in conversation - and when this happens it's because we follow a secret and special formula. He...

Recording The Corona Diaries on the road is a little challenging to say the least. You are always at the mercy of the local wi-fi connection, the rooms are often a bit lively (from an audio perspective, obvs...) and I am constantly a bit tight on time. There is however one definite up side, and that is the fact that a ton of interesting, funny and genuinely lovely people are also in close proximit...

It's only taken 130 episodes, but we have finally completed the set. Backstage at the Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht, resplendent against the magnolia painted breeze-block walls, Mark Kelly himself became the final member of Marillion to pop his TCD cherry. As you would expect he was top value, fizzing between his take on the current tour, the development of the tech that drives the show and how he...

What a joy it was to hardly say anything on this weeks Chapter of TCD... One of the highlights (if not THE highlight) of the new album, and the current tour has been having the legendary Mr Luis Jardim in the building. And to top it off he only went and agreed to come and share the love on the podcast. What a guy... I managed to cobble together some microphones, and Ant squirrelled himself aw...

No time to chat this week because I am busy packing for the European Tour, so I am just going to leave the episode highlight in a succinct, bullet-point, stylee. Linette still has those amazing jugs, in fact I just reached up and grabbed 'em. Check out my instagram feed if you don't believe me. I do often think of myself as a victorian water-closet. Just because it has a key-hole, doesn't mean you...

After what Liz has managed to achieve in her first week on the job, we felt the least we could do would be to finish the backstory to the Dry Land Album. So for your delectation and delight, and not least as a reward for your patience, we will cover the last tree tracks on the album proper as well as a little curveball that Ant casually tossed in my direction to check I was paying attention. And t...

On location in the Steel City. Perched on seven hills like Rome, and with a river running underneath, it is the home of football (according to Ant), the only place to get a Hot Roast Pork sandwich and the place that gave me the moment I realised, NOTHING could be better than being in a rock'n'roll band. Of course when you take your recording studio and plonk it in a crowded restaurant you do place...

The band-breakfast-names seem to be reaching a climax, and it’s all gone a little bit Strictly. “What?!” I hear you cry. Well, you know in the early rounds of Strictly, (or Bake Off for that matter) all the offerings are kind of OK. You know the kind if thing, a solid 5 but not much more. Well with the exception of Ian Muesli that’s where we were at with this. But by the time you have finished lis...

If you are a regular then you will have heard me mention Lord B. He was the press guy who used to make the special rabbit drawings in an attempt to get me to stop rambling in interviews. It dawned on me whilst we were recording 124 that, in fact, he had got it all wrong. Take the chapter you are about to listen to. The idea was to continue discussing the Dry Land album. We had covered the first fo...

With a gentle breeze, and fair seas we head off in the direction of more How We Live chat. This week its an in-depth look at the lyrical inspiration behind the first four tracks on the album, which conjures up lots of memories that may have otherwise have been forgotten. Cue, tales of Joe Cocker, flaming arrows, military grade smoke grenades and the first of many attempts to have a hit with Dry La...

We nearly got underway on Wednesday, but in the end problems with mi plug-ins just kept coming in Waves and we had to reconvene on Thursday. At times there's no Logic, and you have to take a deep breath and re-group. Although we started a little late on Thursday it looked more promising, only to stall before we got out of second gear. But then, when all seemed lost, a miracle of sorts. The stars a...

This week's chapter is a pretty good example of the straight line getting wiggly in both the TCD sense, and also my life in general. A river quickly becoming a delta. I'll try to explain: Dan S. has a little bit of time on his hands at the same point that he discovers the podcast. He finds his way to the guestbook page of my website, and leaves me a question. As a consequence, Ant finds the questi...

It’s an episode ending with a zero this week, so the sharp ones amongst you could be forgiven for expecting some form of special guest. And as we aim to please, you will be pleased to know that you are right. Enter stage left Steve Rothery, and as it goes it’s a lovely natter and an insight into band life. He gives his take on the ultimate h set list, helps with some outstanding housekeeping issue...

Now that is what I call a week. Literally just popped back from Denmark (where I am supposed to be on holiday) so I could join Trevor Horn on stage at the Cropredy Festival and sing a few songs. Ant came along for a giggle (and a Mr Whippy '99 courtesy of Ms Jordache) and a great time was had by all. The happy upside to this was that we were able to record an on-location special chapter of TCD in...

This week it’s all about purple-participation, so before you listen you need to read through the pre-show notices. The Object of the Game I have been challenged by Ant to make-up my perfect Marillion set list by picking one song from each one of the albums* I have made with the band. And we thought it might be fun if everyone listening played along to see how well you think you can predict my choi...

Not a lot to report this week, if you listened to Chapter 116 then you know what’s about to happen and you don’t need anything from me by way of explanation. However, and whilst I have your attention, both Ant and I are aware that Ronan Keating was never actually part of Westlife. So if you think you hear us say anything to the contrary, you are in fact mistaken. And it is a well known fact that S...

I hour, 17 minutes and 2 seconds. What were we thinking.... To be honest there are three reasons why Chapter 116 of The Corona Diaries is over an hour and a quarter long; We clearly weren't thinking (we were just blathering) I tried to explain what's in my music room... Ant came up with a bonkers concept for conversation, that will probably take us the rest of the year to get through. So I am goin...

If you go all the way back to the beginning, way before it was called The Corona Diaries (or even TCD for that matter) one of the first things that Ant and I talked about was incorporating a reading from my diary into every episode. Not only did we think it would give some structure, but it would provide the opportunity for me to expand on the entries and answer any follow-ups that Ant thought mig...

It's one of the characteristics of this time of day, especially true at this time of year. The sun is dropping toward the horizon, but in a very languid fashion as if it wants to hang around for as long as possible. Rafa is just about to edge the fifth set, but it's been a rollercoaster of a match. The tension has been building, the crowd is getting more and more animated and every point is like a...