The Strange Brew - artist stories behind the greatest music ever recorded

When Jimi Hendrix grabbed a bass and jammed with Tomorrow in 1967, a young Steve Howe was right there. Decades later, he is still chasing fresh sounds. Steve talks about the near miss that could have seen him play in Pink Floyd, the acoustic ideas that shaped his solo work, and what lies ahead for YES. He also digs into his reworking of Bob Dylan’s songs and the return of two essential solo albums...

Step inside the legendary “tea chest tapes” with Richard Anderson from Cherry Red Records as we explore Joe Meek’s experimental musical mind. We explore a new box set unveiling Meek’s most experimental work from 1,900 newly discovered master tapes that sat untouched for over 50 years. From the producer who gave us ‘Telstar,’ this is Joe Meek as you’ve neve...

It’s been more than two decades since Sananda Maitreya last headlined a UK tour. Now, with nine dates booked, he’s returning not simply to revisit the past, but to present the “totality” of a career that’s defied the industry’s rulebook. In this interview, Sananda is frank and philosophical: on the early triumphs and bruises of Introducing the Hardline , the misunderstood brilliance of Neither Fis...

Derek Shulman returns to talk about his memoir Giant Steps, charting his journey from frontman of Simon Dupree and the Big Sound and Gentle Giant to music executive behind artists including Bon Jovi and AC/DC. Derek reflects on formative moments, witnessing his father’s death, early musical ambitions, his friendship with Elton John, forming Gentle Giant with Gerry Bron’s support, and working with...

Few music biographers have lived with the Beatles’ story quite like Philip Norman. Across shelves of bestsellers, Norman has charted the group’s myth and minutiae, from the Hamburg grind to Apple’s undoing. In a live conversation with Jason Barnard, he revisited his earliest encounters with the Fab Four, the writing of Shout!, and the shifting lens through which he now views John, Paul, George, an...

In the second part of his live interview, Paul Jones charts his path beyond Manfred Mann, through film and stage work, and his return to music with The Blues Band. Recorded at the Cat Club, Paul recalls the cult 1967 film Privilege, before turning to sessions featuring Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Paul McCartney. He reflects on a riotous tour with The Who and Small Faces, and how a renewed passion...

In the first of a two-part interview, Paul Jones reflects on his formative years, from singing in cathedral choirs and discovering jazz, to forming a skiffle group and falling in love with the blues. Speaking live at The Cat Club, Paul offers sharp and often funny insights into his early career: turning down a young Brian Jones’s offer to front what would become the Rolling Stones, joining Manfred...

As the voice and driving force of The Swinging Blue Jeans, Ray Ennis helped shape the sound of Merseybeat, blending trad jazz and beat music into hits including ‘Hippy Hippy Shake’ and ‘You’re No Good.’ Ray reflects on the Cavern Club days, where The Beatles supported them, the group’s Hamburg education, and the missed chances that might have made them transatlantic g...

Few musicians of Mike Batt’s vintage are still pushing creative boundaries with the same fervour that defined their youth. In a career-spanning conversation, Mike discusses his Kickstarter campaign for his Ukraine Symphony; a four-movement orchestral work shaped by war, hope, and human resilience. The interview touches on everything from his self-taught mastery of orchestration, early work with Fa...

Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett discusses his new live album The Lamb Stands Up Live At The Royal Albert Hall . Steve reflects on reimagining Genesis classics from The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway , his pioneering guitar techniques, and the tensions created by releasing solo material whilst still in the group. He also shares insights into his creative process, from incorporating 1950s British...

What do you get when you mix a band of power pop visionaries into the jaws of crooked management and catastrophic misfortune. You get Head First , Badfinger’s great lost album, a masterpiece taped in 11 days, buried for half a century, and finally exhumed by Bob Jackson, the last man standing. Jackson lays it all out: the betrayal, the lawsuits, and the heartbreak, but also the defiance, the frien...

Al Jardine reflects on the life and legacy of Brian Wilson and his own musical path. In the wake of Wilson’s passing, Jardine speaks about the emotional weight of touring with the Pet Sounds Band, his new EP Islands In The Sun , the group dynamics of The Beach Boys, and why he still sees himself as a student of the “Brian Wilson school of music.” Further information Al Jardine –  Islands In T...

Dylan Jones has long been one of British journalism’s more discerning cultural archaeologists, whether digging into David Bowie’s legacy or chronicling the evolution of British style. In 1975: The Year the World Forgot , he turns his attention to what he sees as an unfairly overlooked moment in musical history, a year caught between the idealism of the 60s and the insurgency of punk. Jones speaks...

Don Powell revisits the defining moments of Slade’s rise, from their rough-edged Black Country beginnings and Chas Chandler’s inspired management, to sold-out tours, tragic loss, and their unlikely Christmas immortality. Along the way, he discusses Don and the Dreamers and the enduring thrill of playing music with friends who remember where it all began. Further information Don & The Dreamers,...

Once dismissed as maudlin hitmakers and later scapegoated for the death of disco, the Bee Gees were always far more musically inventive. In this episode, we talk to pop oracle Bob Stanley about Main Course , the 1975 album that didn’t just save their career, it rewired it. With Arif Mardin behind the desk and Miami heat in their lungs, the Brothers Gibb found falsetto, R&B, and a future they h...

Jack Bruce was never just the bass player, he was Cream’s secret weapon: the rare musician who could make virtuosity feel like raw emotion. His son Malcolm, a formidable artist in his own right, talks about his legacy: familial and musical. As the tape rolls, Malcolm recalls Fresh Cream not just as a debut album, but as a domestic artifact. He speaks of socialist grandmothers, Ginger Baker’s comba...

Still blooming after all these years, Daryl Hooper, organ grinder-in-chief and musical engine of The Seeds, proves that garage rock’s wild heart never really stopped beating. Hooper unpacks the band’s origin myth, from cranked-up early gigs, songwriting with Sky Saxon, to their Nuggets legacy. He reminisces on swapping sets with Hendrix, conjuring ‘Mr. Farmer’, and riding ‘Pushin...

Mike McCartney never meant to form a pop group, he was too busy cutting hair and cutting up with poets in 1960s Liverpool. But out of the chaos emerged the Scaffold: a riot of verse, vaudeville, and very British irreverence. McCartney charts the oddball origins of the trio to a surprise hit in ‘Thank You Very Much’ (yes, the Queen Mother did like it). With his trademark wit, McCartney...

Kate Bush’s Never for Ever album didn’t just mark her ascendancy, it broadcasted her metamorphosis into a true auteur of pop maximalism. In this freewheeling conversation at the CAT Club, guitarist Brian Bath and factotum-roadie-soundman Andrew Bryant, veterans of Bush’s inner sanctum, unpack the making of the album with pub-banter warmth and the kind of firsthand fuzziness that can only com...

David Freiberg, has a résumé that reads like a syllabus in West Coast rock history. In this podcast, he recalls his journey from folkie roots to Quicksilver Messenger Service, then to Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship. Still clocking in at 86, Freiberg is singing, playing, and helping steer a band that’s lasted longer than most marriages. He talks about post-Kantner camaraderie and the end...

John Corabi has spent decades stitching together a career from heart, with a voice weathered by years on the road. With the Dead Daisies’ latest album, he comes full circle with a record that is bluesier, and more rooted in the American dirt that raised him. In this frank conversation, Corabi opens up about the artists who lit the way, what his Motley Crüe years taught him, and what really matters...

Derek Shulman and John Weathers never looked back, and maybe that’s why Gentle Giant’s music still stares you down, especially in the reimagined version of Playing the Fool . In this extensive conversation, Derek and John revisit their time in one of prog rock’s greatest groups with more laughter than lament, and a quiet sense, that they got it exactly right. Further information Gentle Giant: Play...

Jon King reflects on his memoir, To Hell with Poverty , and the tumultuous birth of Gang of Four. King reflects on the curious dichotomy of his privileged schooling and working-class heritage, his fateful arrival in Leeds, and the catalytic jolt of a New York trip that sent him and Andy Gill hurtling toward musical revolution. From the incendiary early gigs to their courtship by EMI and Warner Bro...

The Primitives crashed into pop history with their 1988 anthem, and four decades later, Paul Court and Tracy Tracy are still making records with the same effortless cool. They recall their indie origins, highlights from their time in the spotlight, the bittersweet catalyst for their return, and how their second wave is better than ever. And as for ‘Crash’? It wasn’t just a breakthrough...

Wolfgang Flür, Kraftwerk’s rhythm architect back when their beats still had human fingerprints, revisits his journey from sticks to circuits. He trades nostalgia for momentum, reflecting on his early days, his enduring bond with Emil Schult, and the evolution of his music from Kraftwerk to new album Times . A mechanical man with a pulse, then and now. Further information Wolfgang Flür – Time...