Needle Mythology with Pete Paphides

In this very special episode, Pete Paphides meets Newsnight’s Kirsty Wark as she ponders the influence of David Bowie’s ‘Kooks’ on her own parenting style, looks back on her recent infamous encounter with Bobby Gillespie and also reveals exactly what Margaret Thatcher said to her after their infamously bruising encounter.

Forty years after the release of their phenomenal debut album, Pete Paphides meets Gina Birch and Ana da Silva from incalculably influential post-punk legends, The Raincoats.

To mark the release of Stephen Duffy’s acclaimed 1997 masterpiece I Love My Friends on Needle Mythology Records, Pete Paphides meets Stephen along with the record’s producer Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur, Steve Mason, Cranberries, Kaiser Chiefs).

Sarathy Korwar talks to Pete Paphides about the explosive synergy of influences that inform his brilliant new album, to be released on July 26th.  Inspired by Indian classical music, Sufi devotionals, modern jazz and the nascent rap scenes of Mumbai and New Delhi, More Arriving is one of the most thrilling  records of 2019, drawing on a range of guest artists to create a frequently breathtaking sonic document of these febrile times.  

In the second part of this career-spanning interview, Ian talks about his years with the Lightning Seeds: the journey from Pure –a song he didn't even intend to be released – to a string of chart successes such as Sense, Life of Riley, Lucky You, Marvellous, Sugar Coated Iceberg and, of course, Three Lions. He also talks about the years spent regrouping after his skirmish with pop stardom: his beautiful 2004 solo album Tales Told and the circumstances which prompted its creation, and his role in the emergence of kindred Liverpudlian spirits The Coral. These podcasts are produced by Laura Druce and wouldn't be possible without the assistance of our friends at Flare Audio, inventors of the peerless Jet earphones.

In the first part of an extensive career-spanning interview with Pete Paphides, Lightning Seeds' Ian Broudie talks about his years as a key player in the Liverpool post-punk scene, first as a member of Big In Japan (alongside Holly Johnson, Bill Drummond & Budgie) and Care (with Paul Simpson) – and then as producer to the likes of Echo & The Bunnymen and The Pale Fountains. In Part 2, Ian goes on to talk about his "pop star" years with the Lightning Seeds and his beautiful 2004 solo album Tales Told – the joint first release on the new Needle Mythology label, out on May 31, 2019.

Ahead of The Divine Comedy's excellent new album Office Politics, Neil Hannon reflects upon the breakthrough success of his group's 1996 album Casanova and also revisits a formative release from his childhood, The Human League's Dare!

For the second Needle Mythology, Fran Healy from Travis talks to Pete Paphides about his group's massively successful second album The Man Who and also about the album that had a formative influence on his own songwriting, Joni Mitchell's Blue.