Finally! The last two instalments covering David Bowie'sThe Next Day & The Next Day Extra, from a series of fun conversations I had with Arsalan Mohammad for the very excellent AlbumToAlbum podcast. What a journey, eh! He also asked me to whip up some opening and closing music for the pod, and I was very glad to oblige. Anyone who has now listened to all four of these certainly deserves a gold star.





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It’s here - part 2 of the rambling AlbumToAlbum pod chat about David Bowie's dense 2013 opus The Next Day!
Making this was such a laugh - many thanks to Arsalan for asking me to do it! (Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and the other usual places)


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Looking forward to chatting with author Simon Goddard about the latest edition of his BOWIE ODYSSEY series, looking at Bowie's life and career in 1973 - a year jam packed with drama, debauchery, triumph, confusion, exhaustion and much more.
The event is hosted by the Walthamstow Rock n Roll Book Club, and will be happening on Tues 23 May at Walthamstow Trades Hall, E17 4RQ.

After the talk there'll be a book signing, and then a "proper Bowie/Roxy disco" with DJ Steve Proctor. Tickets are available here.


UPDATE: What fun! Top quality Bowie chats were had. Big thanks to Omnibus and the Walthamstow Rock n Roll Book Club for inviting me (I nicked the below photo from the E17 rock book club's Facebook - cheers Mark).

Heads up, this very cool event is happening on the 10th of January at the Century Club (Soho, London). Tickets available now (at the link below)…


On the anniversary of David Bowie’s death, join photographer & film director Tony McGee, to hear about his life and times working with David, and author Dr. Leah Kardos, who wrote Blackstar Theory. 

McGee, whose photographer career spans over four decades, had unique access to the star thanks to a close professional relationship and friendship. After meeting Bowie at a cocktail party, Tony was drafted in to shoot the publicity for Bowie’s 1983 Let’s Dance tour.  Several shoots followed and Mc Gee’s most famous images of Bowie now reside in the National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection. The pair went on to have friendship of more than thirty years and we will hear about the shoots, about how the two worked together, the importance of music in the sessions and stories from their friendship down the years
Dr. Leah Kardos is a composer, musician and author. Her most recent book, Blackstar Theory takes a close look at Bowie’s ambitious last works: his surprise ‘comeback’ project The Next Day (2013), the off-Broadway musical Lazarus (2015) and the album that preceded the artist’s death in 2016 by two days, Blackstar. On the night, Leah will investigate how a man approaching his own death can create art that illuminates the immortal potential of all matter in the known universe.
The evening will be hosted by author and cultural commentator Travis Elborough.
More info and to book tickets here. 
https://centuryclub.co.uk/members-events/bowie-looks-at-us-an-in-conversation-with-tony-mcgee-and-leah-kardos/
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I'm feeling quite excited to be hosting this event at the Louder Than Words festival in Manchester on November 12. I'll be speaking with Karl Bartos about his recently published autobiography The Sound of the Machine: My Life in Kraftwerk and Beyond.

I reviewed the book in the Wire issue 463, and I can't wait to chat with Karl about his writing, his experiences as a member of Kraftwerk's classic lineup, and his life story so far, framed in music.

Tickets and info here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/karl-bartos-in-conversation-the-sound-of-the-machine-tickets-427816018227


https://www.karlbartos.com/home.html

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Update: well that was a lot of fun! What a thrill it was to spend some time with Herr Bartos and his manager Rüdiger while staying in Manchester. Isn't it great when you find out your heroes are also excellent humans too? Big thanks to Stylophone Official for gifting me the personalised S1 - I was able to gift it to Karl on stage at the event - a moment I'll never forget.


Book endorsements back at ya!-----

I was the lucky first guest on the inaugural episode of 'Synthnatter' with Stuart Russell.

We chat about stylophones, KUSO, Visconti Studio, Mellotrons, baking music and Bird Rib. You can check it out here!


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