The Seers with Steve Croom

The Seers with Steve Croom in conversation with David Eastaugh

The Roots of the Seers lie in two places; Bristol (obviously) and Billericay (not so obviously). Leigh Wildman grew up in Billericay and it was there he met Jason Collins, a guitarist from nearby Brentwood. They had spent some time in bands around the Essex region and they, along with a few friends, had decided to up sticks and try somewhere else. At the suggestion of one of their number, Bristol was decided upon, and a mini Essex invasion took place in the summer of 1984.

The Bristol punk scene in 1984 was a more cider fuelled version of what Crass was peddling, with a very much Do it yourself vibe. Bands squatted venues like the old Beetle Centre on Stokes Croft and encouraged the squatting of disused houses, which many lived in. It was in one of these squatted houses, Turdy Way, named for the amount of dog shit in the house when it was first squatted, that the Essex invasion landed.

Miles Copeland - The Police, REM, IRS Records

Miles Copeland in conversation with David Eastaugh - talking about his new book, Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back tells the extraordinary story of a maverick manager, promoter, label owner, and all-round legend of the music industry. It opens in the Middle East, where Miles grew up with his father, a CIA agent who was stationed in Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon. It then shifts to London in the late 60s and the beginnings of a career managing bands like Wishbone Ash and Curved Air - only for Miles's life and work to be turned upside down by a pioneering yet disastrous European tour.

Thatcher on Acid with Andy Tuck

Thatcher on Acid with Andy Tuck in conversation with David Eastaugh

Thatcher on Acid were an English anarcho-punk band. They formed in Somersetduring 1983. Their name is a satirical reference to former UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher.^[3] Ben Corrigan, Bob Butler and Andy Tuck also played in Schwartzeneggar with ex-Crass member, Steve Ignorant. The band opened the anarcho-punk band Conflict's "Gathering of the 5000" show at Brixton Academy,^[2] an event which resulted in many arrests and achieved a degree of infamy.

Medium Medium with Andy Ryder

Medium Medium with Andy Ryder in conversation with David Eastaugh

Emerging in 1978 out of the Nottingham punk/rhythm & blues band The Press, Medium Medium's first single was "Them or Me", which was released in late 1978 and was still selling well enough in 1980 to appear in the UK Independent Chart.^[2][3] The second single, "Hungry, So Angry", was released in February 1981 on Cherry Red Records. One of the first records to introduce slap bass - a technique borrowed from black funk music - to a generally white audience, "Hungry, So Angry" reached #48 in the Billboard Disco chart - the single and the album were released in 1981 on the New York-based indie label Cachalot Records - and has appeared on over a dozen compilations over the years.

The band released one studio album, The Glitterhouse, in late 1981. Its stark, stripped-down dub and dance rhythms and chiming, funk guitar with occasional saxophone and other sounds, failed to attract a large following.

Tanya Pearson in conversation

Tanya Pearson in conversation with David Eastaugh

Tanya Pearson is a Public Historian and Director of the Women of Rock Oral History Project, a collection of digital interviews and written transcripts documenting the lives and careers of (women-identified) rock musicians. A documentary film based on the interviews is currently in production as well as an oral history of rock music. Why Marianne Faithfull Matters, her contribution to the University of Texas Press’ Music Matters Series, will be published in July, 2021.

Suicide with Martin Rev

Suicide with Martin Rev in conversation with David Eastaugh

Suicide was an American musical duo composed of vocalist Alan Vega and instrumentalist Martin Rev, intermittently active between 1970 and 2016. The group's pioneering music utilized minimalist electronic instrumentation, including synthesizersand primitive drum machines, and their early performances were confrontational and often ended in violence. They were among the first acts to use the phrase "punk music" in an advertisement for a concert in 1970.

Friends Again with Chris Thomson & Paul McGeechan Part 2

Friends Again with Chris Thomson & Paul McGeechan in conversation with David Eastaugh -  Part 2

They were formed by members Chris Thomson and Paul McGeechan, together with Neil Cunningham, James Grant and Stuart Kerr. The group was famous for their singles "State of Art", "Sunkissed" and "Honey at the Core". They released a self-titled EP in 1984, which peaked at No. 59 on the UK Singles Chart. They then recorded their debut album, Trapped & Unwrapped (1984).

Wall of Voodoo with Bruce “Ravens” Moreland

Wall of Voodoo with Bruce "Ravens" Moreland in conversation with David Eastaugh

Wall of Voodoo had its roots in Acme Soundtracks, a film score business started by Stan Ridgway, later the vocalist and harmonica player for Wall of Voodoo. Acme Soundtracks' office was across the street from the Hollywood punk club The Masqueand Ridgway was soon drawn into the emerging punk/new wave scene. Marc Moreland, guitarist for the Skulls, began jamming with Ridgway at the Acme Soundtracks office and the soundtrack company morphed into a new wave band. In 1977, with the addition of Skulls members Bruce Moreland (Marc Moreland's brother) as bassist and Chas T. Gray as keyboardist, along with Joe Nanini, who had been the drummer for the Bags, the Eyes, and Black Randy and the Metrosquad, the first lineup of Wall of Voodoo was born.

Thin White Rope with Roger Kunkel

Thin White Rope with Roger Kunkel in conversation with David Eastaugh 

In 1984, a four-track recording with about 14 songs was sent to a number of labels, and an additional demo was recorded in December with Scott Miller producing. At this time, Jozef Becker rejoined the group, replacing French. Lisa Fancher of Frontier Records, who heard of Thin White Rope through a magazine review of the 14-song demo, signed the group to Frontier, and the band then recorded Exploring the Axis.

Over time, the band retained singer/songwriter/guitarist Guy Kyser and guitarist Roger Kunkel, with a changing line-up of drummers and bass guitarists. Like Television, it was noted for its twin guitar attack, innovative use of feedback structures and oblique lyrics. The Rough Guide to Rock called Thin White Rope "one of the few worthwhile traditional American guitar rock bands of their era. While most of the essential groups of the time were pushing back the limits of the form, Thin White Rope had the distinction of managing to breathe new life into the genre."

Adele Bertei - Contortions, Peter Laughner & Why Labelle Matters

Adele Bertei -  Contortions,  Peter Laughner & Why Labelle Matters - in conversation with David Eastaugh

Bertei began her career playing guitar and singing in the Wolves, her first band with Laughner. She left Cleveland for New York City in 1977 shortly after Laughner died prematurely of complications due to alcoholism.

Bertei quickly became a prominent figure in the no wave art and music scene in NYC, playing Acetone organ and guitar in the original line up of the Contortions fronted by James Chance. While working as personal assistant to Brian Eno in 1978, Bertei took him to a series of concerts at Artists Space in New York, which resulted in Eno producing the iconoclastic LP No New York for the Virgin/Antilles label, featuring the Contortions and three other no wave bands.

Marco Pirroni - Adam & The Ants, Sinead O’Connor

Marco Pirroni in conversation with David Eastaugh

Pirroni was lead guitarist and co-songwriter in the second incarnation of Adam and the Ants, penning two UK number one singlesand a further four Top Ten hits, with Ant. The two albums he co-wrote for Adam and the Ants, Kings of the Wild Frontier and Prince Charming, both made the Top 10 in the UK Albums Chart ("Kings" #1; "Prince Charming" #2).

When Adam and the Ants disbanded in 1982, Pirroni was retained as Adam Ant's co-writer and studio guitarist; they produced another number-one single ("Goody Two Shoes") and an album (Friend or Foe), followed by four more Top 20 hits. Ant and Pirroni won two shared Ivor Novello Awards for "Stand and Deliver"

Pirroni and Ant working together sold more than eighteen million records worldwide, scoring number ones in Australia, the Republic of Ireland, Germany, Greece, Sweden, Israel and Japan as well as in the UK.

Doctors of Madness with Richard Strange

Doctors of Madness with Richard Strange in conversation with David Eastaugh

In September 2019 he toured the UK with an all-star band in a show entitled "Richard Strange performs the songs of Lou Reed", featuring over 20 songs by the former Velvet Underground composer and front man.

Throughout the Covid- 19 "Lockdown" months of March-August 2020, Strange worked from his studio, creating an audio version of his memoir "Strange- Punks and Drunks and Flicks and Kicks", which he offered free in daily instalments from his website, and he commenced a weekly online radio show, "Dark Times Radio", featuring music he had written, performed, produced or been inspired by. The shows were uploaded to the Soundcloud platform.

Strange's first band was Doctors of Madness, formed in 1975, recording three influential but non-commercial albums. The band was supported by the Sex Pistols, the Jam and Joy Division. He disbanded the band in 1978, after Dave Vanian of the Damned briefly joined him on vocals. He subsequently recorded as a solo artist, releasing two albums The Live Rise of Richard Strange (Ze Records 1981) and The Phenomenal Rise of Richard Strange (Virgin Records 1981) before further releases with the Engine Room up to the early 1990s.

The Hard-Ons with Ray Ahn

The Hard-Ons with Ray Ahn in conversation with David Eastaugh

The Hard-Ons are an Australian punk rock band which formed in 1981. Founding members included Keish de Silva on guitar, vocals and Peter "Blackie" Black on guitar, Ray Ahn soon joined on bass guitar with de Silva switching to drums. The group issued eight studio albums before disbanding in 1994. They reformed in 1997 to release further material. In 2002 de Silva was replaced on drums by Peter Kostic, who was replaced in turn by Murray Ruse in 2011. De Silva returned as a guest vocalist in 2014 and permanently rejoined the band in 2016. During their first 12 years, the group issued 17 consecutive number-one hits on the Australian alternativecharts. During that time they became Australia's most commercially successful independent band, with over 250,000 total record sales

Jimi LaLumia in conversation

Jimi LaLumia in conversation with David Eastaugh

New York punk musician Jimi LaLumia was raised in Lake Ronkonkoma, Long Island, and grew more and more interested in the New York City music scene of the late '60s and early '70s. He became a freelance music writer and a scene staple at the legendary Max's Kansas City, befriending Johnny Thunders and Jayne County in the process. In 1977, LaLumia formed Jimi LaLumia and the Psychotic Frogs, self-releasing the manic "Death to Disco (Disco Sucks)" later that year. The aptly titled EP Typically Tasteless appeared in 1978, featuring the originals "Mangle Me" and "You'll Never Walk Again" on the A-side and hilariously vulgar renditions of "Eleanor Rigby" and County's "I Got Fucked by the Devil Last Night" on the flip. The following year saw the release of two more Beatles-related covers, the Isley Brothers' "Twist and Shout" and the Shirelles' "Boys," on a gold-vinyl 45 featuring vocals by Cherry Vanilla and Blondie's early backup singer Donna Destri. Although the group survived in various forms for several years, that was their last official release.

Eater with Andy Blade or Ashruf Radwan

Eater with Andy Blade or Ashruf Radwan in conversation with David Eastaugh

Eater were known for being one of the youngest bands, if not the youngest band, in the punk scene. They were 14–17 years old when they formed the group.

Despite originating in London, the band made its first public performance on 20 September 1976 at Manchester's Holdsworth Hall, featuring Buzzcocks as their support act. The band did not yet have a permanent bassist and rented a local musician for the show.^[10] Lutfi Radwan was soon replaced by drummer Dee Generate (real name: Roger Bullen), and by November 1976, they had recruited bassist Ian Woodcock in time to play their first London gig.

Eater became one of the pioneering punk bands that played live in the first few months of the now-legendary Roxy Club. They topped the bill twice in January 1977; the second time they were supported by the Damned. They headlined again in February, this time supported by Johnny Moped, and twice more in March, supported first by the Lurkers and then by Sham 69. They also supplied two of their tracks, "15" (a version of "I'm Eighteen" by Alice Cooper) and "Don't Need It", to the seminal live compilation album The Roxy London WC2, released on 24 June 1977