I admire and respect Richard Jobson’s contributions to the arts and civic life enormously. From where I sit, there’s a fearlessness and determination to evolve, to try new things, to experiment, to challenge the sometimes narrow, traditional notions of what it means to be artistic, to resist those whose purpose in life is to sit in judgement and to redefine success and failure with more comradeship and less derision. To me, it’s clear that his respect for the past is genuine and forthright, y...

No introduction needed for John Wardle aka Jah Wobble. This is a massive conversation with John about life. It's funny, personal, intense, a full learning experience. All the things that you want and need from conversations these days. https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently. Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives. ...

I only met Jem Doulton a couple of months ago and have had the privilege of watching him play several times with the Au Pairs whilst they’ve been out on tour supporting the Skids and also doing their own headline shows. Jem’s predominantly a percussionist and drummer, but is also partial to the odd bit of crooning now and again. Now, getting together a list of his bands, projects and all that good stuff is where my research gets dodgy, but fuck it here we go with what’s probably a part...

I recently read a blog post of mine from 2019, not long after I’d quit my job and it was clear that I was riddled with self-doubt, some fear, some excitement at this new liminal space I was going into. And also worrying about what people think. What the actual fuck? I look back and think why?? Most people were excited for me and those that were sniffy, well, I thought I didn’t give a fuck about them. But they still snuck into my brain rent free. The self doubt lasted a good while into...

I started writing a book during Covid which in a spur of the moment I called A Re-Design for Life. I bet you can’t guess what album I’d been listening to…... The reason for starting, apart from being able to satisfy some boredom and ego, was to try convey my belief that the most important asset we all possess is our self, especially as more and more of us are living multi stage lives and in a world that is so fucking complex and volatile, that the old rules are redundant. Much of societ...

Atef and I go way back - almost 6 entire months! We met on a balmy end of summer night at the Shacklewell Arms in London and Crocodiles were playing one of the sweatiest and most perfect gigs I’ve been to. At the end of the night I said “See you in Spain in September” to rousing sniggers of “yeah right” from everyone - only kidding, they were delightful but, y’know, bold promises are often made when the euphoria of adrenaline is rushing. But, sure enough, I appeared in Murcia to take in some ...

When I was a kid in the 80’s, I used to listen to a local radio show called On The Wire, presented by Steve Barker. Steve and John Peel were single handedly responsible for me finding bands and artists like African Headcharge, Sonic Youth, Tackhead, Test Dept, Cabaret Voltaire, Mark Stewart and The Mafia, Keith Le Blanc, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and so many others. It was so, so thrilling to discover these new artists. And the show is still going, Steve is still going (albeit on Mixcloud...

I’ve really not talked about this too much, but when I first moved to London at the end of 2008, I felt a massive liberation from the anonymity that the city gave me. I hardly knew anybody – and there’s a separate conversation to be had about how people perceive our identity and how that can confine us - but even when I got to know people and scenes, the city made it easy to disappear when I wanted to. For me, an introvert at heart, this gave me freedom to allow my true identity that was lurk...

In 1987, the US Army War College coined the acronym of VUCA in 1987 to describe a world that was expected to become more difficult to navigate as the end of the Cold War started to become a reality – VUCA stands for volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Aside from it being kinda ironic, with what’s happening right now, that the US Army coined this acronym, it’s struck me that musicians have been working in an industry that has breathed this sort of uncertainty and volatility, whilst th...

I thought long and hard about what I wanted to say in the introduction today. I’ve felt quite rattled with some of what’s been in the news, especially these last few weeks, let alone years, and it’s kind of taken over my brain. But, I recalled a few words from Joe Strummer many years ago saying "People are out there doing bad things to each other. It's because they're being dehumanised. It's time to take humanity back into the centre of the ring and follow that for a time." Music...