Hi and welcome back to the podcast. I’ve had a huge break. This has been for a bunch of reasons – but really it was because of the pandemic. Lockdowns killed my flow, I didn’t want to just do phone and Skype chats. And then, ever since hitting ‘stop’ it’s been very hard to press ‘play’ again. Or in fact to hit ‘Record’.But here I am again, with the new sporadic approach to podcasting. Meaning, there’s no guarantee of a weekly chat or even fortnightly. I’m just hoping to get an episode up every now and then.And so, to episode 274 of Sweetman Podcast.The first podcast for the year. The longest break since I started this podcast.This conversation is a repeat guest. The writer Megan Dunn. I first spoke to Megan in 2018 (and you can click that link to hear the earlier chat). Megan had written her first book when I spoke to her a few years back. I asked her to come back when she completed her second book; it was going to be about mermaids. That book never happened. But there’s some writing about that topic – and we talk about that topic here and much of what’s in her second book, the brilliant Things I Learned At Art School, a memoir-in-essays.I’m a huge fan of Megan’s writing and it’s nice chatting with her – we geek out about pop culture and art.This conversation was actually recorded way back toward the end of last year – to date it I’m including a link to a New York Times article, Who Is The Bad Art Friend? We talk a bit about this in the podcast, this essay was doing the rounds at the time. That’ll give you a context for when this conversation took place. You can see how I never could have made it in the world of PR or event management. This is the biggest promotional lag ever! But it’s still a fun and relevant conversation. And the book is still available to buy. Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.com/subscribe

A phone conversationw with TV host and comedian Dai Henwood. We've never met and this is our first ever chat, so we talk lockdown and covid, and rap music, and we talk about his father, the late, great Ray Henwood (a wonderful actor). We do talk comedy, a bit. But this was more a getting-to-know-somehow chat. And I loved it. I hope you do too. Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.com/subscribe

An in-depth conversation with Wellington-based actor, writer and producer Jean Sergent. We talk about her life and work, growing up in an acting family, her current show - Live Through This - her interest in reading Tarot and a whole lot more. Great chat! Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.com/subscribe

A talk I gave at the 2020 Manawatu Writers Festival. I'm talking about blogging - and indeed all the writing I do and my journey towards it and through it. Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.com/subscribe

An in-depth conversation with Wellington-based performance poet Tarns Hood. We talk about her style of work and she recites several poems - we talk poetry slams and performing in general. We also talk about sobriety, celebrate her recent 5-year (60 month) milestone. And she talks candidly about alcoholism. Her bottoming out. Her decision to work a program, to stay clean, to live day by day. And to channel into work and performance. Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.com/subscribe

An in-depth conversation with Andrew Gladstone, drummer for Garageland. We talk about the highs and lows of the band's career across the mid/late 1990s and early 00s and then Andrew's move to Hawke's Bay to hide from the music industry - where of course he went on to play even more drums (including with Fane Flaws - R.I.P.) We also talked about the upcoming Anniversary Tour where the original band members are reforming to play their classic debut record, "Last Exit To Garageland". Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.com/subscribe

An in-depth conversation with the writer and book-store owner Catherine Robertson. We talk art, books, music, movies - all the good things. Huge chat. We talk about Catherine's books - but also about writing in general; books in general. We talk through her life and influences and discuss book reviewing. And many other things along the way. Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.com/subscribe

An in-depth conversation with poet and sculptor Sam Duckor-Jones. We talk about, and he reads from, his new book, Party Legend. But we talk about his life making and creating, the need to make - and the search to find and announce one's self through the work. We talk about not connecting with school and not writing - beyond poetry. We talk about finding your medium, about the IIML, about listening in on other conversations and reading in public. Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.com/subscribe

An in-depth conversation with Otaki-based actor Jeff Kingsford-Brown. He's currently - as you hear this - the lead role in the show Elling at Circa Theatre in Wellington. He's been a professional actor for many years and we talk about his life and work, talking also of great screen performances by many acting legends. We talk technqique, we talk about some of the funny things that can happen on stage, and we talk about his early life in musical theatre and the training he underwent to devote a life to the stage. Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.com/subscribe

A brief phone conversation with the legendary comic mind and author Ben Elton. We talk about his tour with a bit of looking back to when and how he made his name in the 1980s as a writer for legendary TV shows and creator of iconic characters. Get full access to Sounds Good! at simonsweetman.substack.com/subscribe