Sweetman Podcast

Rachel Doré interviewed me for Manawatu Peoples Radio (MPR) to promote my talk this coming Sunday, September 13, at the Feilding Library as part of the Manawatu Writers Festival. I'll be talking blogging and my life - over the last 15 years - as a daily blogger. I'll be chatting about ways to do it and reasons to bother. This interview is kindly re-upped with MPR's permission.

An in-depth conversation with Ben Mulchin - owner/operator of Valhalla music venue in Wellington and a tour promoter (Valhalla Touring). Ben and I talked about his background outside and away from music (science), his love of the venue (then Hole In The Wall) and his decision to run a bar, and then get into promoting shows. We talk, too, of Covid-19's plans for 2020 and adjusting to lockdown levels and socially distanced, responsible gigging.

An in-depth conversation with Charlotte Graham-McLay. She is a Wellington-based reporter and broadcaster. Following work at RNZ she is now the New York Times correspondant and one of the NZ correspodants writing for The Guardian. We talked about her training and experiences in the field - in both radio and print journalism. We talked too of how to negotiate the world online, how to manage life, work and social media. We talked about her Masters topic, the gendered online abuse of radio hosts.

An in-depth conversation with writer and comedian Eamonn Marra. We talk about the Christchurch earthquakes, creative writing classes in Wellington, depression, anxiety and mental health, stand-up comedy, writing and his novel, 2000ft Above Worry Level.

An in-depth conversation with writer and performance poet Ben Brown. Ben is Lyttelton-based and this chat happened recently in Wellington outside with the weekend noises happening about us. We talked through his life and work and had a deep discussion about alcohol, alcoholism and addiction. Also an even deeper conversation about poetry. And family.

An in-depth conversation with Wellington-based writer Rachel McAlpine. Rachel, 80, talks aging and getting old and fighting against it as well as going with it. She talks about and reads from her brand new poetry collection, How To Be Old and discusses her writing history back to her 1975 debut poetry volume and her time writing books about the internet and web-writing in the 90s/00s.

An in-depth conversation with drummer, percussionist and tutor Lance Philip. For the last quarter-century Lance has been a teacher of drums and percussion, fitting in his own gigs on the side. Gigs that have included orchestras and musical theatre, being in the pit for TV shows (Dancing With The Stars) and an enduring musical relationship with Rodger Fox. We have a big old nerdy drum chat - including the time we both met shared hero, Steve Gadd. And the fact that Lance was one of the first people to read and react to my ebook, "Drummers You Just Can't Beat". We talk through his life dedicated to studying and appreciating and teaching the art of drums and percussion.

A brief phoner - and not without technical difficulties - with the MC5 guitarist, Wayne Kramer. Wayne was on his way to NZ at the start of the year to open for Alice Cooper. This all actually happened, in a pre-Pandemic world. But I never found a space for my interview. It wasn't one of my greatest interviews. Sound quality isn't amazing, some technical difficulties meant Wayne couldn't hear everything, the publicist was listening in. I wanted to present it to you though, warts and all. We got there. We talked about some things.

An in-depth conversation with Wellington-based, Invercargill-born actor and voiceover artist Dryw McArthur. We talk about his work in recent Wellington theatre productions, The Aliens (Annie Baker) and Burn Her (Sam Brooks) as well as his current appearance in the brand new radio-drama/podcast Apocalypse Songs. We also talk about his work as a voice-artist, preparing copy for international clients and narrating audio-books using multiple accents. All from the comfort of his bedroom studio in a Wellington flat.

An in-depth conversation with musician, poet, teacher and music therapist Ruby Solly. We talk about her life and work, he connection to music, her deep study and improvisation with the cello and on to Taonga puoro and other instruments, including her brand new album Poneke. Ruby is also a poet so we talk poetry, writing and influences too.

An in-depth conversation with Wellington record reviewer and retailer Colin Morris. We talk about his life from England to Wellington, from owning record stores to working for Unity Books; to a life filled with music and with recommendations for others across the counter and across print and radio. Colin shares some of his stories about meeting many of the most famous people in music (B.B. King, Quincy Jones, Mavis Staples) and about dedicating his life to his love of good music.

An in-depth phone conversation with Paul McLaney. We talk about the return of his band-name Gramsci and their brand new album, Inheritance; the first Gramsci record in 15 years. We talk about the influences that went into that record, the lifestyle changes that informed it and a big conversation around belief in music and integrity.

An in-depth conversation with poet, writer and theatre-maker Freya Daly Sadgrove. She talks about and reads poems from her debut full-length VUP collection, "Head Girl". We talk about life and writing, she discusses her mental health and lockdown and remembering that classic tome, 'Laura's Poems'.

An in-depth conversation with PR/Comms specialist, writer, political commentator and ex-comedian David Cormack. We talk through his life and career/s and also talk about the podcast Brazen, of which he is one of the producers and co-creators. We talk about comedy, TV appearances, freelance writing, parenting, the state of politics and jouranlism and many other things besides.

An in-depth conversation with (Officer) Karen O'Leary; she of the TV show Wellington Paranormal and the movie What We Do In The Shadows. When is not portraying Officer O'Leary she is the head teacher at an early childcare facility, where she's been employed for the last 20 years. She fell into acting by a mistake of genius casting. We talk about her life and passions and the 'side-gig' of appearing in character at events and on stage and screen.

A phoner with the legendary singer/songwriter and producer Nick Lowe.

An in-depth conversation with journalist Mike White. We talk through his life and career - including many of the stories he's helped defined and which in turn have defined him (Ben and Olivia, Scott Guy, Mark Lundy) as well as his love of dogs and his brand new book "How To Walk A Dog". We talk about journalism's future and celebrate its past. We talk about his luck and skill as an award winning writing with a decade and a half run at North & South.

An in-depth conversation with Sameena Zehra - storyteller, actor, activist, artist, comedian...we talk about her life and work and how she finds and keeps projects that keep her afloat and nourish the soul. We spent time previewing the then-upcoming (now postponed) show at BATS Theatre, White Men. But we talked about a lot of other things beyond that - and fingers crossed the show will return to have its hour on the stage at some point this year. There's a lot in this chat besides all that.

An in-depth conversation with George D. Henderson, singer, songwriter and musician. We talk about his time with The Puddle and other projects. We talk drugs and rehabilitation and his sideline career as an academic researcher. We talk music in general, songwriting, the genius of Luke Haines and many more things besides.

An in-depth conversation with Jordan Luck - lead singer and songwriter with The Jordan Luck Band, formerly The Dance Exponents and The Exponents. We talk of a life touring, of songwriting, of the intervention that lead to his sobriety. We talk too about finding joy in music, in listening, in a love of sound.