The Penniless Podcaster Masterclass

Amy Redmond on the right

On the weekend I took a course with the lovely Amy Redmond – a Radio 1 producer who is probably the most chirpily vivacious person I’ve ever met. She’s someone whose every other sentence ends with “!”. It really cracked me up the way she said stuff like “tell me about yourself girlfriend!” in class. I wonder if everyone speaks like this at Radio 1. You can check out an article Amy wrote about the class in Clash magazine. http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/the-penniless-podcaster-amy-redmond

Anyway, so I was doing this ‘Penniless Podcaster Masterclass’ at the Roundhouse, where Amy helped a group of us put together a podcast reporting the happenings at the Roundhouse on Saturday. We covered the ‘Roundhouse Rising’ event, which was a collection of events held over two weeks – including a series of talks focusing on women in music.

Since the class lasted about 4 hours, during which time we went through interview techniques, recording and talked about the joy of radio/podcasts, it was a bit of a frantic rush towards the end - however it was great to hear our final product.

You can hear our podcast on Soundcloud:

I did the interview with Judy and recorded some of the vox-pops towards the end. As one of my mentors at the BBC used to say, you’re supposed get a broad selection of voices for vox-pops, though you can often end up only interviewing attractive members of the opposite sex. There’s definitely a real joy in being in a position to ask strangers questions (particularly the attractive ones!).

Bookclub, Art Spiegelman and my vocal premiere on Radio 4

Whilst interning at Radio 4 I came across a very interesting book, a promotional copy of Art Spiegelman’s MetaMaus.

It's a book detailing the making of Spiegelman’s Maus, answering some of the readers’ questions about why Spiegelmann wanted to make a memoir of his father’s experiences during the holocaust in the form of a comic book.

It even came with a DVD, making the whole package feel like a bonus disc that you’d get with a film that’s packed full of extra features.


I found the very concept of MetaMaus intriguing, since it’s odd that a writer would make a book explaining and examining their greatest work.

In December one of the researchers at Radio 4 told me that Art Spiegelman was coming onto Radio 4’s Bookclub and that I might want to go along to it. I emailed one of the producers, who let me sit in on the recording in exchange for helping out with the guests and pouring them drinks.

Art Spiegelman was a fascinating guest. He was perfect to have on the show, since the book was so completely intertwined with his own personal relationship with his father. Unlike an author discussing the characters of a fictional work, being before the audience Spiegelman gave real answers about his views of very real family members. He gave extra insight to his life, which deepened our appreciation of the book.

What made this episode of Bookclub particularly interesting was the fact that it was on a comic book, so the programme explored some interesting ideas about comic books as a medium. Spiegelman did a particularly interesting reading of a comic strip, which of course had to be adapted for radio.


I was very pleased to find out that the question I asked was kept in (particularly since I thought it was slightly convoluted when I said it).

So, I present Shaun Tey's debut on BBC Radio 4:



You can hear the full episode (though I think that the link will only work for the next few weeks). You can also download it:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/openbook/openbook_20120205-1630a.mp3

Radio in Review: 'Heartbreakers - The story of all-girl Zep'

Here is another Falling Tree production – an indie that initially caught my attention with their bold 4 part series, ‘Short Cuts’. It's a great 50 minute documentary on the all female rock band… Lez Zeppelin.

Lez Zeppelin

You can download it at:
http://www.fallingtree.co.uk/static/user_uploaded/60591154_1-01%20Heartbreakers_%20The%20Story%20of%20All.mp3

(Note: The embedded mp3 and the link is from the Falling Tree website)

Sarah McLellan

It’s littered with some great Led and Lez Zeppelin tracks. If anything it’s great to hear Zeppelin again, a band which I have neglected for far too long. It makes you realise how amazing songs like ‘Rock & Roll’, ‘Blackdog’, ‘Dazed and Confused’, ‘Whole Lotta Love’ etc… are – and how a pair of female lungs can really add an interesting dimension to them. The documentary often plays Zeppelin tracks alternating between the Lez and Led versions, letting the listener compare the vocal qualities of Robert Plant with that of the Lez Zeppelin singer, Sarah McLellan.

Listening to Lez Zeppelin is used as an opportunity to reflect on the aspects of Zeppelin that makes them so great. For example, they talk about the sexual energy of their performances, as well as the effeminate posturing of the blouse wearing Plant. They also discuss the diversity of Zeppelin’s influences and question whether they really are the quintessential “Cock Rock” band. Members of Lez Zeppelin discuss how they feel about performing Zeppelin tracks as a female group, talk about how they are received by the sometimes sceptical crowds and ponder over whether they see themselves as a 'Tribute Band'.

Amy Jane Hall

What adds an extra charm to the piece is the way the documentary is presented. You are guided through the interviews and the themes by the father/daughter team of Alan Hall and the 15 year old Amy Jane Hall. Amy gently mocks her father’s attempts to play Stairway to Heaven and they talk about their favourite songs. This gives a nicely personal touch to the documentary, which adds to the sincerity of the admiration the presenters have for Zeppelin.

In short, it's a wonderfully warm documentary, which shows how the love of Zeppelin can span generations. It also demonstrates through Lez Zeppelin’s recordings that the great band’s tunes are truly timeless.