Podcasts about Fightstar

For this episode of Free With This Month's Issue we're joined for the first time by Sam Stokes, who hosts the Den Of Ten, Reel Talk, & One Rules Them All podcasts on the Film Stories Network to discuss Kerrang's Kerrang Awards 2005: The Nominees CD from August 2005The cd's tracklisting is1 - Foo Fighters - Free Me2 - Funeral For A Friend - Recovery3 - Green Day - She's A Rebel4 - Towers Of London - Fuck It Up5 - Stereophonics - Doorman6 - My Chemical Romance - Thank You For The Venom7 - Trivium - Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr8 - Lordi - The Devil Is A Loser9 - Still Remains - The Worst Is Yet To Come10 - Bullet For My Valentine - Her Voice Resides (Live)11 - Slipknot - The Blister Exists (Live)12 - Cradle Of Filth - Nymphetamine Fix 13 - Fightstar - Palahniuk's Laughter14 - Avenged Sevenfold - Trashed & Scattered15 - Eighteen Visions - I Let GoGo listen to Sam's other podcasts! Den Of Ten - a podcast where Sam & a different guest debate their top ten of anything from Alternative 80s songs to regional accents. Reel Talk - where Sam & various guests discuss new movie releases. & One Rules Them All - a Lord Of The Rings podcast Sam cohosts with Baz Greenland, although to be honest they aren't nearly critical enough about how annoying Tom Bombadil is in the books.If you haven't seen the mighty misheard Trivium lyric video we reference in the episode then you can find it here.Listen to all available songs on our ongoing Spotify playlist - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1mzWOWEfQ5LklJyUZkpfs2?si=LbWBi9-oTl-eXjkUJbpx2QYou can buy a copy of the cd from Discogs here - https://www.discogs.com/release/2952041-Various-Kerrang-Awards-2005-The-NomineesHosts - Ian Clarke & Colin Jackson-BrownRecorded/Edited/Mixed/Original music by Colin Jackson Brown for We Dig PodcastsBluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/thismonthsissue.bsky.socialInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/freewiththismonthsissue/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/freewiththismonthsissue/Find our other episodes, plus We Dig Music & Pick A Disc at www.wedigpodcasts.com

Thunderbirds Are Go!!! The pop-punk battle of the century, Busted vs McFly. Who wins? With both bands announcing a two-month co-arena tour for September/October 2025, Charlie Simpson and Danny Jones, return to Episode 308 of Sappenin' Podcast together, for an exclusive joint podcast interview, as we dissect their intertwined history, show secrets and a love for custard cream biscuits. Recorded at McFly HQ studios in London, Charlie and Danny answer untold mysteries behind the announcement, why it's the perfect time to do this, throwing wrestling type shade at one another, member brotherhoods, always being compared to each other, fighting pop vs rock misconceptions, annoying assumptions, lyric vs guitar mistakes, insane merchandise ideas, tour championship belts, hostile fan tribalism, London parking hacks, new music blueprints, Fightstar updates, SideQuest Sounds contracts, what the next years holds individually and more! Turn it up and join Sean and Morgan to find out Sappenin' this week!Follow us on Social Media:Twitter: @sappeninpodInstagram: @sappeninpodSpecial thank you to our Sappenin' Podcast Patreons:Join the Sappenin' Podcast Community: Patreon.com/Sappenin.Kylie Wheeler, Janelle Caston, Paul Hirschfield, Tony Michael, Scarlet Charlton, Dilly Grimwood, Mitch Perry, Nathan Crawshaw, Molly Molloy, James Bowerbank, Amee Louise, Kat Bessant, Kieran Lewis, Alexandra Pemblington, Jonathan Gutierrez, Jenni Robinson, Stuart McNaught, Jenni Munster, Louis Cook, Carl Pendlebury, James Mcnaught, Martina McManus, Jason Heredia, John&Emma, Danny Eaton, RahRah James, Sian Foynes, Evan, Ollie Amesbury, Dan Peregreen, Emily Perry, Kalila Keane, Adam Parslow, Josh Crisp, Vicki Henshaw, Laura Russell, Fraser Cummings, Sophie Ansell, Kyle Smith, Connor Lewins, Billy Hunter, Harry Radford, George Evans, Em Evans Roberts, Thomas O'Neill, Sinead O'Halloran, Kael Braham, Jade Austin, Charlie Wood, Aurora Winchester, Jordan Harris, James Page, Georgie Hopkinson, Helen Anyetta, John Wilson, Lisa Sullivan, Ayla Emo, Kelly Young, Jennifer Dean, Tj Ambler-Shattock, Chaz Howkins, Michael Snowden, Justine Baddeley, David Winchurch, Jim Farrell, Scott Evans, Andrew Simpson, Shaun Croucher, Lewis Sluman, Ellie Gowers, Luke Wardle, Grazyna McGroarty, Nathan Matheson, Matt Roberts, Joshua Lewis, Erin Howard,, Chris Harris, Lucy Neill, Amy Thomas, Jessie Hellier, Stevie Burke, Robert Pike, Anthony Matthews, Samantha Neville, Sarah Maher, Owen Davies, Bethan Downing, Jessica Tiernan, Danielle Oldershaw, Samantha Bowen, Ruby Price, Jule Ferl, Alice Wood, Billy Parmiter, Emma Musgrave, Rhian Friggens, Hannah Kenyon, Patrick Floyd, Hayley Taylor, Loz Sanchez, Cerys Andrews, Dan Johnson, Eva B, Emma Barber, Helen Macbeth, Melissa Mercury, Joshua Ryan, Cate Stevenson, Emily Moorhouse, Jacob Turner, Madeleine Inez, Robert Byrne, Christopher Goldring, Chris Lincoln, Beth Gayler, Lesley Dargie-Walker, Sabina Grosch, Tom Hylands, Andrew Keech, Kerry Beckett, Leanne Gerrard, Ieuan Wheeler, Hannah Rachael, Gemma Graham, Andy Wastell, Jay Smith, Nuala Clark, Liam Connolly, Lavender Martin, Lloyd Pinder, Ghostly Grimoire, Amy Hogg.Diolch and Thank You x Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Def Leppard signal the dawn of the pop metal age with Pyromania, we evaluate if Fightstar's Grand Unification holds up, Comeback Kid make a modern hardcore classic Wake the Dead, and Autopsy set a bar for freakish death metal Mental Funeral.This episode was originally published April 2023 on patreon.com/thatsnotmetal.

Palahniuk's Laughter. Drum machine, decorated actor and industry master of trades, Omar Abidi, is our guest on Episode 281 of Sappenin' Podcast! The Fightstar rhythm master, exclusively reflects on the bands 'one night only' return at Wembley Arena, twentieth anniversary celebrations and a career of unbelievable moments. In this conversation, Omar pulls back the curtain on breaking their hiatus, current status vs future plans, late night Charlie Simpson phone calls, wild crowd reactions, setlist antics, life away from music, backstage retrials, a cheeky request from Ed Sheeran, secret offers, classic tour stories, getting hit by a raw fish, worst gigs ever, early day chaos, being caught in the Busted break-up media crossfire, his acting appearances, broken sticks, sabotage conspiracies, American strippers, appreciating a new lease on life and more! Turn it up and join Sean and Morgan to find out Sappenin' this week!Follow us on Social Media:Twitter: @sappeninpodInstagram: @sappeninpodSpecial thank you to our Sappenin' Podcast Patreons:Join the Sappenin' Podcast Community: Patreon.com/Sappenin.Kylie Wheeler, Janelle Caston, Paul Hirschfield, Tony Michael, Scarlet Charlton, Dilly Grimwood, Mitch Perry, Nathan Crawshaw, Molly Molloy, James Bowerbank, Amee Louise, Kat Bessant, Kieran Lewis, Alexandra Pemblington, Jonathan Gutierrez, Jenni Robinson, Stuart McNaught, Jenni Munster, Louis Cook, Carl Pendlebury, James Mcnaught, Martina McManus, Jason Heredia, John&Emma, Danny Eaton, RahRah James, Sian Foynes, Evan, Ollie Amesbury, Dan Peregreen, Emily Perry, Kalila Keane, Adam Parslow, Josh Crisp, Vicki Henshaw, Laura Russell, Pip @lifegardenband, Fraser Cummings, Sophie Ansell, Kyle Smith, Connor Lewins, Billy Hunter, Harry Radford, George Evans, Em Evans Roberts, Thomas O'Neill, Sinead O'Halloran, Kael Braham, Jade Austin, Charlie Wood, Aurora Winchester, Jordan Harris, James Page, Georgie Hopkinson, Helen Anyetta, John Wilson, Lisa Sullivan, Ayla Emo, Kelly Young, Jennifer Dean, Tj Ambler-Shattock, Chaz Howkins, Michael Snowden, Justine Baddeley, David Winchurch, Jim Farrell, Scott Evans, Andrew Simpson, Shaun Croucher, Lewis Sluman, Ellie Gowers, Luke Wardle, Grazyna McGroarty, Nathan Matheson, Matt Roberts, Joshua Lewis, Erin Howard,, Chris Harris, Lucy Neill, Amy Thomas, Jessie Hellier, Stevie Burke, Robert Pike, Anthony Matthews, Samantha Neville, Sarah Maher, Owen Davies, Bethan Downing, Jessica Tiernan, Danielle Oldershaw, Samantha Bowen, Ruby Price, Jule Ferl, Alice Wood, Billy Parmiter, Emma Musgrave, Rhian Friggens, Hannah Kenyon, Patrick Floyd, Hayley Taylor, Loz Sanchez, Cerys Andrews, Dan Johnson, Eva B, Emma Barber, Helen Macbeth, Melissa Mercury, Joshua Ryan, Cate Stevenson, Emily Moorhouse, Jacob Turner, Madeleine Inez, Robert Byrne, Christopher Goldring, Chris Lincoln, Beth Gayler, Lesley Dargie-Walker, Sabina Grosch, Tom Hylands, Andrew Keech, Kerry Beckett, Leanne Gerrard, Ieuan Wheeler, Hannah Rachael, Gemma Graham, Andy Wastell, Jay Smith, Nuala Clark, Liam Connolly, Harri Louise, Lavender Martin, Lloyd Pinder, Ghostly Grimoire.Diolch and Thank You x Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Sophomore SZN for NO ENCORE as emotive Dublin rapper Nealo returns to the studio to give us a taste of November Medicine, his long-awaited new record which releases on Friday, 17 November.Nealo is also on-hand to provide us with a guide to the very best Irish hip-hop as part of this week's main event. Before that, we have plenty of wild and exciting news from the world of music, and an in-depth conversation on how Nealo came to construct his not-so-difficult second album.ACT ONE: Nealo talks November Medicine, his process, his personal life and more.ACT TWO (30:04): Machine Gun Kelly (MGK to his friends) invades Adam's beloved world of Formula 1, David Guetta swears he is 4 Real, Fightstar make their glorious return, and Paul McCartney explodes and fucking dies?!ACT THREE (57:01): Top 5 Irish Hip-Hop-Follow Nealo on Instagram / X / TikTokPreorder November MedicineListen to Nealo on Spotify Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every 8 years, the deadliest lifeforms of the galaxy gather to determine the next champion. The Great Tournament is secret. Deadly. Illegal. Kind of hot? Brutal.   Its name is only whispered, for fear of a karate chop to the skull. That name? FIGHTSTAR. *Thwack* *Narrator Dies* This years combatants? Liberty Balboa (Branson Reese). Groomda (Tim Platt). Carboat Bin Laden (Taylor Moore). May they die glorious deaths!Join our Patreon now for tons more stuff, including AN ENTIRE ADDITIONAL EPISODE EVERY MONTH for patrons only. You can go listen to all of them now! Go! Hurry! It's only five bucks.And follow us on twitter, but only if you like pleasure, at @ohthesethoseOh These, Those Stars of Space is powered by Lasers & Feelings, the perfect ttrpg, by the brilliant John HarperThe Oh These, Those Stars of Space Theme was created, arranged, and composed by Huge Today. We like it too! Thank you for saying that!.Additional music and sound design from the great Michael Ghelfi. Find his work on YouTube, and support that good stuff on Patreon. 

For our 45th episode, Lewis Clark from the Cast Iron podcast joins us to talk about Kerrang's High Voltage: A Brief History of Rock cd from June 2006. The CD's full tracklisting is - 1 - Fall Out Boy - Start Today (originally by Gorilla Biscuits) 2 - Aiden - Die, Die My Darling (Originally by The Misfits) 3 - Avenged Sevenfold - Walk (Originally by Pantera) 4 - Killswitch Engage - Holy Diver (Originally by Dio) 5 - Biffy Clyro - Buddy Holly (Originally by Weezer) 6 - Fightstar - My Own Summer (Shove It) (Originally by Deftones) 7 - The Dillinger Escape Plan - Jesus Christ Pose (Originally by Soundgarden) 8 - Still Remains - Head Like A Hole (Originally by Nine Inch Nails) 9 - Deftones - Simple Man (Originally by Lynyrd Skynyrd) 10 - The Answer - Sweet Emotion (Originally by Aerosmith) 11 - Bullet For My Valentine - Crazy Train (Originally by Ozzy Osbourne) 12 - 36 Crazyfists - Digging The Grave (Originally by Faith No More) 13 - Arch Enemy - Symphony Of Destruction (Originally by Megadeth) 14 - Atreyu - You Give Love A Bad Name (Originally by Bon Jovi) 15 - NOFX - Straight Edge (Originally by Minor Threat) Find Lewis on Twitter at https://twitter.com/kronkblats Find his podcast Cast Iron at https://pod.link/991544357 where each episode Lewis & his cohost Alan discuss a metal album ranging from Napalm Death to Dream Theater. You can find his Hardcore/Crust Punk band Cranston at https://cranstonpunk.bandcamp.com Listen to all available songs on our ongoing Spotify playlist - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1mzWOWEfQ5LklJyUZkpfs2?si=LbWBi9-oTl-eXjkUJbpx2Q You can buy a copy of the cd from Discogs here - https://www.discogs.com/release/2050292-Various-High-Voltage-A-Brief-History-Of-Rock Hosts - Ian Clarke & Colin Jackson-Brown Recorded/Edited/Mixed/Original music by Colin Jackson Brown for We Dig Podcasts Part of the We Made This podcast network. https://twitter.com/wmt_network Twitter – https://twitter.com/thismonthsissue Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/freewiththismonthsissue/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/freewiththismonthsissue/ Find our other episodes at www.wedigpodcasts.com Find other We Made This shows & writing at www.wemadethisnetwork.com

For our 45th episode, Lewis Clark from the Cast Iron podcast joins us to talk about Kerrang's High Voltage: A Brief History of Rock cd from June 2006.The CD's full tracklisting is -1 - Fall Out Boy - Start Today (originally by Gorilla Biscuits)2 - Aiden - Die, Die My Darling (Originally by The Misfits)3 - Avenged Sevenfold - Walk (Originally by Pantera)4 - Killswitch Engage - Holy Diver (Originally by Dio)5 - Biffy Clyro - Buddy Holly (Originally by Weezer)6 - Fightstar - My Own Summer (Shove It) (Originally by Deftones)7 - The Dillinger Escape Plan - Jesus Christ Pose (Originally by Soundgarden)8 - Still Remains - Head Like A Hole (Originally by Nine Inch Nails)9 - Deftones - Simple Man (Originally by Lynyrd Skynyrd)10 - The Answer - Sweet Emotion (Originally by Aerosmith)11 - Bullet For My Valentine - Crazy Train (Originally by Ozzy Osbourne)12 - 36 Crazyfists - Digging The Grave (Originally by Faith No More)13 - Arch Enemy - Symphony Of Destruction (Originally by Megadeth)14 - Atreyu - You Give Love A Bad Name (Originally by Bon Jovi)15 - NOFX - Straight Edge (Originally by Minor Threat)Find Lewis on Twitter at https://twitter.com/kronkblats Find his podcast Cast Iron at https://pod.link/991544357 where each episode Lewis & his cohost Alan discuss a metal album ranging from Napalm Death to Dream Theater.You can find his Hardcore/Crust Punk band Cranston at https://cranstonpunk.bandcamp.comListen to all available songs on our ongoing Spotify playlist - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1mzWOWEfQ5LklJyUZkpfs2?si=LbWBi9-oTl-eXjkUJbpx2Q You can buy a copy of the cd from Discogs here - https://www.discogs.com/release/2050292-Various-High-Voltage-A-Brief-History-Of-RockHosts - Ian Clarke & Colin Jackson-BrownRecorded/Edited/Mixed/Original music by Colin Jackson Brown for We Dig PodcastsPart of the We Made This podcast network. https://twitter.com/wmt_network Twitter – https://twitter.com/thismonthsissue Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/freewiththismonthsissue/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/freewiththismonthsissue/ Find our other episodes at www.wedigpodcasts.com Find other We Made This shows & writing at www.wemadethisnetwork.com

Angels, frog-moths and floating orbs of various sizes dominate our discussion of Twin Peaks: The Return - Parts 5 - 8, as well as Neo-Genesis: Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance. Hear as we try to decipher what's going on and (mostly) fail miserably. NB: We tried to include the track 'Grand Unification Part 1' by the band Fightstar, but I couldn't find it on Spotify. Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dk4FSX9yhg Theme music: white_lodge by Secret Lair (www.soundcloud.com/secretlair) Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) license. Contact us: tpsemicolone@gmail.com | Instagram: tpcolonepodcast Twin Peaks: Evangelion playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0b87PMnR1rQJNLmUdwGnUB?si=2fa219ff55a94bf4

I think we can all agree that it's about time we talked about Busted on this podcast. Key talking points - Transformers is literally too hot to handle, a poppy pop boy band, the perils of having a more famous brother, Kyle shoehorns The Fray into the podcast again, Colin Richardson potentially imparts some wisdom, 'frilly bits' and Rich is going to hell. Email - chewthemetal@gmail.com Twitter/Instagram - @ChewTheMetal Chew The Metal Playlist - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vedrYyJ3GrLsjINczQfcc?si=25da4f62745b4592 Support the artist by buying their music here - https://music.apple.com/us/album/behind-the-devils-back/1037796551 Theme by Kyle Gormley

F. We take you through a super quick history of the titans that are Fall Out Boy. Together with a bit of insight into UK Alt rock faves, Fightstar, discussed by our very own local Fightstar enthusiast, Justin,Hear the latest single from FRND CRCL too, amazing band from NJ, USA. Title fight double headliner, mallets, tanks, mopeds and penny-farthings. WTF.All the randomness as per usual. Tune in. It's good, honest.

In episode 24 Shayan S, the guitarist/vocalist/multi instrumentalist behind Iranian black metal alchemists Trivax (as well as guitars in the Palaeolithic black metal band Wyrdstaef alongside Ian) joins us to talk about Kerrang's Remastered – Metallica's Master of Puppets Revisited from April 2006 to commemorate 35 Years of one of the greatest Metal albums ever recorded. The cd's full tracklisting is - 1 – Machine Head – Battery 2 – Trivium – Master Of Puppets 3 – Mendeed – The Thing That Should Not Be 4 – Bullet For My Valentine – Welcome Home (Sanitarium) 5 – Chimaira – Disposable Heroes 6 – Fightstar – Leper Messiah 7 – Mastadon – Orion (Instrumental) 8 – Funeral For A Friend – Damage, Inc Find Shayan on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ShayanTrivax, and go listen to Trivax and buy their excellent music at https://trivax.bandcamp.com/, and go watch the full 45 minute live set which is the video Shayan alluded to at the end of the episode here – https://youtu.be/IqC5tEVPgfI. Listen to all available songs on our ongoing Spotify playlist - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1mzWOWEfQ5LklJyUZkpfs2?si=LbWBi9-oTl-eXjkUJbpx2Q You can buy a copy of the cd from Discogs here - https://www.discogs.com/Various-Remastered-Metallicas-Master-Of-Puppets-Revisited/release/765229 Hosts - Ian Clarke & Colin Jackson-Brown Recorded/Edited/Mixed/Original music by Colin Jackson Brown for We Dig Podcasts Part of the We Made This podcast network. https://twitter.com/wemadethispod Twitter – https://twitter.com/thismonthsissue Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/freewiththismonthsissue/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/freewiththismonthsissue/ Find our other episodes at www.wedigpodcasts.com

In episode 24 Shayan S, the guitarist/vocalist/multi instrumentalist behind Iranian black metal alchemists Trivax (as well as guitars in the Palaeolithic black metal band Wyrdstaef alongside Ian) joins us to talk about Kerrang's Remastered – Metallica's Master of Puppets Revisited from April 2006 to commemorate 35 Years of one of the greatest Metal albums ever recorded.The cd's full tracklisting is -1 – Machine Head – Battery2 – Trivium – Master Of Puppets3 – Mendeed – The Thing That Should Not Be4 – Bullet For My Valentine – Welcome Home (Sanitarium)5 – Chimaira – Disposable Heroes6 – Fightstar – Leper Messiah7 – Mastadon – Orion (Instrumental)8 – Funeral For A Friend – Damage, IncFind Shayan on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ShayanTrivax, and go listen to Trivax and buy their excellent music at https://trivax.bandcamp.com/, and go watch the full 45 minute live set which is the video Shayan alluded to at the end of the episode here – https://youtu.be/IqC5tEVPgfI. Listen to all available songs on our ongoing Spotify playlist - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1mzWOWEfQ5LklJyUZkpfs2?si=LbWBi9-oTl-eXjkUJbpx2Q You can buy a copy of the cd from Discogs here - https://www.discogs.com/Various-Remastered-Metallicas-Master-Of-Puppets-Revisited/release/765229 Hosts - Ian Clarke & Colin Jackson-BrownRecorded/Edited/Mixed/Original music by Colin Jackson Brown for We Dig PodcastsPart of the We Made This podcast network. https://twitter.com/wemadethispod Twitter – https://twitter.com/thismonthsissue Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/freewiththismonthsissue/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/freewiththismonthsissue/ Find our other episodes at www.wedigpodcasts.com

Become a Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com/drumwithmikeandeddyThis episode is a full blown roller coaster ride. From Mike Playing Metallica on the kit, to Mike & Eddy's #50NOTECHALLENGE stories, to "an intro to Vinnie Colaiuta", into an EPIC interview/hang with Charlie Simpson (Busted, Fightstar), this episode is flat out bananas! We you you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it!Charlie Simpson: http://spoti.fi/37NCm3ZFightstar: http://spoti.fi/3piwcieBusted: http://spoti.fi/38GsuIo

A Present For Everyone. It's our second year anniversary and songwriting genius, Charlie Simpson, is back to help us celebrate on a very special Episode 104 of Sappenin Podcast! The Busted, Fightstar and solo vocalist helps us reflect, laugh and pokes fun at us, as we uncover exclusive secrets on his first new solo material in almost half a decade! Experience wild stories behind his new single I See You, starting his own independent record label, what that means for him as a musician going forward, signing other artists, building a studio during time in lockdown, strange Busted situations, updates on a possible Fightstar reunion, looking after his voice, how he's dealt with being in the public eye for twenty years, having possibly the most open minded fan base out there, his time on Warped Tour, actually appearing on The Simpsons AND he even tries to persuade Sean to get The Blackout back together, threatens to get sober Morgan DRUNK and tells us the never before told details of his fight with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. How mad are those sentences!? For this milestone we wanted to have a feel good moment and enjoy the company of one of the podcasts dearest friends. Charlie is always so open with us, it's a wild ride and we hope you can celebrate our birthday with a smile on your face. Meet You There? Turn it up and join Sean and Morgan to find out Sappenin' this week!Follow Us on Social Media:Twitter: @sappeninpod.Instagram: @sappeninpod. Special thank you to our Sappenin' Podcast Patreons:Join the Sappenin' Podcast Community: Patreon.com/Sappenin.Kylie Wheeler, Mayumi Liwayway, Emma Barber, Mitch Perry, Shani-Maia Boxill-Anderson, Dayna Lasnover, Amandine Urbano, Janelle Caston, Drew Styles, Samantha Spray, Dilly Grimwood, Nathan Crawshaw, Kelly Young, Kelly Irwin, Johnny Phillips, Scarlet Charlton, Simon Amos, Jenni Munster, Cate Stevenson, Amy Campion, Emily Senogles, Lucy Deards, Martina McManus, Erin Howard, John&Emma, James Oakley, Louis Cook, Marcie Jacobson,, Jordan Birchard, Mike Cunningham, Jamie O'Jaime, Paddy The Magnificent, Carl Pendlebury, Kelly Emma Cannon, Livvy Cropper, Paul Hirschfield, Becky Magliocco, James McNaught, Lydia Henderson, Ricky McClurg, Amy Thomas, Scott Jones, Tallulah Grant, Stuart McNaught, Tony Michael, Jenni Robinson, Jamie Bloor, Sarah James, Michael Engler, El Douglas, Mark Hendy, Loz Sanchez, Natasha Morris, Kelly Mallery, James Bowerbank, Mikey White, Becky Handy, Kevin Clarke, Jean Davies, Cerys Andrews, Let it Flow Yoga, Rhys Bernardo, Samuel Griffiths, Liam Connolly, Jordan Harris, Kyle David Smith, James Page, Kat Bessant, Justin Dunn, Samantha Neville, Ash Foster, Gabby Byrne, Nora Pickler, Chris Harris, Scott Evans, Geoff Halbherr, Danny Eaton, Jessie Hellier, Neil Reid, Emily Dixon, David Winchurch, Kelly Tyrer, Hannah Rachael, Justine Baddeley, Anthony Matthews, Nuala Clark, Owen Davies, Angharad Richards, Samantha Bowen, Sandra Kucharczyk, Gavin Butler, Jennifer Dean, Ryan Woodman, Matt Roberts, Robert Pike, Robert Byrne, Hannah Talbot, Ida Christensen, Nicola Johnson, Rebecca Harrison, Luke Wardle, Sarah Maher, Alanágh Nic Gabhann, Lewis Sluman, Andy Saxton, Snowdogg7, Helen Macbethm, Callum Oakshott, Adam Tibbs, Alice Boyns, Joshua... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

 How does Post Hardcore, Hamilton and Muppets relate? We discuss Thrice, Dance Gavin Dance, I the Mighty, Fightstar and many more!

Sarah Stewart: Hello and welcome to the GDS Podcast. I’m Sarah Stewart. Today’s podcast, the final one of 2019, is a special one, it’s GDS’s Year in Review. Last year, Angus and I went through the year very methodically picking out our highlights. It was quite fun. It’s my last podcast, so I wanted to do something better than quite fun. And what’s better than quite fun? A quiz! I’m going to host a quiz!   So I’m going to be asking 24 questions about GDS, 2 for each month. Obviously, the person with the most points will win. Producer Emily is going to keep score. So let’s meet our contestants.   Contestant number one, what’s your name, what do you do and where are you from?   Laura Stevens: So my name is Laura Stevens. I’m a writer here at GDS. And I’m from a small village in Surrey called Tadworth.   Sarah Stewart: What’s Tadworth known for?   Laura Stevens: So it’s not known for very much, so I had to look this up before I came on the podcast. But it was referenced in the ‘Doomsday Book’ so it’s very old. In the ‘Doomsday Book’ it was known as having woodland worth 4 hogs. So you know, I don’t really know like what --   Sarah Stewart: What a sum!    Laura Stevens: Yeah, like I don’t really know what that equates to but I thought it was quite a fun fact.   Sarah Stewart: You don’t see hogs very much anymore.   Angus Montgomery: How many trees per hog?   Sarah Stewart: And what kind of tree?   Laura Stevens: Yeah, and what kind of hog? I mean...   Angus Montgomery: All good questions.   Sarah Stewart: And Laura, what is your specialist subject at GDS would you say?   Laura Stevens: So I would say my specialist subject would be design here at GDS. But I am wary of saying that because I know that Angus is also very into design and I feel like he may you know, show me up in this quiz and take all the design answers.    Sarah Stewart: Which is a good segue into asking contestant number two, what’s your name and where do you come from?   Angus Montgomery: Hello. I’m Angus Montgomery. I’m a Strategy Advisor and I live in Woodbridge in Suffolk.    Sarah Stewart: Woodbridge. Isn’t that where the celebrities live?    Angus Montgomery: Yeah. Well, it depends on your definition of celebrity, I suppose. So Woodbridge’s most famous son was Thomas Seckford, who was an advisor to Elizabeth I. More contemporary famous sons include Brian Eno and Charlie from Busted.   Sarah Stewart: Oh my gosh.    Laura Stevens: Is Charlie the one with the eyebrows?   Angus Montgomery: I think so, yeah. The handsome one. He did a solo career.   Sarah Stewart: Yes. Fightstar.   Angus Montgomery: That’s it, yeah.    Laura Stevens: That’s excellent Busted knowledge.   Sarah Stewart: So Angus, what’s your specialist subject at GDS?   Angus Montgomery: I don’t know, it sounds a bit creepy if I’m going to say it out loud but the people at GDS. Like I think that’s the thing that I’m most interested in, is all the people who work here and the things that they do.   Sarah Stewart: So it’s good to meet you contestants.    Angus Montgomery: Good to be here.   Sarah Stewart: I need you to press the buzzer when you have the correct answer.    Cue the tense intro music Emily, Producer Emily. Let’s do this.    In January, we recorded a podcast with the Global Digital Marketplace team. They are helping to tackle corruption – a $2.6 trillion problem. The team visited 5 countries, talking to people at state and local level. Can you name all 5 countries? Laura.   Laura Stevens: Okay. I think I’ve got this: South Africa, Malaysia, Colombia, Indonesia… I’m going to fall down on the last one!   Angus Montgomery: I think I know the last one.   Laura Stevens: What’s the last one?    Sarah Stewart: No no no no, we can’t do that.    Angus Montgomery: Oh.    Laura Stevens: Oh so do I just..?   Sarah Stewart: You’re compromising the integrity of the quiz.    Laura Stevens: Do I get a hint or do I just…?   Sarah Stewart: Here’s your clue. Its name also features in the name of its capital city. Massive clue...   The answer was Mexico.   Laura Stevens: That’s really annoying.   Sarah Stewart: Mexico City. Okay. So, I’m afraid no one can take a point from that.    Okay, next question. The first ever Services Week took place from 28th January to 1st February. It was a nationwide, cross-government event that explored how people could work together to deliver end-to-end user-focused services. Now, one of the workshops during Services Week was designed to improve online forms. It was a sell-out workshop but what was the name of that workshop? Angus.   Angus Montgomery: Was it called Formapalooza?    Sarah Stewart: Correct! One point to Angus.    Angus Montgomery: Boom.   Laura Stevens: First one on the scoreboard, you know.    Angus Montgomery: Yeah.   Sarah Stewart: Okay, moving onto February now. In February, the GDS Academy turned 5 and launched a new course – Introduction to Artificial Intelligence [AI] in Government. Can you name an example of where AI is already being used in government? Laura.   Laura Stevens: Aren’t we using it here at GDS to do supervised machine learning on GOV.UK?   Sarah Stewart: Excellent, Laura. One point.   Laura Stevens: Yes! Back in the game.   Sarah Stewart: Next question. GovWifi is a common component that we all know and love. It provides free, secure wifi in public sector buildings. It’s used 2 million times a month. We noticed that it was also being accessed through which surprising device?   Laura Stevens: Is it a device you would find in a home?   Sarah Stewart: Yes, perhaps in the home of a teenager.   Laura Stevens: PlayStation.   Sarah Stewart: Correct answer. And actually, there were 6 PlayStations that were recorded.   Angus Montgomery: Who’s brought a PlayStation in?   Sarah Stewart: I don’t know. It could be in any public sector building.    Next question. The 11th competition for the GovTech Catalyst opened in March. Technology firms were invited to apply to develop innovative solutions for a challenge submitted by Oxfordshire County Council but what was that challenge?   Laura Stevens: Was it something to do with the traffic system?    Sarah Stewart: Yes.   Laura Stevens: And driverless cars..?   Sarah Stewart: Yes! Yes! Well done. Next question.   A team, a new team was created for GOV.UK to maintain and operate the GOV.UK platform. What was the new team called? Laura.   Laura Stevens: Is it the Platform Health team?    Sarah Stewart: Correct.   Sprint is GDS’s flagship conference. In April, we announced the agenda and that we would travel to 5 locations across the UK to discuss the impact of digital transformation on public services. Name those cities. Angus.   Angus Montgomery: In order: Edinburgh, Cardiff, Leeds, Belfast and London.    Sarah Stewart: One point to Angus. I almost said Laura then.   Laura Stevens: Give me all the points.    Angus Montgomery: Shall we have a check in on the scores?   Sarah Stewart: Yeah, let’s check in on the scores. Wow. Okay. Laura’s ahead.    In April, there was an Unconference at GDS. People were invited to pitch and present on topics of their choosing. Richard Towers held a discussion on making coding more accessible to people at GDS. Which of the following is a programming language that we do not use at GDS? Ruby, Python, Node.js, Go, Java, C#, Scala. Angus.    Angus Montgomery: C#?   Sarah Stewart: Correct!   Laura Stevens: Did you know that?   Angus Montgomery: I don’t know that much about programming languages. But I’ve heard people talking about the other ones.   Sarah Stewart: Okay. Well just to say, there was a trick answer in there as well. So for those people who really know their programming, we don’t use Scala anymore but there is an old project that’s still is in Scala but it’s not maintained.    Laura Stevens: Ooh I like that, a trick question.   Sarah Stewart: Okay so this is May. GOV.UK Pay – a free and secure online payment service for government and public sector organisations – took its first payment for a service in a language other than English. For half a point, what was that language? And, for the full point, how do you say seamless integration in that language? Laura.   Laura Stevens: Welsh. I’m just going for the half point. I don’t, I don’t have the other half of it.    Angus Montgomery: Not confident?   Laura Stevens: I’m not confident. I’ve never spoken Welsh so I wouldn’t want to offend anybody. Do you have, do you know it?   Angus Montgomery: No.   Laura Stevens: I don’t know. You knew about programming languages, so I thought you might also have-   Angus Montgomery: Welsh knowledge?    Laura: Yeah, Welsh knowledge..   Angus Montgomery: The two don’t always go together.    Sarah Stewart: Okay. Well, I’ve got it written down here and I don’t want to offend anyone either. It’s been quite a good year for common components, has it not?   Angus Montgomery: It has. So, I mean, as well as GOV.UK Pay, you’ve got GOV.UK Notify, which is a great success and is used by more than half the local authorities across the UK.   Laura Stevens: Yeah. It helps them do things like sending letters, which can be really time-consuming and where mistakes can be made.   Sarah Stewart: Okay. With changing regulations affecting public sector accessibility requirements, we advised how to publish an accessibility statement but where can you find that? Angus.   Angus Montgomery: GOV.UK.   Sarah Stewart: Yes! In June, we’re halfway through.   Laura Stevens: Yeah!   Sarah Stewart: How fun.    In June, a strategy and a guide were published. What was the name of that strategy and what was the name of the guide? I need the official names, please.    Laura Stevens: I think the first one is the Government Technology Innovation Strategy then it’s ‘A Guide to Using AI in the Public Sector’?   Sarah Stewart: Correct. Laura has got the full point.    In June, Kevin Cunnington, GDS’s Director General stepped down after 3 years leading the organisation. He took a new role on, at the International Government Service, and Alison Pritchard was named as Interim DG [Director General]. Can you tell me where in the world she was when she was offered the job? Angus.   Angus Montgomery: I think she was near Madagascar, wasn’t she, in the Indian Ocean?   Sarah Stewart: I...I don’t think I can accept that.   Angus Montgomery: Oh. She was on a boat in in, at sea.    Sarah Stewart: And well it...I’m going to accept Indian Ocean because she was sailing on a boat somewhere between Darwin and Christmas Island. So I would have accepted Timor Sea or the Indian Ocean.    Okay, so technically this happened in June, July was a little bit quiet.    So GDS’s step by step work on GOV.UK won a D&AD Award for Service Design. Please can you name my favourite step by step journey on GOV.UK? Angus.   Angus Montgomery: Is it Reporting Found Treasure?   Sarah Stewart: Correct!   Laura Stevens: I mean, even if I’d got in first, I would have actually been wrong. I thought it was actually Bring Your Pet to the UK.   Sarah Stewart: Where would I be bringing it from?   Laura Stevens: I don’t know. You might have bought your pet abroad.   Sarah Stewart: Oh yeah. I actually did look into dog rescue in Greece.   Laura Stevens: So you know, clearly I could have been right. But alas, it was more finding treasure.   Sarah Stewart: So what’s so good about step by step?   Laura Stevens: Well, there are now 47 live, and obviously, it’s really good that they are winning awards and everything but also they’re being, they’re really helping people. They are also helping the other parts of GOV.UK like our voice assistant work. So now you can ask your Alexa or Google Home if you want to learn to drive a car. And yeah, it's helping people where they need it.   And it’s quite like, when I spoke to Kate [Ivey-Williams] and Sam [Dub] about it, Kate was saying what motivated her is that ease to make government like, as invisible as possible. So say you’re dealing with a very distressing situation, like somebody has passed away, you don’t want to be like dealing with any government admin at that point. And so if the step by step can just give you the answers that you need and tell you very clearly, that’s a really helpful thing to do for users.   Sarah Stewart: What is your favourite step by step journey, Laura?   Laura Stevens: My favourite step by step journey is quite a boring one but I like it because I’m on the video for it. It’s How to Drive a Car. I feature saying it into a phone. Then it got screened at Sprint 18.   Sarah Stewart: Wow.   Laura Stevens: So you know, me in this jumper, it’s quite an old jumper. I didn’t really expect to be used in filming that day. It’s been immortalised.   Sarah Stewart: So if you want to have a visual picture of Laura, if you want to connect the voice to the face, watch that journey. It’s on YouTube.   In July we released, oh this is, actually, this next question could be in Laura’s advantage, just given your specialist subject for design. In July, we released new updates to the colours and font on GOV.UK. The GOV.UK colour palette is made up of 7 colours – grey, black, blue, red, yellow, green and white. Which 2 colours weren’t updated? Angus.    Angus Montgomery: Black and white?   Sarah Stewart: Correct!   Laura Stevens: That is great knowledge.   Sarah Stewart: Angus is in the lead.   Angus Montgomery: Yes!    Sarah Stewart: Wow.   Laura Stevens: Oh so I need to make a comeback?   Angus Montgomery: Yeah, Laura needs to make a comeback.   Laura Stevens: Is that because he’s got lots of half points? Trying hard but...   Sarah Stewart: He’s not committing.   Angus Montgomery: What’s that meant to mean?   Sarah Stewart: In August we talked about work we had to do following July’s reshuffle. When there is a reshuffle, GOV.UK needs to update the information as quickly as possible. True or false – the GOV.UK team knows this information before the public?   Laura Stevens: False.   Sarah Stewart: Correct. They find out at the same time as everyone else.    Laura Stevens: Yeah July...during the reshuffle in July, because it was quite like a big change and the changes were coming quite like quickly, the team really had to step up. And so that’s working late nights, making sure that GOV.UK is always like the canonical source of information.   Sarah Stewart: Yeah.    Laura Stevens: So they had to make updates to 100 individual ministers’ GOV.UK roles. They had to update ministers’ biographies. They had to add profiles to GOV.UK for people who hadn’t worked for Government before. They had to reorder the list of ministers on 22 department pages. And they had to reorder the Government Ministers page. And obviously there’s a lot of eyes on GDS, well on GOV.UK and GDS’s team, GDS’s work through that. So yeah, they did really well.   Sarah Stewart: Go team. Ok, next question.   Alison took up the role of DG [Director General] at GDS and wrote an introductory blog post sharing a little bit about her past. It’s incredibly well written. Alison has a fantastic background in public service but what was her very first job serving the public?   Angus Montgomery: I feel like I know this.   Sarah Stewart: It was in the blog post, if you read it.    Angus Montgomery: I don’t know if it was her very first job but she was Minister Responsible for Cage Fighting at one stage, wasn’t she?    Laura Stevens: That’s quite a high entry as your first job. Minister for Cage Fighting.    Angus Montgomery: Not Minister, obviously. She was a senior civil servant responsible for cage fighting in some capacity.    Laura Stevens: She was pulling pints…?   Sarah Stewart: You can’t give them clues.    Angus Montgomery: I thought you said first job in the civil service.    Sarah Stewart: No.    Angus Montgomery: Oh, first job.   Laura Stevens: No. It was first job serving the public.    Angus Montgomery: Oh so serving the public.   Laura Stevens: Is this a pun?   Sarah Stewart: Yes.    Laura Stevens: Oh!   Angus Montgomery: You’re operating on a level that I’m not!   Sarah Stewart: Yes! She was a barmaid when she was eight.    Laura Stevens: Oh. Is that...   Angus Montgomery: Is that legal?    Laura Stevens: Do we need to check in on that?    Sarah Stewart: It was…   Angus Montgomery: Do we need to check on the legality of that claim?   Laura Stevens: You need to investigate some pub wherever she grew up.   Sarah Stewart: It was her family pub and she just served soft drinks.   Sarah Stewart: Ok, so September. Plans for a new permanent secretary level Government Chief Digital Information Officer (GCDIO) were announced at Sprint. Alison said that GCDIO was a bit of a mouthful, so what was the title shortened to? Angus.   Angus Montgomery: She calls them ‘The Big G’.    Sarah Stewart: Correct. Adding that it incorporates a sense of scale and seniority for that particular post.    Mark Hurrell, the former Head of Design for GOV.UK and the Head of Graphic Design at GDS wrote the most popular blog post in Design in Government blog history. What was it about? Laura.   Laura Stevens: So I feel like I need to claw this back after Angus took my specialist subject earlier. Is it the post about the design principles posters?   Sarah Stewart: Correct. Yes, well done.   Laura Stevens: There was also a very nice… we can plug the Instagram here as well, because I believe Roger Valentine did a very nice animation about those posts as well.   Sarah Stewart: Oh.   Laura Stevens: Yeah.   Sarah Stewart: Great. In October, 2 members of the Sustainability Network – Emily Labram and Will Pearson – estimated the maximum amount of CO2 that GDS produces. How many tonnes of CO2 did they estimate we produced? Laura.   Laura Stevens: Was it 4,000?   Sarah Stewart: Correct!   Laura Stevens: Ah! That’s so much.   Sarah Stewart: That’s a lot but it’s an important piece of work. It’s good to know exactly what your impact is.   Laura Stevens: And is it on the blog post?   Sarah Stewart: It is. All of the details are on the blog post and how they calculated it as well.   Angus Montgomery: And where does that come from, the CO2?   Sarah Stewart: It’s things like data centres that are consuming lots of energy. Like and whether that energy is, I mean the question is whether you can have renewable energy sources to keep things like data centres up and running and...   Laura Stevens: Yeah and I think also, that blog post got a lot of comments, as well. So I think it’s something that other government departments or like arm’s length bodies, or whatever are looking into.   Sarah Stewart: Yeah cause you, yeah, I guess you think that the big culprits are fashion, oil and gas industries. Actually, everyone is sort of-   Laura Stevens: Yeah, everyone is responsible.    Sarah Stewart: Yes. In October, GOV.UK turned 7. Tell me, what was notable about the desks that the team worked on when GOV.UK was launched? Laura.   Laura Stevens: Is this from an article you wrote?    Sarah Stewart: Me? Or Secretary of State?   Laura Stevens: Sorry, sorry, the ghostwriting that doesn’t exist.   Sarah Stewart: Yeah, yeah.    Laura Stevens: Is it that they were cardboard boxes?   Sarah Stewart: Correct. Thank you for reading that by the way.   I’m going to read a quote from a GDS figure. Please can you identify the speaker, their job title and tell me what they are talking about. The quote starts, “Unlike many publishers or commercial organisations, we’re not incentivised by statistics like page views or the number of visitors. Our interest is in making sure we are where the user is,” end quote. Angus.   Angus Montgomery: That is Jen Allum, who is Head of GOV.UK, talking about, well I guess the sort of success metrics for GOV.UK. And it’s interesting what she’s saying about that, that obviously we’re not a commercial organisation, we’re an organisation that’s here to serve user needs. So the traditional kind of understanding of people, you know you want to increase the number of people coming to your site, like that’s not how we operate.   I mean it’s good to know those figures obviously. And it’s good to know who’s coming and what they are looking at and what’s getting a lot of traffic and stuff. But that’s not ultimately what motivates people and that’s not what motivates their future vision for GOV.UK, which is about serving users, helping them to do whatever it is that they need to do, regardless of whether that’s a simple thing or a complex life event.   Sarah Stewart: Perfect answer. One point.   November saw the creation of another community at GDS. GDS has got so many lovely communities. What was that community? Laura.   Laura Stevens: Was it Muslims at GDS?   Sarah Stewart: Correct! Networks are a nice thing, aren’t they?   Laura Stevens: They are.   Sarah Stewart: What’s your favourite network? What networks are you part of?   Laura Stevens: So at GDS I’m part of the Women’s Network. I’ve also recently joined the Mental Health Network because I interviewed Ben on the podcast, Ben Carpenter on the podcast last month. What about you Angus?   Angus Montgomery: I’m not a member, although I probably ought to be. But I go to quite a lot of the Women’s Network events, which are really good. I think it’s great obviously not being a woman and being able to go to these things and being part of that community.   But no, I think the good thing about the networks is, even if you are not a member, they are really visible so I’ve been to quite a few events that the LGBT Network have done as well. I just think it’s really good that, yeah they’re so active and there is so much going on.   Laura Stevens: Yeah, I think that part about being open to all is really nice. Because often you can just join them by joining the Slack channel, and that’s very, you can just be there. So if you’re joining GDS as a person who’s not been in government before or anything, you can just be like, “here’s a few friendly faces” and you don’t have to...you can be kind of as active or as inactive as you want to be as part of the network.    So what networks are you part of?   Sarah Stewart: I dip my toes into a few pools. Does that work? I mean not physiologically. Metaphorically. I’m really interested in the work that the Women’s Group do, particularly around negotiating pay rises and public speaking. But also the Mental Health Network is really valuable because it’s such an everyday thing here. Well it’s becoming more of an everyday thing here to talk about how you are feeling. And I think that in other organisations, that’s not the case. I think there is a real push to normalise talking about it, which is ultimately very healthy.   Laura Stevens: And it’s really nice that GDS can take like a leading role in that then, in setting a precedent on how that’s a good thing.   Sarah Stewart: Yeah. Okay, we’ve only got 2 questions left. We’re almost at the end. So can you tell me how many types of chocolate were tried by GDS Chocolate Club in 2019? And I should add that GDS Chocolate Club is funded by its members and is an out of hours club.    Angus Montgomery: 6.   Sarah Stewart: Laura.   Laura Stevens: I’m going to go much higher. I’m going to go like 24.    Sarah Stewart: Well you’ve both fallen short. 65 chocolates were tasted in 2019.   Angus Montgomery: Woah.    Laura Stevens: Is this the final question?   Sarah Stewart: This is the final question of the quiz. Name every person in the Creative Team who made the GDS Podcast series possible this year.   Angus Montgomery: Laura.   Laura Stevens: Angus.    Angus Montgomery: Sarah.   Sarah Stewart: Thank you.   Laura Stevens: Producer Emily.   Angus Montgomery: To give her her full title. Animator and photographer, Roger.    Laura Stevens: And we’ve got filmmaker Graham. Producer Megan Painter.   Sarah Stewart: Yeah.   Laura Stevens: Designer Charlotte.   Angus Montgomery: Couldn’t possibly forget Alastair Mogford, who not only set up this podcast but documented how we do it and wrote down a very long description which we’ve all been using now because we all forget like what the set-up is and stuff. So thank you, Alastair.   Laura Stevens: Shout out to Alastair.    And also we’ve got to shoutout to our social media star, Lou Mullan.    Angus Montgomery: And thanks obviously to Chris Watson.   Sarah Stewart: Oh wait. How do we attribute points to this?    Angus Montgomery: Everyone gets points for that.   Laura Stevens: Because it’s a team effort.    Angus Montgomery: Yes.   Sarah Stewart: Aw that’s nice. That’s the spirit, isn’t it?   Laura Stevens: Well, well done team though, because we’ve done 14 podcasts!    Angus Montgomery: Yeah!   Laura Stevens: Thanks to everyone there.    Sarah Stewart: And thank you so much to all of our listeners for your loyal support over the past year.   Ok so Emily, can you tell us, can you hand me the final scores. I’m going to announce who the winner is-   Angus Montgomery: Ah!   Laura Stevens: Drumroll.   Sarah Stewart: After I announce who the runner-up is.    Angus Montgomery: Oh.   Sarah Stewart: It was Angus.   Angus Montgomery: Yay!   Sarah Stewart: Well done.    Laura Stevens: Well done Angus.   Sarah Stewart: But today’s winner is Laura Stevens. So, your prize is 3 chocolate bars wrapped up inside a civil service lanyard.    Laura Stevens: Oh that’s very kind of you, thank you.   Sarah Stewart: So claps for..   Laura Stevens: Aww! Well, but there’s 3 so you know we can divide amongst…   Angus Montgomery: Oh, well how convenient. Apart from Producer Emily.   Laura Stevens: I tried to do that really nicely.   Angus Montgomery: There, there are actually 4 of us in the room.    Laura Stevens: I will share that out amongst all of us here.   Sarah Stewart: That’s very magnanimous of you.    Laura Stevens: Aww.   Sarah Stewart: Aww, good winner. Ok so that brings us to the end of the last podcast of 2019. How did you think it went?   Angus Montgomery: It was very challenging.    Sarah Stewart: It doesn’t sound...   Laura Stevens: But I did come out as a winner, so I mean..    Angus Montgomery: Yeah.   Laura Stevens: I feel like-   Angus Montgomery: I mean obviously I came out as a runner up, so it was more challenging for me.   Sarah Stewart: 2019 has been quite a year, hasn’t it?   Laura Stevens: Yes.   Angus Montgomery: Uh huh.   Sarah Stewart: What have your highlights been?    Angus Montgomery: Well I moved team. So I’m now on the Strategy Team, which explains why I’m not as involved in the podcasts as I was before. So yeah, that’s a highlight. But obviously being on the Creative Team was also a highlight.    Laura Stevens: Aww.   Sarah Stewart: That’s sweet. Laura, what’s your highlight been?    Laura Stevens: I’ve really liked actually getting more involved in the podcasts, which is quite an appropriate thing to say in this podcast episode.    Angus Montgomery: On the podcast..   Laura Stevens: But no I’ve spoken to really interesting people, like Kate Ivy-Williams and Sam Dub. Yeah, lots of other people as well, on the podcast.    Sarah Stewart: Great. Okay.    Laura Stevens: But what about you? What was your highlights for the year?    Sarah Stewart: Well I helped Alison with the presentation that she delivered at the Women into Leadership Conference. And we made a spoof book about Alison. It’s called ‘Alison by Alison Pritchard’.   Laura Stevens: Yeah.   Sarah Stewart: Because we were talking about like stories from her life and someone thought it was real.   Laura Stevens: Yes. I believe also, I’m quite surprised by this because you actually wrote in fake reviews, I believe.    Sarah Stewart: Yeah, I did reviews from ‘People’s Friend’ and ‘Time Magazine’. That was really funny, and it was a really good event as well.  So thank you to all of our listeners over 2019. It’s been quite the year in the world of the GDS Podcast, we’ve covered lots of topics. So thank you for your loyal support and lending us your ears.   Laura Stevens: And please keep listening.    Sarah Stewart: You can listen to all the episodes of the Government Digital Service Podcast on Apple Music, Spotify and all other major podcast platforms. You can read the transcripts on Podbean. Bye.   Angus Montgomery: Bye.   Laura Stevens: Bye 2019. 

Festival season starts here! Episode 27 of Sappenin' Podcast features our Slam Dunk Festival 2019 special. Hear stories from our insane weekend of shenanigans in Leeds & Hatfield with guest appearances and conversations from New Found Glory, Atreyu, Lights, Pagan, Less Than Jake, Milk Teeth, Grandson, Lizzy Farrall & a surprise return from Charlie Simpson of Busted & Fightstar. It's a long one but things are about to get wild! Listen to some of your favorite artist share secrets and insights like never before. Turn it up and join Sean and Morgan to find out Sappenin' this week.Follow Us on Social Media:Twitter: @sappeninpodInstagram: @sappeninpodSpecial thank you to our Sappenin' Podcast Patreons:Join the Sappenin' Podcast Community: Patreon.com/SappeninEmma Barber, Paul Hirschfield, Kylie Wheeler, Scarlet Charlton, Janelle Caston, Becky Magliocco, John Price, Martina McManus, Emily Senogles, Lucy Deards, Mark Platten, Luke Price, Kieran Lewis, Marcie Jacobson, Lydia Henderson, Kelly Emma Cannon, Scott Jones, Jenni Robinson, Tony Michael, Mitch Perry, Kirsty Dean, Jenni Munster, Jordan Harris, John&Emma, Kelly Tyrer, Chris Davies, Jean Davies, Benjamin Brown, Erin Howard, Kelly Young, Let it Flow Yoga, Vanessa Smith, Jordan Birchard, Glenn Rice, Loz, Mark Hendy, Craig Harris, Conor Mould, Murray Grimwood, Becca Vaughan, Mike Cunningham, Samantha Neville, Sofija Zuravska, Sion Ready, Neil Reid, Jessie Hellier, Scott Evans, Hannah Louise, Amandine U, Justine Baddeley, Mayumi Liwayway, Jonathan Hopkins, Nuala Clark, Guy F Jones, Anthony Matthews, Owen Davies, Shani-Maia Boxill-Anderson, Jennifer Dean, Bethan Kate, Carl Pendlebury, Olivia Cropper, Ida Christensen, Hannah Talbot, Marc Jones, Nicola Johnson, Amy Thomas, Liam Lacey, Lewis Sluman, Flynn Davies, Jamie Bloor, Luke Wardle, David Winchurch, Alanagh Smyth, Amy Chilvers, Robert Wootton, Mikey White, Angharad Richards, Sophie Thompson, Dayna Lasnover & Samantha Spray.Diolch & Thank You x See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Coming Home. We're extremely buzzed to have the ultimate pop, rock and metal crossover musician, Charlie Simpson as our guest on Episode 19 of Sappenin' Podcast! Charlie dishes all the dirt on everything you ever wanted to know, from Busted, Fightstar, his solo work, life, being a father and everything in between. Hear the true stories behind the Busted reunion, new album Half Way There and breaking hearts in 2005 to Fightstar memories, having to prove himself in the rock world, his biggest regret and *prehaps* some exciting exclusive news. After so many requests we're so happy to finally have him on, this is Charlie Simpson like you've NEVER heard him before. It's about to get real! Join Sean and Morgan to find out Sappenin' this week.Follow Us on Social Media:Twitter: @sappeninpodInstagram: @sappeninpodSpecial thank you to our Sappenin' Podcast Patreons:Join the Sappenin' Podcast Community: Patreon.com/SappeninPaul Hirschfield, Emma Barber, Kylie Wheeler, Scarlet Charlton, Janelle Caston, John Price, Martina McManus, Mark Platten, Marcie Jacobson, Scott Jones, Jenni Robinson, Lydia Henderson, Emily Senogles, Lucy Deards, Kelly Tyrer, Benjamin Brown, Erin Howard, Melissa O'shea, Vanessa Smith, Jordan Birchard, John&Emma, Jenni Munster, Let it Flow Yoga, Kelly Young, Izy Franklin, Kirsty Dean, Chris Davies, Jean Davies, Liam Lacey, Becca Vaughan, Conor Mould, Becky Magliocco, James Page, Samantha Neville, Mike Cunningham, Sion Ready, Jessie Hellier, Neil reid, Justine Baddeley, Kieran Lewis, Jonathan Hopkins, Owen Davies, Jennifer Dean, Carl Pendlebury, Amy Thomas, Bethan Kate, Sadie Moorcroft, Olivia Cropper, Samantha Spray, Shani-Maia Boxill-Anderson, Tony Michael, Lewis Sluman, Anthony Matthews, Scott Evans, Hannah Louise, Murray Grimwood, Nuala Clark, Ida Christensen, Mayumi Liwayway, Luke Wardle, Flynn Davies, Amandine U & Hannah Talbot.Diolch & Thank You x See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Devolver. On this episode we talk to Jamie Lenman, best known as the singer, guitarist and songwriter for underground heroes Reuben. Reuben released two albums with Xtra Mile and joined bands like Biffy Clyro, Fightstar and Billy Talent on tours around the UK and Europe. Upon their return, they founded their own label, Hideous Records, through which they released a live DVD documentary and their third, critically acclaimed album, ‘In Nothing We Trust’. In 2011, after over a year without playing any music, Lenman began working on an ambitious double solo album of folk/blues and thrash metal, which was released in 2013 to critical acclaim. After a dazzling live tour featuring a three-piece brass section, Lenman returned again to his illustration work and began recording new music with Prodigy and Idles producer Space in his Guildford hideout. He shortly signed with indie giants Big Scary Monsters and released his sophomore record 'Devolver' to widespread critical acclaim, following a lengthy and innovative pre-order campaign. Lenman is currently touring the record across the UK and Europe. Please support the Mark and Me Podcast here https://www.patreon.com/Markandme This interview goes in to great detail about Jamie's time with Reuben, his two solo albums and much more 'Devolver' is out now and stop reading this and go and listen/buy it right now

Coheed & Cambria, Fightstar, State Champs and Counting Days' new albums are reviewed, there's chat about Sonisphere, the Mercury Prize's stance on rock music and more of the usual lolz with Hill & Beez.

On this episode I have Ian and Will from Southampton goth punks Creeper. At first I thought this would only be a short chat but ended up being a fifty minute half drunken diatribe on Creeper, punk, DIY and all things related as we sat around a tent at Hevy festival. And it's awesome.WARNING: I drop a "hard C". That is to say, I use the C-word.Some back story for you.When we arrived in Ashford, Kent, we procured a sizable cache of booze and jumped in a taxi bound for the campsite. Upon our arrival and much to my dismay, we found out that I was the only one on the guestlist for the festival. After contacting one of the site managers I managed to secure a pass for my compadre Craig and we made our way to the press area to pitch our tent.Originally, I had agreed with Creeper's PR person that I would interview them between 1.30 and 2pm. We didn't get into the campsite until 1.30 and by the time we finished erecting our tent we had completely missed our allotted time slot.Later that day, after I completed the hastily rearranged Fightstar interview, I bumped into Ian and Will and apologised for missing our interview slot. They suggested that we do it there and then, so after retreating to a safe area (outside our tent) and cracking open a crate of Fosters, we sat down and began talking.What unfolded is one of the most natural, open ended and honest interviews so far. It's also perhaps one of my favourites. I had no time to look out my questions because of the impromptu nature of it, but what happened when we sat down was, I think, a pretty remarkable conversation.My sound man Craig does a lot of talking. Not that that's not a bad thing. Just a notice for you.Highlights include:Funeral for a Friend and some straight edge chat.Creeper write music using tea, a crap keyboard and researching the themes of their records.The Callous Heart is the culmination of an attempt to write a punk record they hadn't heard before.Taking influence from Jim Steinman, his middle 8s and using a mellotron.“Borrowing” from Elvis Presley.“The Creeper Workshop” and how the band is very hands on about everything, particularly with references to the video for The Honeymoon Suite.Still DIY despite being on Roadrunner and how the label give them complete creative control.Having to adopt a character on stage to perform but walking a fine line between being pretentious and stepping outside of yourself.The character is basically like putting on someone else's shoes.Playing with sincerity and appreciating where they are now.The gender and race gap in punk rock – how we need to sort out equality in the punk scene.How the key to touring is not to party every night.The chorus is the most important part of the song.Caring about song craft and and trying to be better songwriters.The Bouncing Souls, Alkaline Trio, My Chemical Romance and AFI and great choruses.The “relief” feeling of a good chorus.Appreciation of Bangers.Loads of bands were mentioned too like Ink and Dagger, Samhain, Danzig, Misfits and a bunch of others.People love talking about their art and what creative influence helped shape who they are. People enjoy knowing that their voice and their art is being taken seriously, and I hope that's what I've managed to achieve with this podcast.Creeper are brilliant guys who deserve to do well. I've no doubt they'll go on to do big things in the coming months.Enjoy the episode.Featured MusicIntro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).Creeper - We Had a Pact,Creeper - Into the Black,Creeper - The Honeymoon Suite.I make no claim to the copyright of any of the music in this episode.LinksYou can get the first Creeper EP for free here.You can pre-order This Callous Heart here.Please check them out on Facebook and Twitter.Will also mentioned a really great English punk band called Bangers who you should check out immediately after the podcast.Thank you!My thanks are eternal to you and everyone else who has listened to the podcast and helped me get it to where it is. It's no longer on the front page of iTunes but YOU can help me get back there. If you could take a second to rate and review this podcast on iTunes I'd love you forever and ever.Questions? Feedback?You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.Or you can hit the contact link to show me some love by using the cool email form.Social MediaI'm on a few social media sites, so it'd be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.Check out the Facebook page.Or you can get me on Twitter.Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wildcard short number 2 is go! On this episode I caught up with Charlie and Omar from Fightstar at Hevy Festival 2015. Even though the interview was short we actually talk about some quite revealing stuff:The energy behind the new recordHow the 10 year anniversary show is what pushed them into writing an albumHow the band had to take a break or it could have been overChili sauceYou can also hear how I was a little drunk and how my sound guy almost ruined the podcast.I used the capsule mic on the Zoom H6 for this and I think it fared pretty well. You can definitely hear the band playing on the stage nearby but it doesn't drown out the voices, so it gives it a nice festival ambience I guess.Other things to note about this episode:The press area, where this interview was conducted, was directly behind the main stage. We were shielded only by a truck. The other mic I used, my Shure SM58, was completely unusable cause of the volume from the main stage.My sound guy Craig is a MASSIVE Fightstar fan, so this was a pretty huge deal for him.Initially we thought the interview was cancelled until we got a last minute text nearly two hours later asking if we could drop what we were doing and do the interview.We obliged. Naturally.I dunno how you guys feel about these short interviews. I'm in two minds – I don't particularly enjoy conducting them because I enjoy a longer form conversation where people can answer questions at their leisure. BUT, I actually think I should do more so as to hone my interview technique.If you guys want more interviews of this length as bonus content to the regular podcast, do let me know!The interview I'm sharing this coming Thursday took place about five minutes after this one and was completely impromptu.Featured MusicIntro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).Fightstar - Deathcar'Deathcare' is taken from One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours.LinksCheck out their webstore here.You can find them on Facebook and Twitter. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

The weekend when Charlie from Busted and Fightstar went solo and came in for a chat, a load of nudists were up in arms about a block of flats going up overlooking where they like to go starkers, and Jamie Theakston did his best Frankie Howerd impression on ‘Brief Encounters.

LiveZone Special Unsigned is back with a vengeance!Special guest for this month are 'Temple Grounds' (ex Linchpin).' Temple Grounds' are a four piece band that hail from South London, since their inception the band quickly built up a solid following and shook off their original pop roots. Recently the band have been touring their arse off around the UK and meeting the 30,000 people that downloaded the bands first ever music video. Temple Grounds have also supported Fightstar in the Machester Academy and have gained appraisal from the likes of Dave Grohl and Benji Madden who produced their first EP under the Good Charlotte's own label DC Flag.Tonight 'Temple Grounds' play a special acoustic set just for Recharged Radio.Check out their MySpace for details of up and coming gigs http://www.myspace.com/templegroundsmusic...more guests will also be joining the show accompanied by a very special playlist of the best new tunes! With Music From.....Warner Krauss - ClubbeatRedshark in Vegas - Whats Your GameTalk to Angels - Off the RadarTalk to Angels - Head full of NoiseTTemple Grounds - Half LifeTemple Grounds - Tear Down the SkyTemple Grounds - Sun and RiseHildamay - Somewhere ElseImma - Walking

This weeks show features The Scissor Sisters, Fightstar, Dolly Parton and newcomer David Jordan.

05/05/2006 - Single Track No.22 Featuring: Fightstar - Palahniuk's Laughter From the CD: They Liked You Better When You Were Dead Record Label: Deep Elm Band Web Site: http://www.deepelm.com/fightstar/ Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at GroupieTunes

James Bourne of the massive UK rockband, BUSTED, spills all the secrets on the reunion, sold out headlining arena tour they're embarking on, his song "Year 3,000" and his relationship with Jonas Brothers, McBusted, Son of Dork, his musical Ticket Outta Loserville, and being so big that he caused a spike in guitar sales.watch JAMES BOURNE on the LIGHTWEIGHTS Youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3bTsvq3oe4&t=127sAbout BUSTED:Busted are an English pop-punk band from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, consisting of James Bourne, Matt Willis and Charlie Simpson. Formed in 2000, the band had four UK number-one singles, won two Brit Awards, released four studio albums and sold over 5 million records worldwide. The band released the albums Busted in 2002 and A Present for Everyone in 2003 before disbanding in January 2005. Following the split, all three members pursued separate musical careers: Simpson as the frontman for the post-hardcore band Fightstar, Bourne as the lead singer of pop-punk band Son of Dork and Willis as a solo artist. The band reunited in 2015, embarking on the Pigs Can Fly arena tour in May 2016 and released their third studio album, Night Driver, on 25 November 2016. On 26 October 2018, Busted announced their fourth album Half Way There, released on 1 February 2019, as well as a UK arena tour. At the end of 2019, the band embarked on a hiatus to pursue solo projects. In 2023, Busted announced their return for their 20 year anniversary, consisting of an upcoming album and tour.Episode 182Watch the full video podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3bTsvq3oe4&t=127sSHOP OUR WHITE ON WHITE HATS HERE: https://lightweightspod.comSubscribe to out video channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjmqbxZsoH1YwihrGgU1vPAFollow our Podcast on Instagram: @lightweights https://www.instagram.com/lightweights/Follow Joe on Instagram: @thejoe https://www.instagram.com/thejoe/Follow us on Tik Tok @lightweightspodOur Sponsors:* Check out Drizly and use my code No promotion code/URL for a great deal: https://drizly.com* Check out Rosetta Stone: https://rosettastone.com/TODAY* Check out TickPick and use my code No promotion code/URL for a great deal: https://www.tickpick.com/Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy