Go On, name a music genre these guys haven't worked on. Just try...
Simon Duggal, with his brother Diamond Duggal, is a hugely influential producer, promoter and now record label manager. They may not be that well known to you, but they work worldwide across as many genres as they can handle. Like Ruby Turner, Steel Pulse and Apache Indian, they started out in Handsworth, Birmingham. Their own brand/band, Swami, is massive across Asia. On top of that, they had their very own 'Oh Brother Where are Thou' style breakout hit in Birmingham while barely out of their teens. And that's before we get on to Shania Twain... Simon, like his brother, is meticulous in his ability to recall career details. That's what made this such an entertaining interview. He also is a serious recording equipment geek. I can't tell you all the kit he has accumulated, but some of it has serious music history. This blog is a companion piece to the Lives in Music Podcast, which you can grab here. Or if you like, you can scroll down this page and listen to the embedded player.
The Lives in Music series celebrates people who have spent a lifetime in music. They may be famous; they may be people who have spent their lives working in the background for the love of it. But they all have stories.
The podcast
Published in Series 2 (series 1 episodes listed here)
The intro and outro music in this series comes from the great bass player Mike Hatton, who you can hear interviewed in series 1, here. 'Everything Changes' is included in his excellent 2019 album 'Bassic Salvation'. Subscribe! Subscribe to the Podcast through your podcast host to automatically download each episode to your chosen device. These will then land with you first, before everyone else hears about it.
If you would prefer email updates each time a podcast episode (or blog post) is published, you can subscribe to the mailing list. Head here and scroll down to the signup form.
A mighty influencer. You Tube kids, you don't know you're born.
In this edition I'm talking with an extraordinary, super-capable, veteran music pro from the Black Country of the UK, who has, quietly, had a massive influence on music making in this neck of the woods and far, far beyond. Roy was one of the team that launched the legendary JBs in Dudley, where anybody who was anybody simply had to play. Then he went on to managing, sound mixing, often for a lifetime friend, Robert Plant. and just doing an awful lot for an awful lot of people, simply because it was the right thing to do. But it's the sidelines that make this conversation so interesting - the by ways, the diversions, and the way he frequently drops hints and prompts about interesting music areas - areas that eventually emerge as having been profoundly influenced by him. And, of course, the stories.
This is a companion blog piece to go with the Roy Williams Lives in Music Podcast. You can jump to all the podcast episodes here - there are 18 other Lives in Music available right now - or scroll down to listen to the embedded player on this page. Photo credit: Suzy Gallier
The Lives in Music series celebrates people who have spent a lifetime in music. They may be famous; they may be people who have spent their lives working in the background for the love of it. They all have stories. Lives in Music is a Radio To Go production. The intro and outro music in this series comes from the great bass player Mike Hatton, who you can hear interviewed in series 1, here. 'Everything Changes' is included in his excellent 2019 album 'Bassic Salvation'.
The Podcast
Published in Series 2 (series 1 episodes listed here)
If you would prefer email updates each time a podcast episode (or blog post) is published, you can subscribe to the mailing list. Head here and scroll down to the signup form.
'One of the world's top bass players - within my price range'
Dave Pegg has played Bass with one group for half a century: the excellent Fairport Convention. Fairport have one of the most tumultuous histories in British Folk-Rock. But, like many groups that survive that long, they have a spectacularly loyal following, and that now means that they are on a more stable footing than at any time in their history.
But before Fairport, there was Rock, gigging five nights a week in the effervescent 60s Birmingham pubrock scene, a stint with the legendary Ian Campbell Group, and the not insignificant matter of 15 years holding down the bass chair with Jethro Tull.
In the podcast, one thing struck me forcibly - when Dave describes the 1970 band as getting really good, really fast. I think this illustrates that statement perfectly. Just look at Peggy go!
Peggy, as everyone calls him, has a stock of anecdotes... catching a Bjork show with Shadows guitarist Hank Marvin in Sydney, Australia, or booking the 83 year-old Petula Clark for Fairport's Cropedy Convention. He has an encyclopaedic memory, and can reel off the names of obscure bands he cut his teeth with back in the day. A great man to pass time with over a pint. This is a companion blog piece to go with the Dave Pegg Lives in Music Podcast. You can jump to all the podcast episodes here - there are 17 other Lives in Music available right now - or scroll down to listen to the embedded player on this page.
The Lives in Music series celebrates people who have spent a lifetime in music. They may be famous; they may be people who have spent their lives working in the background for the love of it. They all have stories. Lives in Music is a Radio To Go production. The intro and outro music in this series comes from the great bass player Mike Hatton, who you can hear interviewed in series 1, here. 'Everything Changes' is included in his excellent 2019 album 'Bassic Salvation'. Published in Series 2 (series 1 episodes listed here)
Subscribe to the Podcast through your podcast app to automatically download each episode to your device. These will then land with you first, before everyone else hears about it.
If you would prefer email updates each time a podcast episode (or blog post) is published, you can subscribe to the mailing list. Head here and scroll down to the signup form.
Ask any Lives in Music participant, and you'll get the same answer - there's no easy or straight route through life as a musician. You go where the work is, and if you're very, very lucky, you get to call a few shots in due course. This blog post is a companion piece to Stewart's Lives in Music Podcast episode, which you can listen to here, or you can scroll down to the bottom of the page and listen there. In Stewart's case his life took him all over Europe and the UK as a post-war Army brat, and that exposed him to a host of influences. From there, he went in to rock, with some success, followed by stage work, all the while nurturing his deep love for bluegrass and the best in country music. He's passed this on to his children, leading to the first family band in Brum, and kicking off his daughters' solo careers, crafted in the teeth of opposition on both sides of the Atlantic. It's a great story.
The Lives in Music series celebrates people who have spent a lifetime in music. They may be famous; they may be people who have spent their lives working in the background for the love of it. They all have stories. Lives in Music is a Radio To Go production. All published episodes can be found here Published in Series 2 (series 1 episodes listed here)
The intro and outro music in this series comes from the great bass player Mike Hatton, who you can hear interviewed in series 1, here. 'Everything Changes' is included in his excellent 2019 album 'Bassic Salvation'. Subscribe! Subscribe to the Podcast through your podcast host to automatically download each episode to your chosen device. These will then land with you first, before everyone else hears about it.
If you would prefer email updates each time a podcast episode (or blog post) is published, you can subscribe to the mailing list. Head here and scroll down to the signup form.
