The John Robb Tapes

John Robb meets up with long time friend, journalist and author, Jon Ronson, where they talk about music, his brand new book, and mental health.

Originally filmed at Lush Studio Soho, you can check out the interview in full here.

Swears.

Back in 2017, John met with stand-up comedian and writer, Stewart Lee, at the Lowry Theatre in Salford while touring his ongoing ‘Content Provider’ show. 

They talk about the roots of comedy and its relationship with politics, identity, place and social history, as well as Lee’s own beginnings.

Watch the interview in full on Lush Player: http://player.lush.com/tv/conversation-john-robb-and-stewart-lee

Swears.

Slaves have been at the forefront of exciting, adrenaline-filled guitar music in the past few years.

The duo’s thrilling gigs drive their sparse, smart and powerful off-kilter albums into the top 10.

In this interview, the band’s Laurie Vincent explains to John how art and punk rock and making music on your own terms drives him and band buddy, Isaac Holman.

Swears.

The best recording engineer in the world, Steve Albini allows the artist's true vision to be laid to tape without the usual smoke and mirrors of showbiz.

With his own powerful vision, particularly underlined in his own brilliant band, Shellac, he first burst onto the music scene in the 1980s with the explosive band, Big Black, and was a vociferous and acidic presence on a moribund music scene, but in this interview, a far more reflective Steve Albini looks back on his career.

Swears.

Poet, writer and musician, Benjamin Zephaniah, talks to John about his politically charged ‘toasting’, Dub Ranting, and life in Birmingham and London through the 70s and 80s.

He talks about friendships with the likes of Peter Tosh and performing on the alternative cabaret and comedy circuit, as well as his love of reggae and the vegan lifestyle.

Originally filmed at the Tower of London during the Lush Summit. Watch the full interview here: http://player.lush.com/tv/conversation-john-robb-and-benjamin-zephaniah

Swears.

‘Of the people. By the people. For the people’

Filmmaker, DJ and musician, Don Letts, takes us back to the ‘f*cked up’ social political climate of the late 70s where the white, working class youth of London were beginning to create their own soundtrack. 

As Don introduced his mates to the rebel sound of reggae, its basslines and messaging fed into the genre and subculture that would eventually become known as punk.

Swears.

Musician and author, Viv Albertine, sits down with John in Soho for an intimate chat about her second book, To Throw Away Unopened.

She explores her family’s turbulent history and dynamic, and discusses what it was in the 70s that made her pick up a guitar and found iconic punk band, The Slits. Was it her friendship with the likes of Sid Vicious and Mick Jones? No. It was her mother. A force which drove her to ferociously question the world around her.

Swears.

Lee Ranaldo is the mystic groove in Sonic Youth; the George Harrison of the groundbreaking New York band whose creativity has found a spotlight and a focus with the breakup of the 'alpha' group.

In this interview, the Sonic Youth guitarist tells John Robb how the broken and hellish streets of New York in the early Eighties helped create the band’s groundbreaking sound.

Swears.

Following the release of their debut album, Columbia, John Robb catches up with The Blinders over the phone.

The band’s vision of a better future - as told through their dynamic and intelligent music - gives him hope.

Read more from John on The Blinders here.

Swears.

Recorded in front of a live audience at Rough Trade, Nottingham.

With its great gallery of characters, punk rock is one of those fabled eras of British pop culture full of a cast of mavericks that are deeply embedded into our cultural psyche.

Central to the story of Punk is Jordan. With her hair teased into spikes before anyone else, Mondrian face paint and wild clothes she was a wild and thrilling precursor who virtually invented punk rock as she served behind the counter of the Sex shop - the dominatrix rubber queen of the new London scene.

In this entrancing interview she tells the stories - both ribald and hilarious - of that fabled era which she shares in her book, Defying Gravity.

Swears.

Poly Styrene possessed one of the great voices of punk rock and was an inspiration to generations: a brilliant imagination, highly visual songs and perceptive lyrical vision, Poly had her day-glo moment in the mainstream, before devoting her life to Hare Krishna and releasing occasional solo releases.

In this interview, Poly gives John Robb a fascinating insight into growing up and her days in X-Ray Spex.

Yes there are swears 

For more information, read an article written by John here. 

John talks on the phone to Daniel Ash who describes in detail the series of events and the unlikely spaces in which Bauhaus birthed Bela Lugosi’s Dead back in 1979. 

The sparse, darkly atmospheric track pioneered the iconic post-punk/goth movement, and remains one of the most influential songs of all time.

Take a read of John’s full article here: https://uk.lush.com/article/john-robb-tapes-daniel-ash-0

Swears.

Birmingham. 1993.

John joins Richey James and Nicky Wire in a motel room whilst on tour with their second album, Gold Against The Soul.

He describes the band’s intelligence, cynicism and naive idealism as all being in place in this interview as they try to come to terms with the reality of being in a group.

Swears.

January. 1990.

John meets The Charlatans for what will be their first music press interview.

In this conversation, a 21 year old Tim Burgess has just joined the band and they discuss tracks such as ‘Indian Rope’, ‘Sonic’ and ‘Sproston Green’, as well as the legendary Haçienda club and the importance of always listening to new music.

This interview gives interesting insight into a fresh new band on the cusp of greatness amidst the burgeoning - and now iconic - Madchester scene.

There is, unsurprisingly, a bit of swearing.

Manchester. 2019.

John squeezes into the back seat of a car with SloSilver and Stephanie Finegan: the artist duo behind the band Glove.

They drive through the vibrant city centre of Manchester and talk; a conversation which races along in a parallel universe to the Trump world we are being crushed by - this is not a world of narcissism and blubber - this is a world of hope and ideas and a band who have constructed a soundtrack for it.

John describes that conversation in the back of the car. Find out why he believes Glove is the future.


This podcast contains swears.

Sheffield. March. 2010.

At a sold-out 600 capacity venue, the crowd eagerly await this live In Conversation with poet and artist, Patti Smith, who is touring with her recently released book, Just Kids.

She arrives just one minute to stage time and tells John: ‘ask me anything’.

This funny and highly emotive interview digs deep into the proto-punk scene in New York as well as the loving relationship she had with artist Robert Mapplethorpe.

John remembers his meeting with Patti and her true free spiritedness in the article here.

This episode contains swearing.

New York City. Summer. 1989.

John interviews Nirvana in a hot and claustrophobic flat - an on-the-road crash pad they’re sharing with label mates, Tad.
The (then) four-piece are on tour with their recently released album, Bleach, and play at Maxwells, Hoboken, the night before the interview takes place - a performance John recounts as oozing intense raw power with an instinctively cataclysmic and captivating ending, despite playing to a crowd of just 10 people.

In this interview, a young Kurt Cobain talks about the creative process, the intensity needed to reach the peak of his songs on stage, and hints at a song he’s just written - a song believed to have gone on to become ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’.

For an intimate account of this interview and gig, read John’s full article here.

This episode contains swearing.

The John Robb Tapes unearths the incredible archive of old interviews that music journalist John Robb has amassed over the years, along with more recent conversations with contemporary bands, acts and figures.