Sean O’Hagan – The High Llamas, String Arranger on Paul Weller’s Sonik Kicks

There is a beautiful, cosmic symmetry in bringing this podcast journey to a close. Back in December 2020, Stuart Deabill was my very first guest, and today, he returns to close the circle for our final episode of season 3. It feels incredibly fitting that we are bowing out by celebrating Stuart’s stunning new book, In the Shadow of the Sun: Paul Weller & the Nineties. Find podcast show notes and sign up for regular information at PaulWellerFanPodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, highly influential British television producer Malcolm Gerrie joins the podcast to share his incredible front-row memories of Paul Weller’s journey, spanning the historic final days of The Jam, the soul-infused rise of The Style Council, and the sheer grit of Weller's solo renaissance.

In this episode, acclaimed Sheffield singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer Richard Hawley talks about his long-standing friendship and creative kinship with Paul Weller. Richard takes us back to his working-class upbringing in Pitsmoor, Sheffield, where he was raised on a strict diet of '50s rock and roll, rockabilly, and R&B - until his two younger sisters took over the household’s three-watt portable record player. It was through their relentless, non-stop playing of Setting Sons, All Mod Cons, and Sound Affects that The Jam became permanently ingrained in his psyche, sparking a lifelong appreciation for Paul Weller's distinctive guitar playing and raw, uncompromising energy. He shares the hilarious story of their first proper meeting at a festival in Spain, where he mistakenly geared up for a classic "Mods vs. Rockers" confrontation as Weller and Steve Cradock came charging across a hotel dining room. Richard reflects on their subsequent decades-long friendship, discussing the parallel experiences of losing their fathers, their shared refusal to compromise with the music industry, and their mutual respect as songwriters. He also offers a peek into his phone’s highly classified archive of raw Weller voice-note demos, explains why they've never quite managed to finish a song together in the same room, and recounts playing lap steel on the beautiful track 'I Woke Up' from Paul’s album 66. Find podcast show notes and sign up for regular information at PaulWellerFanPodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this conversation, recorded for my book, legendary music manager, producer, and author Simon Napier-Bell takes us inside the creation of NOMIS Studios, the state-of-the-art Hammersmith rehearsal complex he built out of a Victorian dairy with two-foot-thick concrete walls.

In this episode, legendary photographer Tom Sheehan shares a personal narrative that spans the arc of Paul Weller’s career, from The Jam’s charged early days right through to Weller’s solo renaissance - we take a journey through images found in his acclaimed book AIM HIGH: Paul Weller in Photographs 1978–2015.