Category Archives: Blog

Yesterday I headed to London with Tom to see Less Than Jake and Bowling For Soup, on the closing night of their biggest UK tour ever at Hammersmith Apollo. It really is incredible to see two bands from my youth still absolutely smash it two decades later. https://vimeo.com/917242980 We were very lucky to get toContinueContinue reading “You asked for it”

When I ran the Saint November Records, I used to include a handwritten note with each order I sent out. People told me they liked these and in the years since have messaged to say they kept them. Overnight I received a message from someone to share that not only did they keep the note,ContinueContinue reading “Monday morning validation”

I’m becoming fairly desensitised to celebrities passing, but when I received a text from my Mum to say that the DJ Steve Wright had died it stopped me in my tracks. Like the shock of hearing someone you’d just seen the other day is no longer with us (there’s a reason for this that I’llContinueContinue reading “My 90s nostalgia trip loses a key player”

Last November, Ben Egginton launched a version of You Are The Media, hosted at Bournemouth University. The format is something of a round table discussion between students and folks from industry. I’m pleased to have been one of the folks for these talks, that have both been very honest and frank conversations about the realitiesContinueContinue reading “Panel talk at BU x YATM event”

Our Grapevine team event took me back to Foundry in Poole, for our first attempt at a company wide, new financial year briefing. I wrote last month about our plans for this, and how, given the evolution of our business in 2023, an in-person delivery of our strategy for the coming year felt like theContinueContinue reading “Grapevine EO team event”

I managed a total of 24 gigs in 2023 (browse the whole list). I’m not sure if I’ll top that this year. I got off to a good start this month though, with two back to back shows across the first weekend of February.  Number one took Sam and I up the country to LeicesterContinueContinue reading “2024 gig season begins”

After some self imposed downtime to rest and recharge throughout January, February has hit the ground running from day one, with my first ‘business’ event of the year, back at Pi on Poole Quay for another You Are The Media Lunch Club. Go vegan and don’t look back. The pizza is still amazing.  The topicContinueContinue reading “YATM Lunch Club Feb 2024”

Some downtime at home through the Christmas break and subsequent ‘cold snap’ gave me a welcome opportunity to catch up on all of the things I hadn’t made time for throughout a busy autumn and start to winter. I’ve been cataloguing Pez and other collections (learn more here), catching up on comics, saved articles, TVContinueContinue reading “The life and death of optimism II”

Live music has been a big part of my life for 20 years. I wrote recently about my first gig in May 2003. It’s hard to believe now that in 2020 I didn’t go to a single show. When they started up again in Autumn 2021 I managed to squeeze a few in. Last yearContinueContinue reading “A banner year for shows”

The final You Are The Media lunch club of the year was expertly hosted by Lee Taylor, with a special guest, all the way from the other side of the planet, Trevor Young. I’ve really enjoyed the lunch clubs since they returned this year in July, back to their classic format, at the new venueContinueContinue reading “YATM Lunch Club November 2023”