How musicians actually make this work.
How people build a life in music and keep it going. The money, the craft, the body and the head, told by people doing it.
James Nisbet on saying yes first, and what you are actually paid for
Belinda Carlisle's guitarist on and off for thirty years, with Saint Etienne, Kylie, Lily Allen and Culture Club behind him. On a dad who worked Denmark Street, a whole Pink Floyd show learned in a fortnight, and why the gigs are the easy part.
Chapters and the full write-up →Between them, our guests have worked with
- Bonnie Tyler
- ABBA Voyage
- Taylor Swift
- Annie Lennox
- Blondie
- Lady Gaga
- Lionel Richie
- Kylie Minogue
- A-ha
- Joe Bonamassa
- Nothing But Thieves
- Rag’n’Bone Man
- Imogen Heap
- James Morrison
- Blood Brothers
- Young Voices
- Mavis Staples
- Gloria Gaynor
- Devon Allman
- Candi Staton
- Jason Donovan
- Boy George
- Sophie Ellis-Bextor
- Ariana Grande
- Shania Twain
- Quincy Jones
- Ed Sheeran
- Anastacia
- Belinda Carlisle
- Level 42
- Marti Pellow
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The interviews
Filmed once, told straight. New conversations go up as they're finished, and we're not stopping at six.
EP 01Matt Prior
Composer, producer, and the late Bonnie Tyler's guitarist from 1998, on a second career in sonic branding, and an unusually open account of anxiety and recovery.
EP 02Julian Emery
From session guitarist to hit songwriter and producer, on the move from player to writer, and how publishing money really works.
EP 03Alex Toff
Belinda Carlisle since 2004, ten years with the late Bonnie Tyler. On the hang, losing a long-running gig, and session work from a converted garage.
EP 04Matt Round
James Morrison's MD and the ABBA Voyage band, on playing behind an avatar and an arena show almost every day.
EP 05Carl Stanbridge
Thirty years of electric and double bass, from the Blood Brothers pit to arenas of ten thousand schoolchildren, on the many heads of a working bassist.
EP 06James Nisbet
Session guitarist to the stars, from Belinda Carlisle and Kylie to a 7,000-seat Pink Floyd tribute, on saying yes and figuring it out.
Coming soonTim Oliver
Screen composer at the desk, session keyboardist on the road, from Lady Gaga to Tony Hadley, Glastonbury to the O2, on living two musical lives at once.
Photo: Erica Hawkins
Coming soonHolly Petrie
Session and live vocalist, arranger and studio co-owner, currently out with Anastacia, after Shania Twain in Vegas and Pete Tong at the O2, and a day job that runs all the way to Peppa Pig.
Coming soonNadie Keating
Session singer, vocal coach and BIMM lecturer, from Belinda Carlisle and Level 42 to the BBC Radio 2 Piano Room, on a working voice and teaching other people to find theirs.
Still recording. New ones land as they're finished. There are more musicians booked in already.
Get an email when one landsHow to use this site
Four things worth knowing. All of them save you scrubbing through a long video to find the good bit.
Finding an interview
By theme
Every guest answers the same eight questions. Pick one and you get what everyone said about it, in one place.
Want to know what the work actually pays? Open The Money and read all of them back to back.
Browse by themeBy role
Play bass? Start with the bass players. Write songs? Start with the songwriters. Pick what you do and you get the guests who do it.
Browse by roleInside an episode
Jump to the bit you want
Every episode page lists the eight themes with a time next to each one. Click the time and the video starts there. No scrubbing.
Try it, from Matt Prior’s episode:
1:11:02 The MoneyEveryone and everything they mention
We list every person and every bit of kit a guest talks about. Each one has two links.
The name takes you to them. The time takes you to the moment in the video where they come up.
Try it, from the same episode:
The same eight questions, every guest.
Eight themes, every interview. Line them up side by side and see who agrees with who.
The bits that never make the socials.
Nobody tells you this at college. We sat down with musicians who are actually doing it, the vans, the sessions, the residencies, and asked them straight: what's it doing to your head, what's it doing to your body, and how do you handle money that never lands the same way twice.
One conversation, three cuts. The full thing if you want the whole story. Short clips by theme if you just want the bit about your bad back or your worse tax return. It's early days, a handful of interviews so far, more booked in. But that's the plan: enough of them to help musicians navigate this world, to help anyone thinking about it decide properly, and to show everyone else what the job is actually like.
Straight to your inbox, no faff.
We'll email you when a new one's up. Nothing else, we promise.