Banned Biographies

High Frequency Round Up, News and Reviews... and an Explanation

You may have noticed a distinct lack of social media stuff and episodes being put out in the last few months. I got quite sick during almost the whole of March and into May after working hard professionally as well as on the High Frequency EP and the shows to support its release.

I'd like to thank Ant and Corky for coming on the last episode to talk about the history of our band and the recording of our new EP ‘Some Songs You May Have Heard… But Not Like This!’ which I hope you've listened to and enjoyed.

I'd also like to thank the handful of listeners who checked in on me while I was away, I really appreciate it. I’m OK now and looking forward to getting back to work on the podcast.

On this episode I cover the news from the last four months which concerns The Sisters of Mercy, The Mad Caddies, Moby, U.K. Subs, Yellowcard, Peter Murphy of Bauhaus, Danzig, Weezer, BGH, Blink-182, Less Than Jake, The Cure, Amyl And The Sniffers, Bad Cop/Bad Cop, Circle Jerks, Public Image Limited, vinyl sales, The Misfits, Devo, Doom Generator, Descendents, Adolescents, Dead Kennedys, Lektron, Flogging Molly, X, Siouxie Sioux, Crass, Alice Cooper, Social Distortion, Laura Jane Grace, The Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame, The Distillers, Sum 41, Rancid, The Hives, Dropkick Murphys, Stiff Little Fingers and Steve Jones, The Toy Dolls, Foo Fighters, Bowling For Soup, and Lagwagon.

 

Single reviews include Bone Church by Slipknot, Over by Chvrches, 'Til The Anarchy's Restored by Flogging Molly, Raid by Doom Generator, Set Fazers, If I Could and L.O.V.E. (Smile Please) by Skindred, I'm Going To Get Free and The Feminine Divine by Dexys, HORROR SHOW and PARTY ON MY DEATHBED by Hot Milk, Shine and Reasons by Smile Wide, Lost EP by Pet Shop Boys, First In, Last Out by Death Of Guitar Pop, Bogus Operandi by The Hives, Emotion Sickness and Carnavoyeur by Queens Of The Stone Age, Obvious Sucker by Lucky Hit, Let The Sun Come In by The Pretenders, Video Games and Wicked Game by Tenacious D, Beyond by Corey Taylor, United Strike Back by Gogol Bordello and Friends, and Halo by Pendulum and Bullet For My Valentine.

Album reviews include This Is Why by Paramore, Grade 2 by Grade 2, Broken Britain Pt.2 EP by The Meffs, One In A Thousand by Obey Robots, From Nothing To A Little Bit More by The Lathums, UK GRIM by Sleaford Mods, Memento Mori by Depeche Mode, The Cup Of Pestilence by Frenzal Rhomb, 72 Seasons by Metallica, Finally!!! by Swampstomper, Headstone Horrors by Headstone Horrors, Darkadelic by The Damned, Red October by Daniel Son, Okemah Rising by Dropkick Murphys, Human Algebra by The Selecter, But Here We are by Foo Fighters, and Tomorrow Never Comes by Rancid.

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Interview with High Frequency

On this special interview episode of the Banned Biographies podcast Tom not only plays host and interviewer, but also interviewee alongside High Frequency bandmates, Antony Collett and Martin ‘Corky’ Cork.

The reason for this very indulgent episode is because we have a self-recorded, self-mixed three-track E.P. called ‘Some Songs You May Have Heard… But Not Like This!’, which should be out right now on all streaming platforms. The songs included on the E.P. are re-recorded versions of songs that were either incompletely recorded or never made it on to any previous album or E.P.

The other thing the songs have in common is, as you may be able to tell from the title, that we’ve continued to play them in our live set, even all these years later. As well s covering the E.P., we give a potted history of the band, warts and all.

I hope you can forgive this blatant self-promotion, I promise I won’t make a habit of this kind of thing… until we release the full-length album we're working on anyway!

Find High Frequency on whatever streaming service you use to listen to your music, add the songs (and maybe even some of the old ones) to your public playlists, and share them on social media. I hope you this chat as much as we did having it.

Find High Frequency:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HighFrequencyUK

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/high_frequency_rocks/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0dBkgFSnCDeFZdg4M4uHXz?si=5S8Y0o_kRdONhiunRswKhQ

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/high-frequency/1644906817

 

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Zach Blair and Laurie Black Round Up, News and Reviews

On this episode of the Banned Biographies podcast your host, Tom Austin-Morgan, lets you know what’s been going on since the last TWO episodes and what you can expect from the next one.

Firstly, I'd like to thank Zach Blair again very much for giving up some of his precious time to talk to me at the end of last year, it was so nice to meet him and find out he was just a regular, nice dude who enjoys chatting music. But, I released a sneaky extra episode this month, didn’t I? I’d been wanting to talk to Laurie Black since I saw her support Adam Ant at the end of last Summer. Thanks to photographer Max Caine we reconnected and recorded that great conversation you heard a couple of weeks ago. Australian listeners, you still have time to get yourselves to a show at the Adelaide and Melbourne fringe festivals to go and see what she’s all about. I urge you to go and see her, you won’t be disappointed.

It's been a really great month for interaction and I’m really glad you all feel passionate enough about music and have been encouraged to get in touch with me. I love a good natter about music, so please do stay in touch and, if you’ve not got in touch via social media or email then please do, and do go and leave me a five star rating and more importantly a review on Apple Podcasts.

News this month concerns Terry Hall, Vivienne Westwood, The Punk Rock Museum, Steve Ignorant, Public Image Limited representing Ireland at Eurovision, Billy Idol, The Damned, The Real McKenzies, NOFX, Sleaford Mods, Danzig, Fall Out Boy, Bouncing Souls, Pantera being removed from European shows, Flogging Molly, The Meffs, Tom Verlaine, Pussy Riot, Siouxsie Sioux, Ozzy Osbourne and more.

Single reviews include Invisible Man by The Damned, Bosh! by Death Of Guitar Pop, C'est Comme Ca by Paramore, What If Punk Never Happened II by The King Blues, UK GRIM by Sleaford ModsStruggle by The Lathums, and Midnight Ferry by Grade 2

Albums reviewed are Every Loser by Iggy Pop, LIES THEY TELL OUR CHILDREN by Anti-Flag, Uncertain Joys by The Subways, Make The Most Of It by New Found Glory, and Lobes by We Are Scientists

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Interview with Laurie Black (Solo Musician and Cabaret Compère)

On this special interview episode of the Banned Biographies podcast, Tom Austin-Morgan talks to synthrock cabaret musician and compère Laurie Black.

This conversation came around quickly, despite the fact that I saw her supporting Adam Ant on the Antics tour last summer. We were both busy in the mean time, but today Laurie her releasing her latest single, Spacejunk. Though the song is a year old, the subject (Elon Musk) just keeps getting more controversial. Spacejunk is available to download and stream now wherever you get your music digitally.

Laurie is a really cool person and artist with strong views on a number of topics which are evident in her music and stage act. I can't recommend enough making time to listen to her music and to try to catch a live performance, which for those of you in Australia will be easy as Laurie is performing at the Melbourne and Adelaide fringe festivals from February to April, so you really have no excuse! 

You can find out all about her, her music and tour dates at laurieblack.co.uk or find her on Facebook and Instagram. You can find her music on all the usual streaming sites.

The new single, 'Spacejunk', can be found here: laurieblack.co.uk/music

Laurie is an independent artist, so male sure you check out the merch section of the website and buy some of her stuff, from music to lampshades – it’ll make sense in the interview which I hope you enjoy listening to as much as I did having it.

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Interview with Zach Blair (Rise Against, GWAR, Only Crime, Armstrong, Hagfish)

Welcome to this very special interview episode of the Banned Biographies Podcast where your host, Tom Austin-Morgan, talks to Zach Blair, the lead guitarist of Rise Against. I met Zach on the ferry back from both our European tours in November and he was such a gentleman. He gave me a lot of time and asked about the tour, about my podcast and told me about his own brilliant podcast, Anti-Heroes with Zach Blair, upon which he talks with other guitarists that he admires about their guitars, set ups and equipment. He also told me about the other bands he’s played in including Hagfish, Armstrong, Only Crime, and GWAR, some of which he talks about on this episode.

Zach is such a great guy and so full of stories, as you would expect from someone who has been doing this for as long as he has. I'm so thankful to him for talking to me, even though this is a shorter than usual episode due to how busy Zach is. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I had having it. 

 If you have any additional questions after listening that I didn't have time to ask him, perhaps I’ll be able to entice him back on in future and put them to him. Until then, if you want more Zach chat, go and subscribe to his podcast, and let him know I sent you, so he knows you heard him on here and he knows this is a good place for him to come back. 

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Tom’s Sham 69 European Tour Diary Round Up, News and Reviews

On this 'Round Up' episode of the Banned Biographies Podcast, host - Tom Austin-Morgan - looks back at his time in Europe playing with Sham 69 and the connections he made with the rest of the band as well as complete strangers and of course thanks all those who got in touch after listening to it and a very special thanks to Smokey for sitting in  for the whole four and a half hours!

News this month concerns Grade 2, Dickies, Paramore, The Misfits, Sick New World Festival, Gina Birch, Peter Hook and The Light, Reagan Youth, Iggy Pop,  U.K. Subs, New Found Glory, Alexisonfire, Madness, Keith Levene, AFI, Dropkick Murphys, The Distillers, Flogging Molly, Pauline Black, Punk Rock Bowling, Slam Dun Festival, Thin Lizzie, The Damned, 2000Trees Festival, Amyl and the Sniffers, Social Distortion, Shaky Knees Festival, The Dwarves, Brakrock Festival, Punk Rock Holiday, Lagwagon, Jet Black, Bottles To The Ground Records, Rancid, The Interrupters and Frank Turner, Wattie from The Exploited, Siouxsie Sioux, and NOFX.

Single reviews include Anti-Flag's NVREVR (feat. Stacey Dee of Bad Cop/Bad Cop), Skindred's Gimme That Boom, Grade 2's Under The Streetlight, The Interrupters' Raised By Wolves (acoustic), Paramore's The News and This Is Why, Weezer's I Want A Dog, Iggy Pop's Strung Out Johnny, New Found Glory's Dream Born Again and Get Me Home, Avril Lavigne and YUNGBLUD's I'm A Mess, We Are Scientists' Lucky Just To Be Here, The Lathums' Turmoil, Metallica's Aeterna, The Linda Lindas' Groovy Xmas, and The Offspring's Bells Will Be Ringing

Albums reviewed are The Meffs' Broken Britain Part 1 EP, The Nervous Eaters' Monsters + Angels, Strike Eagles' Operation Mj​ö​lnir, Disturbed's Divisive, Madness' The Get Up!, and NOFX's Double Album. 

All this and more. See you in the pit!

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Tom’s Sham 69 European Tour Diary: Part 2 - with co-host Smokey

Smokey  joins Tom once more on the Banned Biographies Podcast for the second episode recounting tales from the diary Tom kept while touring around Europe with Sham 69.

This episode covers the last seven gigs in the same number of days of the tour, more highs, lows, malfunctioning equipment, as well as continuing to meet amazing people in amazing venues and incredible bands. However, the spectre of the war in Ukraine reared its head a number of times in this last half of the tour. I met Poles, Russians and Ukrainians all suffering in some way as well as a Columbian with a similar story of escaping from a civil war only to be told by the German government that all is well and he may have to go back to his home country, despite the fact that all is still not well there. Fun times were also had and, thankfully outweighed the sad stories, and I met a genuine rock star on the way home!

Bands highlighted in this episode include:

The Herbärds

The Amuse Girls

Violent Instinct

Viciou (So new they don't seem to have a website/social media/bandcamp)

Kommando Marlies (the pronunciation of which I butchered in the episode, sorry guys!)

Smokey hosts the movie podcasts Rated H (a horror movie podcast), All The Best Lines (a golden age of cinema podcast) and House Of Hammer (reviewing all the Hammer films in order). Go subscribe to those too, you won't regret it (and let him know you did so through this show).

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Tom’s Sham 69 European Tour Diary: Part 1 - with co-host Smokey

Friend of the show, Smokey - just Smokey - joins Tom on this episode of the Banned Biographies Podcast to recount the first half of the diary he kept while touring around Europe with his band, Sham 69.

Tom recounts the first 10 gigs and 11 days of the tour, the highs, the lows, the malfunctioning equipment, the amazing people he encountered, the amazing venues he played in, the incredible bands he played with (except one), and the friendships he made along the way.

Bands highlighted in this episode include:

The Vageenas

Rotz Auf Der Wiese

STARTS

Monkey Business

Angry Town

Ruined Floor

The Movement

None Shall Fall

Part 2 will be with you soon, so keep subscribed.

Smokey hosts the movie podcasts Rated H (a horror movie podcast), All The Best Lines (a golden age of cinema podcast) and House Of Hammer (reviewing all the Hammer films in order). Go subscribe to those too, you won't regret it (and let him know you did so through this show).

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Rich Wilson Interview Round up, News and Reviews

On this 'Round Up' episode of the Banned Biographies Podcast, host - Tom Austin-Morgan - thanks comedian Rich Wilson for his time last month, as well as chatting about what he's been up to in the last month: working hard before the tour with Sham 69. playing gigs and writing and recording with High Frequency. All very exciting stuff.

News this month concerns NOFX, Rage Against The Machine, Depeche Mode, The Sewer Cats, Anti-Flag,  Bad Cop/Bad Cop, Blink-182, Green Day, Grade 2, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Jimmy Eat World, Less Than Jake, Stiff Little Fingers, Jello Biafra, The Meffs, The Real McKenzies, Bikini Kill, festivals including When We Were Young, Punk Spring and the Manchester Punk Festival and the passing of Dead Kennedys drummer DH Peligro.

Single reviews include Blink-182's Edging, Queen's Face It Alone, Disturbed Divisive and We Are Scientists' Less From You and Operator Error.

Albums reviewed are Doggerel by Pixies, This Machine Still Kills Fascists by Dropkick Murphys, The End So Far by Slipknot, The Art Of Survival by Bush, Under The Midnight Sun by The Cult, Here Is Everything by The Big Moon, Perplex Cities EP by Serj Tankian, Can You Afford To Lose Me by Holly Humberstone, My Favourite Blue Jeans by De'Wayne and A Night Of A Thousand Vampires Live In London by The Damned.

All this and more. See you in the pit!

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Interview with Rich Wilson (Comedian)

On this very special interview episode of the Banned Biographies Podcast, Tom talks to Rich Wilson, an award winning comedian who has performed sell out shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, Adelaide Fringe, Melbourne Comedy Festival and the New Zealand Comedy Festival. 

Rich is also the host of the Insane In The Men Brain Podcast where he talks to funny and interesting people about their experiences with mental health. In the last year the podcast has been nominated for an award with Podbible and in 2019 won an award with JOE for best podcast. 

Rich is the first comedian I’ve had on Banned Biographies and the reason for that is that I hear him bring up music on his podcast fairly often and his guests don't often indulge him - plus the fact he has a show on Islington Radio called The Tuned Up Time Machine - so, I reached out to ask of he’d like to have a long form conversation about music and he jumped at the chance, which was flattering.

In this conversation we talk about his favourite bands, best gigs he’s ever been to and played, the best and worst things about music (including how shit Sex On Fire by Kings Of Leon is!),  the similarities between musicians and comedians, how society is too clean and safe right now, and so much more as well as a fair bit about his career in comedy.

This was such an easy, free-wheeling conversation to have and I’m so grateful to Rich for giving up a couple of hours of his day to shoot the breeze with me about a subject that’s clearly dear to both our hearts. 

If this is your first time listening to Banned Biographies, I do audio documentaries on bands, a lot of which we touch upon in this episode, and I’ve interviewed musicians in bands such as Sham 69, Ash, The Prodigy, English Dogs, Adam Ant’s solo bands, and session musicians for The Selecter, Bow Wow Wow, The Dandy Warhols, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, and many more, so be sure to subscribe on your podcast platform of choice and check out the back catalogue. There’s something there for everyone.

You can find out all about him and where he’s gigging at richwilsoncomedian.com, listen to Insane In The Men Brain podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts and listen to The Tuned Up Time Machine on Spotify or on MixCloud.

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