I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee

I’ve been seeing a specialist about some pain I’ve been having in my shoulder. It’s quite a scientific alternative treatment that he’s been giving me, so I asked him what I should be doing to keep myself out of mischief in the future. And he said something that really hit me. “Honestly, do what you enjoy”.One thing struck me about watching Sandra Fedowitz play the drums with two utterly magnificent bands - A Place To Bury Strangers and Ceremony East Coast – and that is the ferocity, energy and soul with which she plays, and also that she looks like she’s having the time of her life every second that she’s on stage. Ok, that’s two, three, maybe four things, but you get my drift. Do What You Enjoy.Now, she’s also a trauma informed yoga instructor – I do believe that it’s hugely important to make consent integral to yoga and, in fact, all parts of our lives. It’s a stain that non-consent is still so violently practised by men on women to the extent that it is and accepted to the extent that it is by the patriarchal establishment.She also helps artists and businesses to tell their stories to the world through old school and new school media formats and to manage their event and communication projects, and interestingly she complements the work she does with words with visuals that rely less on text through her photography, painting and graphic design. So, with all of that going on, it struck me that it’d be a fascinating conversation to talk about the sort of skills and attributes that we need in today’s volatile and complex world. Plus, unless your Steward Copeland, you don’t often hear from drummers. It’s a crazy, senseless world.https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.comI Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently. Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™- cover art by Giles Sibbald - doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

I often find myself thinking about my youth these days - call it flirting with nostalgia or something – it feels like a continual search for my formative influences – people, happenings, places, things like that. Musically, the 82-85/6 period was probably the most exciting period of my life – I didn’t realise then obviously just how exciting that feeling of discovery was. And, as was often the way, John Peel was the source of a lot of that discovery. And Steve Barker from On The Wire as well – his Radio Lancashire show was just as important as Peel’s for me. And this led me down a rabbit hole of discovery to bands like The Redskins, Anhrefn, Chumbawamba and, of  course, Mekons, both of which to this day continue to be a huge influence on me both musically and politically.Mekons are, for me, unquestionably one of the most important bands of my generation - and hopefully of future generations. For me, politics has always been inseparable from music and there are some musicians - like them, like Ruts DC, like Chuck D and newer poet musicians like Aja Monet, Moor Mother and Kara Jackson - who each give me a feeling amongst the gloom that seems to envelop us, of “don’t worry, it’ll be ok”. I think it speaks to the gravitas, comradeship and community building strengths of all these artists that they make me feel like this. Enjoy this fantastic chat with Sally and Jon.https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.comI Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently. Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™- cover art by Giles Sibbald - doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

Hello again, have you missed me?Just in case you have, we’re gonna waste no time and go back in deep, no messing, with a proudly independent artist that I’d say gives you a pretty good idea of what multi-hyphenism is all about. She’s a songwriter, musician, performer, singer, producer, runs a record label, was one of the earliest adopters of crowd funding, she’s a sound therapist, qi gong teacher, leadership coach and somehow finds time – or at least I hope she finds time – to sleep.Her 7th album, which spans something like a 20 odd year career, is called Only Human and it’s a record that is really informed by her own personal experiences and intended to be a resource of hope and recovery for other vulnerable people who may have or still are going through their own challenges, dark times, traumas. It’s a stunning record with the opener Human as beautiful as it is desolate, as vulnerable as it is resilient.https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.comI Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently. Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™- cover art by Giles Sibbald - doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

I admire and respect Richard Jobson’s contributions to the arts and civic life enormously. From where I sit, there’s a fearlessness and determination to evolve, to try new things, to experiment, to challenge the sometimes narrow, traditional notions of what it means to be artistic, to resist those whose purpose in life is to sit in judgement and to redefine success and failure with more comradeship and less derision. To me, it’s clear that his respect for the past is genuine and forthright, yet the present and the future have always been where the opportunities lie for a fulfilling life.My opinion was cemented having been able to spend some time around him when the Au Pairs recently supported The Skids on their Absolute Game tour. I have to say a massive thank you to Richard, The Skids and Paul Aspey for their welcome, friendship and professionalism from the off.It’s pretty wild to think that when The Skids, one of the cohorts of the early punk scene that remains hugely influential, broke up he was just 21 years old. This is such a great chat to try and delve into how Richard has navigated through the world.https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.comI Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently. Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™- cover art by Giles Sibbald - doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

No introduction needed for John Wardle aka Jah Wobble.This is a massive conversation with John about life. It's funny, personal, intense, a full learning experience. All the things that you want and need from conversations these days. https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.comI Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently. Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™- cover art by Giles Sibbald - doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

I only met Jem Doulton a couple of months ago and have had the privilege of watching him play several times with the Au Pairs whilst they’ve been out on tour supporting the Skids and also doing their own headline shows. Jem’s predominantly a percussionist and drummer, but is also partial to the odd bit of crooning now and again. Now, getting together a list of his bands, projects and all that good stuff is where my research gets dodgy, but fuck it here we go with what’s probably a partial list:  Thurston Moore, The Au Pairs obviously, Heckle Chamber, Grimm Grimm, The DNA Test, Melos Kalpa, Pando Pando to name but a few - I thought putting out a podcast once a week was pretty prolific, so that’ll teach me - as well as recording a bunch of solo records, the latter of which was 2024’s hugely imaginative and kaleidoscopic Deal of The Century. I think the collaborators on these releases shows the esteem in which Jem is held as a musician and person. So here's the interesting change in music at least from where I sit – multiple collaborations – if you want to call it that - have become perhaps the default way to be a musician these days - it’s way more common to find musicians working on several projects – and often diverse projects. I don’t know if this self-development buzzword “multi-hyphenate” - as it applies to doing a few different things in addition to your core job - originated from the music biz but whatever, it feels like this profile is a proper feature of the way that many, many more of us are living now.https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.comI Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently. Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™- cover art by Giles Sibbald - doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

I recently read a blog post of mine from 2019, not long after I’d quit my job and it was clear that I was riddled with self-doubt, some fear, some excitement at this new liminal space I was going into. And also worrying about what people think. What the actual fuck? I look back and think why?? Most people were excited for me and those that were sniffy, well, I thought I didn’t give a fuck about them. But they still snuck into my brain rent free.The self doubt lasted a good while into doing my new stuff – managing a short-lived band (the short lived part had nothing to do with me, honest!), this podcast, graphic design for the zine. It’s definitely eased up, so much so that I’ve started doing some video work and just recently I’ve redesigned a band’s website. Ultimately, the thrill of doing this kinda stuff was too powerful a draw for the self-doubt to be the winner, although it wasn’t fucking plain sailing.I first met my amazing friend and today’s guest Lars Wolfshield when they were, amongst other things, managing the experimental punk band Pleasure Venom. We’ve become close friends since then and done some amazing trips together here in the UK, Europe and their current city, Austin. When Lars told me that the calling to actually create music instead of managing musicians was getting so strong, I realised there was a fair bit of symmetry to our journeys – reigniting our classical training, having some creative calling, uncertainty, anxieties. Yet, for me, returning to play my cello in front of people seems light years away, whereas Lars has gone full throttle into their new venture called Jet Cemetery with their partner and my good mate TaSz Trebuchet. Jet Cemetery’s debut album The Canary will be out in the world by the time you listen to this episode – in fact it’s out the day after we are recording this, but it’s a wonderful – I’m gonna call it handbook for today’s world lives where we are subjected to almost endless liminality, and one that explores the dystopia of the world today and brings together the light and dark, hope and hopeless, the soothing and the unnerving. Lars’ celestial voice is layered alongside TaSz’s subversively tender beats and synths as well as exquisitely saturated and distressed visuals. If you haven’t checked it out yet, just go for it.https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.comI Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently. Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™- cover art by Giles Sibbald - doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

I started writing a book during Covid which in a spur of the moment I called A Re-Design for Life. I bet you can’t guess what album I’d been listening to…... The reason for starting, apart from being able to satisfy some boredom and ego, was to try convey my belief that the most important asset we all possess is our self, especially as more and more of us are living multi stage lives and in a world that is so fucking complex and volatile, that the old rules are redundant. Much of society is so conditioned towards materiality - to think that the most important assets we should aspire to are material and have a monetary value – cash in the bank, house, blah blah blah  - but I think that that thinking overlooks the fact that our own intangibles – like curiosity, imagination, adaptability, resilience, instinct, critical ignoring and one of my favourites, emotional intelligence – are some of the most needed things.. I realise that this would some of the medieval politicians rolling their eyes, but fuck them. Not that they’d be listening to something as classy as this podcast.Back to emotional intelligence, I’ve often banged on that emotional intelligence should be an integral part of our learning from when we are first born. Empathy, social skills, self regulation and self awareness are so, so important for existing and thriving where we have such emotionally unintelligent “leaders” that seek to divide and conquer with a delinquent lack of empathy and self-awareness. Now, here’s the typically amateurish segue into Miki Berenyi. If you haven’t read her autobiography - called Fingers Crossed – How Music Saved Me From Success which came out in 2022  - then you really should, because that self-awareness and empathy that I just mentioned is all over this book. It really is a rollercoaster of a read and reinforces even more my belief of the importance of these weird intangibles. It’s one of only a few recent books that has captivated me and left me with a lot to think about. And, of course, her music. In each stage of her musical life, she’s written songs that can one minute haunt me, the next uplift me. I just find her songwriting breathtaking.https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.comI Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently. Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™- cover art by Giles Sibbald - doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

Atef and I go way back - almost 6 entire months! We met on a balmy end of summer night at the Shacklewell Arms in London and Crocodiles were playing one of the sweatiest and most perfect gigs I’ve been to. At the end of the night I said “See you in Spain in September” to rousing sniggers of “yeah right” from everyone - only kidding, they were delightful but, y’know, bold promises are often made when the euphoria of adrenaline is rushing. But, sure enough, I appeared in Murcia to take in some shows with them around Spain which was one of the most unforgettable road trips I’ve been on. I do think those times of shared experiences of wonderful people that you meet along the way, travel with and spend time with are when you make great friendships. It kinda helps when the music is as good as Crocodiles.I’ve thought a lot about what role music has these days in our society and I think it’s always had this power to connect and bring people together, it’s the shared language. I just think this is SO much more important these days when it seems like there is so much more to divide us.So here we are! Not only does Atef play bass with Crocodiles, he also composes, plays guitar and sings with his other band, the wonderfully named Hermetic Delight, who recently released their third album, the equally wonderful and wonderfully named, Vagabond Melodies and runs his own label. And I’m sure there is plenty more stuff that he’s dabbling in!https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.comI Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently. Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™- cover art by Giles Sibbald - doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

When I was a kid in the 80’s, I used to listen to a local radio show called On The Wire, presented by Steve Barker. Steve and John Peel were single handedly responsible for me finding bands and artists like African Headcharge, Sonic Youth, Tackhead, Test Dept, Cabaret Voltaire, Mark Stewart and The Mafia, Keith Le Blanc, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and so many others. It was so, so thrilling to discover these new artists. And the show is still going, Steve is still going (albeit on Mixcloud because the BBC unceremoniously turfed him off the radio in favour of some shit pretentious show that’ll have the listeners running for the hills.Anyway, he tags his shows with the magnificent term of “Undefinable” which makes me just love him even more because I loathe the whole way that genres are used to stereotype and pigeonhole.And this is where – in a long winded way -  my guest, David Roush and his wonderful band Ecce Shnak fit in. Undefinable. Going back to the release of Letter to German Vasquez Rubio around 13/14 years ago to their latest single Katy’s Wart from their LP Joke Oso. They are a fascinating kaleidoscope of creative fertility and imagination which I think is one of the most important characteristics to have in the world today and I’m really excited to talk to David about his mindset and how this has helped to shape who he is today.https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.comI Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently. Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ’s and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™- cover art by Giles Sibbald - doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste