Talking Notes: The Rig, The Road, The Reckoning

Carl Stanbridge wanted to be a drummer. A keyboard player at his church in Felixstowe said they would get a bass first and he could do drums later. That was thirty years ago, and he is still on bass.He has played for Mavis Staples, Candi Staton, Gloria Gaynor, Jason Donovan and Marti Pellow, read West End shows including Blood Brothers, and spent twenty-six years in the band for Young Voices, the touring show that puts thousands of schoolchildren on an arena stage. He also teaches.He is unusually straight about the parts of the job nobody puts in a prospectus. He does his own accounts, and says the most useful thing in his whole music education was not a masterclass, it was an accountant who came into Bass Tech for one afternoon and showed them how to keep books. He talks about the fifty pounds a week he needed to survive in his twenties, the pension he started far too late, mild tinnitus and two sets of earplugs that are never quite the right one, falling asleep at will before a gig, and the flatness of day two at home after seven weeks on the road.And teaching, which he says sometimes turns into a therapy session, because a twenty-minute lesson may be the only time that week a child gets one to one with an adult who is not their parent.CHAPTERS0:00 Intro2:14 The Craft: the many heads, and the teaching24:22 The Machine: session work, and why he wants to be in the room31:33 The Money: his own accounts, the seasons and the fifty-pound years37:15 The Head: faith, and the weeks the work does not come40:13 The Body: running, sleeping at will, and coming home51:24 The Gear: the 1973 Jazz, and the earplug maths1:01:21 The Reckoning: what he would tell his eighteen-year-old self1:13:21 The Road In: how a drummer ended up on bassMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEMark King and Level 42: https://www.level42.comAbraham Laboriel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_LaborielRicky Wilson and Kaiser Chiefs: https://www.kaiserchiefs.comOcean Colour Scene: https://www.oceancolourscene.comDino Baptiste: https://www.instagram.com/dinobaptisteMatt Schofield: https://www.mattschofield.comRonnie Scott's: https://www.ronniescotts.co.ukThe 606 Club: https://www.606club.co.ukYoung Voices: https://www.youngvoices.co.ukAlso: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ray Charles, Reef, Atomic Kitten, Evan Jenkins, Tom Billington, the Jazz Cafe, Kensington Temple and Bass Tech.GEAR IN THIS EPISODEFender: https://www.fender.comAshdown: https://ashdownmusic.comTrace Elliot: https://www.traceelliot.comBarefaced Audio: https://barefacedaudio.comLine 6: https://line6.comACS Custom: https://www.acscustom.comAlso: a 1973 Fender Jazz, a 1971 Fender Mustang, a Precision, a Fender Rumble, an SWR 4x10, a Line 6 Variax, and the eighty-pound Westone Spectrum that started all of it.OUR GUEST: CARL STANBRIDGEWebsite: https://www.carlbassplayer.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlbassplayerLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-stanbridge-3034a1aTHIS EPISODEhttps://www.talkingnotes.co.uk/carl-stanbridgeTALKING NOTESWebsite: https://www.talkingnotes.co.ukYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wearetalkingnotesInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearetalkingnotesThreads: https://www.threads.com/@wearetalkingnotesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearetalkingnotesX: https://x.com/talkingnoteshqTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wearetalkingnotesMusic by Julian EmeryWebsite: https://www.julianemerymusic.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/julianemerymusic

Alex Toff has been Belinda Carlisle's drummer since 2004, spent ten years with the late Bonnie Tyler, and played for a-ha, Imogen Heap and Lionel Richie. He also records sessions from a converted garage at home.The career was assembled almost entirely out of showing up. A job in a music shop. A jam night in Greenford. A drummer who put a hand on his shoulder and passed his number on. A ski season in Austria where he happened to meet the musical director who would later hire him. He is clear that you never know who is in the room, which is why he will not write off a small gig.He is candid about the parts nobody advertises. Arthritis in the toe he plays the bass drum with, and a surgeon who wanted to fuse it. A heart procedure he went back to work too soon after. Being self-employed with no sick pay and no plan B if his hands or his back go. And the week a long-running gig ended while his mortgage went from 1.6 per cent to nearly four.His answer to most of it is the same thing. Ninety per cent of touring is the hang, and you will not be asked back if you are hard work. He is also blunt that you cannot just be a drummer any more, and says so to students.CHAPTERS0:00 Intro8:27 The Road In: A music shop in Southgate, a first gig in Arnos Grove his parents had to drive him to21:42 The Craft: Reading the room, artist to artist30:05 The Head: Coming home is the hard part44:03 The Money: A mortgage that went from 1.6% to nearly 4%, a gig that ended45:19 The Body: Arthritis in the toe he plays the bass drum with, a surgeon who wanted to fuse it52:55 The Gear: The Ludwig snare he was talked into instead of the one he rang up for55:03 The Machine: Drum machines were going to end him in the eighties and did not1:01:40 The Reckoning: You cannot just be a drummer any moreMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEBelinda Carlisle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belinda_CarlisleBonnie Tyler: https://bonnietyler.coma-ha: https://a-ha.comImogen Heap: https://www.imogenheap.comQueen: https://www.queenonline.comToto: https://totoofficial.comLionel Richie: https://www.lionelrichie.comTake That: https://takethat.comAlso: Jeff Beck, Steve Lukather, Billy Cobham, Ed Harcourt, Brian Bennett of The Shadows, Tony Kiley of The Blow Monkeys, James Nisbet, Matt Round, River Phoenix and The Viper Room.GEAR IN THIS EPISODELudwig Black Magic: https://www.ludwig-drums.comLudwig Black Beauty: https://www.ludwig-drums.comPremier: https://www.premier-percussion.comRemo Ambassador X: https://www.remo.comShure SM57: https://www.shure.comAlso: a Hammond, a Fender Rhodes, and Suno, which he has opinions about.OUR GUEST: ALEX TOFFWebsite: https://www.alextoffdrums.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlexToffDrumsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/alextoffdrumsTHIS EPISODEhttps://www.talkingnotes.co.uk/alex-toffTALKING NOTESWebsite: https://www.talkingnotes.co.ukYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wearetalkingnotesInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearetalkingnotesThreads: https://www.threads.com/@wearetalkingnotesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearetalkingnotesX: https://x.com/talkingnoteshqTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wearetalkingnotesMusic by Julian EmeryWebsite: https://www.julianemerymusic.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/julianemerymusic#drummer #sessiondrummer #belindacarlisle #touringlife #workingmusician #drums #musiccareers #musicianlife #talkingnotes

Matt Round is James Morrison's bassist and musical director, and plays bass in the ABBA Voyage band. Some nights he does two Voyage shows with another gig in between.He sits in two demanding seats at once. The bass chair, and the musical director's, where the job is holding a whole show together and telling the band what happens next. He is straight about what that pressure is like when you are the person everyone else relies on, and about the folders on the desktop and the notes on the phone that keep it all upright.The Voyage residency raises its own questions. A fixed arena show, played behind avatars, almost every day. How do you stay engaged and sharp when the gig is, in his words, just a gig? He is good on the answer, and good on the contrast with coming off the in-ears and back onto wedges with no click track.He is also clear about how the work arrives and what you owe it. The phone rings, here is the gig, here is what it pays, yes or no. Say yes and you are in it one hundred per cent, or say no. After all these years, he says, it still feels a bit like getting away with it.CHAPTERS0:00 Intro13:39 The Road In: A mum who put records on instead of the telly22:15 The Money: The bonkers few years after the first proper deal, and the false security that comes with them25:20 The Craft: Knowing your own sound well enough to carry it into any room29:33 The Head: The part nobody talks about because it is boring36:00 The Body: Why touring is easier than being at home44:13 The Machine: Off the in-ears and back on wedges with no click track, then the other extreme: NDAs, avatars57:30 The Gear: A 1968 Precision bought in a Belgian shop in the worst transaction of his life1:03:43 The Reckoning: A yacht-rock side project whose motto is that if it feels like too much, do more of itMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEJames Morrison: https://www.jamesmorrisonmusic.comABBA Voyage: https://abbavoyage.comSqueeze: https://www.squeezeofficial.comPrince: https://www.prince.comVan Morrison: https://www.vanmorrison.comMichael Jackson: https://www.michaeljackson.comGary Barlow: https://www.garybarlow.comChildren in Need: https://www.bbcchildreninneed.co.ukAlso: Benny Andersson, Chris Difford, Glenn Tilbrook, John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Kiss, The Cult, Funkadelic, Dani Filth of Cradle of Filth, Ray Dorset of Mungo Jerry, Tom Edwards of Adam Ant's band, Neal Wilkinson, Carl Stanbridge, Goldsmiths, the Musicians' Union, Glastonbury and Indigo at The O2.GEAR IN THIS EPISODEFender Precision Bass: https://www.fender.comGibson EB2: https://www.gibson.comWal Basses: https://walbasses.co.ukFender Vintera: https://www.fender.comLogic Pro: https://www.apple.com/logic-pro/Also: a Leslie speaker, and the six-weeks-newer twin of that 1968 Precision.OUR GUEST: MATT ROUNDInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattroundbassLinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/matt-round-59332424THIS EPISODEhttps://www.talkingnotes.co.uk/matt-roundTALKING NOTESWebsite: https://www.talkingnotes.co.ukYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wearetalkingnotesInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearetalkingnotesThreads: https://www.threads.com/@wearetalkingnotesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearetalkingnotesX: https://x.com/talkingnoteshqTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wearetalkingnotesMusic by Julian EmeryWebsite: https://www.julianemerymusic.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/julianemerymusic#bassplayer #sessionmusician #abbavoyage #musicaldirector #jamesmorrison #workingmusician #bass #musiccareers #talkingnotes

Julian Emery grew up in a musical house. His father was an orchestral percussionist who worked on film scores. He switched from trumpet to guitar at about eleven, when AC/DC and Rush flipped the switch. By nineteen he was recording West End show albums in his dad's home studio.He played guitar for Atomic Kitten and on sessions for Enrique Iglesias and Taylor Swift, then stopped. His reason is more open than most: the great session players use about five tenths of their technique, so they have somewhere to go when it goes wrong. He was at nine tenths all the time.For twenty years since, the day job has been writing and producing: McFly, Nothing But Thieves, Annie Lennox. He explains how that money works in plain English: advances, PRS, PPL, mechanicals and production points, and why an advance behaves exactly like a bank loan you repay out of your own earnings.He is also candid about the inner life of it: the writing room as a wrench on the nervous system, a massage table in the studio, a nap at half two, and what he would tell his eighteen-year-old self about chasing flashy playing.CHAPTERS0:00 Intro6:53 The Road In: Atomic Kitten's guitarist, a couple of Taylor Swift sessions26:19 The Craft: Why he had to be the one in charge of the sound38:34 The Head: Five people in a room, and accepting rejection several times a day42:05 The Body: A massage table, a CrossFit class, the school run and a nap at half two50:50 The Money: PRS, PPL, mechanicals and a publishing advance that behaves exactly like a bank loan55:08 The Machine: Warner Chappell writing camps59:43 The Gear: A butterscotch Telecaster thrown at a wall, the signature prototype that replaced it1:10:20 The Reckoning: What he would tell his eighteen-year-old self about flashy playingMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEMcFly: https://www.mcfly.com/Nothing But Thieves: https://www.nbthieves.com/Taylor Swift: https://www.taylorswift.comAnnie Lennox: https://www.annielennox.comColdplay and Chris Martin: https://www.coldplay.comLana Del Rey: https://lanadelrey.comAlso: Atomic Kitten, Warner Chappell, Rihanna, Paul McCartney, Enrique Iglesias, Belinda Carlisle, Tina Turner, James Nisbet, Matt Willis of Busted, Nick Hodgson of Kaiser Chiefs and Abbey Road Studios.GEAR IN THIS EPISODEFender Telecaster: https://www.fender.comMarshall JCM800: https://marshall.comFender Deluxe Reverb: https://www.fender.comPRS Guitars: https://prsguitars.comLine 6 Helix: https://line6.comUniversal Audio OX: https://www.uaudio.comMXR: https://www.mxrpedals.comPro Tools: https://www.avid.com/pro-toolsAlso: a Silvertone, a Gibson Gold Top with P90s, and a Mac mini doing the work of a studio.OUR GUEST: JULIAN EMERYWebsite: https://www.julianemerymusic.comRadius Music: https://www.radiusmusic.co.uk/julianemeryWikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_EmeryInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/julianemerymusicTHIS EPISODEhttps://www.talkingnotes.co.uk/julian-emeryTALKING NOTESWebsite: https://www.talkingnotes.co.ukYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wearetalkingnotesInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearetalkingnotesThreads: https://www.threads.com/@wearetalkingnotesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearetalkingnotesX: https://x.com/talkingnoteshqTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wearetalkingnotesMusic by Julian EmeryWebsite: https://www.julianemerymusic.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/julianemerymusic#songwriter #musicproducer #sessionmusician #guitarist #musicpublishing #songwriting #workingmusician #musiccareers #talkingnotes

Matt Prior was heading for a football career. Trials at West Ham, Aston Villa and Norwich. Then at fourteen he heard the intro to Have You Ever Loved a Woman on one of his dad's albums, and the football quietly stopped happening.He was the late Bonnie Tyler's guitarist from 1998, played in more than seventy countries, and co-produced her album Heart Strings. Between tours he writes library music for television and film, and does sonic branding, which is a real job that almost no student has heard of.He is straight about what this actually pays. Touring money, PRS, PPL, mechanicals and branding fees, and the way a whole year of income can land inside a fortnight and then nothing for months. Five hundred thousand streams, he points out, came to seventeen pence.The part that stays with you is not about money. Matt talks, at length and without being asked, about six years of anxiety and perfectionism when he could not hand a track in because he could not stand the thought of it being judged, and about the CBT that got him through it. Musicians say this to each other in vans and almost nowhere else.CHAPTERS0:00 Intro6:37 The Road In: Parents who gave him money to go to the pub just to get him out of the practice room37:09 The Craft: Getting the gig is one thing, sounding like you belong is another50:08 The Head: Six years where he could not hand a track in, because he could not face being judged1:11:02 The Money: Touring, PRS, mechanicals and sonic branding fees1:24:10 The Machine: What happens when the intern can generate a backing track1:41:19 The Body: Touring with food intolerances nobody knew about, coming home lighter after every run2:08:02 The Gear: The room he built so a hard drive can go to British Grove or Abbey Road and still translate2:22:45 The Reckoning: His therapist's homework was to draw a line without a ruler and accept that it was not perfectMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEBonnie Tyler: https://bonnietyler.comEric Clapton: https://ericclapton.comAbbey Road Studios: https://www.abbeyroad.comBritish Grove Studios: https://www.britishgrovestudios.comPink Floyd: https://www.pinkfloyd.comNick Mason: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_MasonJeff Beck: https://www.jeffbeck.comGeorge Harrison: https://www.georgeharrison.comAlso: Van Halen, Malcolm Young, John Mayer, Sam Brown, Elliot Easton, Michael Thompson, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Michael Landau, Keith Scott, Dhani Harrison and Simon Le Bon.GEAR IN THIS EPISODEJames Tyler Guitars: https://www.tylerguitars.comPRS Guitars: https://prsguitars.comMartin: https://www.martinguitar.comTaylor Guitars: https://www.taylorguitars.comOlson Guitars: https://olsonguitars.comRoyer Labs: https://royerlabs.comSuno: https://suno.comAlso: a Klon built by Bill Finnegan himself.OUR GUEST: MATT PRIORWebsite: https://www.mattpriormusic.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattpgtrX: https://x.com/mattpgtrTHIS EPISODEhttps://www.talkingnotes.co.uk/matt-priorTALKING NOTESWebsite: https://www.talkingnotes.co.ukYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wearetalkingnotesInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearetalkingnotesThreads: https://www.threads.com/@wearetalkingnotesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearetalkingnotesX: https://x.com/talkingnoteshqTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wearetalkingnotesMusic by Julian EmeryWebsite: https://www.julianemerymusic.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/julianemerymusic#sessionmusician #guitarist #bonnietyler #sonicbranding #musiccareers #workingmusician #musicianwellbeing #guitar #talkingnotes