#85 - Sooz Kempner

The BBC Radio 6 Music presenter, DJ and podcaster Chris Hawkins chats to fellow presenter, DJ and podcaster Chris Arnold and the pair have a grand old time in the process! The Hawk recounts a whole heap of fantastic stories including meeting Prince Charles & Brian May, losing all his friends at The Big Chill Festival and having to fill in front of a massive festival crowd as he awaited Daniel Beddingfield. Plus - what do you do when you're sharing a two man tent at V Festival with ITV's Kate Garraway & an additional camper tries to get in with you both at 4 'o' clock in the morning?! You can listen to Chris on the radio every weekday and he has his own podcast which is called How To DJ. Go check that out on the podcast platforms!

The fantastic comedian & writer Lauren Pattison shares some of her worst times on the podcast for episode 94! She chats to Chris about starting stand up as a teenager, receiving questionable gifts from her nana, a hellish journey up to Scotland and the burger restaurant customer she'd wanted to chuck in the bin! Lauren is out on tour with her show Big Girl Pants - check out her socials and website for more details!

Stepping up to share their worst times this week is the king of the assembly bangers himself - Mr. James Partridge! Recorded from inside an Airbnb during a three show Christmas Assembly Bangers sellout run at the Hen & Chicken in Bristol, James shares with Chris how the idea begun and the journey it's gone on to get to where it is today. Plus - when DJ requests go wrong, when weddings in America go wrong and when assemblies themselves go wrong! James is on tour all over the UK in 2025, include a massive Christmas tour which is already on sale! Go check out his website for more details!

The brilliant DJ & producer Jimi Needles invites Chris into his home studio for episode 92 of the Worst Time Podcast! Jimi's worst times include trying to DJ when your hands are covered in soap, attempting to play drums with a leg injury and what happens when you get stuck in Edinburgh overnight with no phone, no wallet and no way of getting home! Jimi's new album is out now and available to stream or buy on vinyl. Go check it out!

Happy new year everyone! It's a brand new year and a brand new chance to look back at some of the great guests we had on the Worst Time Podcast in 2024! In this bumper episode you'll hear worst times from the likes of Fatboy Slim, Jon Ronson, Sooz Kempner, Hacker T Dog, Jo Caulfield, Jeremy Flynn, Sonic Boom Six and Amy Mason! Thanks to all the fantastic guests who came on the show over the last 12 months and of course thank you to YOU for listening!

Welcome to a very special festive edition of the podcast as wee've only gone and secured a chat with Father Christmas and one of his helper elves! Quite the coup on the busiest day of the year for them.Thank you for listening to the Worst Time Podcast in 2024 and Merry Christmas one and all!

A slightly different episode this week as we head back to 2019 to unearth a previously unheard chat with Olga & Nika from Russian punk band and art performance group Pussy Riot! Chris chatted to the pair in Bristol to find out more about their backstory, their history of protests and their infamous pitch invasion of the 2018 World Cup Final. Thanks so much to Pussy Riot for their time and also their patience in waiting 5 years before Chris managed to get his act together to get the interview out into the world. Back to the regular format next week with a very special Christmas Day guest!

The legends that are the DJ/producer duo Utah Saints sit down with Chris to share some of their worst times from their three decades in the music business! Tim & Jez go through the New Years Eves that didn't quite live up the hype, the technology that has let them down, the meals that didn't cut the mustard and the vehicles which were far from ideal. Plus - what's it like running your own festival and what do you do if U2 ask you to go on a stadium tour with them? Utah Saints have more music on the way and over 30 gigs in the diary for 2025 already - go follow them on the socials to find out more about what they're up to!

A rambling and somewhat chaotic chat with Ray & Sam from ska/punk/funk band Smiling Ivy recorded backstage at the Foundry music venue in Sheffield. They even brought their own handwritten 10 point list of worst times for this one! Going back over a decade - Chris, Ray & Sam have got a lot of ground to cover. They recount the time they toured the Alps, almost crashed the van in Paris and had to save the drummer from a Jimi Hendrix style ending. Plus the time that the band were due to play a festival just outside Bristol but ended up in Hebden Bridge due to an email error. Also, why have Smiling Ivy been banned from multiple places around the country, how did they end up playing a Snow Festival with no snow and does a drum kit have a volume knob? Smiling Ivy are releasing a new album soon and they have gigs coming up. Check out their socials for more details! And warning - this podcast features adult language and adult themes!

Comedian, presenter, actor and well known face of the radio & TV world - Lucy Porter joins Chris for episode 86 of the Worst Time Podcast! A perfect guest for the pod as she's in the middle of her No Regrets tour (spoiler - she has some mild regrets) and has plenty of experience to draw upon! This episode includes tales of interviewing authors, chaotic teenage birthday parties and attempting american accents for the big screen! Lucy is on tour at the moment and she has her own podcast - you can find all that on her website!