What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast

Mark Fisher, Mark Reed, David White in What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast
Mark Fisher, Mark Reed, David White in What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast

Interviews and discussions about XTC, from White Music to Wasp Star and beyond, hosted by Mark Fisher, editor of The XTC Bumper Book of Fun for Boys and Girls and What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book.

Listen at https://whatdoyoucallthatnoise.transistor.fm/episodes – and on your regular podcast provider.

Episodes

Become a Patron!
  1. Garden of Earthly Delights (feat Colin Moulding) A discussion of the XTC tribute album Garden of Earthly Delights, featuring XTC’s Colin Moulding, as well as Mark Fisher, David White and Mark Reed.
  2. Breathing the Same Air with Andrew M Stafford Andrew M Stafford recalls his time with XTC during the making of The Big Express. Belinda Blanchard previews her performance at the XTC Convention 2020. Mark Fisher, Mark Reed and David White join in the chat – and Andy Partridge supplies the jingles.
  3. Andy Partridge Everything’ll Be Alright To cheer us up during the Covid-19 lockdown, Andy Partridge pays a call to What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast with the promise that Everything’ll Be Alright. He talks with characteristic wit and candour about the power of XTC as a live band, the chords for Roads Girdle the Globe and how Yacht Dance was nearly a song about bees. Essential listening for every XTC fan, this episode will leave you Burning With Optimism’s Flames.
  4. XTC vs Adam Ant (feat Andy Partridge) Jordan Cooper of Don’t Let’s Start: A Podcast About They Might Be Giants joins Mark Fisher, Mark Reed and David White to talk about the connections between XTC, TMBG and Adam and the Ants. In a freewheeling conversation, they explore the head versus the heart, intellect versus instinct, and content versus form. Along the way, Andy Partridge drops by to share his opinions about Adam and the Ants and They Might Be Giants and remembers how XTC caught the eye of John Peel.
  5. Dave Gregory: Tunes of Good Guitarist and keyboard player Dave Gregory talks about his contribution to the sound of XTC. In conversation with musician Hugh Nankivell, he reflects on the smell of guitars, playing an idolised instrument on Skylarking and the joy of making music with Colin Moulding and Andy Partridge. Recorded at home in Swindon in March 2018, the interview appears in full in What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book.
  6. Andrew Swainson: Designs on XTC Illustrator and graphic designer Andrew Swainson has been collaborating with Andy Partridge for over 20 years. As well as working on XTC and Dukes of Stratosphear re-releases, such as Skylarking and The Complete and Utter Dukes, he helped create the distinctive look of records including Powers, Warm Robot, Gonwards, Orpheus: The Lowdown and Fuzzy Warbles. In this episode, Swainson joins XTC fans Mark Fisher, Sarah Crookall, Laura Wade, David White and Peter Mills – not to mention a brief visit by Andy Partridge – to talk about his mesmerising designs. More about Andrew Swainson at https://www.andrewswainson.com/
  7. Black Sea at 40 with Hugh Padgham and Dave Gregory To celebrate the 40th anniversary of XTC’s Black Sea, sound engineer Hugh Padgham joins guitarist Dave Gregory for a 90-minute special. They talk about the clanking anvils of Towers of London, the one-note solo of Love at First Sight and the slow-build tension of No Language in Our Lungs.
  8. Why Comedians Love XTC In this special bonus episode, recorded live as part of the online XTC Convention on 19 September 2020, author Mark Fisher talks to leading stand-up comedians about their love of XTC. He also gets them to join in some games and make up some nonsense – or do they?
  9. Young Generation Takeover What does XTC mean to a young generation of music lovers? From England, Scotland, Wales and the US, fans in their 20s come together to talk about music, art, creativity and the biggest question of all: how to pronounce the word Nihilon.
  10. X-sTatiC: the XTC cover band story For the first time in over ten years, Dan Barrow, Ed Percival, Adrian Ogden and Mick Casey come together to talk about playing in XTC cover band X-sTatiC, remembering the songs that challenged them and the ones that raised the roof.
  11. A Merry XTCmas: part one The first of two Christmas episodes features Andy Partridge, Chris Butler and Martin Newell, choosing their favourite festive songs
  12. A Merry XTCmas: part one In the second Christmas episode, Andy Partridge and Chris Butler take us through some of their favourite seasonal songs
  13. Making Plans for Nigel: What Happened Next Tom Clarke of The Enemy explains why he has brought the XTC character into the 21st century on The Chronicles of Nigel. He’s joined by Laurie Nankivell who talks about the influence of XTC on Squid, whose song Houseplants namechecks Making Plans for Nigel.
  14. The authors: Twomey, Bernhardt and Fisher The three writers talk about putting XTC in print.
  15. Church of Women XTC fans discuss Ladybird, Church of Women, Take This Town, The Last Balloon, The Mayor of Simpleton – and The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets
  16. Oranges and Ladybirds – part one The influence of British nursery rhymes on XTC songs ranging from Ladybird to We’re All Light, Ballet for a Rainy Day and Brainiac’s Daughter
  17. XTC: This Is Power Pop? with Brian Vander Ark and Paul Myers The Verve Pipe singer and editor Paul Myers talk about harmony, songwriting and XTC
  18. Oranges and Ladybirds – part two In this second deep dive into XTC’s lyrical references, we talk about the flora and fauna of River of Orchids, the one-way traffic of English Roundabout and the coastal retreat of Bungalow.
  19. Colin Moulding: The Hardest Battle To mark the release of The Hardest Battle, the mighty Colin Moulding of XTC talks about being true to himself, avoiding cliches and fighting off being beige.
  20. XTC’s Andy Partridge – My Failed Songwriting Career XTC’s Andy Partridge talks about writing to order, the collaborations that work and the perils of being a songwriter for hire.
  21. Steven Wilson remixing XTC Audio-guru Steven Wilson talks to The XTC Podcast about his stereo mixes and 5.1 surround versions of XTC classics
  22. Terry Chambers and Steve Tilling: From XTC to EXTC XTC’s original drummer Terry Chambers joins bandmate Steve Tilling to talk about keeping the flame alive with EXTC
  23. Nick Heyward and Thomas Walsh: Haircut 100, Pugwash and XTC Nick Heyward (Haircut 100) and Thomas Walsh (Pugwash) talk about meeting XTC, the collaborations that nearly happened and those that might happen yet…
  24. XTC Collectors: from Science Friction to Wrapped in Grey Dedicated XTC collectors Darryl Bullock and Per Aronsson show each other their XTC treasures and discuss their most prized possessions. What is the rarest of them all?
  25. XTC’s English Settlement: The Expert View It’s the 40th anniversary of English Settlement and, in the first of two special birthday episodes, What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast asks the experts to guide us through the album track by track.
  26. XTC’s English Settlement with Dave Gregory and Hugh Padgham To celebrate the 40th anniversary of XTC’s English Settlement, guitarist Dave Gregory and co-producer Hugh Padgham look back at the recording of one of the greatest ever double albums.
  27. XTC Live in Manchester Music journalists David Nolan and Mick Middles remember seeing XTC live in Manchester. Brenna Ehrlich, senior news editor at Rolling Stone magazine, joins in.