The Loud And Quiet Podcast

21 years ago Simon Taffe mapped out an idea for a new type of independent festival. Less than 12 months later he put on the first ever End of the Road at a cost of £450k. The capacity was 5,000; he sold 1,300 tickets and gave away another 7,000 to competition winners. Crucially, it didn’t rain and, against the odds, he made it work.
End of the Road has since become one of the UK’s most beloved festivals, still independently owned when a vast majority have been bought out by the Live Nations of the world. Previous headliners have included dream bookings Sufjan Stevens, Joanna Newsom, Patti Smith and an endless parade of great and good artists in not only folk, indie and art-rock but, increasingly, electronica, ambient and experimental too.
This year’s festival has Pulp, CMAT, Mac Demarco and the recently revealed secret headliner, Geese.
On this episode of the podcast, I ask Simon about the challenges he’s faced over the last 20 years, who there is left to book, was he insane to give this thing a go in the first place, the favourite sets from festivals past, EOTR as a place for fine dining, and if it would be possible to start a festival like this from scratch today.
Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Support this podcast and read our writing at loudandquiet.stubstack.com
Further reading/viewing
End of the Road website
The story of EOTR on the Music Made Me Do It Podcast


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Under the microscopes of our 3 intrepid reviewers this month are new albums by Danish punks Iceage, Pittsburgh noise pop trio Feeble Little Horse and the buzziest rapper in the world right now, Fakemink. Plus, has Drake beaten his career-ending beef simply by flooding the zone with algorithm chum? Who would be on your version of Charli XCX’s new album cover? And how will Sam defend the new Belle & Sebastian World Cup song?
Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Support Loud And Quiet here
Further reading/viewing
Boards of Canada, Inferno review
Aldous Harding, Train on The Island review
YHWH Nailgun album review in our Album Stock Market feature
Anton Corbijn on the podcast
Fast Show’s Indie Club
How Drake Lost the Plot, from The New Yorker
Belle & Sebastian ‘It Only Takes One Lion’ video


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit loudandquiet.substack.com/subscribe

Joe Newman – frontman, guitarist and chief songwriter in art rock band alt-J – estimates he’s recognised no more than twice a year; the dream/improbable scenario for a musician operating at his impressive level of success.
Following four alt-J albums, Newman is about to release his excellent debut solo record under the name JJerome87. It’s call The Canyon (coming 27 June) and has a distinctly Californian sound. A big sound, I tell him in this week’s podcast, as abstract as that sounds. What I meant was that it sounds like a million people are playing on it, while Newman’s gift for strange lyrics that mean the world remains. “Baby come away with me / Let’s get lazy eye surgery.”
Join us for a discussion around success, Los Angeles, how to tell you band you’re making a record without them, and a slow motion Hobbit orgy.
Support this podcast and L&Q at loudandquiet.substack.com
Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts
Further reading/viewing
jjerome87.com
Ticket’s for Joe’s album launch show at Bush Hall, London
‘Track and Field’ video


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit loudandquiet.substack.com/subscribe

Not only do we discuss our customary new albums this month (from Canadian microtonal space aliens Angine de Poitrine, NY electro punk band Lip Critic and new art rock greats Modern Woman) but also the Geese viral mirage, a very horrible football song and what exactly is the Met Gala?
Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Further reading/viewing
Angine de Poitrine KEXP session
Wired’s Geese marketing exposé
North London Forever
Modern Woman Bandcamp
Lip Critic Bandcamp
Angine de Poitrine Bandcamp


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit loudandquiet.substack.com/subscribe

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Considering the city of Sheffield’s music heritage – from the future pop of The Human League to stadium rock giants Def Leppard, industrial pioneers Cabaret Voltaire, legendary electronic label Warp, Pulp, ABC, Arctic Monkeys, Self Esteem, hundreds more – it’s borderline impressive that it’s never been chronicled in one book. Other music cities (Manchester, Liverpool, New York) have been 100 times over, but the people of the Steel City are a modest bunch.
Writer Daniel Dylan Wray has now written that book, spanning from 1960 to the early 2020s. It’s called Groovy, Laidback & Nasty, and is publish this week, on 7 May. I spoke with Dan about his first book, from Peter Stringfellow’s forgotten life promoting Jimi Hendrix to the 150+ artists he spoke with to help tell this story. There’s also some good advice for fellow writers, and some hard truths about how writing a book actually works.
Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Further reading
Order a copy of Groovy, Laidback & Nasty
Tickets to Dan’s book launches in Sheffield, London and Brighton
Dan’s first article on Sheffield, about historic night club Niche
Jive Turkey for The Guardian
David Lynch interview for Loud And Quiet
Just What is an Industry Plant Anyway? for Loud And Quiet
David Byrne interview for Loud And Quiet


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit loudandquiet.substack.com/subscribe