When I started out with this podcast, one of the things that I was – still am - interested in is the uncertainty of living today and how it takes us into living with liminality. 

“In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.”

The Divine Comedy – Dante 

It makes me wonder if life always been woven together with paths of liminality. I guess it has. And perhaps what was liminal to someone in the 14th Century would not feel liminal to us now. I shudder to think what those folk would feel about the world today. Mind you, I imagine the 14th Century was pretty brutal. Not medieval for nothing. But how do we traverse the anxiety, turbulence and exhaustion that living with liminality can give, especially these days when the world feels so, SO fucked up. The feelings can be so very strong.

I’ve also pondered (as I do – we all have our faults!) what the role of music is these days. I read a post by a musician friend of mine and he was expressing his exhaustion at living in this world. Is music and art the medicine that we need, either as creators or consumers to retain sanity, connection and community or to access our subconscious? Is it still as dangerous to the establishment as it once was? 

This and other existential questions relating to our existence and how we move through the world might be pondered in today’s episode with a songwriter, producer and musician who has such an extensive and rich musical history with some exceptional artists (one of whom, Debbie Harry, is unquestionably a legend) and has just released his latest solo album called 'Stories From The Borderlines', 11 beautifully crafted songs that brood with their imagination, poignancy, turmoil and hopefulness. I think it’s a great representation of the world today and the wildly diverse emotions that I often feel.

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I 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 think relatability has become one of those words that has become overused and, as is usual with these things, the importance of what it means to be relatable has tended to become a bit diluted….it’s unfairly become a target for the old eye rolling emoji. But, I think being able to relate to other people is such a powerful tool to have in our box in whatever way we communicate – through words, action or our art – especially when we seem to be such a divided world and seem to have little desire for even tolerating or even understanding different perspectives.

It’s not the only tool we need I should stress, but when we pair it with imagination and curiosity for example, I think it becomes very powerful for opening our minds to different ideas, ways of doing things, cultures.  

I’ve asked musicians what they think the role of music is these days and views do differ – from getting strong political messages across to being a bit of fun to an escape from reality and to the deeply personal and cathartic. 

Anyway, whatever my pseudo-intellectual musings, it feels to me like music – certainly the music that I come across - is so much more personal these days.


I recorded this episode on the day that Jessie Kilguss released her 6th solo album and it’s called They Have A Howard Johnson’s There, six beautifully crafted songs that are wonderfully evocative of life topped off by cover art that is resplendent in its 1970’s hotel vibes. 

In fact, I remember my parents having one of those wood/mustard upholstery combo sitting chairs.

So there you go, there’s your relatability!

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I 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 Segs and I were messaging trying to organise this podcast, Segs wrote something like “we’ve got lots to talk about…the world is changing what feels like day by day”. Now with my meticulous research – OK, it was just by luck! -  I was reading back at an interview Segs, Ruffy and me did a couple of years ago just after they’d done their first tour of Spain. And we were talking about movements getting big and Segs said “The bigger the movement gets it has to get okayed by the government and the it becomes “you can demonstrate here and here and here between this time and that time, don’t make too much noise and we won’t kettle you”.

And that was when Sunak – a Tory - was Prime Minister.

Fast forward to now and talk about speed of change - we have a Labour government who are now probably more aggressive in shutting down dissent and protest than anyone in my memory. 

So, talking about the speed of change in the world, there you go…..

Segs and Ruts DC are producing some of the most passionate and accomplished music that’s entirely in tune with the groundbreaking music from The Ruts and just as relevant as The Ruts music was and still is.  Having them around, producing great music, taking a stand against the injustices, governments and corporations that blight our world, and doing it all with an unflinching, unwavering message of “people unite … never surrender” is, I think, one of life’s victories that we should honour.

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I 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

One area of my being that I’ve been working on is not feeling the necessity to be ultra-prepared for things. Things like my podcast episodes. I’ve been able to trace this back to when I was a kid – long story which I won’t bore you with. I think this is tied into this obsession that a lot of society has with perfectionism – don’t make a mistake, be ready for all angles, get it right first time – when really, human beings are far from perfect and we don’t need to dig too far into the newspaper headlines to see many examples of this.

So, I took the very brave (for me) step of doing something that’s really important for so many reasons – getting out of my comfort zone. So, I have avoided any research on my guest today, other than he is a co-founder of the band Afrodream who have recently released their second and totally inspiring album called Guiss Guiss, a beautifully uplifting, diverse and rich mix of rhythms, instrumentation and vocals at the core. It’s really, really special.

This conversation with one of the founders of Afrodream, Luca Vergano, was perfect - fun, informative and inspiring. 

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I 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 do think of my formative years a lot – and I think this started to happen more when my parents died in 2022. Music started to become huge for me around 1976 when I was 8 and started playing the cello…but I did have some music differences of opinion let’s say as I got a bit older and started to  listen to “bang and thump music” as my dad used to call it  – I really struggled to reconcile what I now know is a beautiful instrument with the Ramones, who were changing my life and pulling me in the other direction – it was like I had an alter ego. I mean, it’s not a big deal in the whole scheme of things, but you know, each to their own. 

Anyway, I just devoured more and more music – bands like Killing Joke, Siouxsie, Au Pairs, Minutemen, Husker Du - and as I found more and more stuff through, mainly listening to Peel and other local radio – like Steve Barker’s On The Wire and Tony Michaelides on Piccadilly or just taking a chance based on whether I liked the sleeve, I started to get into more of the avant garde, off kilter, skrunky, weird – Neubauten, Alien Sex Fiend, Bush Tetras, The Fall, Butthole Surfers and then there was a bit of a lightbox moment with Tackhead’s Hard Left around 86, I think before Public Enemy came along and changed things again.

There was also another band who completely flummoxed, intrigued and excited me - and that was Fini Tribe. There was the underground and there was Fini Tribe. I had no idea how to describe them. They didn’t sound like anyone else. I had no idea what they looked like. And I didn’t know much about them. And I had no idea what to expect. And of course, we lived in an age of genre obsession – still do - so they were real genre party poopers. So, by the time I was listening to Splash Care or Detestimony, there were frequent shouts of “turn that shit off”. I was very used to this. Especially from the fella that liked Dire Straits.

But Fini Tribe awakened an excitement in me – listening to them was like Alice Through The Looking Glass stepping into another world that felt as distant and exciting to me as when I got those first Killing Joke records…

I never got to see them live so to now have a wonderful compilation of their 1982-1987 years called The Sheer Action of Fini Tribe, diligently and lovingly brought to life by the band with tracks I’ve never heard before including some live tracks, well, it’s well worth the wait. 

This is such an exhilarating and fascinating insight with Christopher Connelly and Davie Miller.

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I 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

As we were recording this episode, Natalie Hoffmann was a week or so away from releasing a third album with her band Optic Sink called Lucky Number and you’re in for a treat. 

It’s like a modern day film noir on the rainy, lonely streets - well, the streets were definitely rainy where I grew up – trying to discover who you are. 

After all these years, I’m still taken aback with how music evokes strong feelings of time and place. It makes me wonder if we are more receptive to songs or parts of songs - whether they be riffs, synth flourishes, percussion or whatever - when we feel particularly connected - with that time or place. I wonder if we are also, y’know, wired to be nostalgic to an extent. 

I guess we are and our brain is always looking for reference points so it can make its decisions.

That line in The Buzzcocks’ Nostalgia:

“I guess it’s just the music that brings on nostalgia for an age yet to come”

….it brings up such an interesting way to think about nostalgia. Future nostalgia - not the Dua Lipa album - but situations where you are nostalgic now when you know you are going to lose something or someone in the future but r where you will be nostalgic at some stage in the future for what’s happening now.

So, the big question is: will I be nostalgic in 20 years time about the music Natalie is creating today – I’d be pretty confident in my answer but check back in 20 years time in a podcast from the future...

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I 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

Over the years, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about Emotional Intelligence and how it fits in to how many people live their lives now, lives which, for many, are much more multi-hyphenate, multi-stage.

With that comes much more uncertainty. I’ve read a lot by Daniel Goleman, who argues unequivocally that EI (or EQ) is as important as IQ for success in all elements of your life, especially how you navigate your working life, private life, relationships and physical and mental wellbeing. I’d also argue that society collectively benefits from investing in its emotional intelligence learning. Dr Goleman talked about the Dalai Lama addressing a group of gatherers in India: 

"Like physical education, learning emotional hygiene is in great need today.” 

I’d definitely agree with that as capitalism and all its symptoms – racism, fear, inequality, intolerance – becomes much more visible in everything we do.

So, Emotional Intelligence covers things like empathy, self management, self awareness, social skills….and I must admit that, with some of the horrible shit going on in the world, I’ve found it harder and harder to maintain particularly empathy and self management towards others that are displaying some of the most toxic behaviour at the level where I want them to be.

But, I was reminded when the good old Instagram algorithm worked and showed me an interview with a woman reaffirming just how important empathy is – even when we feel at our most desolate - if we are going to tackle the divisions that the world faces. 

And I think that affirmation was what I needed, I guess to believe again.

So, with my little piece of self-righteousness over, it’s time to clumsily segue into introducing Iris Gold who is the most wonderful singer, songwriter, artist and, dare I say it, fashion icon. I really love the energy, creativity, vitality and honesty in her music.

When I thought about how I would describe her, the one phrase that comes to my mind is from Toi Derricotte’s poem The Telly Cycle and that is….. “Joy Is An Act Of Resistance” 

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I 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

One of my interests that started well before I started this podcast - so we're talking maybe 8/9 years ago - was what sort of characteristics and attributes do we need as people to get stuff done in a world that was becoming more complex, uncertain, volatile and ambiguous. Fast forward 7 or 8 years to now and that world has changed at a pace that I’m not sure many predicted.

One aspect of music that always intrigued me was how bands evolve. I’m not really talking about whether they evolve from one genre to another (although everyone knows that I really hate the notion of genres), but what they need as a band and as people to evolve.

And I think curiosity has a big role to play here. That beautiful thing we’re born with – you know, like when the next question from a small kid is always gonna be “but why?” - and gets kicked out of us at an early age by the establishment, cos hey, who in the establishment wants curious, challenging thinkers?

Brian Amalfitano is with a band that I love dearly and epitomizes curiosity for new ideas, for new ways of doing things and one which in my opinion has a unique open mindedness for experimenting with sound and performance. Their recordings and live performances push sonic boundaries with as much significance as the early output of bands like Cabaret Voltaire, The Pop Group and early PIL in the late 70s / early 80s.

And I have to say that they have a particularly unique ability to create an observant and prescient soundtrack that’s scarily representative of a decaying world, in a similar vein to what The Dead Kennedys were able to create back in the 80’s.

In short. Listen to Deaf Club!

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I 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

Rebecca Schiffman recently released her 4th album called Before The Future and it starts with a 9 minute song - which is remarkable in its own right especially these day -  but, in my opinion, it could have gone for another 9 minutes and not felt too long, such is the prowess of her ability to write captivating, enthralling slices of life that are at once nostalgic for the past and nostalgic for the future. The entire album is beautifully rich in unhurried harmonies and melodies and is like peering deep into the creases of her memories to produce an introspective meditation on, well, moving through the multi-stages of everyday living. It could be set to a 16mm flickering home movie of a William Eggleston pastiche. 

Ok, well, having probably humiliated myself with that self-indulgent twaddle, I'd better let you crack on with this excellent and very open conversation.

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I 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

The last song on Violencia’s album Viviendo Tiempos Aún Mas Oscuros is called El Exito Es La Droga del Futuro – Success Is The Drug Of The Future.

For me, the nerd, this is interesting as I’ve often thought about how the words we use can take on specific meanings – appropriated oftentimes – I literally heard one just now – “Joy Is Resistance” started and often used by black women is now being appropriated by a bunch of white women. 

And there are times, where other equally valid meanings are ignored or treated with less importance. Take the words El Exito or Success and today, the majority of society will think of success in terms of material achievements. Are you climbing the career ladder, what awards have you won, have you bought that new shiny kitchen, oooh, is that a new car on the drive, how many followers do you have, did you manage to get your blue Instagram tick? 

It appears that there is little place for success being equated with just, well, human things, like, I dunno, raising amazing children or pets, helping someone in need to cross the road, or showing some empathy for your fellow human beings. 

Of course, yes, forced ultra-capitalism does this to the world and, as Joe Strummer once said “It’s time to take humanity back into the ring”. 

Ever more now.

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I 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’m very excited and deeply honoured to talk to my guest today. Joy Guidry is a classically trained bassoonist - and, the first bassoonist on my podcast – who, with each record released (and there are three now), is showing a level of thinking and creativity that is, excuse the pun, a joy to witness. She brings experimentation, improvisation, the radical, the avant garde and deep reflection whilst always being connected to Black ancestry and sound traditions. Her latest album, Five Prayers, moved into a territory of solitude, refuge, peace, discovery and gratitude. It’s a really stunning piece of work.

I reconnected with the cello after many years of disinterest. The pull and push tension between what I learned and remembered from a classical framework and, I guess, where I want to go which is bringing in more experimentation & improvisation is something that I’m exploring. It’s a slow process where I’m having to unlearn things and I’d hold Joy up as an example to anyone of the power of our mind to create music that takes a traditionally classical instrument out of that classical context and also to take you into the innermost sanctum of your humanity.

https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.com


I 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