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by Talkhouse / Cup & Nuzzle
States of Independence dives deep into the hidden histories of the world’s greatest independent record labels with the people that know them best – the founders who built them, and the artists who made them into the stuff of rock and roll legend. In season one, it’s the saga of Beggars Banquet – an iconic punk era label that would eventually spawn an indie empire. Featuring riotous tales from label founder, Martin Mills and a line-up of his highest-achieving alumni: Gary Numan, The Cult, Bauhaus, The Fall, The Charlatans, Love and Rockets, and so many more. All of them come together to tell the story of an organisation with the spirit of punk rock baked into its very DNA.
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- Jun 18, 20261h 23m
Ep 11: Trunk Records - with Jonny Trunk
Welcome back to States of Independence! This special episode goes deep into the story of Trunk Records, home of The Wicker Man soundtrack, Joe Harriott's Hum Dono, Michael Garrick's Moonscape, the music from Kes, Bod, The Clangers and so much more. Our guide on this grooviest of trips? The label's founder, Jonny Trunk. We discuss the avant-garde music under films of microbes on The Open University, Valerie Leon, high-end intellectuals, Jo Guest eating a banana, hidden worlds, music for washing up to, getting sampled on huge records made by “very cool weirdos”, Robin Hardy and the incredible story of The Wicker Man soundtrack. Who had 35,000 unsold records in their basement? (clue: it wasn't Jonny) and how do you never lose any money on anything? We discuss Harold McNair and “beautiful, miserable” British Jazz, how having lunch with Oliver Postgate was like “sitting with a god”, celebrating the corners of recorded music that everyone else has forgotten, the filthy fan letters to glamour models that are “ten times funnier than anything at Edinburgh Festival”, “Ian’s Pigs”, and the baffling genius of the late Basil Kirchin. Also, missing the classic Stark Reality Discovers Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop album by a week, the brilliant British electronic soundtrack that was described by its creator as, “that old shit”, the real story of Trunk’s actual hit single, The Ladies Bras, the amazing Janet Beat (who listened to trees) and so much more! Who should I do next? Let me know in the comments - or find me @rob_fitzpatrick on IG or email me soipodbb@gmail.com Thank you for listening 🙌 Host / Executive producer: Rob Fitzpatrick Producer / Editor: Fabio Fitzpatrick Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Nov 13, 20251h 21m
Ep 10: From BB to 4AD with Simon Neil, Mat Berninger, Martin Mills & Jamie East
In this last episode of the series we’re at the end of the 90s, a time when Beggars Banquet were signing a lot of guitar bands, but finding it hard to get any of them away. Derby’s own The Beekeepers struggled - the band’s ex-singer Jamie breaks down exactly why. Another that soldiered on and broke internationally was Biffy Clyro, but only after they’d left the label, as Biffy’s singer Simon Neil explains. In 2008 the Beggars Banquet label was shuttered and some artists were moved to 4AD - one of them was The National - and singer Matt Berninger talks us through that whole process. As ever, Beggars boss Martin Mills speaks with striking openness and honesty about these huge decisions of the past and the future of the Beggars Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Nov 6, 20251h 8m
Ep 9: Buffalo Tom, Trevor Tanner, Aki Nawaz and Natacha Atlas
Beggars contains multitudes. Here, three very different acts from its storied roster share their own experiences of the label. Buffalo Tom’s Bill Janowitz recalls emerging from the same Amherst alt rock scene that birthed Dinosaur Jr and happily stumbling into the line up of one of his all-time favourite labels. Then, Trevor Tanner tells the story of The Bolshoi – another act who seemed poised to take it all. Finally, Aki Nawaz and Natacha Atlas bring us the story of Fundamental, Transglobal Underground and Nation Records. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Oct 24, 202527 min
Bonus Ep: Love, Rockets, Voodoo Dolls, and Malevolent Fire Spirits feat. Daniel Ash & David J
Bonus time! A story so compelling, we thought it deserved its very own episode. Behold: the full account of the fire that gutted Rick Rubin’s studio, destroyed all of Love and Rockets’ gear, and had everyone involved swearing never to dabble with a ouija board ever again. Featuring a scene-stealing walk-on from Throbbing Gristle’s General P. Orridge, and the most hair-raising description of a voodoo doll you’re ever likely to encounter. Buckle up, kiddos, things are about to take a turn for the paranormal… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Oct 23, 20251h 7m
Ep 8: Love and Rockets feat. Daniel Ash & David J
When Love and Rockets tentatively emerged from the ashes of Bauhaus, Daniel Ash and David J were mainly looking for a way to get out of the shadow of their first, totemic project, and to have a little fun in the process. Little did they know that Love and Rockets would offer them so much more: a route into a whole new phase of music history, as legends in their own right. Here, the two of them reflect on the heliotropic instinct to move towards something new and bright as the gloom of the 80s gave way to the Second Summer of Love… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Oct 16, 202558 min
Ep 7, Part 2: The Go-Betweens feat Robert Forster
In part two of this Go-Betweens special, frontman Robert Forster remembers his dear friend, the late Grant McLennan, the band they began together as schoolboys, and his group’s quest to find a creative home that would last after the turmoil of moving from Brisbane to London. After a couple of false starts, that quest would eventually lead them to Beggars Banquet. The Go Betweens might not have found the fame and fortune that they’d travelled across the world for, but with Martin Mills, they did at long last find a place to truly realise their potential. As with the Gene Loves Jezebel episode, different band member’s memories don’t always match up and resolutions can take years to come by. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Oct 16, 20251h 2m
Ep 7, Part 1: The Go-Betweens feat. Lindy Morrison
For every Gary Numan or The Cult, there’s a few Go-Betweens. Those bands that stood right on the brink of breaking through – but, by some trick of fate or circumstance, never quite tipped over the edge. In part 1 of a 2-part special celebrating Australia’s greatest indie pop export, drummer Lindy Morrison reflects on all the things that made The Go-Betweens both so special and so very unlikely to ‘make it’ – at least in the years they were active. Now, the band are better known than ever, and theirs is a story that has had a lasting impact not only on the musical legacy of the country that they left, but also on the way that Beggars Banquet conducts all of its business with artists. Linda’s story is a powerful one, and she tells it brilliantly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Oct 15, 202537 min
Preview: Fela Kuti: Fear No Man
Subscribe to Fela Kuti: Fear No Man. In a world that’s on fire, what is the role of art? What can music actually…do? Can a song save a life? Change a law? Topple a president? Get you killed? In Fela Kuti: Fear No Man, Jad Abumrad—creator of Radiolab, More Perfect, and Dolly Parton’s America—tells the story of one of the great political awakenings in music: how a classically trained 'colonial boy’ traveled to America, in search of Africa, only to return to Nigeria and transform his sound into a battering ram against the state—creating a new musical language of resistance called Afrobeat. For years, the world’s biggest stars made pilgrimages to Nigeria to experience Fela’s Shrine, the epicenter of his musical revolution. But when the mix of art and activism got too hot, the state pulled out its guns, and literally opened fire. Fela Kuti: Fear No Man is an uncategorizable mix of oral history, musicology, deep dive journalism, and cutting edge sound design that takes listeners deep inside Fela’s life, music, and legacy. Drawing from over 200 interviews with Fela Kuti’s family, friends, as well as scholars, activists, and luminaries like Burna Boy, Paul McCartney, Questlove, Santigold, and former President Barack Obama (just to name a few), Fela Kuti: Fear No Man journeys deep into the soul of Afrobeat to explore the transformative power of art and the role artists can play in this current moment of global unrest. An Audible Original presented by Audible and Higher Ground. Produced by Western Sound and Talkhouse. ©2025 Higher Ground, LLC (P)2025 Audible Originals, LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
About States of Independence
States of Independence dives deep into the hidden histories of the world’s greatest independent record labels with the people that know them best – the founders who built them, and the artists who made them into the stuff of rock and roll legend. In season one, it’s the saga of Beggars Banquet – an iconic punk era label that would eventually spawn an indie empire. Featuring riotous tales from label founder, Martin Mills and a line-up of his highest-achieving alumni: Gary Numan, The Cult, Bauhaus, The Fall, The Charlatans, Love and Rockets, and so many more. All of them come together to tell the story of an organisation with the spirit of punk rock baked into its very DNA.
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