The 26th Meltdown, a festival packed full of exclusive collaborations, world-wide one-offs and unmissable nights, takes place at the Southbank Centre, London between August 3-11, 2019. This year, the festival is curated by legendary songwriter, producer and guitarist, Nile Rodgers, and will feature a live podcast recording with Sodajerker.
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Last month, just a couple of days after interviewing Sting at his London home, we were lucky enough to be among the attendees of the 64th Ivor Novello Awards ceremony in London. (Quite a week for us!) The event honours the great and the good of British songwriting and was held at Grosvenor House on London’s Park Lane on 23rd May. If you’d like to hear more about the experience, check out our mini bonus podcast episode here:
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In this very special episode, the one and only Sting talks about approaching his classic hits from a fresh perspective on his new record, My Songs. With his guitar to hand, the singular artist sits down at home in London with Simon and Brian to reveal the creative processes behind one of pop’s most extraordinary catalogues.
Download episode Subscribe in Apple Podcasts Listen to Spotify playlist© 2019 Sodajerker. Some rights reserved.
Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Rhiannon Giddens joins us to discuss her new record, There Is No Other, made in collaboration with Francesco Turrisi. During the course of this in-depth conversation, Rhiannon describes the spontaneous process fuelling their work together, the historical resonance attached to songs like ‘Mama’s Cryin’ Long’ and ‘At The Purchaser’s Option’, and how telling these stories informs her mission as an artist.
Download episode Subscribe in Apple Podcasts Listen to Spotify playlist© 2019 Sodajerker. Some rights reserved.
Singer-songwriter Gaz Coombes discusses the writing of songs from his excellent solo albums, World’s Strongest Man and Matador, as well as hits with his former band, Supergrass. During the conversation, Gaz explains how he develops ideas in the studio and how he has expanded his songwriting palette to include the art of ‘soundwriting’.
Download episode Subscribe in Apple Podcasts Listen to Spotify playlist© 2019 Sodajerker. Some rights reserved.
Britt Daniel of Spoon sits down with Simon and Brian in Liverpool to talk about the writing of songs like ‘I Turn My Camera On’, ‘The Underdog’, ‘The Ghost of You Lingers’ and ‘New York Kiss’, as well as songs from the band’s addictive recent offering, Hot Thoughts. During the chat, Britt plays us an early voice memo of ‘Can I Sit Next To You’ and explains how he develops his ideas from handheld recorder to the finished article.
Download episode Subscribe in Apple Podcasts Listen to Spotify playlist© 2019 Sodajerker. Some rights reserved.
Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash discusses the writing of her stunning record She Remembers Everything and songs from her catalogue including ‘Seven Year Ache’, ‘Seventh Avenue’ and ‘When The Master Calls The Roll’. In this inspiring conversation, Rosanne describes her relationship to prose writing, her collaborations with her husband John Leventhal, and encouragement she received from her father, the late, great, Johnny Cash.
Download episode Subscribe in Apple Podcasts Listen to Spotify playlist© 2019 Sodajerker. Some rights reserved.
And you’re wrapped in my memory like chains
For I say that the flowers will always be there in my heart
Like an old fashioned movie with all of you playing the parts
Back in 1993, as fourteen year old schoolboys taking their first faltering steps into the world of making music, we came across an album called Shame. The band’s name was (curiously) Brad. This album would never have entered our orbit but for the fact that amongst Brad’s number was guitarist Stone Gossard, moonlighting from his day job with Pearl Jam, and we were huge Pearl Jam fans. Stone, Eddie and co were (and remain) restless artistic spirits to say the least, and seemed to be constantly plowing their creative energies into a myriad of side projects, of which Brad was one.
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Prefab Sprout’s Paddy McAloon joins Simon and Brian to talk about the writing process behind his orchestral masterpiece I Trawl The Megahertz. In this in-depth conversation, Paddy explains the unusual situation that led to the record, how he experimented with radio dialogue, voiceover narration, and his ancient Atari computer to create its fascinating soundscapes. This episode represents Sodajerker’s first ever repeat guest, with Paddy having appeared originally on episode 53.
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Singer-songwriter Jamie Lawson talks about his songwriting process and hits to date, including the affecting ‘Wasn’t Expecting That’. Jamie also describes his time in Nashville and collaborations with songwriters like Ed Sheeran, Kim Richey and Ron Sexsmith. His next record The Years In Between is available from March 29, 2019.
Download episode Subscribe in Apple Podcasts Listen to Spotify playlist© 2019 Sodajerker. Some rights reserved.
In this fun conversation, Dido discusses the writing of her new album Still On My Mind and explains how she approaches the production process. In addition to talking about collaborations with brother Rollo, Brian Eno, Jon Brion and Max Martin, Dido describes the creation of global hits like ‘Thank You’ and ‘White Flag’, and the turn of events that led to being sampled on Eminem’s ‘Stan’.
Download episode Subscribe in Apple Podcasts Listen to Spotify playlist© 2019 Sodajerker. Some rights reserved.
We’re very excited to announce that we’ll be recording a live Sodajerker podcast with our former guest, the delightful KT Tunstall, at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, as part of the inaugural Songwriting Studies conference on Wednesday 20th March, 2019.
We first spoke to KT for episode 61 of the show back in 2014 and, as anyone whose heard it will know, she was tremendous fun. So we’re delighted to get the chance to meet with this hugely talented artist in person for what we’re sure will be a very entertaining and illuminating conversation.
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Episode 319 – Linda PerryJune 20, 2026
Episode 318 – Sean Ono LennonMay 31, 2026
Episode 317 – Matt JohnsonMay 14, 2026
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