News

We were saddened to hear of the great Richard M. Sherman’s passing at the venerable age of 95. The magical hour we spent interviewing this impossibly sweet and engaging man for the podcast back in 2013 remains a very special memory, and we count the resulting episode among our firm favourites.

Sodajerker On Songwriting, Episode 38 with Richard M. Sherman

We’re delighted to announce that Sodajerker On Songwriting won Best Music Podcast at the Independent Podcast Awards in London on Monday 30th October, 2023.

It has been a tremendous privilege to make the show for the last 12 years, so we offer our sincerest thanks to the organisers and the judging panel for the recognition. Heartiest congrats also to the other winners and nominees. It’s an honour to fly the indie pod flag with you all. ❤️

Simon & Brian

We are so sorry to hear the great Robbie Robertson has left us. We had the considerable honour of chatting with him back in 2017 around the release of his excellent memoir, Testimony, and he couldn’t have been more charming.

Sodajerker On Songwriting, Episode 98 with Robbie Robertson

As well as our own podcasting exploits, we’ve done our fair share of guest appearances on other shows too. Now, for the first time, we’ve gathered them all together into this handy list, should you wish to listen to us answer questions rather than ask them for a change:

Sound Advice
–#021: Songwriting Secrets From Legendary Artists (Apr 2nd, 2024)

We’re very sorry to hear that the great Cynthia Weil has left us. She and her husband Barry Mann were not only one of the most prominent writing teams of the ‘Brill Building’ era, but also amongst our earliest guests on the show (episode 6 to be exact).

Sodajerker On Songwriting, Episode 6 with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil

We were recently invited to give a live masterclass/Q&A at the Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies in Nottingham for their industry week event. We were interviewed live on stage by BBC radio’s Dean Jackson, and answered questions from the audience afterwards.

It was a lovely day out, and we were delighted to discover that we were sharing a bill with Beatle engineer Ken Scott, who we met briefly as he set up for his talk.

Burt Bacharach’s place in the songwriting pantheon was cemented decades ago, but that didn’t stop him conjuring those uniquely intricate, affecting and memorable melodies well into his 90s.

When we were lucky enough to chat with him (and his recent collaborator Daniel Tashian) back in the summer of 2020, it was evident that, in spite of his advancing years, he was still as passionate about and engaged with his craft as he’d ever been.

We arrived at Manchester’s Palace Theatre one September day in 2018 fully aware that we might have to be on our mettle, as the great David Crosby was not one to suffer fools gladly, to say the least.

Consequently, our excitement to meet him was tempered by a mild wariness. However, to our considerable relief he seemed to take a shine to us and was a relaxed, charming and generous interviewee (as anyone who’s heard the finished episode will attest).

As one of the preeminent songwriters of the Motown era – or, indeed, any era – Lamont Dozier was dizzyingly high on our wishlist from the start. We attempted to book him a few times in the first few years of the show, but to no avail.

Then, in the summer of 2015, we heard he was to grace our hometown of Liverpool for a live ‘Record Producers’ event at the Epstein Theatre off Hanover Street. Figuring we had nothing to lose, we once again contacted Lamont’s manager (who also happened to be his wife, Barbara) and to our delight were told he’d agreed to speak with us.

Our podcast has been recognised as an honoree at The Webby Awards this year. Alas, our parents taught us that winning is all that matters, but we’d like to say thanks to those that listen and support us!

The Webby Awards (colloquially referred to as the Webbys) are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts and technology innovators.

Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor,” the award is one of the oldest Internet-oriented awards, and is associated with the phrase “The Oscars of the Internet.”

To celebrate 10 years of the Sodajerker podcast, we sat down for a special tin anniversary Q&A hosted by podcasting megalodon and very nice man Adam Buxton. In this lively ramble chat, we answer listener questions and talk about everything from our favourite guests and their songwriting tips to PR shenanigans, TV’s breastfeeding boyfriends and more!

October 15th 2021 sees the release of a remixed special edition of Let It Be, the final album by The Beatles. To celebrate the occasion, Simon and Brian sat down with the excellent Giles Martin to talk about his work remixing The Beatles at Abbey Road Studios, the songwriting of Lennon & McCartney, his work on Peter Jackson’s forthcoming documentary series The Beatles: Get Back, and memories of his father, Sir George Martin.