This month on The Allender Calendar I’m talking to comedian, broadcaster, and very good friend John Robins about his book Thirst: Twelve Drinks That Changed My Life. It’s a beautifully written account of alcoholism and recovery – candid, profound and very funny. I’m positive it will help a lot of people. I’m extremely proud of John for writing this book, and for getting to the place he’s at now. It was great to talk to him about the writing process, and about addiction, spirituality and much more. I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation.
Thirst is available in all good bookshops!
Link in bio, or wherever you get your pods.
@nomadic_revery
New Substack post about one of my favourite authors, Gwendoline Riley. I’ve loved her stuff since Cold Water back in 2002! Her new novel, The Palm House, is excellent, and it made me go back and reread her previous one, My Phantoms. Had a think about what makes her so brilliant. It’s partly how good she is at dialogue; she’s particularly adept at capturing how, for some people, a conversation is an opportunity to monologue! Link in bio, hope you like it.
As part of a psyop to promote his new album The One True Prince of Wales (in exile after abdication), @simonloverules is this month’s guest on The Allender Calendar. London-based Cardiff-born musician Simon is a superb songwriter with excellent pop smarts, an innate feeling for hooks, and a gift for Ray Davies-esque scene-setting. His lyrics are often very funny (in particular the bridge-burning bitterness of ‘Green Man Blues’), but there’s a noticeable air of melancholy to his new album, which contains songs about grief, nostalgia, exile and childhood. Simon’s album was released on 3 April by Hurrah Musica, and I absolutely love it.
Link in bio or wherever you get your pods!
And here are some more photies! Of some of the most brilliant people that we’re lucky to know and call our friends who joined us at our wedding. What a day!
Unfortunately, you can’t have more than 20 photos or tag more than 20 people on instagram posts – we could have gone on and on! Thanks again to @pictures.moving for the official pics and thanks to everyone else for taking so many others 📸
This month on The Allender Calendar I’m talking to the fantastic stand-up comedian @abcelya about Crushing, the 2019 album by Julia Jacklin. We had a great chat about music in general, and vulnerability in performance, specifically relating to Celya’s last show Of All People. Through the course of our conversation we ask the big questions like: Are people adicted to vulnerability cigarettes? Should we move Christmas? And what’s the best brown noise playlist to listen to on a plane? Link in bio or wherever you get your podcasts!
This month on The Allender Calendar I’m chatting to the Northern Irish writer @wednesdayerskin about her brilliant, polyphonic debut novel The Benefactors. Wendy has previously published two outstanding collections of short stories: Sweet Home (2018) and Dance Move (2022). She also guested on @personalbeatles back in 2021, so you can check that out too! Link in bio or wherever you get your podcasts.
I wrote a Substack post about Chris Rea who sadly died last year. A big fixture on the car stereo growing up. I think he’s really underrated – a fantastic songwriter and guitarist. I wrote about ‘cool’ and ‘uncool’ music, and how the blues went in and out of style. And whether any of that matters. I also mention Throbbing Gristle which could be a first in a piece about Chris Rea. Link in bio!
This month on The Allender Calendar, I’m chatting to the author @benjamin.pester about his debut novel The Expansion Project. Part corporate satire, part Lynchian dreamscape, The Expansion Project explores loss, parenthood, grief, and the ways in which identity and meaning are being distorted as technology takes over our lives. It’s also very funny!
We talked about balancing creativity with a day job, finding joy and humour in office work, and some key influences (including Gormenghast and The Unconsoled). Link in bio or wherever you get yer pods! #podcast #theexpansionproject
We lost Brian Wilson last year. Here’s my version of one of the best songs ever written – God Only Knows. Happy new year everyone! No worries if not!
#godonlyknows #thebeachboys #brianwilson #coolmusic
