The Liverpool Connection is an LFC podcast that aims to bring the story of our wonderful club to as many fans as possible around the world. The history, the passion, the music, the people, the City – we want to share perspectives on and off the pitch. We're delighted to have you here with us, be sure to Like and Subscribe with Notifications on for our latest podcast.
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Daz O'Connor, Steve Wilson, Nik O'Connor, Glenn Kewley, Julian Lane
The Liverpool Connection is an LFC podcast that aims to bring the story of our wonderful club to as many fans as possible around the world. The history, the passion, the music, the people, the City – we want to share perspectives on and off the pitch. We're delighted to have you here with us, be sure to Like and Subscribe with Notifications on for our latest podcast.
🔊 Listen to The Liverpool Connection Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts: https://www.buzzsprout.com/785459
📲 Follow The Liverpool Connection on Social Media:
💻 Website: https://www.atxreds.com
🐤 Twitter: https://twitter.com/atxredspodcast
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atxredspodcast/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atxredspodcast/
Daz O'Connor, Steve Wilson, Nik O'Connor, Glenn Kewley, Julian Lane
Hi everyone and welcome to the Liverpool Connection podcast. I am your host, dazza, and I've been doing a new series lately called Football and Music 101. It's bringing musicians on to tell their story of their musical influences but also talk about football. And you know it's usually Liverpool fans that I brought on, but today I brought an Arsenal fan on, so please don't switch off. I guarantee it's going to be a really good pod. Anyways, he's been in the game for 30 plus years and I still can't believe that you've been in so so long.
Speaker 1:He started out with the Prodigy, with Maxime Keith and Liam 1990 to 2000, if I'm correct and then, you know, went on from there. But I'm so proud to bring on Leroy Thornhill to the Liverpool Connection podcast To have a good chat about music, life and Arsenal. Welcome, mate, we've probably got one. This doesn't go out for a couple of weeks, so people will have a chance when I start promoting it to kind of go ooh, arsenal, you know, you know what. I think it's always good to talk about football, not just about Liverpool, but we've had so many classic matches against you anyway, so we'll get into that later. But I want to start with your musical influences. You know growing up, what was the Leroy teenager listening to back in the day Right.
Speaker 2:All sorts. Really, I've always been into music. But when I was 10 my older sisters were into punk, so I've always kind of pretty much I know that sounds a bit stupid, but pretty much from the age of 10 I've kind of been into underground music as well as chart music, commercial music and stuff. But yeah, from 10 I was listening to the Crass and the Slits and Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground and Bowie and the Stones, all that sort of stuff. So I was kind of into that. And then I suppose around I must have been about 11, 12 when the electro kind of kicked in. So there was this electronic sound and it was about dancing again and great dancing and everything. So, yeah, just always been into that kind of underground thing. And I suppose it was a little period. I was a little mod for a while so I was in the Northern Soul stuff and things like that as well. Yeah, yeah, great dancing and whatever was going on on the street I was trying to find it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's kind of the same with me. I mean, my sister used to. She was bringing home the 45s as like a Raja DePesh mode and all that. So I started listening to that and I was kind of the same. I started to getting into the mod stuff because your dad actually was more on the black, sabbath, d Purple side, but then me mum was more on the Northern Soul, so I would do the mod thing. So one year I'd be just as a mod and then the next year it'd be like a break dancer. So it went from year to year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then obviously, when the casuals came, I pretty much stayed the casual For you. When did electronic music start taking over?
Speaker 2:Man again, like you were saying there, I think all of us were kind of getting prepped for it. With the lights of DePesh mode and Gary Newman, nick Kershaw, yazoo, vince Clark, ray's, all that sort of stuff, we were getting familiar with electronic drums and sounds and stuff. And I was in hip hop as well. So then the electro thing obviously was drum machines and stuff like that. So yeah, it was just a natural progression to go into the ray thing because I think the hip hop I was into hip hop and still that sort of rare groove funk thing and then, yeah, then the ray thing come along Acid house.
Speaker 2:When that first come out it was a bit like there's not much rhythm in it is there, you know, just the acid stuff. Then all my mates were kind of like started going raving and having a bit of fun and stuff. And I was an electrician at the time and I was still working. I was working down in Baths. I was like three hours away from all my mates and they all started raving and I'd come back every three weeks and I'd come down and do this and do that and I'd be like, nah, not weird getting it. I'd go out. But I couldn't get the acid house thing. It was just too rhythmless for me. So I went out a couple of times with them and then after that I went to a couple when it was a bit more ravey. Once it had gone I spent acid house was so underground, it was so early. So 88 times, 87, 88, it was like so new. It didn't register with my brain yet but yeah, it didn't take long before I was in there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean back then. I mean for me as well. For acid house there was too many bleeps and blobs. I definitely needed a rhythm and it was just so like way way out there for me. I called Gerald Doudou Ray. That hit me like a ton of bricks. And then kind of the same thing with me. My mates would take me to these clubs and I'd just stand on the side just going. What is all this about? We were doing a side dance, yeah, more I went, and then I'd go to Hacienda and that kind of changed the way I thought about things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah yeah, I think as well the early acid stuff was. It was just four, four, again drums as well, and the equipment was so sort of basic sounding like, if you know what I mean. That was one of the reasons this was special, but it also held back the rhythm side of it. It was just pure technology stuff. There weren't even like someone sampling a groove that's been played on a guitar or so. The whole human element kind of was not in existence in a lot of the pure acid stuff. So yeah, you're not always going to get rid of naturally anyway, how did you?
Speaker 1:were you already mates with Liam and Maxim and Keith?
Speaker 2:No, no, no, the same thing. We met through Raven, really, cubby. I first met Keith. Well, actually I met Liam before I met anyone, but we never knew each other.
Speaker 2:I was DJing at a party with a mate, dj Physics, a guy I used to go to school with me and him starting DJing at school when he got some decks and we were doing a house party and some guy came up to me. I was playing Don the other guy, it was off somewhere and some guy came up and said what mate, can I have a go on your decks? I was like I asked my eating there is sort of thing, and I thought I don't know if it is or nothing, and it was late. Turned out later I found out it was Liam. So like Don me mate, we let him jump on the decks and stuff and it was like really good scratching and all that. Yeah, that's leading to it.
Speaker 2:So I met Liam first and then I met Keith. I met Keith just down at Barn, the nightclub we went to. So, yeah, we just sort of hit it off on the dance floor and went to party and out, heading out to London all the time and stuff like that, and then we sort of hooked up with Liam again and he was dating a girl who lived in Keith's house. And after we formed the band we met Maxine because we knew we needed an emcee and a friend of ours knew him. So we actually met Maxine when we first gig.
Speaker 1:Oh well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we met you down there and sort of we sent him music obviously, but yeah, we never met him until before the first gig. So that was pretty mad.
Speaker 1:Well, that's mental, because I could have really gone, like you know, belly up. I'm glad it didn't. Like it's just when you see all four of you on, you know, on stage though, you can tell like there's brotherly love there, you know it just. It just is like when can you? Can you remember the first time you were all up there?
Speaker 2:Oh man, yeah, but yesterday, all of us like yesterday, really, it's yeah, because we had must have had about 30 of our mates had all come up there. It's a tiny little club called the Four Aces and the party was called Labyrinth and, yeah, we must have had at least 30 of our mates come up there. So we had a good little support. But the club was ran down and tiny, tiny little stage so like, and that was where we decided like man, we can't all go out because we had no, we'd never rehearsed, we had no idea what we were doing. We had kids, we just did a gun rock and Sharky, the girl Sharky, was with us. And it was just like, man, the stage is too small. So it's like, maxi, you're gonna have to stay over that side and then we'll go on in pairs, on and off, sort of thing, because you couldn't all fit out there. So that's how we sort of really started with the on and off thing as well, and it was so hot as well, so you couldn't stay out there for the whole time. But yeah, I remember that a lot. Yesterday we literally finished in about 20 minutes after the promoter walks into the changing room and he's just like, yeah, man, won't you back in two weeks. That was awesome. You know, that was it. We were rushing. It's funny.
Speaker 2:I remember the. I remember the earlier gigs. You know most of them, and I said most of them, a lot of them, just like that. But it was the last year that I was in the band. Then gigs, and then the ones I can't remember, you know, because, wow, that just we were just everywhere, everywhere, you know. You know we'd fly to like we'd be doing like the Lullapalooza tour in America. It'd be something like, let's say, nine shows in 15 days or something. So you did three shows, had a day off, three shows, three days off. In the middle of it, back onto it and it'd be like, oh, you've got three days off.
Speaker 2:So what we can make a really good idea of what we've done is we've booked you a gig in Japan. So on your first day off you fly to Japan. Second day you play the gig. Third day you come back. You know you fly to Japan in a bit typhoon and you wouldn't do nothing. So you just come, go to Japan for nothing, come back and carry on with the tour and then agree like, go to Korea. But you don't remember that and it's like, yeah, got cancelled, there's a hurricane again. It's just like man, we were just yeah, it's like a pinball machine. The last bit of it for me. That's one of the reasons I decided to get out of it.
Speaker 1:Whose idea was it to wear like the clown costumes? Well, they were.
Speaker 2:That was that was like, yeah, Keith, Keith, literally as we're sitting in, look as you sit that, look as we're sitting there, that outfocus is it? Yeah, yeah, Flinky and sharky, as you said it, we're sitting on my desk. But, yeah, no, Keith was. That was Keith. He was like, yeah, man, I'm going to get some outfits made, Because we didn't want to, it didn't want us to look like we jumped out of the crowd straight away Because everyone would have just sort of jumped up there. We needed it to look like it was, you know, a performance or something else. So I remember they. Keith was like, yeah, I'm going to get some outfits made. And yeah, sharks going to go for it.
Speaker 2:And I'm not sure for Liam had one for the first gig, I'm not sure, but I was like, no, man, we can look like the fucking stylistics if we all have outfits. And then, after the first gig, I was like, man, I need to get an outfit. So, yeah, with a friend of ours is Jay, we're student contact with she. She used to make them for us. So I mean, yeah, the earlier days stuff, they were more like rabies things to stand out. But even to this day, I know, you know, Maxime's still getting his stuff made for costumes and custom shoes and all that sort of stuff. But you got a member. For me it's just a complete nightmare, because I'm six, six, so I can't go and buy stuff. You know, on the t-shirt, master, so everything else just don't fit me, you know yeah, it must.
Speaker 1:It must be crazy, like you know, being that tall as well, like on those small stages.
Speaker 2:Oh man, that was a space, it was just a flying. That does me nothing and it still does to this day. You know, everything is just like and the seats are probably smaller now. The leg room then it was in. You know, honestly, I can get the part of the heel of my hand on the back, on my the front of my seat, and my fingers touch your back of the seat and if I'm in a column or inside, it's just like. Like, yeah, I have to pay extra to be comfortable. The price of being tall.
Speaker 1:Yeah, don't we all? I mean for those 10 years. I mean Trottergy came out with probably three of the most incredible albums like that I've had. You know experience obviously you know had had Charlie in it, which was, you know it was charted really well, you know, for you and kind of put, put you, I would say, put you on the map, but obviously you were still doing all these underground parties. But you know, the second album is where I think it just exploded. I mean, did any of you expect like to be, you know, pushed in the limelight like that? Because you know the rate, the rate seen back then you know it's all hard core, happy hard core, or your jungle breaks, you know, and that there wasn't really like superstar groups. You know, I mean you had Underworld there and Orbital, but they weren't what, what you's that way, you know, which was like in your face. So how did you take that?
Speaker 1:I mean you know experience comes out like I mean it never, came off my decks for a long, long time, until the second album and then the second album.
Speaker 2:I think there was a, because I think duels come out 95, if I remember rightly, and 94, we had had it for the rapes scene anyway, you know it was. It got it all got segregated and stuff and it weren't what it was. But you know, we, in terms of, like Charlie, for example, we sold 25,000 copies when that was at number, went to number three. Brian Adams was number one. He'd been there 15 weeks with Robin Hood or whatever and he was selling 150,000 a week, you know. So on Friday night we paid to 10,000, on Saturday we played to 10,000, and then I'd do that for a month. It's not hard to sell 5,000 records, you know, especially when everyone used to buy CDs and stuff. Then you know it won and you always heard that track at every party. You heard it managing mates house afterwards, you know. So it wasn't it weren't big numbers or nothing to sell that amount to get to number three. But the end of the day, liam's a genius musically, you know, and as a, as a show, it was like a bit of theatre that everyone felt they could relate to it, because you had to, even as a DJ, as anything, if you're a performer, you have to have been in the other side of on the dance floor to appreciate it. I think you know as a DJ. You can't become a DJ unless you've been on the dance floor. You know in the club and you know what the highs and lows of the audience and the feelings and the emotions you know, because that's what you've got to deliver when you're up on the other side of it. So you know to this day.
Speaker 2:When I heard that music I was the same as you here in the industry. I was like what's this? Do you know what I mean? And play that bit longer, play it longer, play it longer. I could need to smash on it up. You know it was like it's rock and roll. It's rock and roll on it, liam, and it always had been dynamically. It was just rock and roll. We didn't.
Speaker 2:We moved out of the dance scene after the experience album because, like for us, if you think of England techno, you heard a bit of techno within the night and then by 1993, 1994, techno was in one room drum and bass or jungle, everyone calling it another one house and garage. You had to go to Voxall London and get your Leather trousers on your blouse and stuff, you know, and it all split up and by then we'd already sort of been started touring around the world, you know. So we'd go to Europe and it's like man, everything's techno, everything's techno, so like we'd get inspired to put a tune with a bit of techno vibe in there so that we, you know no good, start to the dance, for example, so much more European sounding than it was English sounding, because it had a 4x4 drum and we didn't really do much 4x4 music, you know, and Liam would put breaks and rhythms on top of it all. But yeah, if you look at really the second album, you've got obviously another one, you've got Hyperspeed, full Throttle. You know there's a lot more. It weren't really a rave sound, it was more for the European around the rest of the world sound, because America didn't have a clue what rave music was. You know, the only thing that they could relate to. She had plus eight with John Ackwood, viva and Richie Horton and Moe B. We'd tour with them in 92 or 91, 92, you know. So we were going around to these college places and no idea at all what the rave scene was or anything, you know. So you had to kind of have a bit of a variation of music that was going to work everywhere, you know. So we were inspired by all sorts of things. Come to 94 or 95 and playing festivals and you know you could play anything, right, if everyone's off their nut, you know you could drop. I remember literally Apex Twin dropping a needle on a bit of sandpaper when it was DJing, you know, but not that, but that's. You know that's great. But yeah, so it was.
Speaker 2:You know Liam's unique and even to this day, if you look at his production stuff, if I say to you, pick five prodigy songs and hum me the bass line, you won't be able to do it Because he didn't. There wasn't his concern. Sub bass, you can't get energy with sub bass. You can get pressure, you can get an air pressure, move the air, but you can't get something to bite their teeth together. You know, bring your eyebrows down, but you need that mid range bass and with Liam everything was about the kick drum.
Speaker 2:You know, if you like, like I said after we speak when you go away, you go and listen. Try and listen to Liam's bass lines. You won't find them out of space, you won't find it. He just has a presence. The warmth is always there, but it's like that bass 80 hertz in your chest every time. So you get the aggression. You know it's like electro music. You can't get hard, you can't make electro music hard, you know, because of the 808 drum, and this is another reason that kind of killed the breakbeat thing recently, to be honest. So over the last five years, six years, when 808 drum come out and they say, mate, yeah, it's loud and it's sort of shakes your ass and stuff, but it can't, don't sound hard, you know, and it's just a frequency thing. But we never he was always moved away from that and we're into dynamics like when that comes back, it comes back and it sounds twice as hard as it was or twice as fast as it was, you know. So, yeah, we can't move away from the breaks in quite quickly really.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like, once you know on record listening, you know you can get the vibe. But I think going to actually sees you as play is something completely different. I mean, I've seen you like loads and loads of times but I actually keep coming back to the same video on YouTube, which is the Phoenix Festival one. It just grabs you by the balls Like. It's like all four of you are just on it. You know, like, and the crowd Like.
Speaker 1:I think that's what differs, I think, sometimes from like the US and UK crowds. With the UK crowd you get the Pogo in, you know everybody just jumping up and down, you know, and there was no mobile phones back. Well, I mean, people have mobile phones, but not like you know they do now, where they just spend 30, 40 quid and just stand there with the mobile phone and watch. Why don't they just stay home watch somebody else videotape it on YouTube? Yeah, I mean the the Phoenix one just like grabs me when I, whenever I'm, like you know, feeling kind of a bit bleh, I'll put it on and it'll just change my entire mood for the day, just because it's, that's rock and roll. To me it's rock and roll, it's punk, it's just in your face and I think I never heard. You know, like I said, all the bands like that. You know I'm into my breaks as well, but that you don't really see a lot of break, the live acts. You just don't. You know it's more techno based.
Speaker 2:Again it was. You know you go with the timing. You know the timing is another thing because you know at the time you had enjoy. Me and Keith used to follow enjoy around before with the band. You know the band enjoy, just like my nature rock. You know we used to follow them around. And then shades of rhythm for another band. You know I absolutely love, and you know enjoy to come to reverse, that our manager was brother of one of the guys from enjoy. You know I used to hang out with shades a lot and stuff like that and you know they were. They would smash it in the, in the dancing and everything. Shades were slightly more likely to cross over because the music is a bit more commercially sounding pianos and vocals and that.
Speaker 2:But you know it's really hard to sort of say, man, there should have been a few more of us. You know, really, even to this day you've got Stanton Warriors, plum DJs and stuff who none of them have quite crossed over the same. You know you've got Norman Cook, you've got sort of like Basement Jacks where they just kind of have one track really where's your head at, you know, but really, yeah, underworld, yeah, techno, that relate across the world. So we've all got you know, and they're wicked as well, because it's hard music, but yeah, you do kind of feel like there should have been a couple more of us. Liam's, absolutely. I say Liam's a genius. I'm not saying I don't compare anyone to him, because, as a question where people just say, oh, what would you call your music? And this is me answering this I was prodigy, you tell me something else. That sounds like it consistently and that's what we are, and they can't you know.
Speaker 2:Oh well, that track sounded like yeah, yeah, sounded like us. You know what I mean. So it was just so unique. It was so unique. And the show and Keith, you know all of us, all of us what the part of the jigsaw that we put to it, all you know, we all knew the aggression. We all knew how to bring out the best in each other. Yeah, it was like a little gang thing, you know. I mean. You know, besides, you're young and you just roll with it and all that mattered was getting up there and rocking it. You know, letting people forget about the shit that's going on with their life for an hour and a half, you know.
Speaker 1:I think the closest in the beginning to me was Dust Brothers, chemical Brothers, you know, before they became the Chemical Brothers song to the side and to me, like I was like what, what is this? I want more of it, you know, and they did like the depth charge remix and that was kind of you know the closest kind of thing. But like, like you said, you know, nobody touched the prodigy. So for me, like you know you did 10 years, was it really hard to just go, you know, walk away from it.
Speaker 2:No, because it didn't need me anymore. You know one, like I said, the last bit of it, I can't say no, we were in control the whole way along.
Speaker 2:We were like a manufactured band. Every decision was down to us. Yeah, of course there were people trying to sell us stuff. You know you should do that, it'd be brilliant. You know that was the problem after Fat of the Land. You know it got to the point where it'd be like all right, you've got a gig in Spain Friday. Then you've got Germany Sunday. Saturday and the gig's just coming from France. Really good money on the Sunday, it'd be really good, you know. And then you get to. You know, you just leave it in someone's hands and you get to the airport on Germany on the Saturday and then, oh yeah, we've got to fly back to Stansard. There's no direct flights to France, so we've got to fly back to Stansard. Then we've had to hire two planes, one for the crew, one for you guys. So we're not going to make any money. No, no, not really okay. So that amazing gig that you've chucked in there, that you're all getting your commission from, you know it's no longer a great gig, it's just a fucking effort that we've got to make. You know it's got like that.
Speaker 2:It wasn't too bad, but it was just like. You know I said we still said yes to everything and kind of agreed to it, but it was little things like that. It was just like, like you know, enough's enough. You know, you can't just keep on putting this out there on the road over and over again and I'd stretch with Liegements. When we were on tour in America, and you know, maybe that was in sort of 1999 or something, I remember sitting down with Liam saying man, I don't know, I don't have enough of this stuff. I just want a bit of sanity, a bit of a normal life, because again I and after once I keep down fire stuff and they're breathing everything. It was just kind of like man. It's just evolved again. You know, having been there from day one, from when Sharky was like you know, guys, I'd rather be partying than taking this all serious, you know. So good luck to you. It was the same sort of vibe. It was like man.
Speaker 2:You know I can't be doing out of space and start the dance, and that 20 years later or 10 years later, you know, and I feel like the spare part now. It's like I'm the only link to the past. So I'm stuck with the old stuff and the whole thing's developing into a whole new thing. You know you've got Keith on vocals, you've made every track you're trying to write with the vocal lines, and you know. So it's kind of like you don't need minimal, you don't need a dancer, you know it's become a vocal thing, it's become involved into something else. You know. So it was like, yeah, as soon as we stopped touring in 1999, it was like, you know, I don't want to get back to it again. I think now we all sat down and sort of think now's the time for me to move on, really to try and get back on stage or try to write anything. Don't have to think about anything apart from what it's going to be, you know. So, yeah, it was a natural progression and right time.
Speaker 1:So what was your progression? Did you just, you know, want to take like a year off? And then you know, kind of sit down with yourself and say, you know, do I still want to do music, do I want to do something different?
Speaker 2:Well, I started DJ. I was a DJ. I was at school, so I was always putting into the music thing and I used to DJ when we were on tour and around the world and stuff like that. You know, I'd still sort of slip into DJ gigs when I could. So I loved it. I knew I was always going to sort of try and get involved in music but yeah, I couldn't.
Speaker 2:I feel like literally if someone says to me you know, getting a hang of music, it was probably only the last eight years or nine years I've really been happy with anything I've produced. Anything before that was kind of just lessons, learning, you know, and I couldn't write dance music. I didn't like it. I liked rock and roll and songs and lyrics. I liked things like that. So I'd kind of done that indie flight crank thing when I left, writing songs and picking up a guitar and then I can't play and stuff like that, just being a bit punky. So yeah, I kind of was into that. But again, it was like for me, dance, I couldn't play football too and that was all I ever wanted to do. Yeah, top gold scorer in all the leagues when I was under nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, all that stuff, you know what I mean. And like, yeah, when the band come along, that's like you can't play football, case that happens to you, it's great new leg or something you know. So like I suppose by about ninety-six, you know, I've kind of had enough of that and I responded to the local pub team and so I'd go and go and then I thought, well, there's less chance of getting out, but I'm like, well, I'd play anywhere. But I was just sort of striking really, but I am a bit of a cat. So, yeah, playing golf with a pub team. And then I started at ninety-seven. It was like I got asked to start playing for the Arsenal X professional celebrity team and soccer six and all that stuff. So I'd start doing that, you know, and literally the week after I left the band I broke my leg playing for Arsenal. So you know I'd always been in gold all the time.
Speaker 2:And then like, yeah, man, I need to play again. So yeah, man, it's best thing ever. You know, amazing, amazing. You know, even now, when I sit here and I think of the weddings I miss and the funerals I miss and the things I missed with my family and stuff, because you know, you were on the road and that was it. You just committed to it, that was it. All that mattered, you know.
Speaker 2:But yeah, that thing had just been normal, you know, I mean literally. I suppose three weeks ago I played in a golf event for a charity thing for a friend who died a while ago. But you know, for about eight years, every day, every year, oh, man, you can make the golf this year, man, I can't, you know. So, yeah, it's, don't get me wrong, it's the best thing ever. I've seen so many places, done so many things.
Speaker 2:But yeah, it was still a sacrifice as well, you know, for some normality and I miss normality, I miss being at home. I mean, we would never go on tour for more than three weeks because we didn't want to get on each other's nerves. We didn't. We wanted home food, we wanted to go to the pub and see your mates. We just wanted to be normal, you know. So, america, yeah, you come here to a three, four month tour or the stadiums. You're like, no, we're coming for three weeks and then we're going for a month and you can fly us back again for three weeks and we're going, but you won't make any money, we don't care, we don't go nowhere for more than three weeks, that's it.
Speaker 1:You know, we need normality, that's a good way to look at it because I mean, you know, these days especially, djs are put on this pedestal, you know, and every aspiring DJ kind of looks up to them and like, oh my God, they got these private jets and all this. But you know, even like I'm not really into his music, but I'm James Hype, you know he does. He does like a YouTube vlog and he was saying he's playing all you know he doesn't know where these are. Like his road manager's got a. You know pretty much say the name of the city or the country he's in and he's like, you know, everybody thinks we make this crazy amount of money. And he's like, well, we have to play for flights, hotels. You know he has a sound guy, he has lighting deck. You know he's like it's not this like glamorous life that these people think it is.
Speaker 2:We have 13 people in our crew. You know we're all wages and if you're doing 21 gigs in 24 days, you've got 13 people to pay. You know all their flights to get. You know all their food to get, you know, I mean, don't get real, we didn't start off with 13 people. It kind of builds up as you go along and with the money as well, you know. But yeah, but it ain't proper hard work sometimes. I think we've done one year where we had, in three months, we stayed in 74 hotels and done the equivalent of spying the circumference of the world three times.
Speaker 2:You know, you don't know your ass from your elbow. You wake up and just like where the hell am I on this tour bus? Well, you get on a tour bus on America, for example. Come after the gig, right, we've got four hour drives, you know. And then you wake up in a bed, right, we're here, guys, we're at the hotel. So I'm going to just give you a key as you get off in your bag and stumble into this room. And then you wake up with the fuck out of my you know, like don't know which room anyone else is in. Oh man, you just get stuff like again America from there.
Speaker 2:It's not my favourite place but, like you know, I would get stuff. Man, you want to buy some crack outside the holiday, you know? And then you go into the. This is when we're starting out. We weren't standing in big nice hotels and I think you know. I feel like literally you go to a hotel, shut the door in Fresno and there's like seven locks on the back of the door and a sign do not answer the door to anyone unless you're 100% sure you know they are. Yeah, we get some food in San Fran and hotel, we get some food. Wow, hotel, if you go that way.
Speaker 2:One or two blocks. There's a piece of place. Don't go more on a black block that way. That's where the crackheads and the drug addicts are in their rob Robbier. Yeah, have you got room service? You know guns going off and there's all that stuff on the floor in the green room and everyone else is just standing there. So I don't fucking guns in New York. Yeah, don't worry, it's a couple of blocks away, it's a different life, isn't it?
Speaker 1:And it is weird, most outside of holiday ends, yeah, there is like crack dens and, like you know, just it's seedy places in the town, but so obviously you know not doing the prodigy thing and now you can, you know, concentrate on your DJing thing. You know, because it's just you and you know you're your own boss now, which which has got to be really good. You know you pick the gigs and I noticed you know every season is festival season, obviously in the summer, you know best of all, and all the good stuff, what's there, what's one of your favorite festivals to play Without? You know, I know you probably love playing most festivals, just because everyone's there to have a good time. But what?
Speaker 1:one stands out for you.
Speaker 2:I'm a copy to Glasto this year. Well, I think it's the ones where you can get to see, see stuff. You know, go and see the other bands that you like, other DJ mates, because the whole thing is a family scene really. You know it's always someone I know at the festivals that You're going to get a buzz off. You always buzz from when you know someone when they're playing. If it's a through fire, they even know. When you know people, you know their character and they can see them playing. It's always the same with the DJ thing. But yeah, I mean for me DJ and anyone DJ. I think to an extent Of course there is technique involved, but it ain't a big deal In my eyes.
Speaker 2:You know, when you're up there and you've got to play your own music and perform, you're selling your soul. You ain't nowhere to hide. You know you've got to have rights. You're going to like, I'm going to make you like me. You know, when you're DJ, I don't like that. I don't play Prodigy. You know that ain't no big deal really.
Speaker 2:I write a lot of my own music now. I make a lot of bootlegs. I'll make tracks with Oasis of through fighters, chili Peppers, yes, and I'll make these edits, that beat all the shit. I won't give them to anyone, so I'm the only person in the world who's gotten. So then, when I'm playing, I'm doing, always doing something different that no one else does. Yeah, if you see, if you've followed me around and you say, oh God, he's played that rock soundtrack nearly every time, you know I mean. But if you buy, the same as seeing a band playing their own tracks, do you understand what I mean? It's like that's one of the reasons that I can't stand out. That's one of the reasons that I'm different is because I've got them tracks and other people haven't, you know. So that's the effort I like to make to be different. I like to play everything drum and bass, old school techno, lil Louis, french Kiss, all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 2:You know I love educating people, but taking them up and down, you know and I'm not again I've never planned to set them alive. I wouldn't stand there 10 minutes before shitting myself and go what's the first track I'm going to play? What should I start with? I try and get them at our before to check out what the other person plays and get a bit of an atmosphere and stuff like that. I can't just rock up, but yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2:The audience picked the tracks for me. You know it's like yeah, they're like hard, I can keep going. Yeah, I can see they need to. I need to drop their energy a bit and educate them. We're saying a bit different, you know, or I can see they're a bit more techno crowd. So our stickwishing tracks have got a bit more chunky, techy sounding rather than sort of like just so gradually sounding.
Speaker 2:So it's knowing the audience gets on his DJ. I can hear it. So I say, oh, crowd didn't get my music. So, dude, you got a memory stick with 3000 songs on which, when they didn't get the music, you said you didn't get the crowd. Jesus Christ, if they need Michael Jackson, you play Michael Jackson. Your job is there to entertain people, to give them a good time, not trying If you don't want to change what you do for the people. You're not at home. It's not like a box of records with 50 tracks in anymore, Jesus. And then all these ones with masks and jumping up on the decks and jumping around and cakes, and that in the audience. Dude, you're just a DJ playing other people's music.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I could not agree more with you, mate. I'm exactly the same. I just watch. It's like a charade. I'm like what's with the mask? What's with the cake throwing? I know, if I'm paying again you know 30, 40 quid to go watch somebody play, I'm sure as hell I'm not going to get hit in the face with a cake because I'm going to get on that stage and I'm going to smack the living shit out of you. Yeah, I just don't get it. I mean, there's people in the audience going hit me with a cake. I don't get it. It's, you know, especially like in America. You know they've labeled EDM. I do not like that label. It's all dance music, isn't it? You know? Obviously it's electronic music, but it's dance music.
Speaker 2:The EDM just separates it and it's to me it's more pop based. When we arrive there with and we signed to Madonna's label Maverick, they're like we're going to give an electronic a nine months and we're like what In the room? They're like electronic and that's why we're going to call it, we're going to brand it as electronic, we're going to give it nine months and we're going to drop it off the label. Yeah, when they're getting hit, what do you think of my snare drum? Fuck your snare drum, dude. Nobody's dancing. Yeah, do you know what I mean? Who cares about your snare drum? Look at the people. They don't. Nobody's dancing.
Speaker 2:You're writing dance music and you're more worried about how the sounds are. You know we will roar punk 16 track secrets up. You know what I mean, with a little screen with a dot down across sampling and making new recipes. You know what I mean? Not all this and the other thing with snare drum. Listen, dude, your snare drum sounds how it sounded. In your future, I might sound amazing. That's what you wanted.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but there's not another system in the world the same as your bedroom. Half of it's mono, half of it's got too much bass on it to get a life and then put your band on an iPhone. It's like, yeah, man, your production, you put a click on your bass drum. A click on your bass drum. This is about eight years ago. All this shit started. Yeah, if you don't have a click on your bass drum, you know we can hear it on their iPhone. Really, you think I'm really care about my music for people to listen to on an iPhone out of the speaker, that I have to now take that into my brain and not be thinking, oh, if I can get 30 hertz, I can get people to shit themselves. This one, oh God, I can put a little click on top of my bass drum, so people will know there's a bass drum there, you know. I think it's like what has it come to?
Speaker 1:It's changed so much. Like you know it's, there's good and bad in it, you know. I mean it opens a store for more and more people to like hear you know dance music, but then it also opens the door for a lot more clowns like who see a dollar bill.
Speaker 2:But I still don't think it's. You know, if you said to, if I would say to you, you know, in the 90s or so, I mean look, check out this white label I've got from Nicky Finn or whatever you know within you could guarantee if it was like your, if it was a good track, within a month the whole country knew it on the road scene. You know what I mean, man, I'll write a track. Now I'm connected to the world. You'd be lucky if you three, four hundred people find it. Hear it. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:It's just pathetic. You know it's like oh, you know I'm not. You know I don't like socials. I need to put more effort into it if you really want to achieve it. But this is the whole thing. It's like.
Speaker 2:You know it's like, man, I've got to get ripped off on Spotify. I won't put my music on Spotify. If it's on a record label, I can't do nothing about it and that's all cool. You know, that's it. But personally, if I release music, I won't put it on there. I'm like, I'm not going to insult myself by what you pay. I'm not going to make all the header and the page rigged for you to take money from me and rip me off. You know, because you have to do all the design and the layout and all that stuff. You're only doing that for them. You know. You might get a few visitors and a few people come, but they pay 10 pound a month. They buy the stuff, they just press play. They don't give a toss, you know, and that's how it is for them. So you know.
Speaker 2:And then you've got Spotify. They're allegedly sponsoring weapons companies. What do I want to give them money for? You know they invested in weapons. No, thank you, I choose all of them, you know. And then now it's like you know, oh, if you put it on Instagram, oh, you've got a TikTok. Can I do anything my daughter's into? I'm into. Yeah, it's like bad enough. Facebook, instagram, tiktok, you know, soundcloud, youtube. You know. It's like all I'm doing is putting all the effort into making them people money because they don't pay me fairly for that. You know. It's like, if you want to give me a job, pay me, man, you know, but I can't do it.
Speaker 2:I've got bank account now you know, and even if I sell undercruiser for stuff, I can take that money in two days and invest it in myself. So you know I'm running a new plugin. Or you know you don't see nothing from music? Nothing, you know. You just get screwed over and like this week, oh yeah, a thousand of your followers on Facebook want to connect with you on theta or whatever, and the new thing that Facebook are doing to try and compete with Twitter. You know, it's like dude. Really, I've got 25,000 followers, the most on any one of my platform. Actually, I come from a band that's got 3 million followers. You know it's like. You know I post a new clip from a track. Oh, 4,000 likes. 400 people follow me on bank account, you know.
Speaker 2:So, oh, I've got to get another app. Well, I don't. I'm not going to put my details in login. Put them a credit card in just to pay one pound 50 for your track. You know I'll have another app on my phone and something else that I have to go to.
Speaker 2:Oh man, do you see my posts on Instagram? No, I don't do Instagram. I don't do Facebook. Do you see my posts on Facebook? No, I've got Facebook on Twitter. It's just like flogging a dead horse.
Speaker 2:You know it's like I'm trying to. You know I'm trying to build my website and everything. You know I've got people who subscribe to me on bank and all that, but again, all these companies take money, you know. So why can't you just subscribe to me on my website? Yeah, if someone needs to come up with a software where it's just like, well, this is like I forget. I open my website up, my Facebook page, my Instagram and Twitter they're all in the top of my website page and I can see which one has got any activity on it. And if I want to use it, look at it on there, get different bloody pages and all that. It's just does nothing with the technology. It's so simple to make this stuff happen nowadays, you know, but they won't because they need all that, the algorithms, all the traffic and everything you know.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I'm a bit old school. I love technology, I'm planning to, I love everything, but I don't like the models of greed. I don't know. That's the way the world is in that group. Greed, five minutes of fame. You know, some of the things these people do online to get attention is wrong and that's the society they were bred on. You know sound like an old man now, but the state of things at the moment. You know when I went to the golf club last week and I tried to identify as a woman for 18 holes so I'd get off the closer T, but no one was having none of it.
Speaker 1:Well, let's get to your other love, which is football and Arsenal. So who was your you know, favourite, favourite player growing up?
Speaker 2:I'm not going to lie. I was until I reached the age of 10 or 11, I couldn't tell you who I supported really. My family from my dad. My dad split up, but my dad I mean that never lived around the corner from Highbury, so my dad was always on me about Arsenal. The step dad supported Tottenham. He bought me a Tottenham Spurs lampshade.
Speaker 2:Paul Minn Mates, the West Am so I had a West Am shirt. Then Bobby Robson talked, had Paul Mariner and John Walken, all that the 77, I think around that time. Ipswich I had an Ipswich shirt because they were the closest to us. West Am were. So, yeah, I was pretty mixed up as a kid until I went to see Arsenal play Watford when I was about 11. I'm choosing Arsenal. Some families from the Nans around the corner, my dad's around the corner, this is where my family come from, so I'm going to run with Arsenal. They're black players as well. I remember seeing John Barnes there that day. Barnes here at Watford got his door locked up and stuff. Yeah, that's it. I'm going to choose Arsenal. Now I'm not going to influence anyone else who's winning or who's Paul Mariner I remember going to see Ipswich and watching Yellow and Croy and these skins were Barcelona.
Speaker 2:So I can't regret having six months of Ipswich for one season. But Arsenal, it's right you've got to say. And then there's different genres. Obviously you had Staple Turn and David O'Leary and them teams and Charlie George and stuff. You know Alan Sunderland, willie Young, that sort of period and everything.
Speaker 2:But writing man, writing it's just like. Ah yeah, I see a good thing from Rio the other day is just talking about writing and he said it didn't just put Arsenal in life and write, he hated it. He was just. Everyone loved writing. You know, because he was just, you can relate to him. It was real, you know, and yes, and I know him. It's funny because I know so many of them now. But, like you know, I know him and I think, in the scheme of things, if you actually looked at his finishing and everything, it was up there, it was proper up there.
Speaker 2:And then of course you've got the vanguards, like Terry. Terry's ex-wife is his godmother to my daughter, so like when she was pregnant with their kid, he used to babysit for me so he'd get a bit of a spiffy practice, but man he was well, he's one of the best players ever. You go around his house and there's just footballs everywhere, every two metres of footballs on the floor, and that's where you go and go in the Xbox, yeah, yeah, yeah. So go walking towards the room and he's just hit a ball, flick it up in the air, do about 28 spins and stop it dead and carry on walking and then the next one, you know, and stuff like that, and then I'd be like I go and watch him and I'd go up in his box and everything, and then after the game we'd go back to his or whatever, and it'd be like you know, you took that free kick on the right side of the pitch with your left foot. Because you saw that I said, yeah, I couldn't believe you're lining up because, yeah, I'm standing behind and training, working on it.
Speaker 2:You know, and like when I say arrogance, it's not a big hit but the self-belief he had in himself. You know, I went to his wedding. Man, he wouldn't even have a glass of champagne. You know he said, man, I can drink when I finish playing football if I want to. You know he wouldn't put an anodeine, an aspirin, a parrot, he wouldn't touch a thing. All he had was a homeopathic medicine. You know, and like the dedication and I mean to be honest for the band. People think what they want, but we've never done drugs or nothing. We were just like that was we strive to commit to be the best we could be, because that was the best drug you could ever get that performing in front of people, you know, and so I could relate to him. You know, like man you should get the problem to. Oh, maybe I'll get it next year, I'll try, you know. You know, and the self-belief he had was was inspiring really.
Speaker 2:You know, I'd say to him, the first one was because we were sort of like there was teammates and everything you know, and I'm like, yeah, man, so what's what's world tour like? Then, you know, I was like it's, it's, it's just seems to panic. I was like when he gets through, he sties on me. You know, keep missing, kept missing. You know it's like dude, you see him in training, he don't miss, he don't miss. He says you won't believe it. He says because it plays him out on the wing.
Speaker 2:And I said there was one game. I said he lost a ball, put his hands on his knees and he was like that was Newcastle's second half last season. He knew the exact moment he had done it. He won't have it. He said, yeah, I won't have none of that. Afterwards, you know, and I was, you know, and I'm thinking I don't offend you, yeah, you know, at least Pires, it took him sort of six months but he can't tackle, but he gets go-side, he chases back all the time. We'll talk. He's like yeah, you know, you still feel a bit like you're dissing his mates a bit, but he's talking about football, so he's kind of honest about it, you know.
Speaker 2:And Burkham, it's very hard because you know Burkham was a magician, tony Adams, and you know that back for what Vangadali got another three or four years out of all of them and it's hard to say they all got better and better. You know Adams was a donkey, they called him, and then he's running out and running out with a ball at his feet against Evans, all like the pitchers volley it, half volley into the net, you know, to win the title and stuff. And man, you know what Vangadali had done to English football. I think everybody just went hands up. That team was just the best you've seen in England. You know, it's really fair. It was kind of.
Speaker 2:It was a handsome soon as Dalglish the paisley playing football, keeping the ball on the floor. The defence if you look at having a sweeper, hanson and Lawrence and I'm watching a couple of clips the other day of Hanson coming out with a ball, playing a little ball over the top and running all the way through. You know, I think he might have missed at the end but that Liverpool team, in terms of the white play football, was years ahead of everyone else. Everyone else, you know, and I think Vangadali was the same I've done a football thing at the Docklands for the Arsenal. I've still got the Premiership kit with my name on the back, with the proper kit, you know. It's got pants in the shorts and everything. And I've done this and I remember it was there with Parla, winterburn, righty and I go.
Speaker 2:Yeah man, you know, I remember when Vangadali came and the day turned up for training, we were all at Alley Pally, alexander Pally, it's running up and down the hill, running up and down the hill, all of them trying to put an effort in, you know, to impress him, trying a lot harder than we normally would, and all that. He stood at the bottom of the hill, watched us run up and down the hill three times. We all come sweating and panting, standing there. You know, thinking yeah, you must be impressed at anything. Why are you running up and down hills? Football pitchers are flat. He's just running up and down hills. Football pitchers are flat.
Speaker 1:Exactly. I mean, he makes you really think. Why are you doing that?
Speaker 2:You know, for the simplest of things, and then changing their diet, and that you know, I'm sure all of them that back for would tell you, look, if you got older, then five years earlier in their careers and stuff, because you've got to admit Adams, become a better and better player until we retire, didn't it?
Speaker 1:Well, longevity as well, you know. I mean all those players like in the early, like 80s and 90s, were still heavily drinking and smoking, you know, partying like, as soon as the game's done, that's it. But then, you know, wenger just came along and he changed the whole landscape of like how to, you know, be a professional footballer, take care of yourself mentally, physically, you know. And he set the blueprint, you know. That's why I love Klopso much as well.
Speaker 2:I think you, yeah, I think, after Wenger you're talking. I can't really put Marini out there because I think, not as for his achievements but for his style of football, I can't put him in the same sort of bracket. As you know, it's about winning and he done that fair and square, but it worked until we got to that. Barcelona quite the only thing again. Yeah, corri Faddy of course he had his moments with, but that's a long before I was, you know, recognising it of it, really age wise. But that Barcelona team was the best team, the league team, ever, ever, ever, ever. That tick-tock when that tick-tock stuff, kind of.
Speaker 2:You know with me, when I used to, when I go, when I play football, I can only play 100%. And then I played about two months ago and my husband's playing at me, I was asked for five minutes and it was just like I can only play 100%. But even when I was training, I didn't tackle people, but I was pressing them in their face so quick that after making a mistake or do something with it. Yeah, you need to calm down a bit. I'm not dude, I ain't tackled you, have you? No, you just kicked the ball off when you saw me running out here. You know, give it a whiff. I mean, I really appreciated that and they were small people and it was just incredible. It was incredible, you know. And now and then, what Klopp done at Dortmund without the ball changed it again, and now I think they had to suddenly bring that to the best league in the world, which was incredible because you know they're running, there's nothing, no team man. You know, we all proved it. We played until 95 minutes.
Speaker 2:You know that Liverpool by Munich, not by Milan. I was in Italy all the time, man, and my mate supports Milan from out there. I used to go with all the time. You know he's messaging me half the time because I was like I said, of course I support Liverpool. It's an English team man, I'm supporting Liverpool. You know he's messaging me half the time. I said to dude, I said you had like Mount Deney and all that. They're going tonight I'm going to go to Luigi's, I'm going to have some champagne and some pasta and some Parmesan, all that half time. They're all thinking like that. You know what I mean. And suddenly Stephen Gerrard appeared. I said, and I said he didn't answer. He's fine. He wouldn't answer a message from me for at least three days he was still crying.
Speaker 1:But I mean, you know, you see that Milan team on paper and you're like this is one of the best teams in the world, if not ever. At that point in time, no chance should have Liverpool come close to you know, I mean when I watched that, you know, when Stevie scored the header, you know I was like, all right, three one, we've saved face. You know we've got a goal and I'm good with that. When that second one went in, I'm like we're winning this. It was just a turnaround. I mean again, you know, a tactical decision by Benitez to bring on her man and take off Stevie Finn, and that really helped the midfield because we were just getting overrun. But no way should we have beaten that Milan team. Not a chance man.
Speaker 2:I have to say I think I can't talk if you did that going back five years the safe five years at least. I think Stephen Gerrard's the best English player that we've ever produced as an all-round player. You know the Lampard-Gerrard debate. I don't think it can even go on. Don't get me wrong. I know Frank and don't get me wrong. He's an amazing player, amazing player. But Gerrard just everything, everything, every single thing, you know. And Scoulti, when I talked to Vieira, you know he's so much. Paul Scoulti is the hardest player I've played at and he's gone, he's gone. You'd stand next to him and he's gone, you know. But again, he's one of those people that unless you had a camera on him for the whole game, you wouldn't really appreciate how good he is. I think there's still a lot of people like that. You know that's what they do without the ball. My favourite thing in space, when you look at a football pitch and you see a goal kicking, that and they're all in that group. It's really really hard to make space, really, you know, it's like you know so, but for me, gerrard was. He was the most complete English player we had. I wouldn't say now and now is a wow, it's just wow, it's.
Speaker 2:Spain had their time off that box, the loan of time, euro as well, cup France have had it. It's England's time now and you know if we're done, we won't, you can't. You know it's not automatic, but there's never been an England team where you could put free players in every single position and struggle to choose which one to start. I mean Saka, yeah, I'm Arsenal, but the only person, the only person is I ain't going to put around that and go. My God, that kid. You know you can get him in Foden. You know Bellingham Greenish.
Speaker 2:You know the defenders trend. I mean thank God there's put trend up forward a bit. The Ayrton, it wreck his career if they don't move from that right back position because the Ayrton natural defender. You know it's like having Beckham planning left back when he's the best crosser in the ball in the world. If you put Alexander Arnold in the midfield that 30, 40 yards forward, it's deadly. It's deadly from a right back it's not. You know, from a right back either to cross it or you know a bit of a long ball, but from in that midfield it'd be a lot of slot things through. It's like be like De Bruyne, do you know what I mean. Or Burkham, that precision. So you know, rich James, you know pretty hard. And you've got Carl Walker, that's just trippier, that's just right back, you know.
Speaker 1:It's generational now, isn't it? It's just, I mean I love Saka. I just think he's. I actually think it did him a world of good to miss that penalty for England in the Euros. I really do. I mean I felt for him, you know, at the time. But you know, I think he's matured more. He's taken a lot more responsibility on. I mean, watching that Arsenal team last season was actually for me like watching Liverpool two, three seasons ago. You were so on it. I mean everybody knew their jobs and they were doing it and I mean it must have been a joy for you as an Arsenal fan to watch that.
Speaker 2:But you know Exactly, like you say. I mean, when you've got Van Dyke, you know you've seen someone. It was like getting in a ring with Tyson and get the ball and then notice Van Dyke and I can't get past him. He's going to do me. He had the mentality already that he, like Tyson, he's lost before you even. You know, and like you say, that system and the work rate, I think again, unless you had a camera on Manor, you wouldn't quite realise how amazing he was. You know, and for me, you know, to be fair, because you know it's easy for the other three or the other two, bangmore in towards the later side of it, but for me, no positional play, and you know it was a bit of a burb. It's off sharing that intelligent to set other people into the game. You know that team, yeah, it was, it was, it was awesome, it was awesome to watch Robertson and Trent, you know, going forward as well. So you must have thought when that, that's seen my team back and that's all I can say. It's like you know, I have my teams back. That's how I look at it. I think, um, of course you're going to make the man city comparisons because our tech was there. But it is football now as a whole, whole, whole different thing. And you know, blessing this thing going on with Pepe at the moment, arsenal, you know, um, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know you can't disrespect him, but he grew up in the Ivory Coast, you know, and like when you watch that attack, that program with Arsenal on Netflix and that and I'll take walks into the room and there's a tactical blackboard, it's going to say you three moved in, you know, transitioned to here, and you said poor Pepe, let's get down there. You can see, um, man, I ain't going to go in, you know, I mean, it's football chess now. It's not. It's not a man, working man's Like dude, right, when we got the ball with with this 443, or when they got the ball with five or two, if they got the ball in their own half with two, four, mate, you know, every person's got to be totally aware of what everyone else is and what system they're in in an intelligent way. That is has never been before. You know, and it's kind of, if you ain't the right player for the mentality, then you're not going to work. If you're not the right player, we should be in a team because they make them do too many games and to be the best you need a squad and you can't have anybody who's one, or playing one, or playing week in, week in, and that that's kind of the main of first eleven is 22 and people. If they can accept that, you've got a willing formula and that's the difference. Now the kids, the kids are eight to ten already being brought into the system. That that's how it works, so they're not going to oppose it.
Speaker 2:You know, and for me to see an identity, you know I never last year, I never thought we were going to be where we were. It was about. You could see in brief moments, the two seasons before that there was a style, there was a shape where there was no shape. You know, and God forbid. You know, I don't know, I'm not dissing, I've done my dissing people, but I look at West Ham and this. What's the style? You know, brighton, that's Brighton. It's not about nothing to do with money or anything anymore, less stuff.
Speaker 2:You know, it's about work, ethic, team unity and you can see all that's why England do so well. They everyone likes each other, you know. You know that Sacko and Rice got on. You know that Grealish and someone from Liverpool got on. You know there's none of that. They used to be on different tables, didn't they? You know they've all grown up through the youth system. They all like each other and you know you've got to have it in the team. If you look at Chelsea last year 33 players, all black Sabbath no one wants to. You know that ain't gonna work and I think the fact that the age of the team is just like wow, they all buy into it. What a future.
Speaker 2:You know he's Barcelona, he's everything else, because even CityAce got that. You know there's not another team that's got like four or five Highlands boys that have grown up together. You know. You know Smith, rowan, reece, nelson and Ketter and Sacko. They must know 10% of what each other's gonna do. You know. You know what I'm saying. Compared to Trossard, or you know. So under guard, the boys are magician. It's hard to think of anyone who can do in a tight space like he does. You know, really, he just don't panic, does he?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is it's just a joy to watch. You know, I mean I am a Liverpool fan but I'm also a football fan as well. You know, yeah, that comes first, man, I think, just watching Arsenal last season, just, and obviously I didn't want City to win the league again. You know, I don't want to get it to be like a farmers league, where it's just City, city. I mean we talk them toe to toe. You know, the last four or five seasons before that, you know, came so close, lost out by a point twice. You know, beat them and then lost.
Speaker 2:More margins man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is, and I felt for Arsenal fans, you know, like the last 10 matches, just it just seemed it was too much for the team, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I didn't, you know, I won't go at all because I was like man. You know we're competing. If you said this to me at the start of the season, I don't remember. But there's future, there's a bridge, you know. Now there's like man, if you look at it. Eddie said the end of last season, you know the phone was ringing yeah, I've got a son say he wants to play for you. And that's the difference. Now, man, you know Declan Rice, dude, he chose that project. You know, and you read the things. He's like man. I've been here three weeks.
Speaker 2:I thought I knew about football, but the detail I'll take that goes into, you know, and that's what you want to hear. You want people to be buying into something. You know, ringing, knocking on your door. I want to play for you, not them. You know, and that's what people are doing now. That's that's because what they saw last season, you know the mentality, the style of play. Yeah, just the ethics are right, you know, and to have some like you can tell he's like that, the quality owner, madness for it. But yeah, it's exciting man, because he's played for us and you know whenever who's going to who should they assign, and they got em right, but they were talking about our 10. Then I was thinking ah no, I let him stay with God, you know, for a while you know.
Speaker 1:But we do live in a in a world especially football as well though that you know, managers aren't given that much time. It's like you've got to win or you're out the door. You know, I mean, all you have to do is look down the street Chelsea, you know even the one trophies and they're still out the door. That's not how it should be. You know, I'm still amazed at Klopp. I think right now he's in his eighth season, so he's the most, the most serving coach in the Premier League, which is madness to really think about. That. You know, I mean, you have to look back to like 30 days and and then the days to where you know they've been given. You know this opportunity, and I noticed, like the first couple of seasons with our tether. You know I've got Arsenal mates that would go in, get rid of him. He's not going to get us back to where we're supposed to be and prove the point. Last season, I could see it.
Speaker 2:I could see my mid-twils, like I mean, we won the FA Cup, the charity shield, there was moments. But it was also that thing of knowing they're not his players. You know, and I say Pepo, he wouldn't make my team. It's a very skillful player in everything, but I said to him when I train I have to have 100% and if he was playing with me I'd be losing it with him for not trying hard enough. You know I can't. I can't stand that and you know the Birmingham got like that Abbey when he got all that, all the politics started and becoming late and all that. You know he's an amazing player but the way I tethered with that, you know I think it was amazing. I think them yanks have gone on. I mean it's a bit of a pain to buy into this fellow because you know he's not interested in compromise. I reckon he sat down and said look, if you want me to manage, this is my plan. You know he's got. You know he's got a direction, a plan. Do you know what I mean? He's got a vision for where that club should be and how the football should be. And well, look at Trossard master stroke. Oh the guard. You know there's in Chenco Huzus, and you know I've still seen this and man Huzus ain't going to win this elite. He ain't going to win this elite, but it's the best pressing forward in the world and you've got Martin Ely and Sackler and oh the guard banging them in. So you know how can you feel about it. It's a different, it's modern football. He's a modern footballer.
Speaker 2:I don't feel never at city. I've never thought he's been a natural goalscorer. He's not an Ian Wright, or he'll get his 10 to 15 goals, I think, every year. But he's not going to get your Harry Kane numbers, you know, or Salah numbers, you know, like Sackler. We're going to spread it out, that's fair enough. It's fair enough. But it's so hard to want to lose him, huzus, because he's a hold up player. He's brilliant, he's so good. But but is he going to win you, to get the goals at win the league? I don't think so. He didn't do it in man City, did he? He didn't bang him in all there and he was with that team, de Bruyne and everything as well.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I just think I like our tetters mentality. I think you make it a squad game and get his poacher, he'll get you a few goals and you know he can sculpt him to be what he wants to be. You know all the he can with these young kids. He's got the talents there. Now you can say, right, if you've got the intelligence to make these moves and do this, what you've got already. I'm just going to add to it. You know, with with, like I say with Pepio, I don't think he can really understand. I don't think he's intelligent enough to understand what's needed and he's got. I don't think he's got the right attitude, and that's the environment and the background he brought up in.
Speaker 2:No, not everyone is is going to have the same energy and drive, are they, you know? But will they win the league this year? The only thing I can say is that it depends on the city. Really, I think we're the same as last year. We're definitely capable of it, but they got high on the domain. That's what I'm saying. You know they don't touch your ball. You don't touch your ball the whole game. You put it in the box and it's in. That's what strikers the best do so without the broiler for a good few months. That's a tricky one, I think. If they get that pack of tar from Westat and over doing well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the thing they just recruit really well. Alvarez I rate as well. If Hallen goes out for a number of games, you've got Alvarez to come in. That's the thing with City. You know that a lot of other teams don't have I mean our team. We seem to be missing at least one or two more players for the team.
Speaker 2:You're on midfield. I mean, let's face it. I think if Darwin gets some stabilisers he'll be amazing eventually. He just needs a bit of time to bed in. He's too rushed all the time with his pace. You know, you see it a lot with fast players, man. They fumble the last bits because it's not quite. You can't appreciate our faster movies sometimes. You know what I mean, and it's got to be perfection at that kind of that. Running onto a goalkeeper is quite easy to put it past the post. If it ain't perfect, you know, I think his time will come. I think the best player at the moment obviously is Jota. That dude is the most underrated in the Premier League. He's so clever, he arrives, he works hard. I think Lewis Diaz, another one. He's got the work rate that you know clock demands. Really, I don't think you've got anything wrong up front. I think in midfield. Yeah, michalis were brilliant buyers. I still think you need that. I'm going to know a couple more now. I'd say for sure I think Tiago's too old.
Speaker 1:Yeah, tiago's been. You know, I mean when he's fit, that's the thing. When he's fit he's incredible, he's one of the best passers of the ball. But if he can't stay fit for 20 games a season, then you know we just need to move him on. I mean to me, like our problem at the moment is defensive mid. We brought Endo in. You know the Japanese lads, you know we'll see if that works out. The problem is is we're playing Michalis. There's a six and he's not a six. You know he's more creative and their slobber sly, absolutely cracking footballer.
Speaker 1:You know, again, bringing Trent into midfield, we need a proper right back. You know, if that's because right now what's what's happening is the double pivot, with Trent also playing the six, is not working. It leaves us way too exposed on that right side. It showed last season and it's showing the first couple of matches. You know, thank God, you know a draw to way to Chelsea is, I think, fair for the first match of the season. We beat Bournemouth. We started out really poorly but, you know, came into the game. I think. You know we just still need that proper DM. You know, I mean I love the young lads but again, he's a young lad, yeah well, I mean that's another one. You know people banned the ball, but I just you know he's 27 now. His injury record is not good. I like the lad from Palace D'Core.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he was at Oxford last morning.
Speaker 1:Maybe, but again you know, just the prices are just insane.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's Chelsea's fault. Got a 50-year contract.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean again. Well, I mean I think every football team would probably have kind of done that if they'd known the loophole, that Chelsea would do it. But you know that's getting shut down the end of this season, you know, and then you're going to have a bunch of players on nine-year contracts. So none of them, you know, I mean Lavia, he wasn't even on the bench.
Speaker 1:You know, and he's going. Well, you know, I went to Chelsea for history and all this bollocks. I'm like, nah, you went for money. You went for money, mate. Like just I wish some of these people players would be honest and go. I went there for money and that's it. I've got to carry me family, all right. Well, good for you, but yeah, I mean I can't.
Speaker 2:I mean, they just destroyed so many English people. Man, I'm sorry, but that's. That's my biggest thing I hate about Chelsea. You know lots of cheek. You know it's gone now, but you know Allagher Billy, who's the one that has gone to Brighton now, the Scottish lad little guy. So they just used to follow me when I got Joe Cole back in the day. Now, yeah, we saw you for Westam, now we're going to send you on loan to Russia. I didn't go to Russia but like, yeah, hudson O'Vee or what was that, when was he gone?
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, the ball dropped off the face of the earth and like it's just these loopholes and then all these players out on loan and then just you know now, now you know Bowley's kind of in bed with the Saudis.
Speaker 1:So there was like I can get rid of some of these players for a lot of money, and to the Saudi League. I mean it's all intertwined. There's all a lot of back backhanders going on. I can't stand it. But you know, I wanted to ask you like, what's, what's your one of your favorite? Like Liverpool, arsenal, classic matches? Please don't tell me that you, when you won the league, anfield.
Speaker 2:Well, Michael Thomas won, yeah, yeah, it was a good one. But now we have to say that our Shaven's entrance was pretty good when he banged forward. Yeah, that was pretty impressive. And then I just think, anything with Burkham, anything with Burkham and Ormary, you know, even watching him roast Carriga, it's the same thing as the van Dyke thing. You must have seen Ormary step onto the pitch as a player. He's done. Come over my side of the pitch. No, I saw that. You know you cannot control greatness. Zola Klingsman, Burbatov, to be fair, Harry Kane, you know you can't control greatness. And it's like, you know, I'm privileged to just watch these people and say, yeah, man, I'll do that. Ormary, it's just like really same skip past people, like the spade he had was just. You can't fathom it really, you know. But yeah, the last Shaven four was pretty impressive really. I mean, I was just just.
Speaker 1:And it's just crazy to think about that lad as well, because I mean he was so talented and then just dropped off the face of the earth. But I love that when he scored number four he just shook his head and was just going like I've just scored four. I mean, we've always had classic matches as an arsenal. It's one I look for. You know, when the fix you less comes out, just because I'm like you know, you know there's going to be goals, you know there's going to be some like you know some I mean especially our tattered and clop.
Speaker 1:they're so like into their football that they let their emotions take over, because you know when, when you came to ours, it was pretty much a dull match, and then our tattered got all pissed off, and then that round up the the Anfield crowd and then and then Liverpool turned it around.
Speaker 1:It's again, the little things. But yeah, I love our tattered passion. I love clops passion. You know, the I think our tattered is in this business for a long time to come. And you know, I always say, if Liverpool can't win the league, then, you know, let Arsenal do it, because they play really good, attractive, attractive football and that's, that's what I like. But I want to get your predictions for the top four. And then, last but not least, if your dream festival line up for Friday, saturday, sunday, headliners live or dead.
Speaker 2:So I'd say um well.
Speaker 2:I've got go for go, say Arsenal city. You should ask me this in two more weeks. It depends on who that's like, because I think I think I think Chelsea will get it together too late to do anything. But I think Newcastle are only building on what they already done, which was pretty amazing considering the players they got. You know, he's, he's just got a wicked epic and belief and camaraderie again. You know, if they hold that, then I think Newcastle will probably be third.
Speaker 2:I think if Liverpool get in the field, I think they'll, they'll be in the top four, but if they don't, I think it could be a bit of a. I think is man you last season said man you towards the end, but that's gone and then that's gone again. So yeah, I'd say Arsenal city, newcastle, liverpool. That's my prediction. I think, um, yeah, liverpool, it depends on if they get a few more players in, because it's a bit scary this year that that McAllison red card and these cards and kicking, or what is the light in it. It's just too light for me, man. It's like it's going to ruin so many games if they're not careful. You know, because you common sense states frustration is to not that ball the way to get back in position. It's not always to be out of order, it's just a reaction to give yourself a couple of meters, to give yourself a get back inside or back in position, and you're going to get a yellow car for that, and then it's going to do a little professional foul, which in borderline, and then they're going to be off.
Speaker 2:You know, I do think our tech was pretty the cause of it in out of order in the technical area, like just forget, you just ignored it. Really I don't. I think because of him that's that will be bought in. Yes, the thing I'm a little bit wet about this season, to be honest, I think we're going to just going to take halfway through the season before they start changing it again, because I think the callous thing was embarrassing. You know, it won't even like that. A straight leg or he followed through, he kind of he went for the challenge, but his whole body weight was coming away from the player. It was just, you know, and who played, who did much yesterday.
Speaker 1:Well, he did the same new castle, and what's his name? Got more his name. He did the same same thing. He got nothing. Then there was the Fernandez one on the United maps. Yeah, exactly the same, just the yellow. Yeah, it's, it's. It's just getting ridiculous, because it should be one rule, and one rule only. You know, we're supposed to be the best run league in the world and our referees are absolutely atrocious. They can't get together. Var is just what's the point of having it. Just what's the point? Yeah, we'll see.
Speaker 2:The thing that does me with that one is when they, like you, know it's a blatant offside and then the ball goes through and the keeper and the striker on a 50, 50 or something, so someone's going to get a leg broken or something before they say, all right, well, we should have stopped it because we knew he was offside that. That that is pathetic.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then you have to wait to see if it was a goal.
Speaker 1:No, I mean it takes the passion out, doesn't it?
Speaker 1:Yeah people don't know whether to. You know, jump up or you've got to look up at the. You know the jumbo tron to see, wait for the decision. And then you know what shouldn't take so long takes too long. And then you just like, after they say a goal, you're like yay, it's, it's taking the enjoyment out, and that's one thing. That's. Football is just getting ruined with that. You know, I just think it. It will go back to just a referee's decision. You know they're human, they make mistakes, that's the only one I think is right.
Speaker 2:It's goal line technology. I think that's that's necessary because again even a liners got to look past a post. You know, man, there's an abstraction, so obstruction, so yeah, that one I think it's all right. But it's a physical game, man and adrenaline, and we know what's out of order. You know, when someone, just like impulses, rolls a ball away or something, you know you can't be giving out yellow cards for that stuff. That could ruin it for me this year. So I mean, even when I stand yesterday it's watching them go Chelsea, right, it's only got sneeze and he's off, and they would do it for some really stupid stuff, you know. So that's yeah, let's hope that doesn't ruin it for the first few months.
Speaker 2:Headline line up Festival Friday Would have. That's a tricky one. Some of that say Bob Marley. I think bands are like that. I didn't see. I say back on the Friday, probably Queen, I think I've seen all the others. I've seen proof of it, as you know, the burial play we have, the Beatles you've got. I get annoyed with people screaming behind me. I went to see three in concert with mice and there's two girls in Wimbledon a real stood behind me just scream and shoot 10, 10 Marines for the whole world for about 10 minutes until I told him fucking shut up. Or from the balcony, I didn't really. I told him to shut up. I didn't friend, so I didn't pay to listen to you scream and shirk and have a really good for two hours. So I think we're about playing Bob Marley. I'll go with Nice.
Speaker 1:Well, liam, as Liam, god bless, I could have called you Keith Maxim, no, leave, yeah, so in like, I'm still like, I feel like I'm a teenager, though, just just because you know, interviewing Yourself who's been part of my generation, you know, growing up is just like. It just amazes me how many people I've met, you know, through doing this and you know, gain, gain, friendships, because we all have the same thing we love the football, we love the music, but any anything coming out for you, I know you have a upcoming release soon.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've done a. I would have had eight tracks out this year so far. I've had a lot of stuff with some Spanish breakbeat producers For me. They they write the best break music at the moment the Spanish. It's a bit of a weird saying when you go here, if you don't play, kind of exactly what they're into it is you have to think about it. You feel awkward. But the stuff they're producing is the best stuff for selling stuff. I really buy more really. So I've done a couple of tracks with a guy called Rasko and a guy called Hancock got to. So I've got two of mine coming out first of September, possibly three, and I've got another one with Rasko September and then one in Hancock in October. So, yeah, eight releases for me this year. So again, the set looks like an earlier one. Put my Spotify and this and that. So I am coming down for to an extent of awareness, but you know you have some rules in life, I think.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I mean for the listeners, you can go to Leroy's bank camp or you can get it straight from Leroy. Thornhill is a dot co dot UK. Oh, just dot com. Yeah, you can see, you can buy straight from there. So, but Leroy has been an absolute pleasure, mate. I mean, you know it's already an hour 40 something. I you know time goes by so quickly when you're just having a good conversation and I love it. But you know, I wish you all the best for your future. You've already given us a brilliant past. So you know just, you know health and all that good stuff to you and everybody. Thanks for listening. Please like and subscribe and we'll see you next time.