'All farewells should be sudden when forever' as the old saying goes - just ask The Verve. So, get that helpline set up: after three series and four years, Demo Tapes is ending for good. But like many of our favourite bands, we couldn't split without putting out a 'best-of'. In this final episode, we look back on some of our favourite clips from the interviews we did for the show, including amazing insights from the likes of Blur, The Enemy, The Twang, Reverend and the Makers and 'Giddy...

You know that thing where an important artist dies and their record label spends the following decades cashing in on any distorted demo or half thought/finished track they even committed to tape? Well, we'd like to think of this release of the very first pilot episode for Demo Tapes as more like the scene near the end of 24 Hour Party People where Tony Wilson implores revellers at the last night of the Hacienda to loot the club of every memento they can get their sweaty palms on (nb. we...

Originally formed in Cornwall, indie four-piece Haven rose to prominence in the early '00s after moving to Manchester. After a string of Top 30 hits and international tours, along with an appearance on Top of the Pops which they admit to still watching daily on YouTube, they split in 2005.With the band reuniting the summer to celebrate the 20th anniversary of recording their critically acclaimed debut album 'Between The Senses' with a gig at their spiritual home the Night and Day Cafe, this...

Here at Demo Tapes, nothing fascinates us more than someone going solo from a band - particularly if it isn't the frontman. So we were delighted to get Ed Cosens on the show, on the week that the Reverend and the Makers guitarist released his brilliant debut solo album, 'Fortune Favours'.It's an entertaining trip down memory lane with one of Sheffield's most unsung musical heroes - Ed talks to us about how he needed to find the confidence to strike out on his own and the high points of his...

Lost Artists is a new occasional feature for Demo Tapes, where we shine a light on criminally under-rated artists from yesteryear - and find out what happened next for them.First up, we've got an interview with Theoretical Girl, aka Amy Sharp. TG emerged as part of the same late '00s Southend music scene as The Horrors and Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, before signing to Memphis Industries and gigging everywhere from Glastonbury to Japan (and many places in between). Although her 2009 debut...

The Long Blondes were one of the most important indie groups of the '00s - great tunes, whip-smart lyrics filled with endless Easter eggs for eagle-eyed listeners and a fashion sense which inspired a generation of music fans. However, the triumphs of their brilliant albums 'Someone To Drive You Home' and '"Couples'" were followed by the tragedy of guitarist Dorian Cox's stroke in 2008, splitting the band at a point they were heading for a new level of success. Now thankfully recovered,...

We're excited to bring you a bit of a Demo Tapes exclusive this week as Luke Pritchard of The Kooks and his wife Ellie Rose sit down for their first extended joint podcast interview. The pair released their excellent joint album 'Duo' a couple of months back so we wanted to find out all about it, whilst also hitting rewind on their respective musical careers. Luke talks us through celebrating the 15th anniversary of The Kooks brilliant debut album 'Inside In/Inside Out' this year, and...

Legendary music journalist John Robb was the first person to interview Nirvana in the late ‘80s.    As the grunge titans’ seminal second album ‘Nevermind’ turns 30 later this year, we’ve got John on the show to look back on his time spent on the trail of Kurt Cobain and co, including a clip from one of his early interviews with the band.    John recounts what it was like watching Nirvana go from playing in front of 40 people to being the band of a generation – and discusses why their music is...

Behind every great movie - even the silent ones of the early 20th century - is a great soundtrack. On this episode we celebrate our favourite film soundtracks and also find out about how they're put together with writer, director and all round good egg Laura Jean Marsh. Laura is currently in the post-production phase for her love letter to the '00s guitar scene Giddy Stratospheres and tells us everything we ever wanted to know - and plenty more - about how music shapes the movies we...

This week marks the 20th anniversary of the release of The Strokes' debut EP 'The Modern Age' - so what better time to get band producer Gordon Raphael on the show to talk all about New York's finest? *If you want to skip our prattling on about why we love The Strokes, you can hear the interview at 27:55. It's good prattling though* Gordon gives us the inside track on the music that kicked off not just The Strokes' career, but a whole era in indie rock'n'roll on both sides of the...

Noughties North London rockers The Holloways formed with a simple premise, outlined in their Top 20 smash and signature song 'Generator': making the music to make you feel better. However, underneath their calypso-pop indie sound and raucously fun live performances was a darker side. Frankly, few bands before or since have suffered as much misfortune: in the space of a few short years, their label went bust, the pub they lived and practiced in burned down and the band split as members quit...

Turin Brakes are a British indie institution so we were delighted to get singer Olly Knights on the show to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of the folk heroes' 2001 debut album 'The Optimist LP'. Olly reflects on the conception of the Mercury Prize-nominated record, how the band scaled the heights of chart success with its follow-up 'Ether Song' and how they've stayed together and delivered a steady stream of albums since. He also gives an update on how Turin Brakes album...

Leeds saw an explosion of musical activity in the mid '00s - and brilliant art-punks Black Wire, active 2003-2007, were right at the heart of it all. Their bassist Tom Greatorex joins the show this week to tells us about BW's beginnings, how their debut gig inspired fellow Leodensians Kaiser Chiefs to write I Predict a Riot and why he thinks Yorkshire briefly became the centre of the musical universe. Unlike many of his peers from back in the day, Tom doesn't just have a great memory for...

When we heard someone was making a movie drama about the guitar scene of the mid-'00s we couldn't have been more excited - not least because it sounded like the film version of this very podcast! That someone is writer, director and star of 'Giddy Stratospheres' Laura Jean Marsh, and she joins the show to talk to us about her inspirations for the film: everything from the Long Blondes track it's named after to her time in scene band Screaming Ballerinas and memories of an amazing time in...

Young Knives recently returned with their first album in seven years, the brilliantly bonkers 'Barbarians' - and we've got them on the show to tell us all about it. Speaking to guest interviewer and firm friend of Demo Tapes Jamie Fullerton (www.twitter.com/jamiefullerton1), the Oxford-based band look back on their 20-year career, reminisce on their mid-'00s commercial high point with Top 40 smashes such as 'Weekends and Bleak Days (Hot Summer)' and explain how they've been spending lockdown...

The Orielles have released one of our favourite albums of this (or any) year in ‘Disco Volador’, so we were delighted to get all three of them on the show to tell us all about it. The Halifax indie trio explain their intergalactic inspirations, how the planets aligned when they formed the band a few years back and how they’re planning to turn ‘Disco Volador’ into a “cinematic experience” to be released next year. They also reveal what fans can expect from their upcoming virtual gig this...

The Paddingtons were one of the leading lights of the London grot'n'roll scene of the mid '00s - despite being from, er, Hull. Singer Tom Atkin and bassist Lloyd Dobbs join this week's episode to reminisce about the raucous squat party gigs that helped them make their name, what it was like being feted by Pete Doherty (and slated by Liam Gallagher) and an infamous photo shoot with the leading lights of the scene outside Buckingham Palace. Lloyd and Tom also talk about how a Libertines...

Demo Tapes is back on the podcast airwaves after an extended break! And who better to kick off Series 3 than one of our most popular previous guests, Tom Clarke? The former frontman of chart-topping indie-punks The Enemy returns to the show to talk us through his debut solo album 'The Chronicles of Nigel', a concept album that sounds like nothing else Tom has ever been involved with. He gives us in depth insights into the story behind the lyrics, his surprising musical inspirations and how...

How do you go from being one of the musical sidekicks to the world's most notorious rock star Pete Doherty to a psychotherapist to the stars? This is the question we put to sometime Babyshambles drummer Adam Ficek in this episode. Adam invited Rick down to his clinic in central London for a good old chinwag about his unusual career change and some classic tales from his days in Babyshambles. He talks about how he joined the band, recorded a couple of their albums and toured the world, before...

You may not know the name but you will definitely know the face. Chris McClure shot to global fame as the cover star of the Arctic Monkeys' record-breaking debut album 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' back in 2006. Now a filmmaker, he talks to us about his latest documentary, focused on alcoholism in the music industry.  The film features his own personal story alongside those of other musicians and industry figures and is well worth a watch - click here to see it:...

This month sees the 30th anniversary of The Stone Roses' seminal track Fools Gold. With this in mind, we got band biographer and music journalist John Robb on the line to give us the inside story on the creation of the song, along with tales from the legendary Manchester band's formative years in the early '80s. Rick and John also reminisce about both having front row seats for the Roses' 2011 reunion press conference and subsequent world tour and discuss guitarist John Squire's recent...

In this episode Sarah sits down for an interview with The Twang frontman Phil Etheridge as the Birmingham band prepare to release their new album 'If Confronted Just Go Mad'. Given the Brummie baggy rockers have racked up 15 years in the music scene, there's plenty of ground to go over and Phil pulls no punches. Heralded as the best new band in Britain by the NME when they emerged in 2007, The Twang hit the upper echelons of the albums chart with their debut album and sold out huge tours. But...

In this episode we bring you an extended interview with Tom Clarke, formerly frontman of chart-topping Coventry indie-rockers The Enemy. Tom is currently recording his debut solo album and gives us exclusive details of his new songs and how a 30-year-old track by legendary post-punks XTC provided his lyrical jumping-off point. He also looks back on the rise and fall of The Enemy and discusses his decision to go public with details of his mental health a few years back. It's a candid and...