I Formed A Band – Details, episodes & analysis

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I Formed A Band

Eddie Argos and Joe Sparrow

Music

Society & Culture

Frequency: 1 episode/18d. Total Eps: 7

I Formed A Band is a podcast that talks to people who formed bands about the part before they got famous: why did they do it, what did it take to get there, and what was life like when they were forming a band?

It’s hosted by Eddie Argos, who formed a band called Art Brut and sings a song called Formed A Band; and Joe Sparrow, who did not form a band, but probably should have done.

There’s a huge, secret story behind every successful band: a heady mix of ambition, desperation, perseverance, daydreams, sleeping on sofas, surviving hangovers in the back of a Transit van, and dumb luck. That's what this podcast is about.

(And it's also about compiling The Argos Catalogue: a comprehensive collection of Eddie's various stories of meeting members of the Wu-Tang Clan in a lift, or singing Half Man Half Biscuit songs with Liam Gallagher, etc)

We love hearing from you – if you've got a question for Eddie, send us an email to eddieandjoe@iformedaband.com

Oh, also sign up to our email newsletter here – we’ll send you the latest episodes first, and some bonus podcast bits (maybe).

[The ace photo of Eddie in the main image is by the very talented Nessiahuu]

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

🇬🇧 Great Britain - musicCommentary
13/04/2026
#84
🇬🇧 Great Britain - musicCommentary
27/02/2026
#57
🇬🇧 Great Britain - musicCommentary
16/12/2025
#68
🇬🇧 Great Britain - musicCommentary
20/10/2025
#78
🇬🇧 Great Britain - musicCommentary
08/10/2025
#54
🇬🇧 Great Britain - musicCommentary
07/10/2025
#32
🇬🇧 Great Britain - musicCommentary
08/08/2025
#96
🇬🇧 Great Britain - musicCommentary
01/07/2025
#97
🇬🇧 Great Britain - musicCommentary
30/06/2025
#68
🇬🇧 Great Britain - musicCommentary
14/06/2025
#87

Spotify

No recent rankings available

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsAVHNPpUtQ
2 shares
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho3krYOImbk
2 shares
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR32O2vXLHQ
2 shares

https://www.instagram.com/yardactband
2 shares
https://www.instagram.com/dunstanbruce
2 shares
https://www.instagram.com/nessiahuu
1 share

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Score global : 69%

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I Formed A Band: Trailer

Season 1 · Episode 1

Friday, February 14, 2025 • Duration 07:31

Eddie Argos is a man so obsessed with forming bands that he did it, recorded a song about it, wrote a book about it, painted pictures about it – and now has a podcast where he can ask other people the timeless question: "why did you form a band?"

Join him and sort-of journalist Joe Sparrow (who didn't form a band) as they talk to artists about the part before they got famous: why did they form a band, what did it take to get there, and what was life like while they were doing it?

We love hearing from you – if you've got a question for Eddie, send us an email to eddieandjoe@iformedaband.com

Oh, also sign up to our email newsletter here – we’ll send you the latest episodes first, and some bonus podcast bits (maybe).

Read moreCollapse

The Argos Catalogue: Eddie answers listener's letters (and reveals his time as a traffic warden, his beef with Kele from Bloc Party and the glory days of Landfiull Indie)

Season 1 · Episode 2

Thursday, March 13, 2025 • Duration 46:35

Ep. 2: We begin to document the life, times and tribulations of the much-storied, celebrity-beef-starting, indie troubadour Eddie Argos – and then compile the stories in... The Argos Catalogue. Yes, indeed, it's the inevitable "readers' letters" episode, and boy, do we learn some eye-opening stuff about Eddie's career. So join Eddie and Joe – the Richard and Judy of indie music podcasting – and learn:

> How Eddie was a traffic warden and used to let Mel C from the Spice Girls off from getting parking tickets
> How Eddie once got into an escalating feud with Kele from Bloc Party that ended in him being karate kicked
> He then reveals that he has moved on from starting beefs with famous singers – before immediately starting a beef with Thom Yorke
> What Eddie's dream Top Of The Pops line-up would be and yes of course David Devant and His Spirit Wife would be performing
> Eddie invents a hypothetical but plausible band called “Wellington Boot”
> Eddie and Joe also recall the glory days of Landfill Indie, and whether it was " one of the least exciting things to happen to music this century”
> And in a new, possibly one-off, show segment called “Me and yer granny on bongos” Eddie theorises which bands could survive if you ejected all the members except the singer (and replaced everyone else with a bongo-playing granny)

We’d also like to point out that Richard Madeley was acquitted of all charges of shoplifting, and Eddie was simply making a joke. Send your own questions for Eddie via eddieandjoe@iformedaband.com! They'll probably get answered by him!

Links mentioned:

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/art-brut-a-record-collection-reduced-to-a-mixtape-and-yes-this-is-my-singing-voice/

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/thefall/the-granny-on-bongos-quote-t42821.html

Dunstan Bruce formed a band! Chumbawamba, anarchy, and accidentally writing a global super-hit

Season 1 · Episode 3

Friday, April 4, 2025 • Duration 01:24:44

Ep. 3: Eddie and Joe chat to the funny, erudite and extremely dapper Dunstan Bruce – he of 90s Tubthumping BEHEMOTH Chumbawamba, and, latterly, Interrobang. This was a great interview: Dunstan has so much thoughtful stuff to say about life, music fandom, art, anarchy, pranks, learning, growing – and selling millions of records well over a dozen years into your career.

Eddie came away from the interview with a renewed love for Chumbawamba, and Joe, who pretty much only listened to Suede in the 90s, came away with huge admiration for them and their music. (Both Eddie and Joe especially loved the band’s deep-cut “Mouth Full of Shit”, although that didn’t stop them repeatedly getting the name wrong when discussing it at the end of the podcast.)

Dunstan's story is also about trial, error, long-winded conversations with band-mates, tricking journalists into saying rude things bout them, maybe-accidentally writing a enormous global hit, and how it felt like their “breakthrough moment” was many years before “Tumbthumping” when the band finally stopped sleeping in their van and got a sleeper coach on tour.

(Joe also accidentally compares Dunstan to Kier Starmer, and is sincerely sorry, Dunstan.)

And we got to meet Dunstan’s cat right at the end, too!

Plus, in a bonus Argos Catalogue section, Eddie explains how he was once in a lift with Mark E Smith AND one of the Wu Tang Clan... but how many members of the Wu-Tang has Eddie actually met?

Chumbawamba’s excellent “I Get Knocked Down” documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsAVHNPpUtQ

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumbawamba

Dunstan: https://www.instagram.com/dunstanbruce/

Interrobang: http://interrobangband.co.uk

The Argos Catalogue –Eddie (hungover) answers: Who would win if Brian Eno fought Moby in a pub car park? What's his favourite Lighthouse Family song? How he'd use cats to build Noel Edmonds a playlist, and more...

Season 1 · Episode 4

Thursday, April 24, 2025 • Duration 35:44

Ep. 4: We continue to document the life, times and tribulations of Eddie Argos – and this time, he's sporting the kind of hangover that required him to be mostly lying down during the podcast recording. Thankfully it allows him to tap into some deep recesses of his mind. In this episode, Eddie:

> Reveals that he’d be happy to listen to a Simply Red, a Fall, *and* a Mumford and Sons album every day forever (or would he?);
> Muses on the winner if Moby and Brian Eno fought in a pub car park;
> Describes how Suede’s Brett Anderson could lasso all of Belle and Sebastian with his microphone;
> Espouses his love for the Lighthouse Family;
> Explains the circumstances under which he’d erase Oasis from existence;
> and theorises how he’d get cats to build a playlist for Noel Edmonds.

There's also a bonus section which is basically F*ck, Marry, Kill for bands.

Send your own questions for Eddie via eddieandjoe@iformedaband.com! They'll probably get answered by him!

Links mentioned:
That bloke from Mumford and sons: https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-57608397

Noel Edmonds’ radio station for pets https://play.you.radio/station/2408

Ian Brown http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/206277.stm

A video of Brett Anderson swinging a microphone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho3krYOImbk

Moby’s tattoo: https://www.instagram.com/p/B4xXSMUoKHI/

James Smith from Yard Act Formed a Band! From drawing cartoons to playing Glasto and collaborating with Elton John in between

Season 1 · Episode 5

Monday, May 12, 2025 • Duration 56:05

Ep. 5: Eddie and Joe chat to James Smith, singer (or, much to Eddie's delight, he's more of a speaker-singer) with the totally ace Yard Act; and they speak to him just before the band was about to play Glastonbury.* That seemed like a good time to take stock – and James recalls how drawing cartoons led to him becoming a drummer, then a guitarist, and finally a charismatic front man. It was all via a some truly grim call centre jobs and a bunch of other bands that almost made it, and then, just as he stropped caring so much, their breakthrough happened at a head-spinning pace.

It's a story of patience, frustration, indifference, tragedy, coincidence, and sudden changes for the better. Oh, and collaborating with Elton John. Also, half way through the recording, Eddie remembers that one of James' bands once supported Art Brut in Wakefield.

Plus, in a super-duper special bonus Argos Catalogue section, Eddie recalls what the most expensive thing he ever broke was (it was one of the Klaxons' legs, kind of).

*Yes, about 11 months ago - things move slowly in the glittering IFAB Berlin HQ, alright? Anyway, we spent the last 11 months fretting that the band might split up before we released the podcast, so some empathy for us too, please.

=======

Yard Act: https://www.yardactors.com/

Yard Act collaborating with Elton John Yard Act - 100% Endurance (Elton John Version) - YouTube

More Yard Act: https://www.instagram.com/yardactband/

One of James' earlier bands: https://postwarglamourgirls.bandcamp.com/

"Bad break for Klaxon – The Klaxons have been forced to postpone their Australian tour after singer Jamie Reynolds broke his leg on stage."

The Argos Catalogue – the time Eddie had horseshit thrown at him by Selfish C*nt outside Buckingham Palace; proposes a TV show with him and Half Man Half Biscuit; when he accidentally ghosted Lawrence from Felt and more...

Wednesday, June 4, 2025 • Duration 47:15

Ep. 6: In our most faeces-tastic episode yet, we once again read out a mixture of ABSOLUTELY REAL and QUITE DUBIOUS listener letters to try to capture the life, times and tribulations of the lah-di-dah indie gad-about-town Eddie Argos.

We're aiming to document the life, times and tribulations of Eddie Argos – and boy did we find out some... surprising and turd-adjacent stuff. In this episode, Eddie:

> RECALLS when he had shit thrown at him by the band Selfish Cunt outside Buckingham Palace;
> SUDDENLY REMEMBERS that he has already written a musical;
> PROPOSES a coast-to-coast Roman road walk TV show with Half Man Half Biscuit;
> CRINGES at the time he sort-of ghosted Lawrence from Felt/Denim;
> MUSES on another of Eddie’s terrible jobs (as a postman);
> REVEALS his favourite band that’s named after an animal;
> GASPS as ChatGPT manages to spookily read Eddie’s mind.

There's also a bonus section which is a very Indie music Would You Rather? quiz.
Send your own questions for Eddie via eddieandjoe@iformedaband.com! They'll probably get answered by him!

Here are links to *some of* the stuff mentioned in the podcast but if you want all the good links you'll have to subscribe to our mailing list at https://www.iformedaband.com/newsletter/ :

Horse shit/Buckingham Palace: https://drownedinsound.com/news/9959-doherty-and-selfish-c-nt-in-buckingham-brawl

Listener Kendall’s blog: KENDALLLACEY.COM

Animals That Swim – Faded Glamour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR32O2vXLHQ

Buff Medways:

I Formed A Band – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

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Apple Podcasts

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I Formed A Band – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other18

Youtube7

Instagram3

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other18

Youtube7

Instagram3