What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

From handing a tape to John Peel to encouraging Colin Moulding to write songs, Steve Warren is a key part of the XTC story. In a fascinating interview, he recalls befriending Andy Partridge as a child, working as a roadie for the Helium Kidz and touring the world with XTC.

Also in this episode, Gaz Barrett describes how he commissioned a mural of English Settlement in the centre of Swindon.

Artist Dayna Baxter on Instagram 

Music from Garry Perkins on Soundcloud 

What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book available from www.xtclimelight.com

If you’ve enjoyed What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, please show your support at https://www.patreon.com/markfisher

Thanks to the Pink Things, Humble Daisies and Knights in Shining Karma who’ve done the same.

XTC fans were out in force at the Neo-Ancients festival in Stroud, Gloucestershire on Saturday 4 May 2024 when producer Hugh Padgham joined festival co-director Ben Wardle to talk about XTC’s English Settlement.

Your dedicated podcast host, Mark Fisher, was on hand with his trusty tape recorder to share it with you. Hugh talks about drunken jam sessions, Andy Partridge as a sumo wrestler and creating the flange effect on Jason and the Argonauts, as well as taking questions from the audience.

Music courtesy of Knight in Shining Karma Robert Lawlor. 

What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book available from www.xtclimelight.com 

If you’ve enjoyed What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, please show your support at https://www.patreon.com/markfisher

Thanks to the Pink Things, Humble Daisies and Knights in Shining Karma who’ve done the same.

Andy Partridge and Stu Rowe have been working together  since the recording of Monstrance in 2006. Andy then produced Jen Olive's album Warm Robot in 2009 and Stu produced Jen's album The Breaks in 2013. Somewhere in between all that they laid down a series of  improvisatory ideas that have become The 3 Clubmen EP.

In this third episode, XTC's Andy Partridge talks about the unexpected joys of collaboration, the secret origins of Meccanik Dancing and his latest songwriting partnerships.

The 3 Clubmen EP is released 30 June 2023 and available from Burning Shed

The 3 Clubmen

Stu Rowe 

Jen Olive

Andy Partridge's Ape House on Burning Shed 

Music courtesy of Mario Rodríguez Centeno, from La Jvnta 

What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book available from www.xtclimelight.com 

If you’ve enjoyed What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, please show your support at https://www.patreon.com/markfisher

Thanks to the Pink Things, Humble Daisies and Knights in Shining Karma who’ve done the same.

Ten years ago Stu Rowe, Jen Olive and XTC's Andy Partridge started working on material which, after all these years, is finally – and gloriously seeing the light of day. To celebrate the arrival of The 3 Clubmen, we're talking to each of the brilliant musicians in turn.

This week, Jen Olive talks about the genesis of the 3 Clubmen EP as well as working with Andy Partridge on her album Warm Robot and with Stu Rowe on The Breaks.

The 3 Clubmen EP is released 30 June 2023 and available from Burning Shed https://burningshed.com/the-3-clubmen_the-3-clubmen-ep_cd

• The 3 Clubmen https://www.facebook.com/the3clubmen
• Stu Rowe https://www.facebook.com/stu.rowe.3
• Jen Olive https://www.facebook.com/jen.olive.5
• Andy Partridge's Ape House on Burning Shed https://burningshed.com/store/ape

Music courtesy of Mark Sander and Cone of Silence whose album Sixty-Grit Sandpaper and Other Delights can be streamed on major platforms including Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/2NScWtLyNgLkSzsOddYCCC

What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book available from www.xtclimelight.com 

If you’ve enjoyed What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, please show your support at https://www.patreon.com/markfisher

Thanks to the Pink Things, Humble Daisies and Knights in Shining Karma who’ve done the same.

It's the music we've been awaiting for a decade – and now it's out! Stu Rowe, Jen Olive and Andy Partridge have gone public with The 3 Clubmen and their very wonderful eponymous four-track EP is released at the end of June. But with three such gifted musicians to choose from, what's a humble podcaster to do?

There can be only one answer: three weekly podcasts!

In the first episode, Stu Rowe talks about working with XTC's Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding, Terry Chambers, Barry Andrews and Dave Gregory, as well as Jen Olive and most musicians in Swindon.

The 3 Clubmen EP is released 30 June 2023 and available from Burning Shed https://burningshed.com/the-3-clubmen_the-3-clubmen-ep_cd

• The 3 Clubmen https://www.facebook.com/the3clubmen
• Stu Rowe https://www.facebook.com/stu.rowe.3
• Jen Olive https://www.facebook.com/jen.olive.5
• Andy Partridge's Ape House on Burning Shed https://burningshed.com/store/ape 
• Music courtesy of Joel Bell https://soundcloud.com/joel-bell-4/sets/limelight-fuzzy-warbles-for-mark-f

What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book available from www.xtclimelight.com 

If you’ve enjoyed What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, please show your support at https://www.patreon.com/markfisher

Thanks to the Pink Things, Humble Daisies and Knights in Shining Karma who’ve done the same.

Oh we do like to be beside the B-sides. In this month’s episode of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, Mia Rankin, Ashley LeCron, Crawford Blair and Mark Fisher pick their favourite non-album songs , ranging from She's So Square to The World Is Full of Angry Young Men.

Music provided by Jeff Nicholson.

The episode was inspired by Mia’s ranking of all XTC B-sides on her Dead Letter Offices substack

What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book available from www.xtclimelight.com 

If you’ve enjoyed What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, please show your support at https://www.patreon.com/markfisher

Thanks to the Pink Things, Humble Daisies and Knights in Shining Karma who’ve done the same.

What happens when a Christian, a Humanist and a Buddhist congregate to talk about the songs of XTC? Will they give praise? Or will they be torn asunder? 

David White, Belinda Blanchard and Ash Jñānagarbha share a pew with Mark Fisher to discuss Dear God, Dying, The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead, Easter Theatre, The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul, Scatter Me and Senses Working Overtime.

Music by Christopher Underwood and 5 Guys Named Lars

Ash Jñānagarbha

Belinda Blanchard in Dear God

David White's S.C.R.A.P.E.S

What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book available from www.xtclimelight.com 

If you’ve enjoyed What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, please show your support at https://www.patreon.com/markfisher

Thanks to the Pink Things, Humble Daisies and Knights in Shining Karma who’ve done the same.

In the second of a two-part conversation for What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, five fans, journalists and photographers recall what it was like to witness XTC explode onto the scene. On 20 January 1978, XTC released their debut album, White Music, setting our radios in motion for the next 45 years.

Tony Mitchell, editorial staffer on Sounds, followed XTC to Hamburg, Amsterdam and Japan. Photographer Jill Furmanovsky was on the same trip to Hamburg in 1978 and subsequent publicity sessions. Beverley Glick, who wrote for Sounds under the name of Betty Page, joined XTC in New York in 1980. Paul Burgess and Andy Poulton were at school at Headlands in Swindon, where the caretaker was Colin Moulding's dad.

Music by Warren Butson.

XTC's White Music: 45 years on (part one)

What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book available from www.xtclimelight.com 

If you’ve enjoyed What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, please show your support at https://www.patreon.com/markfisher

Thanks to the Pink Things, Humble Daisies and Knights in Shining Karma who’ve done the same.

Paul Burgess

This Is Hardcore 

Warren Butson

Helter Skelter 

Jill Furmanovsky

Website 

Rock Archive 

Swindon Works: XTC 1978 Hanging Around books 

Beverley Glick
Website

Tony Mitchell

Website  

Andy Poulton

Website

Sounds Clips 

Twitter

On 20 January 1978, XTC released their debut album with its defiant cry of This Is Pop! In the first of a two-part conversation for What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, five fans, journalists and photographers recall what it was like to witness XTC explode onto the scene with White Music.

Tony Mitchell, editorial staffer on Sounds, followed XTC to Hamburg, Amsterdam and Japan. Photographer Jill Furmanovsky was on the same trip to Hamburg in 1978 and subsequent publicity sessions. Beverley Glick, who wrote for Sounds under the name of Betty Page, joined XTC in New York in 1980. Paul Burgess and Andy Poulton were at school at Headlands in Swindon, where the caretaker was Colin Moulding's dad.

Music by Jon Bicknell.

What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book available from www.xtclimelight.com 

If you’ve enjoyed What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, please show your support at https://www.patreon.com/markfisher

Thanks to the Pink Things, Humble Daisies and Knights in Shining Karma who’ve done the same.

Jon Bicknell

Drums and Wires UK

That Sfumato Effect

Paul Burgess

This Is Hardcore

Jill Furmanovsky

Website

Rock Archive

Swindon Works: XTC 1978 Hanging Around books 

Beverley Glick

Website

Tony Mitchell

Website

Andy Poulton

Website 

Sounds Clips 

Twitter 

Illustration: Ashley LeCron

In October 2020, we handed over What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast to a bunch of fans in their 20s. Time has passed and we're ready to hear from an even newer generation of XTC fans who are as wise and articulate as the last. 

In a lively conversation, Ashley LeCron, Lexie Ward, Lee Saunders and Lewis Wilkinson share their enthusiasm not only for XTC but also the bands that led them to discover XTC.

And because it's that time of year, they are in party spirit.

They've even put together a companion playlist.

What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book available from www.xtclimelight.com 

If you’ve enjoyed What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, please show your support at https://www.patreon.com/markfisher

Thanks to the Pink Things, Humble Daisies and Knights in Shining Karma who’ve done the same.