Distraction Pieces Podcast With Scroobius Pip

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 240 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! You asked for it… The universe provided… Ladies and gentlemen, make some noise for the Bard Of Salford, the living legend - that’s right, this week Pip is joined by JOHN COOPER CLARKE!“If I was a band I would have split up years ago…”Hopefully you are aware of the fellow and his work, but if that’s not the case, well you have a glorious road ahead of you… Pip sits down with the legendary punk poet to comb through all the good stuff - being the force of nature he is, most of the heavy lifting is done by John himself but as you’ll hear, this is not a problem in the slightest. Just tune in and take a ride with the story telling genius and indulge in those sweet Northern tones. From history to now, it all gets covered - his inspirational teacher who encouraged him in all kinds of ways, cultivating his own style from the cast in his life and picking up little elements from everyone he appreciated, the cerebral of poetry

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 239 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! A long, long awaited meet up here as Pip is joined by the Most Valuable Person in this whole MMA business… It’s the phenomenal MICHAEL VENOM PAGE!“I’m very present when I’m fighting, and it sounds weird to say but I’m not emotionally in the fight...”Of course, MMA heads by now will just be clicking or tapping that download button without reading any further, but for those of you perhaps less familiar, you are also in for a real treat. MVP is an awe inspiring fighter, and for even the fairest weather fans of mixed martial arts his skill will dazzle you. With a unique style and mad victory set pieces, he’s become full on notorious in the sport and here he gets a good chance to catch up with Pip on all aspects, including the swiftness of the MMA universe, how he wants people to stick around for the whole thing - not just him, how you can enjoy and absorb so much more in MMA when you educate yourself on the moves, his f

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 238 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! Today marks the long, patiently awaited return appearance from the acting and writing superhero who is KILLING it left, right, center and diagonal - it’s Michaela Coel!What exactly HASN’T she been doing since she was last on? Good lord… Michaela is unquestionably smashing it right now (and has been for a minute), starring in two Black Mirror episodes, feature film Been So Long, BBC drama Black Earth Rising and a lil’ indie grindhouse flick called Star Wars: The Last Jedi, no biggie. We can only dream of what she’ll be unveiling when we hopefully see her next time on here! A bunch of awesome ground is covered of course, in not that long, including her humble but confident, responsive social media outlook, carving her own paths growing up, the intentions behind any given script, not wasting time on things that don’t mean much to you, the hit series Black Earth Rising and the much loved director, heroes and villains, l

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 237 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! Long awaited and hugely exciting longform chat awesomeness with the Prodigy legend LIAM HOWLETT!AS WE CONTINUE… So you’ve had a nice taste of side A - well you’ll be pleased to know side B is everything you would want it to be, as Liam concludes the story so far while hinting at the road ahead. Here we hit the ‘Dirtchamber’ mix poin and move along from there, from his two year departure from the studio to go on the road, to sampling and getting verbal permission for usage over the contract approach, the breakdown of the band, the time from then to the reformation and then getting back on the road, dismantling and rebuilding tracks for playing live, the shorthand they have as a band, their biggest live show, living in Essex and being streetwise, mixing business with friendship and as before, tons tons more… ENJOY!!!'NO TOURISTS' by THE PRODIGY drops November 2nd - GRAB THAT!!!––––– ––––– –––––THIS EPISODE'S

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 237 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! Long awaited and hugely exciting longform chat awesomeness with the Prodigy legend LIAM HOWLETT!“…I like tension in music… and I think the stage is where it manifests itself…”A rare one right here folks, as Liam spends a good chunk of time chatting with Pip on all things Prodigy and solo, spanning the entirety of his incredible career. Such an engaging and interesting talk, running through the lot - from how he generates ideas and keeps writing through the craziness of tour life, the influence of punk, two-tone, hip hop and electro, early days winning mixtape competitions, the days of early rave and being introduced to acid house by Westwood of all people (circuitously but kind of!), the meeting of Nick Halkes up at XL Records and hand to hand demo hustling, the immediacy of making beats over learning instruments, moving from sonic landscape to sonic landscape naturally, the difference of harder over faster, the imp

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 236 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! A fully bearded throwdown for you this week, yes people this is the one you’ve been so patiently waiting for - Pip is joined by the gawds SAGE FRANCIS and B DOLAN aka EPIC BEARD MEN!A full power meeting of the beards right here, which is exactly like sitting in with the trio as they get their chat on. This is your chance to have a seat at the table and listen in on the behind the scenes science of the beardmen, deep in the confines of a Cardiff hotel post-show, as Sage and B sling gems at you with reckless disregard. Expect to hear about it all - hotel routines and rituals and the notorious escape room shower scenarios, Ex Machina, Sage regrets at his best man’s speech at B’s wedding (which are assuaged with swiftness - all is well), being decent and well behaved on the road, how Sage dragged B onstage and changed his role in the touring setup, their relationship on the road and how they got to a happy place, schedu

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 235 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! A celebration of good, honest home cooking right here this week as Pip is joined by the marvellous chef and author GIZZI ERSKINE!Absolutely great from the beginning, this chat with Gizzi is a full on entertaining and buzzy one with so much packed into the hour-ish run time! You wouldn’t have known she was hungover if she hadn’t have mentioned it, as she rattles through so many entertaining and interesting talking points about her own life and all things cookery, ranging from her Paddington beginnings, growing up in an aristocratic but less than well-off family with not a ton of parental guidance, her bodypiercing route and how she could have even gone on a completely art-based route, the death of her father in her early years but how she never used this as an excuse for going off the rails temporarily as a young’un, being ADHD but locking in and focusing, how she operates with such a busy brain, being her mum’s cook

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 234 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! A super scientifical smash this week, a long awaited one at that, as Pip is joined by the phenomenal Dr Kate Devlin - master of all that is AI, computer science and areas where these meet human sexuality.Pip’s been hinting at this for a good while, as he knew after recording that it was already one of his favourites. He KNOWS you shouldn’t have favourites. But still… Anyway, Dr Kate is a full on expert on all things artificial intelligence, software and hardware, and as you will hear on this episode - relating to her new book ‘Turned On’ - how we humans have incorporated this all into our day to day lives. A true eye opener, as Dr Kate goes into how she found the appropriate tone of the book, addressing the truth behind headlines, how the conversation can often involve the subject of sex trafficking, sex toys and robots, how taboos and societal restrictions can shape advances in sexual technology, what porn statisti

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 233 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! Pure actorial and directorial treats for you this week, a real powerhouse flooded with gems and gold nuggets… People, Pip is joined by DESIREE AKHAVAN!Gems and gold nuggets all over the place. A real pleasure of a chat, as Desiree talks openly and honestly about every aspect of her creative process and inspiration, moving so gracefully from one angle to the next. You may know her from 2015’s ’Appropriate Behaviour’, or maybe more recently 2018’s ’The Miseducation Of Cameron Post’, both of which received and are in the process of receiving excellent reviews - either way, you are most definitely about to know her even more personally with the release of her new series ‘The Bisexual’, on Channel 4 this week! If you’re reading this on Podcast Wednesday, that means TONIGHT!So indulge in this fascinating chat as Desiree goes into her Iranian-American heritage, her early playwright longings and how Iranian characters

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 232 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! A full on entertaining and thoroughly interesting catch up here with the multi-disciplined and outrageously talented musician JOSH WELLER!You may well have caught Josh on brother/sister podcasts Hardcore Listings and Off The Beat And Track, and if so that will have only endeared you to the fella all the more. Here Pip sits down with him for a good amount of time in a pub basement to chat about so many things, branching out and going on all tangents but including some good background and chat about his band The Kenneths, being part of the scene Pip in which used to be a firm fixture, his global heritage, an ace little aside regarding the Sultan Of Bruneii of all people (and some very strong yacht names which you can feel free to copy - maybe for cars, bikes, anyway you’ll see), some powerful insights on white privilege and how it can be so ingrained and deep seated, a fantastic Spotify breakdown (takedown?) and some

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 231 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! Pure acting awesomeness for your enjoyment this week, as Pip is joined by the Mancunian master - it’s DOMINIC MONAGHAN!Where to even start… Take your pick! Lost. Lord Of The Rings. FlashForward. Wild Things. Or maybe you would like to go with Star Wars? Good lord, Dominic is killing it on many levels and this podcast is an insight into the gravel voiced superstar’s world - from behind the scenes chit-chat on Star Wars (with an impressive amount of beans relatively unspilled), his appreciation of London, balancing that inner 7 year old Dominic’s extreme Star Wars excitement with present day professionalism, humans and insects and who wins in his world (the answer may surprise you), social media and the traps therein, virtual reality, human contact, the cycle of alcoholism and being social, Lord Of The Rings goodness from start to end (you’ll enjoy that!!), being confident as an actor and the importance of being loose

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 229 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! This episode’s a full on treat for you wrestle fans - and indeed, non-wrestle fans - Pip is joined by former teacher turned pro wrestler, the pride of Wales - it's EDDIE DENNIS!The ‘wrestle fans’ part is obvious… Something of a no-brainer if you will. The reason it’s a treat for the non-wrestle fans, or those of you who may not check for it so much, is because it’s almost a modern day folk tale of sorts, and truly inspirational. Eddie used to be a maths teacher, and you will hear how he eventually morphed into the professional wrestle who stands before you today. It’s an amazing story, and to hear where he’s at now and what’s ahead of him, well, that’s for you to devour and enjoy on this podcast! Of course there’s a LOT going on other than that - good old fashioned wrestle talk, Progress talk for sure, the art of practicing what you preach and leading by example - the lesson he learned himself as a teacher, the art

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 229 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! You are gonna love this one, maybe as much as Pip did recording it - ladies and gentlemen, this week’s guest is the incredible bionic arm queen Angel Giuffria!So much goodness contained in one episode, it’s hard to know where to begin… You may have seen Angel in Hunger Games, or maybe Goliath, or caught some of the SXSW action she was recently involved in, but either way - know her or not - you will enjoy this chance to get further acquainted with her as she drops gem after gem with ease! A self identified cyborg, she is the youngest in the world to wear a muscle powered arm, and you’ll get to hear everything from her “You’re different, that’s awesome!” Mum (which might have led to issues with other pupils), how not having an arm in the first place meant that she never felt like needed to ‘get back’ to having one, the world not being designed for differently limbed people, disability rankings, the ongoing conflict o

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 228 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! A full on writing and directing masterclass right here as Pip is joined one of the busiest bigshots in the Hollywood multiverse, DREW PEARCE!While you may not see Drew acting alongside big screen pals like Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr, by god he is busy working on scripts, rewrites, edits and all that entails which contribute to the blockbusters they star in… With the behind the scenes arts of the movie industry proving of just about equal importance to the more visible side, Drew’s presence is hugely necessary, vital in fact, as you will hear in this chat with Pip - though he is currently enjoying the success of his directorial debut ‘Hotel Artemis’, which gets big chat time here. Powerful truths about the industry as well as some hard earned wisdom right here, as he and Pip get into such topics as embarrassing recording failures (they begin with that!), how his directorial debut began life on a mere notepad, ho

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 227 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! A perfect repeat performance for you this episode as Pip is joined by close personal pal and multi talented spoken word contemporary KATE TEMPEST to tell some stories and catch up in general!An excellently timed slot for Kate, hot on the release of her new book ‘Running Upon The Wires’, so you can expect a lot of science behinds the scenes on that, as well as her other releases and the weird and wild world of being a debut author. But of course, there’s a bunch of catchup to get done as the two get down to all sorts, including the promo circuit being a jack of more than one trade, the catharsis of poetry, page and stage, filtering bad situations into good material, the respect she has for creative people, some mental anecdotes on working with Rick Rubin for crying out loud, what else she’s into music-wise and beyond, and just all kinds of goodness from the world of Kate! Brilliant stuff, a perfect follow on from her

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 226 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! A perfect movie based follow up to the incredible previous episode with Spike Lee, as Pip is joined by director Bart Layton and actor Barry Keoghan - both of ‘American Animals’!An amazing chance to catch up with the pair as Pip rocks it tag-team style, starting the podcast with director Bart Layton and concluding halfway through with actor Barry Keoghan. Needless to say, with two sides of the story covered you get a comprehensive and detailed look at a unique pocket of the movie industry, a fascinating side of the indie film world and certainly longer than a regular press junket. You’ll get to hear about the realities of making and marketing a movie in a world of cinema and Netflix (or dare I say, cinema versus Netflix), the differences in those two worlds as well as the merits of both, the ludicrous nature of the premise of ‘American Animals’ and how it works as a film, how Barry is a grade A actor without formal t

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 225 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! It feels strange to refer to this episode as a bonus as it’s a full on spectacular - nevertheless, here is your Friday bonus as Pip is joined by the living legend director that is SPIKE LEE!While Spike is getting his promotion grind on for his new film BlacKkKlansman (which you should make efforts to see as it’s just been released in the UK), he fit in some Pip time which is perfect as you know Pip is quite the cinephile! So this is a grand opportunity to get in some genuine directorial knowledge from a true long term veteran in the game. You will also witness a first in the Distraction Pieces Podcast as Spike lays down a “no comment” - more on that in the podcast! Ground covered includes how he’s always been around and this isn’t a return, how BlacKkKlansman wasn’t planned and how Jordan Peele put the bug in his ear, the 70’s look of the film while being contemporary, the natural humour in the film and how it deriv

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 224 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! A joyous encounter with the long time mate of Pip’s, the UK’s hit making rapper heavyweight EXAMPLE!Very much in line with the awesome chat involving Professor Green in last week’s episode, this time Pip has a chance to get proper in with Example, as they go over just about everything, literally. Inspiring and encouraging, and very cool to hear the story from the man himself rather than read it in some gossip website or some such. Pip and Example have known each other for over a decade, and they get along super nice which allows for an access all areas chat ranging from London’s non-genre specific scenes back in the day, the blending of genres themselves, getting used to performing and knowing the ropes so not being a one-hit venue-sellout without any moves, being “shit” at sports and good with words, recording demos in Australia and starting small, working out his DIY grind, his time spent in the Mike Skinner BEATS

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 223 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! This week brings the long awaited and truly awesome guest Professor Green to the guest microphone, the rapper turned documentarian and so much more!As always with the Distraction Pieces Podcast, the chat does most definitely NOT focus on the main aspect you might be expecting, but covers a crazy amount of ground in the time the two have. And what a range on offer… Mr Green is clearly suffering from the after effects of some good time fun (with mate Example) the previous night but comes through it in fine form, leaping from topic to topic with ease, including how hard it must be to be a horrible bastard, the current state of society, news overload, the loss of hands-on skills, his insane experiences in solitary (for documentary reasons), dealing with the stress and fear of negative emotions, feeling the feels and not using crutches, troubled past, how folk can become comfortable and not take part in society, the grea

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode 222 of the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip! Proper wrestling excitement this episode as Pip is joined by Russell Lissack of Bloc Party, Sam Duckworth of Get Cape Wear Cape Fly and Stuart Tourle to chat about nothing but wrestling and why they adore it so…This episode co-incides with the release of wrestling homie and podcast network alumni Jim Smallman’s book ‘I’m Sorry, I Love You: A History Of Professional Wrestling’ - so be sure you pre-order or buy that goodness when you can, as Jim is 100% schooled in the wrestling trade so you know you’re in safe hands! With that in mind, this is full on wrestle-geek paradise, with nothing but nutrition and nourishment for all you wrestling addicts young and old. So much to get your teeth into and indulge your addictions with, so ENJOY!!!––––– ––––– –––––THIS EPISODE'S LINKS:• RUSSELL LISSACK!• SAM DUCKWORTH!• STUART TOURLE!• JIM SMALLMAN'S BOOK!• THE ARTICLE MENTIONED BY PIP in MEL MAGAZINE!•&n