A photo of Stewart Home in a dark place with light shining down through what looks like a hole full of plants above him.
OK next #BassMidsTopsAndTheRest is on its way, taking me a little while as it’s both longer and more jam packed with detail than most. Even in the first SENTENCE @stewarthome.bsky.social managed to coherently circle round Van Morrison, Aretha, UK Subs and Bruce Lee and it carried on in that vein.
Coming up next on #bassmidstopsandtherest it’s @kaylapainter.bsky.social - one of the most individualist and genuinely independent electronic artists around. I’ve long admired her patience in dismantling industry barriers, and how she’s experimented in the realest sense and evolved at each turn.
OKAYYY #bassmidstopsandtherest news…. sorry for delay, but basically we just need 100 more paying subs then I can REALLY give full attention that it deserves…. But ANYWAY first up CONGRATS to our wonderful recent subject Emma-Jean Thackray on Mercury Prize nomination for ‘Weirdo’, so much deserved.
DJ and musician Sherelle photographed in East London July 2023. This was taken for BassMidsTops really inspiring interview bassmidstopsandtherest.substack.com/p/no-5-shere... @joemuggs.bsky.social did with her #sherelle #bassmidstops #bassmidstopsandtherest
DJ and musician Sherelle photographed in East London July 2023. This was taken for BassMidsTops I’ll put a link up in my stories to the really inspiring interview @joemuggs.bsky.social did with her #sherelle #bassmidstops #bassmidstopsandtherest
A grinning round-faced white middle aged man holding up the gatefold sleeve of a record to the camera.
Eska's album autographed "To Joe, thankyou always"
Bass, Mids, Tops and the Rest Yeah but the world does - or the machine that presents music to people at least - it does want someone who will do the same thing repeatedly. Weird, isn't it? That's not very human. It's very odd. It's just very, very odd. And I mean, I feel particularly for younger artists, because I see that they struggle with that, particularly ones that get sort of funneled into the machine very quickly, into big sort of juggernauts and major labels and whatnot. And, you know, even one who I won't name, but she happened to be in my studio complex working with someone on her stuff. And I heard her stuff and I thought myself, gosh, this is so dull. But when I was actually having a conversation with her and she was getting me hip to stuff that I was just... mind-blowing stuff really, and thinking, there's a complete incongruity with your brain and your imagination and this pile of shite that you're making, I don't know what's happened. You're really interesting. But you've been put in the pretty machine, whatever, so you've got to sort of look and sound a way, I don't know... weird. And I'm thinking, you're like 20 times more interesting than people will ever know. And I feel sorry that they will never know. They're not privileged. They've never had a wonderful music session with you like I have. I mean, turning me onto stuff, like, you know, my roots are Zimbabwean? But I didn't know about the Chicken Run Band 3 Amazing Zimbabwean group from the 70s. And thanks to this young girl, this is my favorite band now. I would never have known that in a million years, listening to your wonderfully curated, manufactured kind of quasi Amy Winehouse type thing that you're doing. It's unbelievable, doesn't even... the incongruity, it's startling because yet new tab I that and I guess why I still feel like I'm still gonna forge ahead with the road less
Uhhhh.... Yeah. It's wild. It's wild. So from a live agent perspective, from a promoter perspective, I'm being treated like a new artist. it's so wild because it's, "Oh wow." And... I just have to accept that that's the trade off. If you're not going to go at the pace that the industry, the machine works and there are some forces pushing for that for sure. And which is not great. It' 's not great at all. Um, it's... but yeah, one has to sort of accept that really. However, I was asked by my distributor, like, "What do you want to get out of this record?" And I thought, okay, this is an interesting one, let me sit with that one for a moment. Okay. I'm going to have to get back to you. And actually in the end, what I' ve arrived at is: this is a very different chapter in my life personally, as well as artistically. Um, and I really desire to be prolific in the way that I can make music and I don't want to hold back in the way that this was held back. Obviously it was a complex album on so many levels. It wasn't straightforward to make. Um, so I hope that this chapter will enable me to be that artist, that artist that I... the ambition that I have, I hope I'm free, free on lots of levels. Well you've been prolific before, but it's been as a... as a singer for hire, more or less. Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, singer for hire, writer for hire, whatever, you know, writer for hire, yeah, musician for hire. How long have you been a full-time professional musician? Where that's been my only job? Yeah.
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👉🏻 ESKA's The Ordinary Life of a Magic Woman is now out on streaming and suchlike having had a glorious month of VINYL ONLY life already
👉🏻 Her appearance on #BassMidsTopsAndTheRest is one of the greatest, most honest and eye opening conversations about the creative process you’ll see this year
New work: Joe Armon-Jones, @joearmonjones.bsky.social musician photographed for BassMidsTops in Waterloo, South London March 2025.
Interview with Joe @joemuggs.bsky.social live on BassMidsTops bassmidstopsandtherest.substack.com/p/no-32-joe-... #joearmonjones #bassmidstops #bassmidstopsandtherest
New work: Joe Armon-Jones, musician photographed for BassMidsTops in Waterloo, South London March 2025.
Interview with Joe coming soon on BassMidsTops @joemuggs.bsky.social #joearmonjones #bassmidstops #bassmidstopsandtherest
Girl Scout Heron sample. And I was like, they should be a new Girl Scout Heron record. Like I would love to hear some actual new Girl Scout Heron. There's no way he doesn't have stuff to say.
Seriously AI, think about this.
PS guess who's coming next on #BassMidsTopsAndTheRest....
The legendary DJ Trevor Fung as photographed by Brian David Stevens.
New #BassMidsTopsAndTheRest going live today!
Thanks everyone who's stuck with us or signed up anew for #BassMidsTopsAndTheRest - there was a hiatus for yet more life stuff, but glad to say we're back in the saddle, and coming up we've got DOT ALLISON whose recent music on @soniccathedral.bsky.social has been true salve for the soul.
Coming soon to BassMidsTops the incredible IRAH Check out his single Gunfinger…. #IRAH #chaseandstatus thanks to Tomas for all his help! Photographed in Kings Cross Aug 2024 #bassmidstops #bassmidstopsandtherest
The bottom half of the face of a man with a goatee beard and sunglasses, snarling, with gold grills on his front teeth.
There's been another small break again due to family and other, y'know, "life stuff", but we now have the next few #BassMidsTopsAndTheRest racked up and ready to go, and next up, once again with world class pics by Brian .... BALALALALA..... it's.......
Heads up, one of the albums of the year is coming, from Hifi Sean and David McAlmont - in fact they have TWO coming up this year, first single is lush, pagan video is glorious, and remembered we profiled both of them on #BassMidsTopsAndTheRest Sxbstxck....
Jamz Supernova, head and shoulders portrait in a mint green shirt, looking wise and regal
Next #BassMidsTopsAndTheRest dropping Monday. It's an INSPIRATIONAL but also super fun one, so if you've not signed up, get that sorted. @briandavidstevens.bsky.social just continuing to excel - can't wait to get a proper exhibition of these together.
There's been another lil delay due to family stuff etc, but coming up on #BassMidsTopsAndTheRest in short order are two long time friends of @briandavidstevens.bsky.social’s and mine: first the ever-insightful @juderogers.bsky.social then the underground-round-round-he-gets-around hero Gagarin ❤️❤️
AAAAAAND going live tomorrow morning on #bassmidstopsandtherest and covering lots of the same psychedelic ground from different angles it’s MR RICHARRRRRD NORRIS (pics as ever by @briandavidstevens.bsky.social)
a black and white photo portrait of a man of mystery with "BASS, MIDS, TOPS" stickers on it
About to get on the blower with an absolute hero for this week's #BassMidsTopsAndTheRest - @briandavidstevens.bsky.social already captured him at his wizardly best.
Head and shoulders portrait of Dennis Morris, in zipped up jacket and large clear-framed glasses, eyes closed or looking down.
just transcribing interview with the incredible Dennis Morris for this week's #BassMidsTopsAndTheRest - to whet your appetites here's one of Brian's beautiful shots....
Text from the interview, mostly involving us saying "footcrab" over and over.
photo of Lara Rix-Martin by Brian David Stevens in black & white, hair blowing across face, wearing a zipped leather jacket - there are orange "BASS, MIDS, TOPS" 'stickers' on opposite corners of the picture
Text from the interview about preconceptions of a female musician.
photo of Lara Rix-Martin by Brian David Stevens in black & white, wearing specs and a zipped leather jacket over black top - there are orange "BASS, MIDS, TOPS" 'stickers' on opposite corners of the picture
Now THIS is an interview. We have considerably enriched #BassMidsTopsAndTheRest by the inclusion of @meemocomma.bsky.social - plus frankly regal pics by Brian David Stevens. You know where to find it, get a cuppa and GET IN TO IT.
Okayyyyy we are back in full swing - #BassMidsTopsAndTheRest kicks off regularly again on Monday morning with the one and only David Holmes and let me tell you he was on fire…. SIGN UP SIGN UP SIGN UP over at sbstck!
