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I Formed A Band: Trailer
89 Plays1 month ago
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?
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).
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Transcript
Introductions and Backgrounds
00:00:05
Speaker
Hello, I'm Eddie Argos, the lead singer and art brute, um an artist, a lo-fi punk rock motherfucker, ah a bomb fivon. I don't even know what a bomb fivon is. I'm just trying to extend my CV by listing all of my accomplishments. I believe you're also ah referred to as a a cult figure. and So you can have that, Eddie. I'm Joe Sparrow, not a cult figure. I'm a journalist, a podcaster, and an all round odd job man. And we're speaking to you from our glamorous Berlin headquarters.
Podcast Concept: I Formed A Band
00:00:33
Speaker
To inform you about, I formed a band, our new and very self-explanatory podcast. ah Yes, it's a podcast that talks to people who formed bands and asks them about exactly that, about the part before they formed a band and just after they got famous.
00:00:48
Speaker
Yeah, why why? Why did they do it? Why did you form a band?
Motivations and Challenges of Forming a Band
00:00:52
Speaker
What did it take to get them there? And how did it feel like when they were successful with their band? Yeah, so that sort of transitional period. We'll talk about their motivation behind doing it in the first place, behind forming a band, the opposition to them forming a band, the hurdles, the triumphs, the failures, the splitter bands, the hangovers, the toilet venues, the moments of exhilaration, the tedium, the ludicrous stuff, and the pits of despair. It's a huge emotional journey.
00:01:18
Speaker
It's hosted by him, Eddie August. Eddie, quick question. Why are you so fascinated by forming bands? And have you ever discussed this topic in any other art
Eddie's Memoir and Band Obsession
00:01:27
Speaker
forms? I was always obsessed with being at a band when I was a kid. um And I'm still kind of obsessed with that now. I think I've annoyed lots of bands in the past backstage and at festivals and things, asking them.
00:01:39
Speaker
How did you meet? How did you form a band? Like, I'm just very curious about that. um And I did, I wrote a book, I wrote a memoir, and that was just pretty much just a love story about me falling in love with being in a band. So yeah, this fits me perfectly, this podcast. Joe, why didn't you form a band and is it a source of regret?
Joe's Regret and Reflections
00:01:57
Speaker
I didn't form a band, and this is where it gets a bit like therapy, is that I didn't think I could. So I always wanted to, and I didn't. And I guess I'm slightly regretful, you know, when I look at,
00:02:07
Speaker
very middling indie bands I think oh yeah that could have been me still time so yeah anyway the podcast I formed a band is coming very soon and we'll be joined by these people who form bands Eddie who have we got James Smith from Yard Act Dunstan Bruce from Chumbawomba Biss Jim Bob from Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine lovely eggs The subways.
Dream Guests: Taylor Swift and Spice Girls
00:02:31
Speaker
Taylor Swift. maybe Maybe not Taylor Swift yet. ah we could peopleop We should pitch hi. Look, she's got a lot of time on her hands in the massive world tour. She probably wants to talk about how she formed Taylor Swift, the band. yeah taylor ah any Any of those artists particularly tickle your fancy?
00:02:49
Speaker
all of them. I love them all. Yardact I'm excited about. I saw them last year. They were great. The lovely eggs had a chance to speak for a long time. The subways. It's just a nice way for me to catch up with people I haven't seen in a while. And I pestered them officially about being in a band. So this is essentially a sort of social club for you really. But also, it's nice, because I have probably spoken to these people in the past about how they form bands and things, because I'm very nosy about that. And it's nice to have an official channel to do that. But maybe it's not quite as annoying for them. Yeah, yeah, and document it for posterity. I'm particularly looking forward to speaking to Dunstan from Chumbawamba, because he's released that amazing documentary recently, which is kind of about forming a band and then going on to becoming a huge international success by mistake, which is I think the best way to achieve any form of success. Another question, Eddie, if you could pick anybody from the great world of music, who would be your dream guest for this podcast? We were just joking about it a second ago, but I would quite like to talk to the Spice Girls about how to inform the Spice Girls. That's going to be hard to organise for us. But I'd love to speak to them. I hear Jerry Halliwell is a big podcast fan and is always listening to The Rest Is Politics. So maybe she'll want to break from that. She's obviously really, really into our brew. That's going to help us. I believe so.
Bon Jovi's Band Formation and Professionalism
00:03:53
Speaker
I was thinking about this question as well and I came up with all the cool names and then I realised the person I would really like to ask about forming a band is John Bon Jovi because JBJ is so ubiquitous, right? Everybody knows Bon Jovi and everybody ends up dancing to their songs at a wedding or something like that. And so what does it mean to reach that level of ubiquity having started off as a bar band in New Jersey? Have you ever been a fan of or seen Bon Jovi, Eddie? I don't know. I had a room with my brother when I was young. He was a huge Bon Jovi band.
00:04:20
Speaker
I think also what's interesting about them is the fact that of all those bands, like at the hair metal sort of kind of rock bands at the time, they're the only ones that really successfully reinvented themselves for the 90s, right? You've got a different haircut, you've got a bit more ballad-y, always and all that, like the Crossroads album. I saw them play at the Milton Keynes Bowl when that Crossroads Best of album came out and he had a very good firework display. yeah That's what you look for in Bon Jovi, isn't it? Fireworks. When I had a tedious office job in the grounds of Old Trafford Cricket Grand in Manchester, they were playing the cricket grand and I was tasked to call up the the Bon Jovi management and say, what time are you sound checking so that we make sure it doesn't clash with our very boring meeting? And they said the words to me, Bon Jovi doesn't sound check. They're just so used to the sound being perfect. But I often don't sound cheap because I'm rummaging around charity shops looking for trousers and things. So maybe Bon Jovi was in the older Moxfam looking for a nice shirt. Undoubtedly so. At some point your rummaging in charity shops will overlap and you and him will fight over a leopard print blouse or something like that to wear on stage. ah your Or Christopher Brook my book or something. Yeah, so in the podcast, if we get Bon Jovi, you will hear from Bon Jovi, but we will sort of record other bits and pieces.
Podcast Format and Listener Engagement
00:05:34
Speaker
A ephemera around forming a band that is not necessarily an interview as well. So that's going to be probably just tacked on the end ah to the podcast. And that staple of 1980s kids' TV, listeners' letters. So you could email us as well, folks. I've just realised earlier when you asked me if there was any other media where I speak about forming a band, you meant my song, I formed a band. Yes, that thought that's what I was implying. yeah I talk about my book and about my obsession, but not about the fact I have a song where I literally say, look at us, we formed a band about 67 times.
00:06:06
Speaker
yeah and and and ah And an interesting document as well, from an artistic perspective, because you were just in the studio, sort of capturing that moment when you were actually forming a band as well. Yeah, i'd be I had the chorus, but as often happens, I didn't have the verses. So I was just ad libbing and I was just so happy that people finally agreed to be in a band with me.
00:06:26
Speaker
I was trying to convince them to stay with me by listing all the accomplishments we could achieve. Chiefly of which was that you had formed a band, that was the main accomplishment. And so, yes, so rest assured folks, the podcast will not be 45 minutes of Eddie saying, look at us we formed a band there will be more to it than that so do like and subscribe essentially if you're listening to this on a podcast player you can subscribe to the podcast and you'll get them all you can sign up to the mailing list as well which will be beneath this podcast or in the social media post i don't know where you're listening to this yeah was it like and subscribe that's what you're supposed to say right smash that subscribe button folks And then if you sign up to the mailing list, you'll be the first to hear about the new shows. We'll email you and we'll just send you all the rubbers that we couldn't fit in the shows. Or just thoughts or pictures or whatever we fancy pumping into your inbox, basically. I don't know what I'm saying. We are pump loads of rubbers into your inbox. It's the best way to sell it. But I'm with you. Let's do it. Like and subscribe.