Richard Hawley - Singer-songwriter, Guitarist, and Producer

In this episode, acclaimed Sheffield singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer Richard Hawley talks about his long-standing friendship and creative kinship with Paul Weller.

Richard takes us back to his working-class upbringing in Pitsmoor, Sheffield, where he was raised on a strict diet of '50s rock and roll, rockabilly, and R&B - until his two younger sisters took over the household’s three-watt portable record player. It was through their relentless, non-stop playing of Setting Sons, All Mod Cons, and Sound Affects that The Jam became permanently ingrained in his psyche, sparking a lifelong appreciation for Paul Weller's distinctive guitar playing and raw, uncompromising energy.

He shares the hilarious story of their first proper meeting at a festival in Spain, where he mistakenly geared up for a classic "Mods vs. Rockers" confrontation as Weller and Steve Cradock came charging across a hotel dining room. Richard reflects on their subsequent decades-long friendship, discussing the parallel experiences of losing their fathers, their shared refusal to compromise with the music industry, and their mutual respect as songwriters. He also offers a peek into his phone’s highly classified archive of raw Weller voice-note demos, explains why they've never quite managed to finish a song together in the same room, and recounts playing lap steel on the beautiful track 'I Woke Up' from Paul’s album 66.

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