What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast
Music
About
Interviews and discussions about XTC, from White Music to Wasp Star and beyond
Episodes
- XTC's Terry Chambers: 50th anniversary gig
Drummer Terry Chambers returns to the Town Gardens Bowl with EXTC for a 50th-anniversary gig. In this episode, he reflects on his 21st birthday in 1976, his upcoming 71st birthday in 2026, and his extensive performance history.
- XTC live at Emerald City with sound engineer Gary Bradshaw
Gary Bradshaw, who served as XTC's sound engineer for their April 17, 1981 concert at Emerald City, New Jersey, shares insights from his career in music. He details his transition from guitar tech to sound engineer, his work with notable a…
- XTC and dub with Mark Thomas, Paul Myers and Tom Morley
This episode of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast explores XTC's early dub music experiments, discussing tracks like 'Fireball XL5' and 'All Along the Watchtower'. Guests include Tom Morley, Mark Thomas, and Paul Myers.
- XTC live with Tom Morley (Scritti Politti) and Kathleen Hiraga
This episode features interviews with photographer Kathleen Hiraga, who captured images of XTC in 1980, and Tom Morley, the original drummer for Scritti Politti, discussing their experiences with XTC.
- XTC's Wasp Star at 25
The XTC Podcast revisits the 25th anniversary of Wasp Star, examining its status relative to Apple Venus and fan reception. Glasgow-based fans Stephen Hope, Lorraine Lee, Alison Eales, and David McGuinness share their perspectives on the a…
- XTC and the Dukes of Stratosphear with Ian Gregory, aka EIEI Owen
In this month’s episode of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast we return to the 2025 XTC Fan Festival to hear Ian Gregory who, under the pseudonym of EIEI Owen, was the drummer in XTC’s psychedelic alter ego the Dukes of Stratosph…
- Hugh Padgham: working with XTC
In this month’s episode of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast we return to the 2025 XTC Fan Festival to hear engineer and producer Hugh Padgham remembering his work on Drums and Wires, Black Sea and English Settlement , not to me…
- Stu Rowe: collaborating with XTC
This episode of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast features a fascinating conversation with Stu Rowe recorded at the 2025 XTC Fan Festival in Swindon. Stu talks about working with Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding, Terry Chambers, B…
- XTC’s Dave Gregory talks to Thomas Walsh
This episode of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast features a highly entertaining conversation between XTC guitarist Dave Gregory and fellow musician Thomas Walsh (Pugwash) recorded at the 2025 XTC Fan Festival in Swindon. The in…
- XTC’s Skylarking with Alfredo Marziano
In this episode of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, we join Alfredo Marziano , the author of the newly published XTC: Skylarking – A Life in A Day, the Making of a Pop Classic. This 152-page book draws on archive material and…
- Covering XTC with Dan Barrow and Innocents Abroad
It’s fan festival time again. Coming up on 20–22 June at the Mecca in Swindon, the sold-out 2025 XTC Fan Festival is a chance for friends old and new to come together and share in their love of all things XTC. On the line-up, as well as a…
- Madison Cunningham on XTC
Twenty-five years after their final album, XTC continue to inspire new generations of musicians. In this episode of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast , Grammy Award-winning songwriter Madison Cunningham talks about finding inspi…
- The Dukes of Stratosphear (XTC) 40th Anniversary
How much further up the charts would Senses Working Overtime have climbed if the sleeve had been made of heavier material? What does the finish on the cover of Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down tell us about its sales? In this edition of What…
- Rick Buckler of the Jam on Terry Chambers and XTC
To commemorate the death of Rick Buckler on 17 February 2025, this episode of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast features an interview the drummer did with a group of XTC fans and fellow musicians in March 2018. Buckler recorded…
- Remembering XTC superfan Darryl Bullock (ft artist Ken White)
Darryl Bullock was a massive fan of XTC, an avid record collector and one of the tireless organisers of the online and in-person XTC fan conventions. He died, way too young, on 23 December 2024. He was such a pillar of the fan community th…
- XTC and the music business
In this edition of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast , we go behind the scenes to see how deals get signed, press releases get written and records get released. Joining us are Ronnie Gurr , who went from producing a punk fanzine…
- XTC’s Andy Partridge: the Patreon questions II
In the second of a special two-part edition of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast , supporters on Patreon ask questions they had always wanted Andy Partridge to answer that he never gets asked. The challenge was to come up with q…
- XTC's Skylarking with Dave Gregory and Steven Wilson
Ace remixer Steven Wilson has already given XTC’s 1986 album Skylarking a 5.1 surround sound makeover and now he has gone one step further with a mix in whizzy new Dolby Atmos, which means those glorious sounds come at you from every direc…
- XTC’s Andy Partridge: the Patreon questions I
In the first of a special two-part edition of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast , supporters on Patreon ask questions they had always wanted Andy Partridge to answer that he never gets asked. The challenge was to come up with qu…
- The birth of XTC with Steve Warren
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 Ki…
- XTC's English Settlement with producer Hugh Padgham
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…
- XTC's Terry Chambers and EXTC 2024
Terry Chambers and EXTC are back on the road and they are sounding fantastic. In this episode of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast , we catch up with Terry, Steve Hampton and Terry Lines at the start of a tour that will take in…
- Early XTC with Ian Doeser and Lee Moulding
In the 50th episode of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast , we go back to the formative years of XTC in the company of Ian Doeser and Lee Moulding . As well as being front man with the Hamsters from Hell, Ian was in Swindon’s fir…
- Haydn Bendall on producing XTC’s Apple Venus
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of XTC’s landmark album Apple Venus Volume I , producer Haydn Bendall talks to What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast about the fraught recording sessions that nonetheless resulted in such majestic s…
- In search of XTC
In this month’s episode of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast we hear from Jason Repantis who works as a manager at the Universal Music Group archives. It was his job to dig out the original tapes of The Big Express for the recen…
- XTC: any kind of love is alright
Peter Pumpkinhead proclaims that "Any kind of love is alright" and gets nailed to a chunk of wood for saying so. What does that tell us about XTC's attitude to love and human relationships? In particular, how welcoming does this heterosexu…
- XTC's The Big Express in 5.1 and Dolby Atmos
Steven Wilson has returned to XTC's 1984 masterpiece and given it not only a stunning 5.1 surround remix but also, for the first time with XTC, a Dolby Atmos mix. Released on 29 September 2023, The Big Express comes complete with a two-dis…
- Chris Braide on songwriting (ft XTC's Andy Partridge)
Chris Braide , one of the most successful songwriters of his generation, talks to What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast about his collaborations with Andy Partridge , including Goodbye to You (Sister Shame) on Celestial Songs , the…
- Steve Conte on songwriting (ft XTC's Andy Partridge)
As Steve Conte releases his Fourth of July single, the guitarist and singer talks about writing songs with his XTC hero, joining the New York Dolls and playing on stage with Chuck Berry. He also gives tantalising pointers to his forthcomin…
- The 3 Clubmen III: Andy Partridge (XTC)
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 l…
- The 3 Clubmen II: Jen Olive
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 t…
- The 3 Clubmen I: Stu Rowe
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…
- XTC’s best B-sides
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…
- XTC and Religion – from Dear God to Scatter Me
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 di…
- XTC's White Music: 45 years on (part two)
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 debu…
- XTC's White Music: 45 years on (part one)
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…
- Young XTC Fan Takeover – Christmas Edition
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…
- XTC Road Stories with Terry Chambers, Allan Jones, Pete Dewhirst and Steve Warren
Picture © Lou Dommett Young What was it like to be on the road with one of the hardest working bands of the late 70s and early 80s? We find out from four veterans of XTC's touring years: drummer Terry Chambers , journalist Allan Jones and…
- John Leckie on XTC: from White Music to the Dukes
Picture © Lou Dommett Young One of the many highlights of the 2022 XTC Convention in Swindon was an in-depth interview with producer John Leckie . Talking to co-organiser Darryl Bullock , he recalled his formative studio experience working…
- Fossil Fools: XTC covered
As they prepare for one last run around the block, the members of Fossil Fools, the UK's longest running tribute to XTC, talk about their origins, their famous fans and their appearance at the XTC Convention 2022. Under Mark Fisher's inten…
- Scarecrow People: XTC covers, Sydney-style
It takes seven musicians to reproduce the sound of XTC when the fantastic Scarecrow People take to the stage. In this episode of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast , we talk to three of them about keeping the XTC flame alive in A…
- XTC's best middle eights: Great Fire to Season Cycle
In this episode of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast , we dig deep into the centre of the songs of XTC with a celebration of some of the band's best middle eights – and there are a lot to choose from. The musically minded XTC fa…
- XTC, Skylarking & Dear God: Jasmine Veillette & Ralph Legnini
What was it like being the eight-year-old asked to sing on XTC’s landmark album? Thirty-five years after recording Dear God , Jasmine Veillette looks back at the making of Skylarking with studio manager Ralph Legnini . And, in a podcast ex…
- XTC's Mummer with Tim Bowness, Sean McGhee and Crawford Blair
In this month's episode of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, we reassess XTC's most frequently neglected album in the company of some of its biggest fans. Mummer is the eleventh in a series of XTC classics to be issued on 200g…
- EXTC's Matt Hughes and XTC's last ever gig
In this month's episode of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, we're thinking about XTC music played live – in the past and the present. Bass player Matt Hughes talks about joining EXTC and discovering the XTC catalogue, as he hi…
- XTC live in Manchester
It was 18 March 1982 at La Palace in Paris when Andy Partridge left the stage for the last time, overwhelmed by the pressures of relentless touring and Valium withdrawal. Until that point, XTC were one of the hardest working live bands on…
- XTC's English Settlement with Dave Gregory and Hugh Padgham
On 12 February 1982, XTC's English Settlement was released. Forty years on, What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast reunites guitarist Dave Gregory and co-producer Hugh Padgham to look back at the recording of one of the greatest ever…
- XTC's English Settlement: The Expert View
What does the Bishop of Leeds think of All of a Sudden ? What does Pat Kane of Hue and Cry make of Leisure ? What can classicist Charlotte Higgins tell us about Jason and the Argonauts ? It's the 40th anniversary of XTC's English Settlemen…
- XTC Collectors: from Science Friction to Wrapped in Grey
What is the holy grail for the XTC completist? Is it the 7in Science Friction with picture sleeve? Or is it the 7in Wrapped in Grey that was never officially released? Or perhaps it's a one-of-a-kind poster from the days of Star Park. In t…
- Nick Heyward and Thomas Walsh: Haircut 100, Pugwash and XTC
Nick Heyward first saw XTC at the Croydon Greyhound in 1978, two days after the release of White Music . The Haircut 100 frontman has been a fan ever since. Thomas Walsh has written with Andy Partridge and collaborated with Dave Gregory. H…