Beggars Banquet, the legendary British punk-era imprint, is the focus of a new podcast that explores the history of independent labels.
Hosted by music journalist Robert Fitzpatrick, States Of Independence‘s 13-part season includes a wealth of guests from Beggars Banquet’s 48-year history. This includes Martin Mills, the founder/chairman of Beggars Group, alongside the label’s first breakthrough act, new wave pioneer Gary Numan.
This will be the first in the States Of Independence podcast series, produced by Cup & Nuzzle in partnership with Beggars Group, which will reflect on independent labels and the artists and executives who shaped them.
In 1979, Numan landed a No. 1 single for the label on the Official U.K. Singles Chart with “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” by his group Tubeway Army. Speaking on the podcast, Mills compared the pace and intensity of working with the then-burgeoning star to The Beatles. “There was no instruction manual,” he addsed
Beggars Banquet established further successful acts, including The Cult, The Fall, The Go-Betweens, The Charlatans, Peter Murphy, Bauhaus, Love And Rockets, Gene Loves Jezebel, Buffalo Tom and The Bolshoi.
The Beggars Group now includes several other iconic indie labels, including 4AD, XL, Matador, Rough Trade and Young. The podcast will focus on how Beggars Banquet has faced and overcome multiple challenges throughout its existence, having started out as a west London record shop in 1974.
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”We had 2,000 pounds each,” said Mills on the podcast, recalling how he set up the label alongside Nick Austin and Steve Webbon. “It got us a lease in Earl’s Court. It got us some stock. Steve knew how to buy new records. I knew how to buy old records, and Nick knew how to bullshit.”
Host Fitzpatrick has his own emotional resonance when it comes to Beggars Banquet, having worked at their shop in Kingston, Surrey, when he was 20. He left in 1996 to make and write about music, but in a press release, he described the retail role as “the most incredible musical education”.
Episode one of States Of Independence features Mills, Numan and The Lurkers. The podcast will be rolled out over the coming months, culminating with the season finale on Nov. 27.