No Tags

What do The Simpsons, Dawn of the Dead and the Facebook page for Tom and Chal’s former employer have in common? They’re all overrun by zombies.Prompted by the publication of No Tags’ first physical book, in this episode we return to our long-held worry about disappearing archives. As older platforms fade away, can we be bothered to start again with the latest social media fads? Will gated micro-communities be the saviour of underground scenes, or just a cul-de-sac? And what the hell happened to The Simpsons?We take a detour into the history of the zombie in folklore and popular culture for answers, before a speed run through films, tunes and extracurricular updates, from Predator and Wild Things to Scooter, Pa Salieu and Blumitsu live.You can pre-order No Tags: Conversations on underground music culture now. Come down to the free launch party at in Dalston on 3rd December with Kode9, Flo Dill and music from Jennifer Walton! Get full access to No Tags at notagspodcast.substack.com/subscribe

We trailed ‘big things coming’ on our last episode, and would you look at that – the big thing has come. Or is available for pre-order, at least.That’s right, it’s our first ever book. Titled No Tags: Conversations on underground music culture and designed by All Purpose Studio, this hefty tome (350+ pages) compiles every interview to date on No Tags, edited transcripts of the best of Chal and Tom’s non-guest conversations, and specially commissioned essays from four of our favourite writers and thinkers: Eris Drew, Chris Zaldua, Henry Bruce-Jones and Ray Philp. The book is available to pre-order now. We’ll also be launching the book with our first live show in London on 3rd December, taking over Ridley Road Market Bar. On the night we’ve got Kode9 giving his new talk on Sonic Warfare for the first time in the UK, celebrating a new release of his seismic 2009 book about acoustic force and the ecology of fear.We’ll also be recording a live episode of No Tags with everyone’s favourite breakfast host Flo Dill, morning doyenne of NTS Radio. Plus we’ll have music from Jennifer Walton – not only one of our favourite artists, but the wizard behind the No Tags theme tune. Entry is free, simply hit ‘Interested’ on the event page.There is also a podcast this week. We introduce the book before getting into some of our favourite recent releases (The Cure, mediopicky, Dubbel Dutch and Toma Kami) and dissecting the long-awaited debut album by Two Shell. There's also some film chat (Lords of Dogtown, Kneecap, The Florida Project) and a debate over the key historical entries in the Florida Film canon. We are confident that No Tags is the only podcast where Toma Kami and Wild Things get discussed in the same breath – and if that doesn’t count for something in 2024, what does? Get full access to No Tags at notagspodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Discover the fascinating journey of Midland as he navigates his identity as a gay DJ and the profound personal experiences that shape his debut album. The conversation dives into the legacy of influential figures like Arthur Russell and the significance of community in music. Hear about the evolution of queer spaces, the complexities of artistic expression, and the joys of celebrating diversity through music and art. Plus, enjoy some heartfelt recommendations for films and reflections on the power of intimate gatherings in today's music scene.

A chunky episode, this, as we tackle the last fortnight of music news.We mull over Charli XCX’s Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat, a star-studded remix album that reworks the original from the stems up. If these are Brat Summer’s dying embers, then it’s a flame that struggles to consistently flicker – but the bright spots are very bright indeed.We pay tribute to Ka, the Brooklyn rapper who died earlier this month aged 52. A proudly independent artist, Ka eschewed industry conventions to build one of underground hip-hop’s most committed fanbases – an example to us all. We also remember Jackmaster, whose influence both onstage and behind the scenes helped define an era of British club culture, and we grapple with how to eulogise those who’ve done harm.Next we get into Chal’s recent essay for The Quietus about the current state of the dancefloor (have we truly lost dancing? And is it Tinder’s fault?), before finishing on the brilliant new album from Oklahoma dirtbags Chat Pile. Plus, the usual film chat to close.As ever, if you enjoyed this episode of No Tags, please do rate, review and subscribe on your go-to podcast app, as it does really help. We’d also ask you to consider subscribing to our paid tier, which costs a mere £5 a month and helps us continue planning, recording and editing regular podcasts.Timestamps01:03 Brat and it’s completely different…18:33 Ka28:32 Jackmaster44:10 Is everyone talking about dancing, rather than doing it?56:42 Chat Pile59:40 The obligatory films bit Get full access to No Tags at notagspodcast.substack.com/subscribe

On October 2, Amy Lamé stepped down from her post as London’s first Night Czar. Lamé had faced constant scrutiny since taking the job in 2016, especially following her chunky pay rises – most recently she was earning £132,846 a year in a period when the city’s venues have been struggling to survive. But Lamé’s achievements have also been defended by people deeply involved in the city’s nightlife.One of those defences came last week from Party Lines author Ed Gillett, who argued in the Guardian that London nightlife could end up poorer for Lamé stepping down. In this episode we’re joined by Ed to get the real tea on what Lamé was up to during her eight years in the post, how her job compares to similar roles in other cities, why she was so heavily criticised by the rightwing press, and whether it was worth having a Night Czar in the first place.Like No Tags? Give us a rating or review and hit that subscribe button on your podcast app of choice. We’d also ask you to consider signing up to our paid tier, which costs 0.04516% of Amy Lamé’s salary per month and helps us continue hosting and editing regular podcasts like this one. Get full access to No Tags at notagspodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Vivian Host, a pivotal figure in dance music known for her podcast Rave to the Grave, dives deep into her impressive journey through the rave scene. She discusses her early days as a female DJ in the jungle and drum and bass scenes, breaking barriers in a male-dominated industry. Host also explores the evolution of rave culture and its resurgence post-pandemic, navigating the complex dynamics of organizing parties in Los Angeles. With nostalgic anecdotes and sharp insights, she emphasizes the importance of representation in electronic music culture.

With festival season over, it's time we investigated a story that’s been on our minds all year: has the bubble burst? In March it was reported that 21 UK festivals had already cancelled, postponed or closed in 2024. By the end of summer that number had risen to over 50.Industry bodies blame rising costs, which is doubtless a factor – but what else might be at play here? A small cluster of dominant companies contributing to an oversaturated festival landscape, perhaps? Or are festivals simply falling foul of the strategy they’ve employed for years: pushing up live fees to price out their competition?More importantly, how many of these events are actually any good?For positivity’s sake we also spend some time shouting out the festivals we loved this year. Turns out that with clever booking and some attention to detail, you can still put on events that offer an alternative to the homogeny.If you enjoyed this episode of No Tags, we’d love you to spend a minute rating, reviewing and subscribing on your podcast app of choice. We’d also ask you to consider subscribing to our paid tier – cheaper than cheesy chips. Get full access to No Tags at notagspodcast.substack.com/subscribe

We’ve not interviewed too many DJs so far on No Tags, so when we do, it’s a safe assumption that a) we’ve watched them play a few times, and b) they’re pretty tasty at it.OK Williams falls into both categories. We’ve seen her DJ multiple times and have never failed to leave the dancefloor refreshed. But she’s also one of our favourite dance music personalities, as evidenced on her regular NTS show (and, OK, her Twitter account) where she exhibits the sort of energising but healthily realistic attitude that, frankly, more DJs could do with cultivating. Who knew there could be a link between having an engaging personality and making people dance?We sat down with OK Williams for a solid 80 minutes to talk, well, a lot. Is this one of No Tags’ more forensic and focused interviews? No. Is a it a lot of fun? Undoubtably. But OK Williams offers as much insight as entertainment. We talked through her formative raving years, the musical awakening she found in queer clubs, her secret background in journalism (awkward!), her relationship with Andrew Weatherall, and some big picture questions on DJs as public figures and their responsibilities.If you like what we’re doing at No Tags, please like, rate, review or subscribe to us on your podcast app of choice – in their own abstract ways, these things help. You can also support the show in a more literal way via our paid tier, which costs £5 a month and really helps us keep bringing you these podcasts and transcripts. Get full access to No Tags at notagspodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Regular No Tags listeners will notice that we often talk about living through several revivals at once, but indie sleaze is one that doesn’t seem to be going away. So why indie sleaze, and why now? And what do people actually mean when they talk about an indie sleaze revival in 2024?For this episode, Chal and Tom dug out their skinny ties and shutter shades (not to mention some brutal photos from the depths of their personal Facebook archives) to try and figure out whether this is a genuine musical revival or a cynical move from struggling millennial marketeers to reanimate an era when they were still relevant. And are we dealing with nostalgia for a genuine scene here, or simply a yearning for a time when city-focused alternative scenes were actually realistic and accessible? And is there actually a much more interesting scene from this era that we could and should be excavating instead?In summary, this is an episode where we evoke both Mark Fisher and Agyness Deyn – a No Tags manifesto if ever there was one. Enjoy! Get full access to No Tags at notagspodcast.substack.com/subscribe

On No Tags 25, we meet Jonny Banger: T-shirt hustler, avant-bootlegger, visionary rabble-rouser, DJ battle champ and bossman of the anarchic anti-fashion brand Sports Banger.From a certain angle, it can seem like the clothes are the main event at Sports Banger, from the original Free Tulisa tee and bootlegged NHS logos to wearable inflatables and a Chanel toilet seat headpiece. Naturally, Jonny has been asked a lot of questions in previous interviews about his designs and his philosophical take on bootlegs and infringement. But there’s another side to the Banger story that hasn’t been excavated: obviously, the music.Flipping through Sports Banger: Lifestyles of the Poor, Rich and Famous, the book that charts the first decade of the project, you can find musical references on almost every page: pilfered record label logos, Skepta in a postie’s hi-viz jacket, descriptions of his studio’s fine-tuned sound systems, playlists of tunes that inspired the Sports Banger runway shows, and even allusions to Jonny’s previous life in the UK rap scene.We invited Jonny to go deep into the musical side of his story, from tape packs to free parties to the “shit mix jar” that collected fines in the first Sports Banger studio. He told us about his teenage years as a scratch DJ, his previous life as a club booker on Brick Lane, his ravey links with Swamp 81, School Records, Shangri-La and his own Heras label, and how he finally fell in love with free parties. And, most exciting for our resident KLF dweeb, he gave us a hint of what to expect from Sports Banger’s forthcoming collaboration with K2 on the People’s Pyramid.It’s been a wild ride, and he’s got the stories to prove it.If you enjoyed this big fat interview episode of No Tags then we implore you to press all the buttons and like, rate, review or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. You can also support us in a material manner via our paid tier. It’s £5 a month, and it helps us keep doing whatever it is we’re doing. Get full access to No Tags at notagspodcast.substack.com/subscribe