Muses: An Ampersand Podcast

Muses: An Ampersand Podcast is a new weekly podcast where Dan Smith (Bastille) and Emma Nagouse (You’re Dead To Me) discuss the people in the songs on Dan’s new project, Ampersand. The series launched on 18th September and has already covered Eve, Narcissus, and Emily Dickinson with many more to come. We asked Dan and Emma to tell us a bit more…

Tell us all about your podcast!

DAN: Muses: An Ampersand Podcast is a conversation between Emma, an academic and me – Dan – who tries to be a songwriter and is in the band Bastille. Each week we discuss a person from history or mythology that I have written a song about and Emma has done a load of research on. We chat about the person or character’s life and explore how they’ve been represented (or not) in history, culture, and art.

EMMA: We also chat about Dan’s songs and then I get to set him homework to write a brand-new song on another completely different person I’ve been reading about. It’s massive fun for me! We’ve also got some really exciting guests including poets, filmmakers and novelists.

How did it come about you two working together?

DAN: We had been chatting online about interesting people from history and the songs I’d been writing, and Emma started directing me towards people that I hadn’t heard of. We ended up having loads of conversations and becoming friends and decided to turn those conversations into a podcast. I’d made a tonne of songs but loads of them wouldn’t have existed without Emma pointing me to new and interesting places. We wanted to make a podcast that allowed us to explore all these amazing people in a lot more depth and get into some of the nuances that a 3-minute song doesn’t really have room for. Basically, I was really keen to learn loads more and also trick Emma into hanging out with me and teaching me loads about fascinating people.

What is it about podcasts that appeals to you?

EMMA: The wanky answer is being able to find really niche content that appeals to you that wouldn’t necessarily be broadcast to millions of people on the radio.

DAN: I’m a massive insomniac so end up spending a lot of time listening to podcasts in the night.

What makes a great podcast guest?

EMMA: Anyone who doesn’t speak RP.

DAN: Someone with an interesting perspective or insight, who ideally also has some charisma. So… Emma?

What makes a great podcast host?

EMMA: Anyone who doesn’t speak RP.

DAN: Someone with great questions and ideas who’s also really funny and has the ability to sit back and listen. So… Emma?

If you could go back to just before you recorded the first episode of your podcast and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?

EMMA: It would be… if you move the mic closer to your mouth YOU WILL BE LOUDER.

DAN: I’d tell myself to do the fucking reading before going into the recording. And to chill the fuck out a bit maybe?

What’s been your worst podcast moment?

DAN: Maybe when Emma asked me to play an unreleased demo which I didn’t want to play – it took 8 episodes to build trust, and then when I finally played it, she proceeded to laugh and call it, and I quote, “Bon-Jovi-esque”. Lovely circle of trust eh!?

EMMA: Nowt I think I’ve done a dead good job.

What is your podcast/podcaster pet peeve?

DAN: Live podcasts…they’re just like that thing that you love without any of the intimacy and with a load of people shouting and laughing in the background.

EMMA: I completely agree, but please redact this and pretend like we never said it after we’ve done our first live podcast episode.

Is there anything you found annoying as a podcast listener…but then understood when you started making your own?

DAN: I hate live podcasts, and I hate how many adverts are in a lot of them…but I obviously completely understand why they exist.

EMMA: Waiting for content can be frustrating when you love something, but I know how much work and prep it takes to make something good.

Which one podcast episode of your own means the most to you?

DAN: I loved the Emily Dickinson episode because I remember it being the first one that I was able to really enjoy in the moment and was a bit less nervous. And it was just genuinely fascinating chatting about her.

EMMA: I loved doing the Paul Robeson (actor, singer, civil rights activist) episode of the BBC pod I work on You’re Dead To Me. I turned into a complete Robesonite and I’m completely obsessed with him. He’s my Roman Empire. Dan caught the Robeson bug from me, and there is a song on Dan’s album about him and his equally fascinating wife Eslande Robeson. I’m so excited for that episode of Muses!

Which one podcast episode (not of your own) has had the biggest impact/influence on you?

EMMA: I really liked Blindboy’s interview with Bernadette Devlin McAliskey…I really love Northern Irish political history and this a pretty mainstream podcast doing something overtly political and entertaining (which is BBBC’s [Blindboy Boatclub] whole deal, to be fair), and I bloody loved it.

Finally, what are your plans for the podcast moving forward?

DAN: I love doing the homework that Emma sets for me at the end of each episode to write brand new songs on different people from history…so please listen so we can make more episodes about those songs, and hopefully speak to other artists too.

Where can the Pod Bible readers find out more about you?

DAN: You can find me on Instagram @bastiledan and Emma @emmanagouse.

Listen to Muses: An Ampersand Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other popular podcast apps >>