DARKUS: Recent Episodes
Darkus
Celebrating the work and lived experiences of some truly inspirational people who use their platforms to spread positive vibes.
Having headlined this year's Slam Dunk Festival and a UK headline tour on its way in coming week, we are joined by Don Broco front man Rob Damiani.
With laughter and a look back at some of his fondest memories, make sure you tune in to check out this latest episode.
The debut album from one of the UK’s most exciting bands has finally arrived. Easy Life’s exceptional LP “life’s a beach” was released at the end of May and rocketed straight to number 2 on the UK album charts. The combination of lyrics and musical makeup creates an incredibly sincere and genuine yet absurd and abstract LP, which is a difficult but amazing line to walk.
Writer Sophie Walker, sits down with frontman and songwriter Murray Matravers to talk about his thinking behind the album, the Easy Life fan community, and a forgotten film from 2000.
**Today we are joined by Actress Jessica Ellerby who many of you will know from shows such as Pennyworth, Lovesick and This Time Away. Outside of acting, Jessica is also the founder of Little Bee Films, and when she is not working enjoys other pastimes such as yoga.
As someone who is talented on so many levels, we could not wait to chat to her to find out more.**
On today’s episode we are be joined by Tomi Saario a singer-songwriter based in Finland. Tomi has had a wonderful journey as an artist so far, and on 14h May 2021 things took even more of an exciting turn as he released his debut EP, I Think We Need To Talk. With a special live performance of one of his tracks, this is one episode not to be missed.
We have a very special treat for you on today’s show as we are joined by the incredible actress Nadia Parkes who is continuing to become one of Britain’s most exciting rising stars in the TV and film industry.
As part of her recent work Nadia plays the role of a young Livia Drusilla in Sky Atlantic’s
next big drama, Domina. Prior to the show’s premiere on 14th May 2021 , we caught up with Nadia to discuss herself, the show, and its important message of female empowerment.
This episode sees us take a trip in our minds to the city of Brighton on the southern coast of the UK, and the home of the multi-talented musician Fable, some one who has already built up a reputation of being one of the most promising new artists around.
Not so long ago she released her latest track Orbiting a truly beautiful and powerful song, complemented nicely with one of the most visually creative and captivating animated music videos I have ever seen. Having such a creative flair for everything that she puts her mind to, Fable is certainly one artist that you need to be checking out right now!
Intrigued to find out more? Tune in for today’s show!
Helping us to explore the important conversations of mental health, on today’s show we are joined by Founder of Broken Flame Productions, Ella Greenwood.
As well as being an ambassador for teenage mental health charity, stem4, Ella uses the power of film-making to really explore and create safe spaces through the voices of young people whilst showing people that whatever they are going through, they are not alone.
For more information about the valuable work of stem4 please visit stem4.org.uk
We are joined today by singer-songwriter Ashley Kutcher from Baltimore in the US who takes us through her walk as an emerging artist as well as treating us all to a couple of live performances including her brand new single, If I Could which was released on 16th April 2021.
We bring Season 2 of our Podcast Series to a close with special guest, Paul Smith, lead vocalist from the incredible Maximo Park.
As a band, Maxïmo Park has been a staple of the North-East’s music scene for almost twenty years now and despite a lineup change and global pandemic to tackle, the trio are back with one of their strongest and most diverse albums to date.
Paul takes us through their journey as a band over the years as well as sharing his insights on the band's newest album, Nature Always Wins.
We have quite a treat for you today. Having centred her life around music since a very early age, Irish born, Una Healy has had such a colourful journey in her career which included be part of the popular girl group, The Saturday’s before going on to pursue her own interests as a singer-songwriter with a love of country music.
Away from the music, Una is a very loving mother to her two children, is a successful designer with her own footwear collection and lives her life through a positive mindset. As the weeks count down to the release of her brand new single, we caught up with Una as she gave us a special insight into some of her favourite passions in life.
Since first meeting Heather and her fellow band members Ciara, Hugo and Charlie, in 2017, there are not enough words to say just how much love we have for the band, and how they have really blossomed to become one of the finest bands around in the modern-day music scene.
This year, like many fans, we were absolutely over the moon that the band would be releasing their second album Who Am I which sees Heather really going back to her roots as a songwriter.
Having shared many a laugh and memory with the band over the past few years, it was great to catch up with Heather again to really get to grips with this next chapter both in terms of their music and also on a personal level as 4 of the nicest humans who have never been afraid of embracing who they are as people.
Today we are joined by British born actress Vanessa Vanderpuye who has been gracing our screens in the latest three-part special of Sky One’s Bulletproof so we are blessed she was able to tell us a little bit about what it has been like to step into the shoes of Arjana Pike as well as taking the opportunity to discuss some of the other aspects of her life, including her Ghana’ayan heritage.
With so much to talk about, as always, make yourselves comfortable and sit back as we get ready for today's show!
We welcome our newest member, Jenn as she steps in for Thushara. Making her podcast debut, Jenn speaks to one of her favourite bands.
On today's show, we speak to The Luka State ahead of their debut album release as well as discussing their plans for the road ahead. The Luka State is a state of mind, you might already have it!
While the majority of us love a good film that keeps us on the edge of our seats and features our favorite hero or heroine, it is important that we remember that those films are only possible thanks to many talented directors and producers who are working behind the scenes to bring the narrative of their projects to life.
On today’s show therefore we were delighted to be joined by Belgian American Director Berangere McNeese who has already shown signs of mastering the art of storytelling with releases such as Sleep Of The Amazons and Pure Bodies. Having released her third film, Matriochkas, which has already gained much interest, it was a pleasure to sit down with Berangere McNeese to find out more about her experiences as a director so far
For anyone who is familiar with the magazine, you will know how much we love celebrating emerging talent, especially when it comes to music, so on today’s episode we have a very special treat as we are joined by American-Singer Songwriter Maggie Lindemann, whom on the 22nd January will be releasing her debut EP, Parnoia, much to the excitement of many fans, myself included.
As someone we have loved since first discovering her music a couple years back we were honoured to speak to Maggie to find out about her brand new EP as well as finding out a little bit more about the kind, passionate and talented lady behind the music. So as always, make yourselves comfortable and sit back as we get ready for todays show!
We begin this season with the fantastic British Actor, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, most noted as playing the role of Townes in the gripping coming of age drama, The Queen’s Gambit which is currently been enjoyed by countless people on Netflix across the country.
As well as discussing his exceptional acting career across the world of Theatre, TV & Film, we sit down with Jacob to discuss some of the footsteps in life which have allowed him to be the remarkable person he is today. So make yourself comfortable, get a cuppa at the ready as we welcome you to tune in to our chat with the wonderful, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd!
As we come to the end of Season 1, we were delighted to wrap things up in style as we were joined on today's show by multi award winning TV and Radio Star, Neil Fox, better known as Dr Fox.
This summer saw Neil has return to the radio waves for his brand new Heritage Chart Show on United DJs (www.uniteddj.com) which you can check it out every Sunday to hear some amazing music filled with countless memories.
As we chat today we reflect on just some of the things that make Neil the man he is not just professionally but also his really kind and loving heart for those around him and this incredible positive energy that we can gain a lot of inspiration from.
On today's show we have a bit of an extra treat for you because I had the pleasure of being joined by three very special guests, Actress Seeta Indrani, the fabulous La Voix and musician Rod Argent from the Zombies.
What all three of these wonderful humans have in common is that during the course of lockdown they have been taking part in The Smiling Sessions a charity initiative hosting virtual sing a longs for the elderly in isolation and care homes.
Through the power of music, humour and fun it is such a inspiration to know that those involved in supporting the Smiling Sessions are playing an essential role in bringing some happy vibes to communities up and down the country.
As you can imagine with Seeta, La Voix and Rod having such varied and remarkable personal journeys of their own, there was certainly lots of many great things to discuss. So grab yourself a drink, make your self comfortable as we share a chat and a giggle with today's amazing guests.
You can find more information about the initiative by visiting www.smilingsessions.com so head over and check it out.
A question we sometimes think about here at Darkus, is how other people have adapted to the creative world over the years especially when they have been part of it for a substantial amount of time.
On this episode therefore it was a honour to speak to musician and entertainer Riva Taylor who gave us an insight about how she has navigated through life from first stepping onto the stage in the West End when she landed herself a role in Les Miserables at the age of 7 to when she was in her 20's and rediscovering who she was as strong confident woman.
Have you ever asked yourself the question of how we create a safe space within our own minds?
On today's show we are joined by Adam Brodie from Hull based duo, Waste Of Paint as we explore the important topic of mental health and the situations we sometimes encounter when coming face to face with our internal monologue.
On today's show we had the pleasure of speaking to musician Lucy Spraggan.
This was quite a powerful conversation as other than discussing her up coming album 'Choices' which will be released on 16th October 2020 we also explored a number of other significant parts of Lucy's life such as sobriety, divorce, body confidence and general life during lockdown.
We hope as you continue to listen you are able to relate to what Lucy has to say, and if you yourself are going through any of situations that has faced that this conversation serves as an example that with the right attitude and not allowing things to have a hold of you that good days are on their way - so don't give up.
On today's show we wanted to discuss what the realities are of being a musician in today's climate especially during that transition of going from being originally called an emerging artist to then becoming emerged.
To help us unpack this further, as well as share some of his own experiences we had the pleasure of sitting down with Thomas Haywood - lead singer and guitarist from The Blinders. This was also an opportunity to learn more about the band's second album, Fantasies Of A Stay At Home Psychopath that will be released on 17th July 2020.
This was a truly great conversation which we hope shows how music opens up so many avenues to explore your creativity further.
We were delighted to sit down with Andrez Harriott, member of popular boy band, Damage as well as a qualified criminologist and founder of The Liminality Group which works with young people and young adults within BAME communities hear in the UK.
Given the sad news in relation to the horrific treatment of George Floyd in Minnesota, USA which resulted in his tragic death, Andrez gave us his thoughts as well as shared his own experiences of growing up as a young black man during the 1980's and beyond.
Some of the topics we discussed are quite harrowing, but as Andrez rightfully said it is important that we are able to create safe spaces where we can talk and open up discussion to help us move forward as a equal and kind society.