‘Music is stronger than any antibiotic, any medicine. It can lift you out of anything.’
Blaine Harrison, lead singer of Mystery Jets, is also a ‘property guardian’, who lives and works in the capital’s empty commercial premises.
For a while, the entire floor of an office block on London’s Strand was his home. Each weekend he had a front-row seat as NHS marches, Brexit protests, Extinction Rebellion demos and Tommy Robinson rallies made their way past his window.
Olly Mann and Blaine Harrison, the Brainyard, March 2020
In this thoughtful interview with Olly, he explains how what he saw on the streets inspired his songwriting.
Mystery Jets’ new album, A Billion Heartbeats, is released April 3.
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Recording The Zeitgeist remotely with our Blue Yeti X mics.
Meanwhile, in The Zeitgeist, Ollie Peart considers how the current lockdown has prompted an unlikely rebirth for retro-gaming, VR, quiz apps and even ancient gaming platform Second Life. There’s also some chat about deckchair storage...
If you have a suggestion of a trend Ollie can test - from his home in Dorchester, for now - get in touch via our Feedback form.
Thanks to our sponsors, Blue Microphones: we recorded this edition of the Zeitgeist on their Yeti X mics.
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Elsewhere, down the Foxhole, Alix Fox advises a listener who wants to know what issues may present themselves if he sources the HIV prevention drug PrEP from online suppliers based abroad.
Alix consulted with the activist team at PrEPster, IWantPrepNow and Terrence Higgins Trust, and, for more about this topic, highly recommends checking out the work of Nathaniel Hall – who wrote a compelling play about contracting HIV via his very first sexual encounter – and following Jason Domino on Twitter.
If you have a question of sex for Alix to answer in a future edition of the show, just use our Feedback form. You can remain anonymous if you wish.
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Our Record of the Month is Bittersweet by Lianne La Havas - and, if you like it, get ready for the album, which drops 5th June:
There’s more Mann-endorsed music on our Spotify playlist here.
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Wanna be a Mannbassador? Buy us a beer, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts - and then send us an email to tell us about yourself.
Got a question for our How To Be A Dad episode, out May 1st? Fill out our Feedback form and send it in now for Olly, Tom and Stu to answer.
Stay safe, keep well, and we’ll see you next month. x
This episode is supported by Beer52. To get a free crate of eight delicious beers, a snack and a magazine, delivered straight to your door, visit Beer52.com/Modern.
