In the final episode of The Clientele Podcast, host Robin Allender talks to singer and guitarist Alasdair MacLean again, this time focussing on songwriting. It's a chance for Alasdair to look back at the early days of the band and talk about learning to play the guitar and write music. It's a very Beatles-heavy episode, but Robin and Alasdair also talk about Madness, Boards of Canada, Burial and Subway Sect, and many other musicians who helped Alasdair to develop and expand his songwriting. There is also some chat about music theory, particularly relating to chord progressions, and the idea of songwriting being a combination of technical understanding and instinct.

Also, what connects The Clientele and The Great British Bake Off? Have a listen to find out!

For more Beatles chat, here's Alasdair on Your Own Personal Beatles:

https://play.acast.com/s/personalbeatles/alasdsair-maclean

Some other songs and albums that are mentioned in this episode...

Red Deer by Tom James Scott:

https://tomjamesscott.bandcamp.com/album/red-deer

The Cloud of Unknowing by James Blackshaw:

https://youtu.be/aWhLctzLD9g?si=BIuWs1dA8daGI8ZZ

Phantom Brickworks by Bibio:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WbHLIm8kDs

Robin here (I don't know why I write these in the third person): Just wanted to say thank you so much for listening to this podcast series, and thanks to The Clientele for asking me to make it! Thanks also to Johnny White, Dave Collingwood, Max Tundra and Ruth Tebby for their help and support.

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In Part 2 of Episode 9 of The Clientele Podcast, Robin Allender talks to multi-instrumentalist Mel Draisey. Following a hopeful MySpace message back in 2006, Mel was asked to join The Clientele and immediately embarked on a US tour which culminated in the recording of the God Save The Clientele album in Nashville. She also appears on, and wrote arrangements for, Bonfire on the Heath – adding vocals, piano, violin, drones and much more. Her contributions, particularly her beautiful voice, are really key elements of the band's sound during that period.

Mel also appears on the (brilliant) EP That Night, A Forest Grew and the mini-album Minotaur.

You can follow Mel on Twitter, to keep up to date with her ongoing musical projects:

https://twitter.com/Mel_Draisey

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This week it's a bumper edition of The Clientele Podcast, as Robin Allender speaks to three former members of The Clientele: original drummer Dan Evans, guitarist and songwriter Innes Phillips, and multi-instrumentalist Mel Draisey. As such, this episode has been divided into two parts. In this part you can hear Robin's chats with Dan and Innes, and in Part 2 (which should be next up in your podcast feed), you can the interview with Mel.

It's definitely worth checking out Tomorrow is Again by The Relict, a beautiful collection of Innes's songs, and a key part of The Clientele's discography:

https://therelict.bandcamp.com/album/tomorrow-is-again

Held in Glass, the song Innes mentions, is sung by Abigail Marvell.

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