Physical Distancing Discs – Series Two

Between June 2021 and 2023 I recorded mixtapes for friends which were sent to them in the post. Recordings of these tapes were also broadcast on Slack’s radio for a monthly show called Physical Distancing Discs. You can listen to those mixtapes here.

After a hiatus, I’ve started a new series of the show. This time, instead of recording tapes at home, I have been inviting people to join me in the studio so we can play tracks to each other, kind of like a collaborative mixtape.

Before we went into the studio, my guests and I sent each other questions to help us get to know each other a little better and select tracks to play.

The title of each show is decided between myself and my guest during the show.

Slack’s uses Instagram to promote the station’s schedule and I try to keep up on my own account, which you can find here.

#12 Overcomplicating things is completely necessary – Posset (March 2026)

For this episode I was joined by a very special guest, Joe Murray, the “mighty” Posset. Joe is a writer, musician and King of the Dictaphones. He is an active member of the No Audience Underground, regularly collaborating with other artists, releasing tapes and writing about other people’s work. Joe is one of the most generous people I know. Always keen to create space for others and support the scene.  

Joe and I have been exchanging mixtapes with each for 13 years now. He has contributed to several art projects I’ve worked on, one of which evolved into a band with another No Audience Underground hero of mine, Yol. 

We had a great time in the studio catching up and sharing stories connected to the records we chose. Joe brought a bunch of vinyl records to play that he has wanted to put on mixtapes in the past, but hasn’t been able to record or digitise them due to his home stereo set up. 

The Fall track I chose was a live recording from when they played Newcastle University on 5th March 2008, almost exactly 18 years to the day that we recorded the show, which was from the first time I saw them play after moving to the North East. 

#11 The future collapsed under a wave of nostalgia – James Perry (February 2026)

My guest this time was James Perry, who is an architect and planner. I have known him for a long time, and it was clear from the start that he was a nice guy, but it was when I saw him at a Lightning Bolt gig that I realised he was someone I should get to know better. Sadly he wasn’t able to stay to see the band play that evening. In the photo above, I’m wearing a Lightning Bolt t-shirt that I bought at the gig. Since then we have gone to several gigs together and while discussing music we found that we’ve had similar journeys of discovering music, particularly through metal and breakcore.

While planning for the show, we decided to play music that we had discovered recently, rather than going down a nostalgic trip down memory lane. However, this became too difficult to resist when I saw that James had brought Squarepusher’s Big Loada E.P. For the remainder of the show I attempted to mix several tracks together, badly (more nostalgia on my part), in order to fit in as many as possible. Apologies for the surface noise during Amen Andrew’s Babylon. James’ record hadn’t been played in a long time and was filthy – I couldn’t find my cleaning cloth. We found it at the end of the show under James’ bag.

#10 Fun is Art – Lesley Guy (November 2025)

It was a real pleasure to be joined by Lesley on the show. She really understood the spirit of the project and we reminisced about our experiences of making and sharing mixtapes in our formative years.

I know Lesley through the Newcastle art scene and I love her work, especially the collaborative nature of her practice. I always associate her with fun, which is one of the reasons I decided to start the show with Having An Average Weekend by Shadow Men On A Shadowy Planet. It was the theme tune for the Canadian comedy sketch show, Kids in the Hall. I assumed correctly that she also watched it when she was teenager. Her favourite sketch from the show was Girl Drink Drunk.

The title of the show, “Fun is Art”, came about through my explanation for why I cover my face with a record for the photos to accompany the show. I try to select a t-shirt and record that makes a comment about my guest or is a reference to them somehow. For Lesley, I chose the Richard Dawson t-shirt “Welcome to Purrrrrrrru” because I know she loves cats. The Marcel Wave record because of the Working Men’s Club and British Rail items it has on the cover – she also really liked the track by them that I played for her. I explained that this is a way for me to overcomplicate the process of making a radio show, and works as a method to conceptualise it as an “artwork”. Making art is something I don’t get to do much anymore, which is a shame now that my time for creative pursuits is limited, so I try to make the process as fun as possible. Lesley’s response to this explanation was “art is fun / fun is art”.

#9 Cherry Popping Foucaults – Alison, Dave & James Hawdale (May 2025)

This is a series one style mixtape I made for the Hawdale family who hosted me for a couple of nights in Manchester back in 2023. I was visiting to work on a project with Alison and UBI Lab Manchester, using methods I developed during my PhD to promote Basic Income in public spaces. This included playing Monopoly and giving away free cake in a shopping centre and outside Didsbury Library. 

I had to stay for an extra couple of nights due to train strikes taking place while I was there. They were fantastic hosts who looked after me well. I had only met Alison virtually before the trip. It was great getting to know her better, and to meet Dave and James. Special shout out needs to go to Emma, who wasn’t there, but let me stay in her room.  

My aim was to make a mixtape that the whole family would enjoy, but the track selection is definitely heavily weighted in James’s favour (particularly side B). The title of the tape came from a conversation we had around the dinner table about band names, particularly how difficult it is to choose a good one. James is in several bands including Hedgehog and PTL Microplastics.

#8 A short and sufficient justification of beer – Rachel Boyd (April 2025)

My guest this month was Rachal Boyd. She is a writer, curator and archivist, currently undertaking a PhD at Northumbria University where she is researching the work of artist Nerys Johnson. We first met at a mutual friend’s birthday party. Early on in the conversation we discovered that we both like the Fall, which always saves a lot of time. Later, I found out that she thinks the Holy Bible by Manic Street Preachers is a masterpiece. Liking the Manics is something I usually only admit to people when I’ve offended them by slagging off a band they like. So it’s always nice to find another fan. 

It was a lot of fun recording the show. Listening back, it appears that during my introduction to the show where I talked about Rachel and how we know each other, I managed to not turn on the microphone. So instead of a lengthy explanation about how we met (outlined above) and our mutual love of the Holy Bible, and why I think Journal of Plague Lovers is a solid record by the band, you get a minute or two of silence – sorry. This isn’t my first technical blunder (see episode 1 of series 2). 

Rachel also managed to cut off the Fall halfway through the track, but this was her first time in the studio so she can be forgiven (even though it was the Fall). Sadly, I have no excuse. The title of the show, which was Rachel’s suggestion, is a quote from George Orwell’s review of the Mass Observation study, The Pub & The People. During our first conversation, Rachel told me she was preparing a presentation for a conference at Cambridge University, so I recommended that she visit my parent’s old pub, The Free Press.

#7 He knows how to get a free album from Virgin and he’s keeping it under his hat – Pete Jackson (March 2025)

This month’s guest is Pete McKay-Jackson or Jackson to his friends. He is an artist and writer. We met through the Newcastle art scene soon after I moved to the city. We see each other quite often these days as we work in the same building, but don’t get to socialise as much as I’d like, which was a motivation for inviting him on the show. One of the real joys of doing this radio show is creating an opportunity to hang out with friends and get to know them, and their taste in music better.  

Jackson is an old school music collector so for this show we only played physical discs and a couple cassettes. Jackson also brought in a couple of vintage copies of Kerrang magazine for inspiration, which featured Alice Cooper on the cover. The title of the show is taken from the sales slogan of an advert we found in one of them (see below). He grew up in jibalter and played several bands from there, including a track by his school music teacher. He also played a track he made with his son Rubén. 

One of the real joys of doing this radio show is creating an opportunity to hang out with friends and get to know them, and their taste in music better. From his selection, Breed 77 – with it’s heavy Alice In Chains vibes – was the only track that sounded like what I would normally associate with him.  

I opened the show with Fugazi because they are a band I’ve wanted to play on the show for a while now, but so far my guests were already quite familiar with them. The band’s ethos of collaboration over competition is one that makes me think of Jackson and his approach to life. My second track was Jackson and his computer band, which I wanted to play mainly because of the name.

#6.2 Supernatural strategies for assembling a noise group – Al Hoyos-Twomey (February 2025)

I met Al while we were both studying in the Fine Art department at Newcastle University. We got on well and I knew he was a cool guy, but it was when he mentioned that he’d gone to a noise gig at the Lubber Fiend that I realised we were going to be firm friends outside the context of the university.

In the lead up to the show I sent him a few questions, one of which was “Are you in or have you ever been in a band?” In his response he asked whether we should start one together. My answer was yes. The records in this show could act as a taste for what this speculative band could sound like (if we were both talented musicians). I’m not sure if that happened, but what emerged was our mutual love for jungle, noise and alternative rock, but mainly jungle. Neither have the skills to make jungle though. 

The title of the show is adapted from the excellent how-to guide for rock bands by Ian F. Svenonius. 

The image on Slack’s soundcloud archive is a Polaroid photograph of me, taken when Al and I recorded the show. This is part of a project by Lens and Lead, who are documenting all of Slack’s resident DJs and asking us to contribute a drawing to go alongside the portrait. 

See below for the photograph of Al and I holding records up to cover our faces.

#6.1 Public Dances  – Al Hoyos-Twomey (February 2025)

There were two Physical Distancing Discs shows in February. Both with Al Hoyos-Twomney.  

The first (6.1) is a mixtape I made for Al Hoyos-Twomey, following the format for series one of the show.

The second show (6.2 – see below) returns to the series two format, where Al joined me in the studio to play some records together to make a collaborative mixtape. 

This makes Al the first person to feature on the show in the style of series one and two.

#5 Jimmy Carter says Yes  – (January 2025)

Slack’s took a well deserved break for the beginning of January, so there was no live show from me. I decided to repost this mix I made back in 2020 during the first UK lockdown. 

It was originally released the week of the US election and the start of the UK’s second National Lockdown. This was all before Slack’s even existed and the thought of a monthly radio show was just a pipe dream for me.

It felt like a good time to share this mix as it contains elements of the recording of Jimmy Carter’s visit to Newcastle in 1977, who passed away in December 2024 (RIP).

Even though I have never been a fan of Biden, the election result in 2020 feels utopian compared to what’s happening today. I’ll be thinking of friends and family in the states today. We survived one Trump term – I hope we can endure another and build a better future in its wake.

In the meantime, I’ll be trying to focus on the positive things in my life and around the world – music being a prime example. I hope you enjoy the mix.

If anyone is able to identify the unknown track in the mix, please contact me. The record is somewhere in my collection, but I couldn’t find it when putting the tracklist together and it’s been bugging me since then.

#4 Top of the Rots  – Lib Hodes (December 2024)

This month’s guest was Lib Hodes. She is an artist, comedian and plays guitar in The Slugs.

In the lead up to recording the show I send my guests a series of questions that are designed to help us get a better sense of our music tastes and aid track selection for each other. 

I really enjoyed Lib’s responses, particularly to this question: “What song makes you run across the room to turn the radio off?” 

Which was: “I have a fairly high tolerance for a lot of music that many people may find intolerably rubbish, especially things from the novelty world. I am partial to songs such as the crazy frog and the hamster dance, and a lot of things that are the highest strength of naff.”

I had fun testing her “high tolerance” with some of my favourite novelty tracks. 

Songs that make me turn the radio off include anything by Oasis and Christmas music. However, as it was December, I made an exception, and played a couple of alternative Christmas songs. Lib played one anti-Christmas song. 

#3 You could do better, but no-one can prove it – Nick Malyan (November 2024)

This month I was joined by Nick Malyan. We first met in Durham when he was one of the directors of Empty Shop where I had my first exhibition after finishing my MA at Sunderland University. There were only 3 CDs in the building during the install of the show. The one which got played the most was Hot Potatoes: The Best of Devo. 

From there we became close friends and worked on several art projects together. One of which was a fictional band that only played covers of other people’s songs, including Mongoloid by Devo which is why I started the show with that song. 

The title of the show is taken from a lyric in the Thank song I played for Nick. We both felt that this line summed up perfectly the ethos of the band we played in together. 

Over the course of the show we took it in turn to play tracks to each other while reminiscing on our friendship over the years and Nick’s increasingly nostalgic relationship to music, as work and other commitments take up so much of his time.

#2 – If you saw someone stealing food; no you didn’t w. Kat Bevan (October 2024)

#1 – Charlie Don’t Surf (September 2024)