mostly david ephgrave

I've had a small idea for a new podcast over the past few days that I may pursue, though I'm not entirely sure the best way to go about it. My main issue is who I should approach with it. I'd go to Glyn with the concept - partly as having a new project could breathe new life into our act - but I don't think it's necessarily suited to him even if it would ultimately be the most likely route to become a reality. There's no substitute for the shorthand that comes with years of collaboration, but if I'm honest, I feel like we may have run our course when it comes to brand new output. And I'd like to enter into any future joint projects with equal enthusiasm and a fresh slate. The other person I have in mind is probably more suited to it anyway, and we've talked for years about working together more directly. And while he's not a performer per se, he'd probably be more available and keener. So it's pretty much a no-brainer. And it's not li...

Today, I did the nicest of nice radio interviews to promote next week’s St Albans Mostly on Radio Verulam, followed by the nicest of nice halloumi salads in the café below the studio. Me being me, I was nearly late, after missing the bus I had in mind, for the second bus to never come, making the whole bus-catching thing a third-time lucky experience. The first one would have taken me to St Albans direct, while the third meant a change in Luton, which I made in good time, for the connecting bus to be the tardy one; I disembarked at the stop nearest the studio with five minutes to spare and no idea which direction to take; after some vague pointers from a passerby who seemed more lost than me, I made it by the skin of my teeth (my teeth are very skinny). Today’s biggest setback was the lack of a Glyn Doggett, who’s away this week, tour-managing a show in Scotland. While I would sooner have shared the interview with him, I managed to stave off th...

Tonight, we recorded this weekend's episode of In Your Inner Ear, reaching the rather non-specific milestone of Show Twenty-Eight. It didn't feel as smooth as last week's show to my mind, but I'll reserve judgement until I hear it back. The recording sped by, so that's a good sign. There were a few amusing moments now I think back, so maybe I'm being too hard on it; we'll find out on Sunday when it goes out.  The problem with getting this many shows in is you start to question whether you've already told the stories you offer up. We've made a vague note of what was discussed when, but it's not straightforward to cross-reference. The topics we chose are also fairly generic and often variations on a theme, so a few tales are likely to come up more than once. One thing you can always rely on is the dubious nature of the song Glyn chooses for the infamous segment Glyn's Corner. This week's selection was by Savage Garden; I forget the title...

Last night's episode of In Your Inner Ear was one of our best, in my opinion, but did anyone hear it? It helped that we'd recorded a programme a couple of days previously, so we were sufficiently warmed up. We'd made a conscious decision to take our time and be clearer with our delivery, which was an improvement. It's fair to say that twenty-seven episodes in - an impressive feat in and of itself - we've found our groove, resulting in a show that's fun to listen to and fun to do; I just can't help but feel the energy's a little wasted if only a few people tune in. We have a history of taking on projects with little direct gain. That doesn't mean these things weren't worth doing - we're always learning - but I think we are far better at what we do than our slow-burning career as a double act attests.  Most of this is due to lack of time and focused effort; if we'd concentrated on one thing, rather than entrepreneurising (is that a word?...

Tonight, I met with Glyn and Stephen to record Sunday's episode of our radio show In Your Inner Ear, barely minutes (or days) after we committed the last one to tape (or MP3).  Tonight's show felt considerably less frenetic than the previous one, largely due to us setting an intentionally slower pace. Glyn and I discussed this before Steve arrived; both of us feeling we could afford to sit back on our conversation, rather than racing ahead, as is our habit. We'd both listened to the last episode when it went out - and while we liked it, we were aware of the cross-talk that went on, particularly from the moment Steve joined us, when suddenly there were three people vying for space. Funnily enough, this was something our friend - and regularly IYIE listener - Glen Davies mentioned when we bumped into him immediately before recording. "I love how you all talk at once," he said. He meant it as a positive, but it's still not what we want.  It was nice in a way t...

Predictably, I listened to tonight's episode of 'Doggett & Ephgrave: In Your Inner Ear' when it went out; primarily so I could tweet along the pictures that accompanied it. I always feel slightly nervous before the broadcast; mainly because I can never quite remember what was said, or if I was any good on it. The show's recorded so quickly, you barely have the chance to consider it - and when it's a been a busy week like this one, it fills such a tiny fraction of your time for you to barely even consider it as you're doing it. This can be positive, as the content often takes me by surprise when I listen back to it. Tonight, I genuinely laughed at a lot of it; not in a self-celibratory way; more because I didn't know what was coming next, bar the basic outline. There was the odd bit of cross-talk in places, which was frustrating, but funny lines frequently came up. I like the broad scope of our references (tonight's ranged from Pingu to...oh, I for...

Today's been the dictionary definition of jam-packed. (N.B. It's not literally the dictionary definition, but FUCK YOU . This is my newer, reworked, rowdier post Bath-Comedy-Festival self, and you've gotta LIVE WITH IT .) (...I'll now step down from my pedestal.) The day started with meeting Glyn for breakfast, which was nice, as it gave us the chance to catch up on what's been happening for us both in the past few weeks. I filled him in on my Bath Festival experience, which was for the most part good, and he filled me in on his current job hunt. The only slight frustration was we were pushed for time from the start as I had a doctor's appointment, so we resorted to talking in bullet points. Nevertheless, it was still a good thing to do. After my appointment (which I won't relay, as there are limits), I went to the office to quickly look at a prospective set for a gig I was doing this evening (which I'm currently on the train back from as I write th...

We recorded the 24 th episode of ‘Doggett & Ephgrave: In Your Inner Ear’ tonight, ready for it to go out on Sunday. I wasn’t really in the right frame of mind for it this evening, and consequently felt it didn’t really gel, for the first hour at least. Somehow, we weren’t quite in the same mindset. It didn’t help that I foolishly started with a piece that relied on Glyn recognising the artist responsible for an audio clip, but hadn’t pre-warned him about it. This was unfair, as he was busily multitasking while running the desk and couldn’t remember the band’s name, which meant the segment fell flat. Things gradually picked up pace from that point, but it felt a little forced, though perhaps it won’t sound so band when I hear it back. To be fair, it’s not always going to be perfect (not anyone would say it ever is). Reaching our twenty-fourth programme and forty-eighth hour is pretty good going, and there has been lots of good stuff amongst it....

I listened to this evening’s In Your Inner Ear when it went out, so I could tweet the relevant pictures along with it, as per usual. I laughed quite a lot at the content, which is always a good sign. I sometimes got a little annoyed by my tone, but I guess there’s nothing new here; everybody suffers from the old ‘not liking hearing a recording of their own voice’ syndrome from time to time, though as a performer, you get over it pretty quickly, otherwise you’d never do anything. Seeing and hearing yourself goes with the territory (unless you’re Roger Daltrey in Tommy, that is; *rock opera reference*). Today was also one of those few occasions in my life when I felt the urge to catch up on some housework. First off, my budgies’ cage has needed cleaning out for an embarrassingly long time; so much so, it had got to the point where I could barely see the birds for the pile of birdseed shells. I also took out the recycling and the food bin and vacuumed my flat. That’s possibl...

I’ve just got home from recording this week’s ‘In Your Inner Ear’, which goes out on Sunday. The theme for tonight’s show – episode twenty-three, no less – was ‘No’. While my last sentence may sound like I’m channeling Frankie Howerd, I assure you I’m not; if I were, I would have followed that ‘No’ with a ‘Now, listen’. It was nice to record a new episode, as this was something we didn’t think we’d be able to do due for a while, due to Glyn’s and my lack of shared availability. This has now changed, meaning we have a little more time at our disposal. Tonight we tried out a new mixing desk that we’d bought primarily to enable us to record the show with us both in separate locations, should we not be able to find a time when we could both be in the same room (we haven’t fallen out). As it stands, don’t need this option as much as we did, but it was still nice to use better and smaller equipment than the cumbersome desk we’d been using to date. The so...

Tonight, we recorded the 21 st episode of ‘Doggett & Ephgrave: In Your Inner Ear’; if the programme were a US citizen, and each instalment classed as a year of its life, it would finally be able to buy alcohol. (What a clunky analogy.) As with the last few shows, it was enjoyable to do. We’ve settled back into our groove, now that we’re recording regularly again. I’ve mentioned it here before, but it’s much more relaxed recording it in our office rather than in the studio, as we’re able to work on our own terms. It may even be too comfortable, as I sometimes forget anyone else will listen to it, when it’s just the three of us sitting around three mics in isolation. The theme for tonight was ‘Great’, which seemed broad until it came to topics to discuss. Some of the links were tenuous, but this doesn’t matter as long as they’re entertaining. I’ll find out for sure when I listen back to it. It’s terrifying to think there are forty-hours’...

It would be lovely to know if anyone listens to our radio show. I tuned (or logged) in to the online radio station to listen to it when it went out last night and, while I was largely pleased with what I heard, it’s frustrating not knowing whether other people are listening too, or whether it’s just me, my wife and Glyn who are crouching around our respective laptops. Recording the show is enjoyable, and it’s nice for the two of us to have an excuse to work together when our diaries are hard to synchronize these days – but I’d sooner swap it for a chat over a coffee in a café somewhere, if all the effort put into compiling the show is wasted, as no-one is tuning in. Perhaps I’m being defeatist. The good thing about the way this stuff works nowadays is people no longer have to have their radio – or in this case, their internet-enabled device – on at the moment of broadcast, as they can always download the podcast at a later date. We live in ...

We prerecorded Sunday’s In Your Inner Ear tonight at Doggett & Ephgrave HQ (A.K.A. our midget office). The show's topic was ‘Stupid’. Literally...in the sense that we shared examples of the countless times we’ve seen or done something idiotic (with most of our stories inevitably falling in the latter category). I enjoyed the recording more than last week's show, as I felt more relaxed and in the swing of things, whatever that means. By the end of the programme, the three of us were laughing uncontrollably, mainly at Glyn’s anecdote about the time he thought he was dying because his hands had turned an unnatural shade of blue. It took a couple of hours of sheer panic - imagining all kinds of ominous symptoms – for him to realise it was just dye that had rubbed off of his new pair of jeans; I’d like to remind you that the man is now a FATHER . Recording at the office instead of the radio studio is a cozy little arrangement. The ro...

I listened to this week's In Your Inner Ear when it went out tonight, tweeting relevant pictures and comments along with it like a man possessed.  It's much easier to do this when the show isn't live, as it gives you a chance to do the job justice. That said, it's still a little frenetic as, even though I know the gist of what was discussed when, something always takes me by surprise. I wrote here on the day of recording of how I was concerned that the tiredness and incoherence I felt as we did it would show. Thankfully, it didn't. It always surprises me how well the show holds together, even when one or all of us aren't feeling our best. We sound at ease with what we're doing, and keep good pace. It's satisfying to listen back to. I just wish it was getting more exposure, as it's frustrating not knowing if anyone's listening; the cynic in me always assumes that no-one is.  I had hoped some of the se...

Last night, Glyn and I went to a meeting at SG1 Radio, to discuss their forthcoming plans to lift the station’s profile. It was nice to put a face to the name of the presenters whose jingles we’ve played in the past, and to see how committed they are to the project. These days, we record in our office, as it’s more convenient, but for the first few months, when we were going out live, we’d do it at SG1's studio. Neither option is conducive to bumping into anyone else, as we broadcast on a Sunday, when no-one's about. Everything we've done has been in isolation; so much so that we started to wonder if anyone else existed, or whether it was all an elaborate Truman Show-style scam. Thankfully, that isn’t the case, unless they've employed some very convincing actors to catch us out. Everyone was very nice and very keen to get the best from their involvement. Yesterday was also the longest we’ve spent with the station manager and the most we’ve clicked. His exc...

I’m often surprised by how well Glyn’s and my radio show holds together when I listen back to it, compared to how I feel as we were doing it. That’s not to say I usually think it’s going badly, as I’m generally pretty happy with it, but in the case of this week’s show (which just went out), I didn’t feel in the right mindset at the time of recording, so was relieved to discover it flowed well when I heard it tonight. The problem is I’m hypercritical, particularly about myself, so if I’m not firing on all cylinders, I'm the first to negatively judge what I (or we) have done. I’m my own worst critic, which may come as a surprise when you read what others have said about me; the bastards. What I like about In Your Inner Ear is the freedom we have while we do it. There’s no-one to answer to, except ourselves, and I like to think we have good judgement. The format is simple, but seems to work. We draw up a pie chart, with the slices divvied ...

We prerecorded the seventeenth episode of our internet radio show ‘Doggett & Ephgrave: In Your Inner Ear’ tonight in our office, ready to go out on Sunday. The show’s topic was ‘What?’, in the sense that we discussed things that have shocked or confused us. The theme was broad enough for us to talk about anything, as when you’re seventeen programmes in, you start to run out of ideas. It begs the question whether the next three episodes will be ‘Where?’, ‘How?’ and ‘When?’; I hope not. I enjoy recording in our office more than in the studio, as we have a more relaxed set-up. We’re in control of what we’re doing and know how to use our own equipment. The audio quality is also better, which makes the show more enjoyable to listen to (or that’s what I keep telling myself). While I enjoyed the show, I wish I’d taken more time to get to grips with the stories I’d chosen to tell before we started recording. I spent much of the afternoon finding appropriate what-related song...

I discovered today, perhaps unsurprisingly, that it's best to not attempt to sing a top Ab   Immediately after a large fried breakfast. (After  eating  the fry-up, I mean; it hadn't just sung an Ab itself.) The reason for the post-meal screech was I'd decided to pop to the office to record the jingles for next week's SG1 Radio show after a spot of petit déjeuner (French) with my wife (English). While the timing wasn't perfect, it was still easier than last week's 'session', when I had barely recovered from losing my voice; it seems my vocal range is less hindered by a stodge-coated gullet. (Pleasing image.)  The theme for next week's show is 'WHAT?!', in the sense that we'll be discussing the things we find ridiculous, or don't understand. While I like the topic, I hadn't accounted for how hard it would be to sing the word 'what' twice in quick succession, without the second one sounding like 'twat'...

We recorded a new episode of In Your Inner Ear tonight (which goes out tomorrow) that was new in more ways than one. Firstly, it was a new show; secondly, the topic of the show was ‘new’, and thirdly, it’s the first time we haven’t recorded the programme at SG1’s studio, opting to use our office instead. We came out of the session far happier with the sound quality than we’ve been since IYIE began. It’s always been the thing that’s let the show down. It helps that we have a better grasp of how to use our own equipment than theirs, but the fact that a lot of our stuff is better quality played a factor. It was also, bizarrely, more comfortable to do, despite the comparative lack of space. Our office isn’t designed to fit three people, let alone all the mics, stands, computers and the audio desk required, but we somehow managed to pull it off. Now we know we can do it at D&E HQ, we’ll probably record most of our other shows there in future. The majority of the music feat...

I listened to tonight’s In Your Inner Ear ( which we prerecorded last Monday ), so I could tweet the photos we took in the studio to accompany it. Ephgrave, Halliday and Doggett embody Christmas spirit. I was pleased with how the show came across. It’s surprising how cohesive it sounds once the music glues together our dialogue. We sound comfortable and relaxed. It’s a better vehicle for mine and Glyn’s personality and humour than any of our other current projects as we’re pushed to the forefront, so it frustrates me that the nature of the set-up and the lack of promotion will mean very few people get to hear it. David watches Stephen's 'weird science'. I guess I have to enjoy it for what it is. It’s a chance to hone our radio chops, if that makes any sense. It forces us into a room together, which is difficult these days with our individual commitments. It's also been a springboard for some of my solo material, as listening ...