What’s all this about then?
The podcast that helps you hear, understand and enjoy music in new ways.
Hosted by composer and musician Steve Pretty, On the Origin of the Pieces explores the many ways music shapes — and is shaped by — the world around us. Each episode is a playful mix of conversation, curiosity and sound experiments that invite you to listen differently.
Listen now — and start hearing, understanding and enjoying music in new ways.
What’s in the show?
🎵 Entertaining Noises – Musicians bring in their instruments, explain what makes them special, and attempt to teach Steve how to play them (with varying degrees of success).
🎧 Genre Tombola – A randomly chosen genre from an enormous list (yes, all 1,300+ of them) becomes the focus of an episode. Steve dives into its history, speaks to experts, and often even attempts to write a track in that style. He’s tried this with, amongst many others, Dirty Rap, Debussy-inspired Arabesque, Mbaqanga and even Cowpunk…
🔊 Clip n Mix – You send in short video or audio clips, and Steve turns them into music. Expect anything from epic soundscapes made from firepits to ridiculous remixes of toddlers songs about farting on the sofa, all in the name of reconnecting with the innate playfulness of making music. We call it playing music for a reason.
Along the way, you’ll hear from everyone from Grammy winners to buskers, neuroscientists to pop stars, folk musicians to evolutionary biologists, and from every corner of the world. One episode it might be an indie music legend, the next a Sámi reindeer herder, all offering their unique insights on what music means to them, and how, why and when they make it in the first place.
Who’s Steve Pretty?
Steve Pretty is a composer, performer and sonic explorer whose work spans stage, screen, concert hall and podcasting.
He is the founder and bandleader of Hackney Colliery Band (‘one of the greatest live bands that we have in this country’ - BBC Radio 2), the pioneering brass ensemble that redefined what a contemporary brass band can sound like. Their albums and live performances — from Glastonbury to the Barbican — have earned widespread acclaim for combining jazz, electronica, rock, soul, hip hop and global influences with the raw energy of street brass.
As a composer and producer, Steve’s credits include television, stage and award-nominated albums. He has scored TV drama (Cold Call - Channel 5), written the theme for a major new kids’ TV show (released 2026), co-written five Hackney Colliery Band albums (‘clever, and enormous fun’ - Guardian), and produced award-nominated albums. He has been Musical Director at Shakespeare’s Globe (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) as well as for Brian Cox and Robin Ince’s live shows at the Royal Albert Hall and Hammersmith Apollo, amongst others. He has collaborated with artists including Amy Winehouse, The Cure, Angélique Kidjo and Mulatu Astatke, and performed with Kelis, Damon Albarn, Paul McCartney and many more.
He’s also the creator of Shellectronica, a live and recorded project built around conch shells and electronics, and Universe of Music, a collaboration with astrophysicist Chris Lintott that merges science, sound and conversation to explore the connections between rhythm, harmony and the cosmos.
He is artist in residence at First Light Festival (2024-present), and an associate artist at Wilton’s Music Hall.
🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts:
→ Apple Podcasts
→ Spotify
→ YouTube
Contact
Get in touch if you want to chat about stuff