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Sound Science · Music History · Music Theory · Origins & Oddities · Genre Tombola · Entertaining Noises
Follow a musical thread: Five notes, many musical worlds.
Episode 39 - A Cave, A Conch, An Algorithm
A collaboration with What We Did Before on the deep history of music, from prehistoric instruments and ritual to place, technology and AI.
Episode 31 - Earwax, Echoes and Entropy
From whale earwax to cosmic echoes, Steve explores how sound shapes life—from the sea bed to the stars.
Episode 29 — Access, Ancestry and a Flute Made From A Leg
Bodies, buildings and bone flutes: Steve and artist Jonathan Enser on access, ethics and musical ancestry — from venues to Neanderthal echoes.
Episode 28 - Jeremy Deller, 303s and Knitting
Artist Jeremy Deller joins Steve to talk Acid Brass, TB-303s, knitting, and how art, brass bands and dance music collide — with Manchester threads throughout.
Episode 27 - Eurovision Special with Frances Ruffelle
Frances Ruffelle joins Steve live at Wilton’s Music Hall for a Eurovision special — half interview, half cabaret, and a candid chat about confidence, craft and being a ‘proper musician.’
Episode 26 — World Poetry Day Special! Robin Ince, conch baths and BRIAN BLESSED (kind of)
Robin Ince drops in at a live show from Wilton’s Music Hall for a World Poetry Day special: poems that breathe on stage, conch‑bath sonics, and a playful wander past BRIAN BLESSED (kind of) and Brian Cox.
Episode 25 — Reawake: a Wake, a Sample, a Rebirth
A daughter’s heartbeat becomes music. After the Daily Mail reports him dead, Steve throws his own wake and launches Clip ’n Mix — transforming sound, story and second chances.
Episode 24 — Vocal Coaching, Twanging and Matters of Life and Death
Live with vocal coach Juliet Russell at ALSO Festival: twang, resonance, breath and the warm-ups that actually help. Plus a closing tribute to Nathaniel Dye and the making of his album, Matters of Life and Death.
Episode 20 — Afro-joik, arctic ukuleles and 'Big Boobies Is A State Of Mind'
From Bitchy Big Boobies Bang Band in Hemnesberget to an Arctic eight‑string ukulele maker and Afro-joik fusions in Vadsø, this Norway special explores pride, place, Sámi identity and genre-bending joik.
Episode 18 — Serpents, shanties and shells
Serpents in Jeff Miller’s brass cave, sea shanties on the Suffolk coast and shells at sunrise — a walk through how old instruments keep reshaping how we hear.
Episode 15 — Spirited Away, modular expression and mild despair
A bumper episode that moves from the economic reality of being a working musician to bleepy-bloopy modular synths with Jay Chakravorty, then deep into the music and stagecraft of Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away with John Caird, Brad Haak and Maoko Imai.
Episode 14 — Eliza, a cello made of U-boats and Igbo flow
Eliza on announcing pregnancy live on stage, Verity Simmons on a U-boat-spiked cello, and a Genre Tombola dive into Igbo rap, rhythm and call-and-response.
Episode 12 — Frank Turner, Trumpet Mafiosi and not talking about Jimmy
Ashlin Parker on Trumpet Mafia, blues and New Orleans, Frank Turner on UK hardcore ethics and FTHC, and a shared attempt to answer: what is the point of music?
Episode 9 — Naked gigs, choral musings and Filament Choir with Hackney Colliery Band LIVE at Wilton's Music Hall
Naked conch shells at Hacknaky, Filament Choir's massed voices and a live Origin of the Pieces x Hackney Colliery Band takeover of Wilton's Music Hall — an episode about risk, community and shared sound.
Episode 8 — Samplers, orchestras and fancy dress harpists
A dog-costumed harp cadenza with the LSO leads into a shed-deep dive on samplers, Amen breaks, synths and a UK hardcore rework of the Origin of the Pieces theme.
Episode 7 — End of year space and slides special, with Chris Hadfield, Rosie Turton and 1201 Alarm
Moon-bound albums with 1201_Alarm, binaural trombone wizardry with Rosie Turton and Chris Hadfield on flutes, space guitars and why music always travels with us.
Episode 6a — A (Space) Christmas Carol, with Chris Hadfield
A tiny festive bonus: astronaut and musician Chris Hadfield performs his ISS-written carol "Jewel in the Night" for Origin of the Pieces listeners, ahead of a full music-and-space episode.
Episode 6 — Festive phasing, guitar percussion and Nitin Sawhney
Festive Reich-inspired phasing, sleepless sleigh bells and a deep studio conversation with Nitin Sawhney on flamenco, Indian classical music, rhythm cycles, modes, identity and what music is actually for.
Episode 1 — Hearing music in new ways
Shells, bone flutes, Darwin mugs, a chaotic shed tour and a rant about what music theory really is — Episode 1 lays out the Origin of the Pieces mission to help you hear music in strange, deeper, more joyful ways.