Welcome to episode 09 of the Wonder Junkie Podcast featuring Grant Nicholas from Feeder.
When I spoke to Grant he had already done 15 interviews with other radio stations and was running late so we were a bit pushed for time but managed to make it happen and come out with a really great chat.
The last time I met Grant I was a 19-year-old student at Glyndwr University in Wrexham just getting to grips with how the music industry worked. I was lucky enough that Feeder had been booked to play at the university just as I started to do some live crewing.
Not that I realized it at the time but that was a pretty important moment for me, as I quickly realized I’d never be a roadie (not with these skinny arms) but it did spur me on to keep working in the music industry. Fast-forward to today and I’ve worked in everything from live music venues to labels, PR, and management until finally settling on radio. In that time Grant has continued to tour the world, gone on hiatus, released a solo album and come back with a cracking new Feeder album “All Bright Electric” coming out on October 7th.
So there was a lot to talk about and I was particularly interested in Grant’s take of headlining Download Festival in 2005, a prospect you would struggle to see happening today. He also gave his thoughts on life in London, how growing up in Newport helped Feeder in the early days and how the video for their now classic “Just A Day” came about.
If you ever meet Grant, what you’ll quickly realize is that he is extremely approachable, literally your mate down the pub shooting the breeze over a few pints. So I hope I can catch him again down the line as I think Feeder have been one of these bands who has been overlooked in terms of UK rock bands who broke through and made a massive difference to the musical landscape.
Hopefully, it won’t be another 7 years until our next encounter but until then I hope you enjoy this episode with Grant and as always any feedback, reviews or suggestions for the podcast is greatly appreciated.