Martin and Billy discuss remote recording, production collaboration, AI tools, real musicians, the Apollo recording grant and Keo’s Put A Smile On For Me.

This episode looks at where technology helps, and where music still needs people in the room, or at least properly involved in the process.

Remote vocal recording can solve a practical problem. AI can help an artist hear a version of an idea. Session tools can sketch drums, bass or keyboards when there is no full band available. But the question running through the episode is what happens next: who shapes the part, who performs it, who brings taste, instinct, judgement and feel?

The studio discussion focuses on collaboration, arrangement, production support and the value of bringing real musicians into a project. The AI discussion looks at the difference between using a tool to develop an existing song and asking a machine to create the song for you.

The album discussion is Keo’s Put A Smile On For Me, with a focus on guitar-band energy, artwork, emotional weight, vocal identity, live potential, influences, sequencing and the work behind a band building real momentum.

Topics include:

Remote vocal recording

Production collaboration

Apollo’s recording grant

Using real musicians in studio projects

AI as a sketch tool

Where AI stops being songwriting

The Pope, AI and the spark of human art

Keo

Put A Smile On For Me

Artwork and album identity

Guitar music and live momentum

Why new bands still need to keep playing

Find Apollo Audio online: apollo-audio.co.uk

The Apollo Audio Podcast is hosted by record producer Martin Lumsden and musician and studio owner Billy Hills and is recorded at Apollo Audio Hertford.

Each episode offers insight into songs, records, and the creative process, drawn from real-world experience in studios and making music.

Also available to watch on YouTube and Spotify

📍 www.apollo-audio.co.uk

📷 Instagram: @apolloaudiopodcast

📧 apolloaudiopod@gmail.com

A Froody Music Production. Production and editing by Martin Lumsden.

www.froodymusic.com

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-apollo-audio-podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Martin and Billy discuss running playlists, podcasts, vinyl buying, physical records, mastering for vinyl, artwork, sequencing and Björk’s Debut.

This episode looks at what changes when music becomes a physical object.

Vinyl brings its own practical demands: side length, sequencing, low end, loudness, high-frequency detail, artwork, bleed, metadata and the way a record is presented as something to hold, read, look at and own.

A song is not just an audio file. It can have artwork, sleeve notes, credits, visual identity, physical format, merch, context and a sense of place around it.

The album discussion is Björk’s Debut, with a focus on individuality, vocal identity, club influence, unexpected instrumentation, sampling, melody, experimentation and the creative confidence to make something that does not sound like everyone else.

Topics include:

Vinyl buying and record shops

ElasticStage and physical releases

Albums as objects

Vinyl sequencing and side lengths

Mastering for vinyl

Artwork, bleed and metadata

Building a world around a release

Björk

Debut

Club culture and sampling

Unusual instrumentation

Vocal identity and melodic risk

Why artists should lean into the weird

Find Apollo Audio online:

apollo-audio.co.uk

The Apollo Audio Podcast is hosted by record producer Martin Lumsden and musician and studio owner Billy Hills and is recorded at Apollo Audio Hertford.

Each episode offers insight into songs, records, and the creative process, drawn from real-world experience in studios and making music.

Also available to watch on YouTube and Spotify

📍 www.apollo-audio.co.uk

📷 Instagram: @apolloaudiopodcast

📧 apolloaudiopod@gmail.com

A Froody Music Production. Production and editing by Martin Lumsden.

www.froodymusic.com

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-apollo-audio-podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Martin and Billy discuss live performance, mistakes, stagecraft, setlists, gear problems, rehearsal, audience connection and beabadoobee’s Pylon.

This episode looks at what happens when songs leave the rehearsal room and have to work in front of an audience.

A live set is not just a list of songs. It is the order, the gaps, the mistakes, the recovery, the tuning, the talking, the gear choices, the transitions and the way the band keeps going when something does not quite work.

Martin and Billy talk about road-testing new songs, choosing what to cut, using setlist notes, building confidence through smaller gigs, planning for technical problems and learning how to play through mistakes rather than stopping every time something goes wrong.

The album discussion is beabadoobee’s Pylon, with a focus on concise songwriting, vocal range, production choices, dynamic shifts, guest textures and the way short songs can still feel complete when the arrangement knows where it is going.

Topics include:

Live mistakes and recovery

Road-testing new songs

Setlist flow and stagecraft

Talking to the audience

Visual clicks, tempo and feel

Pedalboards, amp problems and backup plans

Playing through mistakes

beabadoobee

Pylon

Concise song arrangements

Vocal melody and dynamics

Production details and guest textures

Find Apollo Audio online:

apollo-audio.co.uk

The Apollo Audio Podcast is hosted by record producer Martin Lumsden and musician and studio owner Billy Hills and is recorded at Apollo Audio Hertford.

Each episode offers insight into songs, records, and the creative process, drawn from real-world experience in studios and making music.

Also available to watch on YouTube and Spotify

📍 www.apollo-audio.co.uk

📷 Instagram: @apolloaudiopodcast

📧 apolloaudiopod@gmail.com

A Froody Music Production. Production and editing by Martin Lumsden.

www.froodymusic.com

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-apollo-audio-podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.