Episode 38 - Stewart Lee - The StageLeft Podcast

The enigmatic, multi-talented, and all round good guy Stewart Lee is this episode’s very special guest. As he is currently touring his show Content Provider throughout the UK, it is a great privilege to welcome him to the show. Hands down the most critically acclaimed British comedian of his generation, Stewart Lee is also a BAFTA award winner, and part owner of four Laurence Olivier awards for his work with Jerry Springer - The Opera. He has written innumerable music reviews of - mostly obscure artists, recently performed on a tribute record for Shirley Collins, and has seen his collaboration with Capri-Batterie recently released.
Stewart talks with authority on his creative processes, passionately about his relationship with music, and speaks his mind about how artistic output is valued in the digital age. His experience, and views on the future of the creative arts is both eye-opening and frightening as he explains the almost Orwellian control of the big companies and their controlled for-profit evolution and monetization:
‘…Nowadays, if you’ve not sold your soul to these big conglomerates, you’re not going to reach anyone. I mean, seems like the internet was supposed to set us free, but actually it’s enslaving us on behalf of three or four big global corporations who are controlling the way our ideas are disseminated…’
This episode was recorded 48 hours before the passing of Mark E. Smith of The Fall, and Stewart spoke fondly about their influence on his work - ‘When he finally doesn’t do it anymore- I don’t know what it’ll take to stop him - when it finally isn’t happening it’ll be, for a normal person, like if Manchester United were to suddenly not exist anymore.... I would have had a very different life without them’
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