20 Great LeftLion Interviews You Should Re-Read

Xylophone Man (2003)
“I'm a quiet man really. I keep myself to myself.”

The interview that started it all. Our website had been online for a few months and only a few of our friends were really paying any attention. Then I went out on a lunch break from my office job in town and interviewed Frank Robinson, aka the Xylophone Man. The interview quickly went viral and LeftLion.co.uk suddenly became something people knew. It was never actually published in print, but it made it to the BBC and Frank has made several appearances in our magazine since.

Whycliffe (2004 - Issue #2)
"There was so much happening to me at such a young age that I couldn't cope with it all.”

If I hadn’t fact-checked on several occasions, I wouldn’t believe the story of Donovan Whycliffe Bromwell. It’s the late eighties and people start to notice a talented young Nottingham gospel singer. He’s signed to MCA Records (home to chart-toppers like Bobby Brown, Glenn Medeiros and Belinda Carlisle). He tours the world, supports James Brown and is romantically linked with Dannii Minogue. However, after a few years it doesn’t work out and the industry spits him out the other side. That’s when the drugs, the street begging and the mental health issues kick in.

Rob’s Record Mart (2006 - Issue #11)
“We’re over-stocked, really. But if someone brings stuff in, you’ve got to buy it. They don’t usually want to split them up.”

Back in 2006, before the dawn of Spotify and Youtube, record shops were everything for those who wanted to discover new music. Nottingham was blessed with some of the best and in this issue we interviewed both Rob Smith of Rob’s Record Mart and Jim Clark of Selectadisc. Many years on we still mourn the loss of Selectadisc in our office, but we’re also very happy to see Rob’s shop entering his 43rd year, beautifully chaotic as ever. 

Sir Paul Smith (2007 - Issue #15)
“I’ve got 400 staff here, so I’m still very connected with Nottingham.”

There can’t be many bigger success stories from the city than Sir Paul Smith. He built an international fashion empire with outlets in 60 countries, all from one 3x3 metre shop on Byard Lane. At the time of this interview he’d come back to Notts to christen a new room at Broadway named in his honour and with fancy stripey seats. He told us stories about Raleigh, those early days and his friendship with Vivian MacKerrell (aka Withnail).

Chris Needham (2008 - Issue #23)
"It's about growing up; we were all teenagers who were a pain in the arse."

If the internet had existed in 1992 then Chris Needham could have made millions from Youtube. A bored 17-year-old thrash metal freak with a mullet, a bumfluff moustache and the most awkward girlfriend of all time; instead he was the subject of a cult BBC Two documentary. He was interviewed by his namesake Al Needham (no relation), who believed it to be the greatest TV show ever. We edited it down for the mag, but the version on our website is a whopping 10,000 words. Strap in and get comfy.

Alan Sillitoe (2008 - Issue #24)
“I’ve always strongly believed in a meritocracy, where people make their mark through their talent alone.”

To many Alan Sillitoe was the greatest writer of the twentieth century. One of the pivots of the 1950s ‘Angry Young Men’ literature movement, he’s best-known for books like Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. James Walker interviewed him in 2008 and we decided to build an issue around it, with Sillitoe writing an open letter that was featured on the cover. When Sillitoe died in 2010, we realised it was the last interview he ever gave and gave permission to The Independent to republish it. 

Shane Meadows (2012 - Issue #50)
“I didn’t really need actors; I needed human beings. It wasn’t like I was some kind of magician, I just believed that everyone could act.”

We’ve interviewed film director Shane Meadows a few times over the years, including famously as the cover star of Issue 1. But it’s this interview I'd pick out as the most revealing. He went into serious detail about his early career filming with friends on the streets of Sneinton and the foundations that led to films like This Is England and Dead Man's Shoes. It was later reprinted in an academic textbook Shane Meadows: Critical Essays, published by Edinburgh University Press in 2013.

Ray Gosling (2013 - Issue #54)
“This sour Midlands county that I’ve become very close to. People are very hard in Nottingham. It’s a wonderful attitude.”

Over 1,000 radio documentaries and 100 for the telly. A pioneer of gay rights, community activist, anarchist and university drop-out, published by Faber in his early twenties. Ray Gosling was one of Nottingham’s best journalists and spent his entire life fighting the system and standing up for ordinary people. Then it all went horribly wrong after he confessed to a mercy killing of his lover live on BBC.

Su Pollard (2013 - Issue #54)
“This posh voice came out of me mouth. I’d never spoken like that in me life. The next thing you know you’re being invited on chat shows, openings, and all sorts.”

When we first started LeftLion there weren’t many famous faces from the city, but Su Pollard (star of eighties sitcoms like Hi-de-Hi! and You Rang, M’Lord?) was top of the list. Our editor Al Needham was in love with her and then the news broke she was to star in the panto at the Theatre Royal alongside David Hasslehoff. This finally gave him the opportunity to interview her about her TV career and rubbing shoulders with Freddie Mercury, Paul McCartney and Elton John. 

Torvill and Dean (2014 - Issue #58)
“Our dabble? That was just a teenage thing. You get comfortable with each other and that was it. We were 15 or 16 and it was kids stuff; it soon went away.”

In 1984 Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean came out of nowhere to take the gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. Their Bolero dance enchanted millions and was one of the most-watched moments in the history of British television. They are the reason the open space in front of Nottingham Arena is known as Bolero Square, and the reason our city has the National Ice Arena. When we caught up with them they were surprisingly frank about those early intimate dances.

Owl Man (2014 - Issue #63)
“Since I got Kim, I’ve brought her out every day with me. I couldn’t see much point in keeping her in an aviary.”

A decade or so back we kept seeing this old fella walking around the city centre with a living breathing barn owl perched on his shoulder. If this had happened once we would have forgotten it, but after we saw him for the umpteenth time we chased him up and arranged to interview him over a coffee. He was a lovely sweet man from Carlton called Frank Shelton and his feathered friend was called Kim. Interviewer Bridie Squires was an apprentice at the time, but three years later she would become our fourth editor. 

Daniel Hanson (2015 - Issue #68)
"It doesn't matter what you do in life, the most important thing is to make sure you're bloody good at it."

Daniel Hanson was never as well-known as Sir Paul Smith, but in fashion circles it’s fair to say he was held in the same regard. From his (converted house) base on Nuthall Road he set up a company that became the go-to dressing gown makers for Harrods, Jermyn Street, Saville Row and luxury institutions worldwide. He designed costumes for Keanu Reeves, Ozzy Osborne, and Elton John wore his gown in the 2018 John Lewis commercial. Daniel passed away a few years after this interview with Ali Emm, but his wife Julie and sons Nicholas and Julian continue his work to this day.

Paris Lees (April 2018 - Issue #100)
“Revisiting my childhood trauma has been difficult. I got to know myself better; joining up the dots, while getting upset and writing about injustice.”

Dubbed “the voice of a generation” by i-D Magazine, and the first openly trans woman to feature in Vogue. Paris Lees is a journalist, presenter and transgender rights activist. Born in Hucknall, we caught up with her as she was putting the finishing touches to her book What It Feels Like For A Girl. The interview was conducted by LGBTQ+ author and journalist CJ DeBarra. 

Pete Woosh (2019 - Issue #111)
“What is around the corner? I have no idea, but right now I am feeling happy, creating and looking forwards.”

As a founder member of the DiY collective, one of Britain's first house sound-systems, Pete Woosh had been a leading figure in the UK counter-culture for almost thirty years. At the time of this interview with Scott Oliver, Pete had been diagnosed with head and neck cancer, which would take his life a year later. He discussed those free-party years, his cancer treatment and his 52 Card Trick legacy project. 

Jeanie Finlay (2019 - Issue #114)
“I went into the project thinking I was pretty liberal but there was a lot in the journey that was unfamiliar to me.”

Jeanie Finlay is another person we’ve interviewed on quite a few occasions (including in our last issue), but it’s this interview from June 2019 we picked out. She’d recently completed work on Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth, which as the name suggests was about one trans man’s quest to start his own family. It was a learning curve for all involved, including the director. The film is currently available to watch on BBC iPlayer and we’d highly encourage you to watch it.

Margaret Humphreys (2019 - Issue #115)
“Kids that weren’t old enough to cross the road on their own were suddenly on the boat to the other side of the world, told their mothers and fathers were dead."

In 1987, Margaret Humphreys CBE, founder of the Child Migrants Trust, was a Notts social worker who uncovered a scandal, which involved forcibly relocating up to 150,000 poor British infants all over the globe. Her biography Empty Cradles was made into the feature film Oranges and Sunshine. This sensitive interview by Benedict Cooper is an exploration of her work and well worth ten minutes of your time.

Robert Lindsay (2019 - Issue #118)
“I felt like I owed it to my kids to start giving them a sense of my background, because they’re growing up in a very different way to my own childhood in a council house in Ilkeston.”

For anyone who grew up in either the 1980s or 2000s, Robert Lindsay is an iconic TV sitcom face thanks to his roles as Wolfie in BBC’s Citizen Smith (1977-1980) and as the dad in My Family (2000-2011). He’s someone we’d always wanted to interview and in 2019 fellow Derby native Ashley Carter finally got the chance thanks to Lindsay being cast in Prism at the Theatre Royal.

Stuart Staples (2022 - Issue #154)
“Lots of people find it easy to understand I’m a singer, but I’m really just a guy who sits in studios - my voice is just a part of that.”

Best-known for his work with Tindersticks (who we’ve also interviewed in the past) for over twenty years, Nottingham-born musician Stuart Staples has worked with French director Claire Denis, creating a wide range of provocative and romantic film scores to arthouse. Oliver Parker caught up with him to discuss their collaborative process and the influence of film on his creative output. 

Emily Campbell (2023 - Issue #157)
“I was constantly having to prove myself, but I think that extra ‘I'm going to prove you wrong’ mentality was the reason I was so successful.”

Emily Campbell made sporting history in the Tokyo Olympics when she won the first ever British Olympic medal for female weightlifting. The Bulwell native spoke to Gemma Cockrell about her journey to silverware, the messages she uses her platform to promote, and her expectations for Paris 2024.

Bella Ramsey (2023 - Issue #158)
“For me, it’s all about being authentic, because I want people to know me as a person - not just some fabricated version of myself.”

Cool. Calm. Composed. Lizzy O'Riordan and George White were none of these things when this Nottingham-born star of Game of Thrones and The Last of Us swung by our office for a chat. Yet all three of these words perfectly describe the nineteen-year-old, who chatted openly about fame versus celebrity, taking on beloved characters, and choosing the right projects. Hit up Google or Spotify and you can find a podcast of this interview, too.

Find all the above articles at www.leftlion.co.uk/worthareread