Daily: Northern Powerhouse – MAXÏMO PARK’s Paul Smith rocks down in lockdown

How does a band make widescreen, forward-thinking communal rock music when they’re suddenly locked down miles away from one another? And when your keyboard player has moved to Australia? Paul Smith of Newcastle postpunk adventurers Maxïmo Park tells Dorian Lynskey about finding inspiration in strange places, recording an album on WhatsApp and jerky FaceTime calls, writing about Brexit and Grenfell… and the myth of levelling up the North.

• “Whatever we might do to try and conceal it, our true nature always comes up through the cracks.”
• “My faith in Boris Johnson to roll out the vaccine and save the live industry is low – and it wasn’t high to begin with.”
• “I don’t want to be the North East guy with a chip on his shoulder… but it’s going to take a lot of levelling up to level up Stockton.”
• “The live music industry is worth a lot to the Chancellor, whether he knows it or not”

Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Logo and branding by Mark Taylor. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters production

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