A podcast by Richard Kingsmill – Episode 2 ‘Friends in High Places’ out now
HI FI WAY: THE MAKING OF YOU AM I is a three part podcast series from Richard Kingsmill, offering a rare insight into You Am I and their iconic second album, HI FI WAY.
Episode 1 has topped the Music Podcast Charts on both Apple and Spotify since its release last month and today marks the release of Episode 2 ‘Friends in High Places’via leading podcast providers.
In this second instalment, Richard covers how You Am I’s appearance at the 1994 Big Day Out lead them to supporting Soundgarden around North America later in the year. Tim talks about who inspired the unlikely love story in ‘Cathy’s Clown’ and the inspiration for two other key tracks off the album – ‘Jewels and Bullets’ and ‘Minor Byrd’.
The band talks to Richard about the experience of recording at the famous Greene Street Recording studio in Manhattan, where so many classic NYC hip hop records were made. Given how unbelievably manic a year 1994 was for You Am I, hear also how they surprisingly avoided the infamous second album syndrome that so many bands struggle with.
There are reflections from Tim and others about how the singer dealt with his mental health across 1994, which was an extremely busy year for the band.
Upon announcing the podcast last year, Richard Kingsmill said, “After nearly 40 years of working in radio, I finally had some time to breathe. I had the luxury of looking back. I started revisiting some favourite albums. Quite quickly I realised there was an untold story around one of them – Hi Fi Way. This record constantly makes great Australian album lists, and I thought I knew everything worth knowing about it. But once I started scratching away at it, I realised how wrong I was.
“To put it simply, what I found was an album that contained all the ingredients – the strengths and the fragilities – behind the band itself.
“The ride You Am I were on in the mid-‘90s was a rollercoaster. They thrilled their quickly growing fanbase. And although they were on a roll, they also often appeared close to losing control. Their singer and songwriter was captivating, but unpredictable. It was often difficult to read how he was coping with it all.
“This is in an era when every single movement of a band was not documented. This was in an era when men – let alone men in bands – never talked about their mental health. Much of the process behind You Am I’s brilliance went largely unseen. Much of the anxiety, panic attacks and phobias that accompanied that brilliance went largely unexplained.
“I felt like it was time to uncover what exactly went down when this legendary album was created.”
Today’s podcast release is the second of 3 episodes written, narrated and produced by Richard Kingsmill around Hi Fi Way, dropping on the same date each month.
For all things YOU AM I head to: https://linktr.ee/youami
