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What's it like to mediate a disagreement between members of one of the biggest bands in history? And to do that while you're trying to produce their new record?

This is a question which is answered in this week's episode, in which our guest is one of the most prolific producers of Big UK Acts of the last two decades.

As well as being a member of Simian Mobile Disco, James Ford (occasionally with his middle name included) has a production credits list which includes Depeche Mode, Blur, Arctic Monkeys, Pet Shop Boys, and Beth Gibbons.

If that's not going to yield some good podcast content, then the blame should fall squarely on the host.

We discuss the role of the record producer today, as well as how that role has changed over time. Regular questions like the one about AI are covered. And we also get into detail about some specific projects, including the making of the brand new Pet Shop Boys record in James' home studio.

This is a highly illuminating discussion on a topic that isn't particularly well understood. One of the best episodes so far, and a worthy follow-up to Steve Davis last week!

If you're into what we're doing here on the pod then you can support the show on Patreon! There are two tiers - "Solidarity" for $4 a month, which features the show without ads, regular bonus podcasts, and extra content. And "Musicality" which for a mere $10 a month gets you all the music we release on Hotflush and affiliate labels AND other music too, some of which never comes out anywhere else.

You can also make a one-off donation to the podcast using a credit or debit card, with Paypal, or your Ethereum wallet! Head over to scubaofficial.io/support.

Plus there's also a private area for Patreon supporters in the Hotflush Discord Server... but anyone can join the conversation in the public channels.

Listen to the music discussed on the show via the Not A Diving Podcast Spotify playlist

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#145 Kevin Saunderson: Detroit from day one, "It worked because we were young"

#144 Sarah Story: inside Future Dance on BBC Radio 1, "they trust my taste and my vision"

#143 The End Is Nigh: Counterculture, insurrection, Gladiator, and the politics of catastrophe

#142 SP:MC: DnB from AWOL via Autonomic to now, "it got pretty smashy for a while...!"

#141 Man Power II: Small venues and big artists, "there's been no thought whatsoever about sustainability"

#140 LIVE from fabric + thoughts on TROLLING

#139 Not A Diving Club Preview + Tim Hoeben live from ADE

Studio Stories - Decka on "Exit"

#138 Shackleton: Bass, mystery, and devastating beauty, "adding too much literal narrative misses the point of the music"

#137 Kölsch: Small clubs, festivals, and the community, "No-one cares about the local talent anymore"

#136 Jerome Hill: London squat parties and UK Techno, "Musically it was pretty rough round the edges"

#135 Josh Wink: Philly, fame, and Higher States, "I didn't know there'd be a living in making music"

#134 Truncate: The return of minimal? "People will always look back to whatever was big before"

LIVE from Lost Village Festival: Joe Goddard on Big tunes, Grunge, and being in a band

#133 Robert Henke: Co-founding Ableton and the new Monolake album, "We are the children of counterculture"

#132 Agoria: Digital art and music, "classic records have no functionality - they came from the heart"

#131 Daedelus: Aliens and albums, "there's something else potentially at play here..."

#130 Gregor Tresher + Juliet Fox: a midsummer double bill!

#129 Mike Parker: Art and techno, "If it's about money or fame then maybe you've lost the original motivation"

Studio Stories: Braille on "Triple Transit"

#128 Simon Reynolds: The future of future music, "it's the shiver, the rush, the weird joy and serenity"

#127 Mr. Scruff: Tape edits and the scene with no name, "We just never toed the line"

#126 Regal: Pressure and success, "It's a matter of how you manage it"

#125 Kitty Amor: House music from Nottingham to Johannesburg, "Marginalised people are being seen on big stages now"

#124 Danny Whittle: Running Ibiza clubs large and small, "My strategy changed the island"

#123 Steve Bug: Where are the anthems? "We need the big new tunes to unite people"

#122 Radio Slave: Social media vs dance music, "there shouldn't be any rules"

#121 Thoughts on Live Electronic Music

#120 Phil Moffa: Running a studio in 2024, "The hybrid is the one, whatever works - do it"

#119 Deas: Outboard vs plugins... is there a right answer? "I don't want to convince anyone!"

#118 Tom Vek: Blockchains, fragmentation, and a post-format world, "It always comes back to songs"

#117 Quinn (Paranoid London): Anonymity and acid house, "We'd always press fewer copies than we had preorders for!"

#116 Ceri: Technique, vinyl, and Ibiza "You have to put your soul into the music"

#115 Cian Ó Cíobháin: 25 years of underground music on Irish public radio

#114 Laurent Garnier: Looking forward, "techno is about tomorrow, not yesterday"

#113 Luke Slater: What is techno? "Sometimes nothing happens... and that's the point"

#112 Doc Scott: DnB from Rage and Metalheadz to now, "it's all about the energy it creates"

#111 James Ellis Ford: producing Depeche Mode, Blur, and Pet Shop Boys, "sometimes it feels totally surreal"

#110 Steve Davis: Snooker, fame, and modular synths, "I was sh*tting myself!"

#109 Chloé Caillet: Circo Loco and classical training, "I had to unlearn all that theory"

#108 Nathan Micay: Making music for Netflix, "They said - we need this by next week!"

#107 Monty Luke: From the Dotcom Bubble to Planet E, "That was a wild time...!"

#106 Alex Paterson (The Orb): Inventing the chilll out room, "We knew what we were doing!"

#105 T.Williams: Tales from the UK Underground, "I was just making tunes and cutting dubplates"

#104 Danny Daze II: Spatial audio and the return of NFTs, "I'm future-proofing my work"

#103 Fracture: Pirate radio and the Nuum, "it was a community-based thing"

Dave Clarke (redux): Techno and politics, "people are scared to speak out"

dBridge (redux): A life in drum n bass, "I make music as therapy"

#102 Machine Woman: Studio efficiency and Tech House, "I'll still be making music whether RA writes about me or not""

#101 DJ Paulette: The Hacienda and gay clubbing, "The music is better and the DJs are better!"