Three Minute Epiphany BBC Radio 6 Music

Don is a musician, he played with Quincy Jones and Sérgio Mendes. He is also an engineer, and he built and experimented with synthesizers very early on. He created the Live Electronic Orchestra in the early Seventies which led to the development of MIDI. We hear how he requested a Rhythm Unit from Roland and ended up helping to build it!
2020 saw the Roland 808 drum machine's 40th birthday and its global impact on music has been huge. Electro, Hip-hop, House, Techno, Soul, Funk, Drum and Bass to Trap - the 808 is at the heart of their stories. It literally changed the sound of popular music.

Japan’s mighty BORIS tell us about the music scene in Japan and the country’s love of heavy metal and experimental noise. Experimental music group BORIS comprises drummer Atsuo, guitarist/bassist Takeshi and guitarist/keyboardist Wata. They formed in Toyko in 1992. This interview was conducted with Takeshi and translated and voiced by Ms Rie Hiramatsu-Hunter

Exploring Kenya’s extreme grindcore and hardcore scene with duo Duma. Duma members Martin Khanja and Sam Karugu are former members of bands Lust for a Dying Breed and Seeds of Datura. They formed Duma together in 2019.

Takiaya Reed and Sylvie Nehill of the American / Australian drone duo Divide and Dissolve share how their experiences as Black & Tsalagi [Cherokee]and Māori women has informed their heavy sound.
Mirroring the brash, bone-crushing potency of their dynamic Drone music, the formidable Takiaya Reed (saxophone, guitar, live effects) and Sylvie Nehill (drums, live effects) carry their fight and ancestors fight forward, using the power of their performances to raw attention to the ongoing battle against system oppression.

Swedish singer Robyn shares her love for Prince which started as a young child dancing to her mum's albums. She will discuss his seminal album Sign O' The Times and how his emotional lyrics have influenced her immensely.

Dub poet Roger Robinson, winner of this year's prestigious TS Eliot prize talks us through his early influences, the inspiration behind his poetry and his collaborations with electronic musician The Bug, as part of the brilliant King Midas Sound. Roger won the TS Eliot Prize for his collection of poetry titled, 'A Portable Paradise', which tackle themes such as racism and events such as the Grenfell Tower fire, as well as exploring the idea of paradise and searching for it throughout life.