HAPPY NEW YEAR!
A 2025 Handstamp rundown
Among other global developments, 2025 will undoubtedly be remembered as the year I took my withering, almost entirely unwatched YouTube podcast thing to Substack, in what many are calling the most earth-shattering shift in format since format shift records began.
Teaming up with my friend Alice and putting together these interview posts has been a refreshing change of approach and given Handstamp new life. Big thanks to the couple hundred of you who have subscribed so far and the thousands of who have read a post. To round off a year of beautiful conversations, I put together a rundown of some common Handstamp threads of the year.
A year-long Winter
Since sneaking an inexplicably self-realised solo album into the end of 2024, 23-year-old songwriter Cameron Winter’s star has seen an unparalleled rise over the last 12 months.
I saw Winter perform at my personal show of the year back in April, catching him for the first time since Geese’s sweaty 2023 End of the Road Festival set. It felt like a pivotal moment, like the Trinity Test scene in Oppenheimer, in which they were on the brink of an explosion that could change the landscape entirely. But, you know, in the world of alternative rock solo albums.
“For example, I’m bummed I just missed a Cameron Winter show, excited to eventually see him. Everybody who has seen him tour this record says it’s fucking crazy.” – Chris Black, May 2025
I caught the wunderkind at a church in Hackney and clearly I wasn’t alone in my admiration, evidenced by the frequency with which his name appeared in these conversations. It didn’t always make the edit, but he may have been discussed in every second interview. Even his peers seemed excited about his out-of-nowhere stranglehold over indie rock. Some of my guests had seen him live, but I highly doubt they ate chips from the top of a feeder pillar, minutes before his stage time like yours truly.
“That show is SO good. I didn’t film one second of it. Chris Ryan and I went to see him here in L.A. at the Barnsdall Arts Center. Whatever the opposite of a pet peeve is - for me, that’s a seated show. This show was all seated, nobody got up and everybody just basked in the beauty and wonder of Cameron Winter’s music.” – Yasi Salek, May 2025
New York’s Bowery Ballroom
If I had a penny for every time somebody used The Bowery Ballroom as a leading venue example, I’d have a few pennies.
“It’s so funny now, at my age to have played there and for it to be such a home to me. To think back, my teenage self would think it’s pretty wild. When I have landmark moments like that, it makes me realise how long I’ve wanted to do this. I forget that sometimes, I downplay my hopes and dreams, but if I think back to my teenage self – she was doing whatever she could to get into these places, staying up all night to get tickets.” – Cassandra Jenkins, March 2025
From seasoned New York residents like Cassandra and The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn, to well-travelled Scottish frontmen like Idlewild’s Roddy Woomble, everybody had something to say about the Bowery. (You’re welcome for the free promo.)
“My favourite in the city is The Bowery Ballroom. Sort of funny because the Music Hall of Williamsburg is sort of built in the image of The Bowery Ballroom with improvements. But the Bowery, just from being the OG and in the city, is my favourite. Plus, they’re independent now, so their drink prices are more reasonable, which is really important these days.” – Craig Finn, The Holy Steady, May 2025
Height politics
As a 6’5 slumper, I am no stranger to height-based tension at shows. I spent years bemoaning the sense of entitlement from those who have huffed and puffed behind me in crowds, demanding that I move to the back of the room to make their night easier, leaving my group of normal-sized friends in the process. Of course, in a utopian society, we would be able to stand in exact height order at shows, remaining somehow connected to our loved ones in the process, but this isn’t utopia and on behalf of the tall community, that’s not our fault.
“Well, my perspective is that guys don’t seem to realise how much they’re blocking everybody and we can only see their back. Sometimes I just think they could go to the back and still see the show.” - Elia Mårtensson, Dag Och Natt
Now, as the years have rolled on, I have softened on this subject. My desire for stage proximity has diminished and passion for seating has grown enormously. I am more than happy to give up my spot for the more vertically challenged and you won’t catch me stiff-arming anybody at a gig. Across Handstamp’s 2025 posts, you’ll read an array of different takes on the matter.
“There is a direct correlation between distance from the front of the stage and amount of alcohol in your system. If I’m sober, I’m in the back, leaning against the back bar because I can see the whole show and don’t want eyeballs burning a hole in the back of my head because I’m ruining the Sigur Ros concert, or whatever. Then if I’m cross-eyed drunk, I’m in the front of the show, flipping everyone off and thinking ‘deal with it, bitch.’ It also depends on the kind of show though. You’re not doing that at the Opera.” – Jason Stewart, November 2025
Glastonbury
I didn’t make it to Glastonbury this year and the farm will take a break in 2026, so talking about the greatest event on the planet with Handstamp guests has been more welcome than ever.
“PJ Harvey. We were quite innocent and camped beside the Pyramid Stage, then just sat there all day, so we’d watch whoever came on. The only time we went elsewhere, to the NME stage as it was called at the time, was for PJ Harvey and Blur. At that point it was just the NME Stage, Pyramid Stage and the Acoustic Stage. A lot of dance and circus stuff going on too, but for the main music stages, that was it. I saw Lou Reed there too. But the thing I remember most is that feeling of not being alone, it felt like a sort of tribe you could belong to.” – Roddy Woomble, Idlewild, October 2025
The Eavis family would be buzzing to read that the festival even comes up in conversations about revisiting live recordings.
“I mean, life changing! They (The Killers) are the embodiment of a showbiz band. They’ve put out some shit music, for sure, but when they’re on form, it’s perfect. I’m a mega-fan. When I come back from the pub in the middle of the night, I have people over or just want to listen to some music after a few beers, there are a handful of performances that I always reach for, The Killers headlining Glastonbury, when Johnny Marr came out, that’s one of them.” – Ben Lippett, November 2025
Complex relationships with live music
Not everybody came to live performance in the same way, which is a theme we explored here on Handstamp.
“I didn’t go to many live shows as a teenager, that didn’t happen until college really. I went to college in Walla Walla, Washington. There also is not much of a music scene there, so we’d have to drive to Seattle, Portland or Spokane. But yeah, it was kind of interesting getting into playing live shows with very little experience attending live shows.” – Julia Shapiro, Chastity Belt, September 2025
“It’s just because I am a person who likes being at home, in a studio or bedroom, making music as a hobby. So, to translate that to a live show, I have to sort of become a different person, I have to put an imaginary suit on.” – Gold Panda, September 2025
If I’m being honest, I didn’t really grow up going to shows, because I’m kind of an introverted person and the idea of big crowds doesn’t sit with me particularly well. My entry into music was making it, rather than going to live shows, it was more about sitting in my room, on my own and listening to stuff.” – Westerman, November 2025
Early shows
Every time I jump on a call with somebody, I am protected by the safety net of premise. Using live music as a framework allows the guest and I to explore the way their memories bleed into their everyday lives, while using their earliest gig memories serves as the best possible launching pad into their musical upbringing.
“My first EVER show was the 60’s rock band The Animals. It didn’t even occur to me at the time, but they were playing a free show at the Miami Metro Zoo. The idea that THE ANIMALS were playing there didn’t occur to me until years later, when I thought ‘oh that sucks.” – Keith Murray, We Are Scientists, July 2025
“At the Fairfield one, I saw my first show with my stepdad, it was Peter Frampton. I remember he threw some picks on stage, I jumped on stage and got the picks from him. You know when you’re not aware that things are happening to you, but they probably are? That’s something that really sticks out, it was awesome.’ – Felly, July 2025
“My parents were always really skeptical of large gatherings, so concerts were not usually encouraged. However, my mom told me I could go (to One Direction), if she came with me. We were in the nosebleeds and for me it was a religious experience, but for her it was a social experiment, watching all the fanatic men, women and children losing their minds.’ – Uwade, July 2025
My first show was Craig David at Wembley Arena. I set the standard high and haven’t been able to recapture that kind of magic since. I think I was about 11, just after ‘Born to Do It’ had come out. I knew every single word, but didn’t know what they meant. I was stood on my chair, screaming the whole time and I couldn’t speak the next morning, I’d lost my voice.” – Anna B Savage, August 2025
“Not sure about ever, but at least one of the first shows was Van Halen when I was really little, with Sammy Hagar. I was definitely like ‘what the fuck is this?!’ I remember the bass player had a bass shaped like a bottle of whiskey. It was very wild.” – Ben Jones, Constant Smiles, October 2025
“The first show like that was probably when I was 14. I went to see a few small hardcore bands at a place called the Ice House in Fullerton, California. It was a bunch of local bands and then I saw the band Strife, who were headlining. They’re a hardcore band from The Valley and were pretty big at the time. I remember buying a Strife hoodie and wearing it to school that Monday. I was acting like it changed me from a regular guy into this badass music guy. To circle the square, I actually DJ’d the Strife singer’s wedding, maybe six or seven years ago.” – Jason Stewart, November 2025
“Oh, man. I remember there was a warehouse venue in West Baltimore where I saw a lot of bands, including maybe one of Beach House’s first shows. I remember seeing them lug their 250-pound organ up six flights of stairs and thinking ‘these guys are committed.” – Jenn Wasner, Flock of Dimes, 2025
I will be back soon, with the first interview of 2026. Take care of yourself. Happy New Year from Handstamp.