Straight Up
Episodes
James Bay: tackling misconceptions from mental health to the Met Gala
14 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s another glorious sunny Thursday and we have singer songwriter extraordinaire James Bay in the house! He has a brand new album out, Leap, which ...
Inside our best friend baecation, from beach reads to cocktail chaos
07 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hello gorgeous listeners, this week we’re taking you to the Maldives! And, guys, it’s not just any private island hotel, it’s The Standard, our ...
Krept: fan madness, fatherhood fails and a £15m baby business
30 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hi huns! This week we caught up with one of the UK's best-loved rappers and one of our fave musicians Krept, half of duo Krept & Konan, to talk ab...
Naomi Campbell, Richard Branson, Lady Gaga: What it's really like to be a celebrity journalist Pt II
23 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Back by popular demand, this week we embarrass ourselves once again by sharing more of our juiciest stories about the fame game, from the time we acci...
Sean Paul: handcuffs, spacecakes, and a $25,000 suit
16 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Honeys, we’re home!!! Did you miss us? We had not forgotten you – in fact over the last few months we’ve been working SO hard to bring you the b...
Maya Jama on imposter syndrome, creepy DMs and Drake's name-drop
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
From the song that soundtracked her first dance with a boy to her bad bitch breakup anthem, Maya Jama shares the music that means the most to her in t...
Mahalia’s lessons in love, life and money
04 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the last episode of S2 and, as sad as we are, we’re SO excited to be ending on a high with this very special chat with one of our favou...
The hottest gossip of 2022: from Molly Mae to The Weeknd
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
No guest again this week, gang, but what we’ve got in store might just be even better! Instead, we chat all about the hottest cultural gossip of the...
Bastille’s Dan on his wildest fan story, imposter syndrome and the power of therapy
17 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We've got a real Christmas treat for you this week: a hilarious, insightful, thought-provoking interview from Dan Smith of Bastille. Eased along by so...
HRVY on fame, finding himself and the Strictly curse
03 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Our guest today is HRVY, the 22-year-old pop sensation and former Strictly semi-finalist who is basically the British, Gen-Z answer to Justin Bieber. ...
On Emrata, Sally Rooney, sex and power
19 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve got another departure from our usual format for you this week, where this time we chat culture recommendations, from the book everyone’s tal...
Pandora Sykes talks friendship, career hacks and life after The High Low
04 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Our guest today is Pandora Sykes, the author and podcaster who also happens to be one of our absolute *favourite* journalists ever (top fangirls over ...
From interview disasters to A-List parties: what it’s really like to be a celebrity journalist
21 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Kathleen and Eleanor put themselves in the hot seat, and talk all about what it’s really like to chat to celebrities for a living and bec...
Tanya Burr on overcoming anxiety, becoming an actor and finding love at 30
07 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tanya Burr, who first found fame uploading makeup tutorials to YouTube in 2009 that reached millions of views and made her one of the UK’s very firs...
Glass Animals’ Dave Bayley talks swapping medicine for music, conspiracies and sea slugs
21 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What's it like to quit a seven-year medicine degree to chance it on a music career? Over some spicy margaritas, the lead singer, writer and producer o...
London Grammar's Hannah Reid on how the music industry almost broke her
27 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What do you do when you're about to embark on a world tour but are suffering from burnout? London Grammar frontwoman Hannah Reid sat down with Kathlee...
KSI on crypto, cancel culture, and coming offline
03 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How do you keep your privacy when you're one of the most famous YouTubers in the entire world, and have shared your entire life online? One of the fir...
Ray Blk on money, dating and the dark side of X Factor
14 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Should women pay on the first date? Should men date women with more money than them? In this very juicy episode, South London RnB musician Ray BLK cha...
Zack Snyder on music and vulnerability
09 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
One of the world’s most adored film directors Zack Snyder comes on the brand-new second series of Straight Up to talk all about the music that made ...
Chicken Shop Date's Amelia Dimoldenberg on dating everyone from Dave to Aitch
02 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
No one puts the UK's biggest musicians in their place like Amelia Dimoldenberg, CEO of Chicken Shop Date, the cult YouTube series in which the com...
Behind the Music miniseries: Hélène Pambrun on the stories behind her Harry Styles photographs
26 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What's it like to tour the world with Harry Styles, capturing some of the most intimate and symbolic moments of his life and career? Paris-based photo...
Behind the Music miniseries: Nile Rodgers and Merck Mercuriadis on how Hipgnosis is flipping the music industry upside down
17 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Chic co-founder and super producer Nile Rodgers, along with his longtime manager Merck Mercuriadis, joins Straight Up to chat about how they’ve made...
Behind the Music miniseries: Creative director Willo Perron on designing tours for Lady Gaga, Rihanna and JAY Z
20 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How did Drake build his floating yellow ferrari and who owns it now? What inspires Gaga's theatric performances or JAY Z's political visuals? And what...
Behind the Music miniseries: DJ Semtex on gaining Drake's trust and the tortured genius of Kanye West
05 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How do you bag the only interview with Drake, and get Kanye to open up to you?DJ Semtex’s interviews are the stuff of legend, so over a bottle of Se...
Behind the Music miniseries: Jimmy Napes on the story behind his Oscar-winning Bond song with Sam Smith, and Spotify's big problem
02 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What do you do when you're at your first-ever Grammys, sitting next to Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, but too high to speak? In this eye-opening chat with ...
Behind the Music miniseries: Songwriter KAMILLE on creating Little Mix's 'sexual sadness' and the impact of trolling
15 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Songwriter, producer and singer KAMILLE is one of the most in-demand collaborators in pop, having crafted four number one hits for the likes of Mabel,...
Behind the Music miniseries: GRM Daily founder Post: from homeless to media mogul
26 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What do you do when your entire life's work gets deleted from the internet? Koby 'Posty' Hagan founded GRM Daily while studying law at university in 2...
Women in Music special: how to get ahead in your career
06 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How to find yourself a mentor that could change your life? How can women take charge in male dominated spaces? And how can we ensure black female exec...
Behind the Music miniseries: Ed Sheeran manager Stuart Camp on the pressures of fame, fans and when Ed almost died
02 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What strange clauses does Ed Sheeran insist are in his management contract? What is the one unexpected item he asks for on his rider? And what really ...
Behind the Music miniseries: Music video director Henry Scholfield on dancing with Dua Lipa and the story behind Stormzy's Vossi Bop
23 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What's it like to dance with Dua Lipa? How does Billie Eilish think up her lyrics? And what is the book Stormzy's reading in Sounds of the Skeng? Henr...
Behind the Music miniseries: Radio 1Xtra's Tiffany Calver on blacklisting rap lyrics and when her nans met Drake
15 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What's it like to spend weeks on the road with Drake (with your nans in tow)? How to react when Fredo buys you a gas mask as a present? And what is it...
Behind the Music miniseries: Publicist Barbara Charone on the wild times touring with the Rolling Stones
10 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Why is touring like a drug to artists and what happens when they get off stage? Is all press good press? And can the tabloids still break a celebrity?...
Behind the Music miniseries: Atlantic Records UK co-President Ed Howard on signing Ed Sheeran
12 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How do musicians deal with fame and is there such a thing as an overnight success story? What's the story behind Ed Sheeran getting signed? (It involv...
Behind the Music miniseries: Guardian music critic Laura Snapes on interviewing Taylor Swift at home
27 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What's it like to meet Taylor Swift in her Nashville home and chat politics and Kanye? Guardian Deputy Music Editor Laura Snapes is one of the best cr...
Behind the Music miniseries: Stylist Carlotta Constant on dressing Stormzy and the Arctic Monkeys
13 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What's it like to get celebrities naked for work every day? Carlotta Constant, the super stylist who has dressed everyone from Rihanna, Stormzy and Lo...
Behind the Music miniseries: Producer Fraser T Smith on the most intimate studio moments with Stormzy and Dave
09 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Fraser T Smith witnessed Stormzy's tug of war between the light and dark while the rapper recorded Gang Signs and Prayer, went with Dave to meet his b...
Behind the Music miniseries: This is Grime photographer Olivia Rose on why D Double E is the best friend you could ever have
26 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What's it like to photograph everyone from Kano to Jeremy Corbyn, and direct J Cole and Skepta's music videos? Olivia Rose, grime's most trusted photo...
Behind the Music miniseries: Festival boss Jason Carter on experiencing the mad demands of Madonna, JAY Z and Eminem
12 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What does a festival organiser do when there's a bomb threat beneath the main stage and a royal in the crowd? How to cope when Madonna's manager is sh...
Behind the Music miniseries: Sony 4th Floor's Cassandra Gracey on why George Ezra is so nice
28 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What makes an artist blow up and what happens when they fall? Do artists still need press, how much do their music videos cost and who tells them off ...
Behind the Music miniseries: Austin Daboh on going from bail to the most influential man in the biz
14 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Austin Daboh almost lost his very first job in music at the BBC, yet now he's one of the industry's most respected voices. Previously at Spotify, then...