Sep 1, 2026 · 53 min · 9 segments
Live from The Swan & Chequers Jazz Festival in Sandbach, Rob Cope talks to Gwilym Simcock, Simon Jermyn & Nick Smart about music making, communication in performance and friendships on stage. We…
Rob CopeHost
Gwilym SimcockGuest
Nick SmartGuest
Simon JermynGuest
While we've got the four of us here, I thought it'd be nice to talk about, because you guys played sets together yesterday at the festival.
Gwyl, I want to start with you and how much... does it change when you play your music, whether you're friends with the people that you're booking to play with or not? Because you and Simon have been mates for years, but never played a gig together.
How is that when you finally get a chance to play? And me and Nick have played lots together.
No, for me, the most intrinsic, special part of the music is the relationships as human beings.
And I've never quite understood, to be totally honest, that kind of history in jazz in America, where it's sort of, you know, people make music despite all the sort of, you know, there could be anger in the band and people falling down.
So actually spending those crucial hours on stage with people who you really respect and love as people.
I couldn't
And definitely as you get older, you know, the kind of concept of leaving your home, leaving your family, going out to do a gig, there's got to be more and more of a payoff than I think when you're younger.
When you're younger, you can go out and do stuff and just get on with it and some things go better than others.
when leaving the home becomes such a more of an important sort of imposition in a way, then having that time spent with people who you really love being with is the most important thing.
Do you think people, friends of yours that you play with, do any of their personality traits carry over onto the stage in the way that they play? like with Simon you've been friends for six years you played your first gig yesterday is there anything about his behavior that you're like I knew he'd be like that
I mean, that's the fascinating thing about yesterday because we literally played together for the first time.
But we've spent, Simon's actually and his wife are staying with us this weekend.
While we've got the four of us here, I thought it'd be nice to talk about, because you guys played sets together yesterday at the festival.
Gwyl, I want to start with you and how much... does it change when you play your music, whether you're friends with the people that you're booking to play with or not? Because you and Simon have been mates for years, but never played a gig together.
How is that when you finally get a chance to play? And me and Nick have played lots together.
No, for me, the most intrinsic, special part of the music is the relationships as human beings.
And I've never quite understood, to be totally honest, that kind of history in jazz in America, where it's sort of, you know, people make music despite all the sort of, you know, there could be anger in the band and people falling down.
So actually spending those crucial hours on stage with people who you really respect and love as people.
I couldn't
And definitely as you get older, you know, the kind of concept of leaving your home, leaving your family, going out to do a gig, there's got to be more and more of a payoff than I think when you're younger.
When you're younger, you can go out and do stuff and just get on with it and some things go better than others.
when leaving the home becomes such a more of an important sort of imposition in a way, then having that time spent with people who you really love being with is the most important thing.
Do you think people, friends of yours that you play with, do any of their personality traits carry over onto the stage in the way that they play? like with Simon you've been friends for six years you played your first gig yesterday is there anything about his behavior that you're like I knew he'd be like that
I mean, that's the fascinating thing about yesterday because we literally played together for the first time.
But we've spent, Simon's actually and his wife are staying with us this weekend.
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