In this episode, we sit down with Christine Wyss, co-founder and co-director of Buskers Bern — an international street music and performance festival that transforms the old town of Bern, Switzerland, every summer. Unfortunately our microphone audio was corrupted and couldn’t be salvaged, but thankfully the microphone on the camera got the conversation. Apologies for the audio quality. Christine started the festival with her sister in 2004, determined not to begin cautiously with a handful of performers, but to create something ambitious from the outset. More than two decades later, Buskers Bern brings together musicians, dancers, theatre companies, acrobats, puppeteers and visual artists from across the world. Having performed at the festival twice ourselves, this was a particularly special conversation for us. We talk about what makes Buskers Bern feel so different from an ordinary music festival: performers surrounded by their audience, no elaborate production to hide behind and a genuine sense of community between the artists, volunteers and people of Bern. It genuinely is like busking, but on a much bigger scale. Christine also takes us behind the scenes of running such a huge event. We discuss the year-round organisation, the hundreds of volunteers, unpredictable weather, accommodation, artist applications and why musicians need to understand the work happening on the other side of the booking email. Above all, this is a conversation about real performance, human connection and bringing culture directly to people who might never normally step inside a theatre or music venue. The age range of the folk we met at the festival was incredible. The place was buzzing and it has been so good to be a part of it twice. "At Buskers Bern, you can’t cheat." Find out more and support Buskers Bern: Buskers Bern website: https://buskersbern.ch/en Become a member or support the festival: https://buskersbern.ch/en/information/association Follow Echo Town: Website: www.echotown.co.uk Instagram: echotownofficial Facebook: echotownofficial Spotify: Echo Town Subscribe for more conversations with musicians, artists, promoters, creatives and the people working behind the scenes of independent music.

Date Filmed: 29th June 2026 In Episode 10 of the Echo Town Podcast, we sit down with Cornish filmmaker Coco Bond, founder of Film Kernow and Managing Director of Screen Devon. Anyone that has met Coco will likely sing his praises and confidently say that he will go far in his journey. He is a genuinely passionate fellow with a love of film and keen eye for an excellent cinematic shot. To anyone that hasn't met Coco, keep an eye on him as it likely won't be the last time you hear his name. Coco talks about building a filmmaking community in Cornwall and the work that happens behind the scenes. We also get into Richard’s upcoming role as Captain Plank in the pirate film Curriculum Vitae, a project Coco is working on alongside writer and director Gabe Hawker. The story of the film has some excellent parallels with pursuing something you love, which is something we chat about. We ask what it means to “make it” as an artist, how humility with confidence is better than just one by itself, the awkwardness of promoting your own work and also whether comparing pieces of art or music has merit, especially when it comes to receiving or handing out accolades. We also talk about Cornwall and why Coco chose to be based here rather than in the city somewhere. Finally, artificial intelligence: where it can be useful, where it threatens creative industries and whether using technology to skip the difficult parts also means skipping the entire point of making art. Needless to say, all three of us are against its use in the creative world. A wide-ranging conversation about film, music, acting, Cornwall, ambition, AI and enjoying the journey. Follow Coco and Film Kernow: Instagram: @filmkernow Follow us on here: @echotownofficial Check out our website: www.echotown.co.uk Please like and subscribe to the channel and consider supporting us on Patreon to keep these things flowing. CHAPTERS 00:00 Opening teaser 02:50 Meet Coco Bond and Film Kernow 07:40 The reality of making films 11:34 Ric becomes Captain Plank 23:40 Creative dreams, real jobs, rebellion 28:05 What does it mean to “make it”? 38:15 Humility, confidence and promoting yourself 49:04 Choosing Cornwall over the city 01:15:56 AI and the future of creativity 01:37:54 Don't take the cable car 01:44:30 Where to follow Coco

Filmed: 29th June 2026 In Episode 9 of the Echo Town Podcast, we sit down with Christopher Hogg, also known as C Bone, a blues guitarist, singer-songwriter and relentless working musician based in Cornwall. Chris takes us through his journey from growing up in Sunderland surrounded by his dad’s record collection, to moving to Cornwall, busking around Newquay and forming The Big Sets. He shares stories from years spent performing on streets, in pubs and at festivals across the UK and Europe. We get into talking about building a sustainable career as an independent musician: recording and funding albums, selling merchandise, surviving on streaming revenue, booking your own shows and balancing life on the road with raising a family. Also on finding time to finish albums, come on Chris mate, we are waiting! We also talk about live mistakes, playing songs far too fast, the decline of original music venues, the rise of tribute bands, the old rock-and-roll lifestyle, respecting your instruments and why smashing an expensive guitar just makes you look like a prick. Genuinely though, pricks! Later, the conversation turns to creativity, social media, comparison, endless digital choice and the pressure artists face to constantly produce content rather than simply making meaningful work. We both genuinely enjoyed this chat with C Bone, as we have known the man for over ten years but because we don't cross paths often we haven't sat down and conversed liked this before. Lovely lovely bloke. C Bone: Be sure to follow what he does on social media (cbone4) and also here on YouTube. @Cbonehogg https://cbonemusic.com Echo Town: Add echotownofficial everywhere for our music www.echotown.co.uk Subscribe to @echotownofficial channel for more conversations with musicians, artists and interesting people from Cornwall and beyond. CHAPTERS 00:00 – Coming up 03:27 – Welcome to the podcast 04:32 – The long-awaited C Bone album 09:40 – Playing songs too fast and live mistakes 16:12 – Chris’s journey 22:23 – Moving to Cornwall and forming The Big Sets 26:50 – Winning a European blues competition 30:23 – Busking 33:32 – Favourite busking spots and “get a real job” 39:07 – Becoming C Bone and building a career 41:05 – Cornwall’s venues, original music and cover bands 47:21 – Touring ambitions and life on the road 51:26 – The Bordeaux hotel disaster 55:14 – Rock and roll and running a business 58:00 – Guitar smashing 01:04:10 – Blues influences 01:06:55 – Social media and comparison 01:08:52 – Too much choice, supporting live music 01:13:48 – Making a living 01:17:50 – Playing covers or playing original music? 01:20:10 – The cost of promoting an album 01:24:24 – Chris’s accident and final thoughts

Welcome back to the Echo Town Podcast. Episode filmed 13th June 2026. This episode turns into Echo Town story time. Dickens interrupts the podcast as usual, then we start rambling about Lord of the Rings, moving to Cornwall, hardcore northern gigs, broken vans, and "Tiny Dancer”. We talk about how a shitty little gig in Wakefield unexpectedly led to us touring Cornwall and ultimately moving south. You never know what good can come from something that supposedly doesn't hold much potential. We tell of van disasters, surf lodge chaos, winter winds at Watergate Bay, memories from the early days of Echo Town, and a few classic moments come up along the way. Sometimes it just takes a moment to settle in, and telling these stories between us brought back a few gems we had forgotten about. More episodes like this to follow. Grab a brew and settle in — it’s Echo Town Story Time. Unfortunately the camera card wasn't properly formatted so the video ends prematurely. Please like and subscribe and continue to support what we do. Thank you. Support us on Patreon to keep these shows rolling: https://www.patreon.com/c/EchoTown Follow Echo Town: www.echotown.co.uk Let us know in the comments who you’d like to see on the podcast next — especially musicians, artists, and interesting characters from the South West music and arts scene. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:40 Dickens joins the podcast 01:56 Welcome back to the Echo Town Podcast 02:24 Full English, Rob’s pain scale and getting settled 04:06 Echo Town Story Time begins 04:55 Where has storytelling gone? 06:45 Lord of the Rings and imagination 10:47 Creativity, AI and losing the oral tradition 13:49 Shared memories, relationships and lost stories 17:29 Moving to Cornwall 18:31 The rough Wakefield gig 20:58 Eddie’s email and the first Cornwall tour 22:03 Moving into the surf lodge 26:23 Watergate Bay, coast paths and falling in love with Cornwall 29:17 Hire van crash and moving-day 33:13 Breaking down again in the first month 37:45 “I’m not having anyone die in my pub” 40:26 The Tiny Dancer story 43:21 Bass drum pedal failure and festival memories 45:48 Patreon, old footage and our first ever gig 48:27 Rob’s hair and band photos 49:50 Future podcast guests and South West musicians 52:18 Stuff, memories and why objects matter 57:13 Coffee crashes and wrapping up story time 59:38 Cornwall, music, and building the podcast from here

Filmed: 15th June 2026 I sat down solo with Andy Quick from Land of the Giants, The Andy Quick Band and now Sundogs for a wide-ranging conversation about music, creativity, social media and success. Rob was unable to be on this episode unfortunately due to the ongoing nerve pain in his neck and arm. We wish him well on his recovery. Andy talks about losing his social media accounts, doomscrolling and addiction. We discuss the pressure on musicians to become full-time content creators and the challenge of promoting your work without turning your entire life into content. The conversation also gets into Andy’s new project Sundogs and working with additional vocalists. Writing songs inside your head, voice-note demos, and what happens when a band’s established sound begins to restrict its creativity are a few of the other topics we explore. Amongst the jokes and banter we also talk about signature songs, audience expectations, the highs and lows of live music, touring with your own sound engineer and balancing fatherhood with life on the road. A funny, honest and thoughtful chat with one of the South West’s most distinctive musicians. Check out Andy Quick, Land of the Giants and Sun Dogs online, and most importantly, get out and support live music. Like and Subscribe to the channel for more of these conversations. Follow Andy: @LandoftheGiants and Land of the Giants on socials Also Andy's new project on Instagram: @sundogssw www.landofthegiants.live Follow us on all social media. Search echotownofficial www.echotown.co.uk 00:00 Intro 05:42 Strawberry Fields and life on the road 08:02 Losing social media, scrolling and chess 14:40 Musicians becoming content creators 22:20 Andy’s new band Sun Dogs 26:45 Creativity, songwriting and voice notes 35:05 Signature songs and audience expectations 39:08 A band’s established sound. 'The Giant's Sound' 42:37 Success, gratitude and advice to your younger self 52:54 Fatherhood, winter work and the musician’s lifestyle 59:16 The humbling nature of the industry 1:05:00 Outro

Date of filming: 12th June 2026 In this episode, we talk about Robert’s recent neck injury, pinched nerve, severe nerve pain, and also the loss of strength and movement after working for years to rebuild his body. He's been in injury rehab for the best part of four years now. How do you keep going despite all of that? We have a good chat about pain, sleep deprivation, medication, the fact that a lot of people are suffering from invisible struggles. It is more of a mental game than anything else. Robert’s injury also left Richard facing an Echo Town gig alone for the first time in a long time. We talk about that show and how amazing it was and how it reshaped our perspective with regard to performing live. We talk about building sites, musicians’ day jobs, mobility, repetitive strain, the strange magic of live music, an emergency festival appearance and the importance of occasionally stopping work to shoot some zombies with your bro. Haha! A conversation about injury and disruption, but ultimately about adapting. It genuinely is a Be Strong Troop On Podcast episode. Subscribe for more conversations, music, stories and general brotherly rambling from Echo Town. www.echotown.co.uk 00:00 Back behind the microphones 01:40 What’s happened since the last episode? 07:10 Musicians working multiple jobs 08:50 Rob’s neck injury and nerve damage 12:40 Breaking through a new level of pain 18:27 Medication: "I'd rather have pain" 20:32 Going to the gym after A&E 23:15 It's ok to be vulnerable, but don't stay there 25:09 Why Rob had to cancel the gig 29:42 Mobility Training 31:47 You never know what someone is carrying 37:00 Music as medicine 38:45 An unexpected vocal solo 40:25 Richard faces an Echo Town gig alone 46:00 Forgotten lyrics and an honest audience 47:03 Jamming 48:55 The magic of the audience 58:38 Echo Town Gig Story Time 01:05:14 Focusing on what you can still do 01:06:38 Zombies, switching off and learning to rest

We had our mate John Fairhurst round to the gaff for a long overdue catch-up,. We haven't seen this fella in 6 years and after having a great previous day fishing and BBQing the vibe was right to hit record on the cameras and mics and have a chat. We have always loved what this guy does, who he is and how he operates. We talk about music, getting sober, burning out, rising from the ashes, the strange world of playing gigs when you no longer drink, and why live music still feels like one of the most important things humans do together. John also shows us the beautiful handmade guitar he’s built from scratch using scrap pieces of timber from skips, bone found in fields, and an old accountant's sign. He talks about stepping back into music after years away, and we get into AI (as it's such a hot topic these days), social media, band life, recovery, creativity, and the general madness of trying to make a living as an independent musician. Just a great all round honest conversation. Swearing, laughing, and honesty from the outset. Go check out John's music @JohnFairhurst and subscribe. www.johnfairhurst.com Follow him on all the usual social media channels @johnfairhurstmusic If you like these conversations there will be more coming. Please subscribe to the channel and hit the bell icon to be notified of more videos. Thank you for your support. www.echotown.co.uk 00:00 Intro and fair warning 01:29 Catching up with John 05:32 Sobriety and coming back changed 09:50 Old songs, drinking and writing from pain 13:13 Music as medicine 19:17 Watching someone rebuild 25:05 Breakdown or breakthrough 31:42 Playing gigs sober 34:13 John’s handmade guitar 41:00 Foot drums and learning again 49:36 Social media and the independent musician grind 51:48 AI, live music and the future 1:02:49 Hacked socials and modern content 1:28:58 Festivals, fans and keeping music alive 1:32:45 Wrapping up, the Legendary Stonehenge Story

Time for some authenticity. It's a beautiful thing, and something we get complimented on a lot at our live shows. We talk about growing older and figuring out who we really are. We talk about the moment where you stop trying to be what you think you’re supposed to be, and start just surrendering to what you actually are. There’s a lot in this one about music, identity, relationships, social media, fear of failure, and why so many people seem to just deviate from what fed their souls years ago. We also talk about the pressure to fit in and how easy it is to lose yourself in what everyone else is doing, especially in these days of social media and comparison. As usual, it goes off on a few tangents, but we wouldn't be being authentic if it didn't. If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and hit the bell icon to get informed of new videos and new episodes. Thank you for all your support in what we do. Let's hope we can continue having important conversations like this one. All our upcoming live shows are on our website. New music coming on the 22nd May 2026. https://linktr.ee/echotown This episode was shot around May time 2025 we never released it. But this is still relevant as ever so we decided to finally put it out. 00:00 – Getting Comfortable 02:10 – What Does Authenticity Actually Mean? 03:55 – Being Your Real Self on Stage 05:30 – Getting Older & Caring Less 08:50 – Finding Yourself in Your 30s 12:05 – The Difference Between Image and Identity 14:45 – Don’t Lose the Thing That Lights You Up 18:15 – Being Authentic at Home 20:50 – Music and Playfulness 24:25 – Social Media and Fitting In 34:05 – Filters 36:40 – Fear of Failure 39:55 – Are You Ever Too Old to Start? 44:45 – Finding Your True North 47:00 – Look After Your Inner World First 49:10 – Gratitude 54:40 – Helping Others Become Themselves 59:15 – Start Small: Yourself, Family, Community 1:06:00 – Pushing Fear Aside 1:06:45 – Final Thoughts

Shot around May time 2025 we never released it. But this is still relevant as ever. We’ve both heard it countless times: “That’s not a real job!” So in this episode we just talk honestly about what it’s actually like trying to make music work as a life. Yeah, playing gigs is great fun, we love it, we have always loved jamming together, but that’s the bit everyone sees. But that’s only a tiny part of it. We say 3% but it's likely considerably less. Behind the gigs lie the long drives, loading gear, late nights, early mornings, emails, booking shows, sorting merch, editing videos, dealing with the utter ball ache that is social media and then somehow still finding the energy to actually make music. Then making music is all in house for us now, so we record and produce everything we make at this point to try and keep costs low (it doesn't work haha). I suppose this is something of a behind the scenes really, showing you the cogs, the nuts and bolts and a little insight into what we are up to when we aren't in the public eye. This isn’t us moaning about it. We love what we do. But as with most things that are worth doing and worth loving they require an immense amount of work. But it’s definitely not as simple as people think. If you’re doing something creative yourself, you’ll probably relate to a lot of this. So this episode is dedicated to all the people that have been told they don't have a real job when it comes to the creative industries. If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and hit the bell icon to get informed of new videos and new episodes. Thank you for all your support in what we do. Let's hope we can continue having important conversations like this one. All our upcoming live shows are on our website. New music coming on the 22nd May 2026. https://linktr.ee/echotown 00:00 – The Reality of Independent Music 00:30 – The Toenail Story 02:19 – “That’s Not a Real Job” 04:16 – What People Don’t See at Gigs 09:28 – Aftershow Fatigue 14:22 – Running a Business 18:53 – The Overwhelm of Doing Everything 22:24 – Juggling Music, Work & Life 30:02 – Art vs Content 31:42 – Every Hat We Have to Wear 35:08 – Losing 20,000 Followers Overnight 41:32 – Building Something for the Future 46:35 – Why We Keep Going 49:26 – Social Media: Curse or Opportunity? 53:05 – Wrapping Up