When Jess Greenfield got a call to say she was joining Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, she was obviously delighted. She was also pregnant in a long-term relationship (now husband) with Gav Condor. Faced with the choice of motherhood or a successful career, Jess was confronted with a painful dilemma that many women find themselves in in their 30s. In a male-heavy music industry climate, this dilemma is magnified where the support structures for women to have children and maintain careers as touring musicians are not adequately in place. Jess and Gav explore what choice they eventually made, and the impact of it on their marriage and individual self-esteem. They also speak candidly about their relationship as the musical duo The Kondoors – the ups and downs they’ve faced and how their romantic, marital journey gets mapped onto that.
Disclaimer: I do not own any music used in this podcast. It is used for discussion purposes under fair use law.
Support and advice provided below.
Music – The Kondoors, 'Forgiveness'
The Kondoors
https://www.thekondoors.com/about
https://twitter.com/thekondoors?lang=en
Jess Greenfield on Twitter and Instagram
https://twitter.com/greenfieldsings?lang=en
https://www.instagram.com/greenfieldsings/?hl=en
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds: https://www.noelgallagher.com/
For support and advice, see below:
Help Musicians UK: https://www.helpmusicians.org.uk/
The Music Industry Therapists and Coaches (Formerly the Music Industry Therapist Collective): http://musicindustrytherapists.com/
Tavistock Relationship counselling: https://www.tavistockrelationships.org/
Abortion support and advice for men and women:
https://www.bpas.org/abortion-care/supporting-someone-having-an-abortion/
https://www.bpas.org/abortion-care/supporting-someone-having-an-abortion/partners/
Om Podcasten
Welcome to Sound Affects Podcast – featured in NME's Podcasts for the People series. A music & mental health podcast exploring all crossovers between music and mental health: how music and sounds affect us somatically and psychologically, the songs that see us through, what drives people to music careers/a life on the road, the music industry climate, music therapy as support for mental illness, music fandom, music journalism and research in all these crossovers. I speak to well-known musicians and figures, experts, therapists, academics, researchers, authors, journalists, charities, and music fans. Each episode is an interview with a guest centred around a specific theme of music and mental health.
Sound Affects is produced, edited and hosted by me, Katerina – a qualified counsellor and psychotherapist working professionally in both the NHS and private practice. I'm also a freelance sub-editor and writer published in The Independent, The Guardian, The Times and Wellcome Collection. Before becoming a therapist, I was a Samaritan helpline listener supporting people struggling to cope with suicidal feelings, and I worked full time as a copywriter and editor for Samaritans during the time of the charity's male suicide research launch. I've worked in magazine and newspaper publishing for many years and spent a lot of time during this time speaking to musicians and creative people.
The idea for Sound Affects came while writing about and interviewing bands – I noticed a theme emerging around existential identity and just how sad some of the so-called "rock n roll" stories of excess were. I was also aware of just how much music impacts me, and in particular, specific bands and sounds. It is no secret that I'm a huge Oasis fan, and this theme features regularly in this podcast as alongside my interviews, I occasionally pause to reflect and consider what draws me to this music and how it has shaped me. When I trained as a psychotherapist, I drew together all my interests, culminating in this podcast. I often see musicians as clients for therapy, and I routinely appear in the press and radio commenting on various aspects of therapy and emotional health. I've been a guest on BBC Radio, and appeared in OK! Magazine, Psychologies, Stylist, Grazia, The Independent and more.