Paul Weller Fan Podcast

For this special episode, I bring you a conversation with Dee C. Lee - singer, songwriter and essential member of The Style Council.
This chat was recorded in a riverside pub back in January 2025 for my book Paul Weller: Dancing Through The Fire and Dee has been kind enough to let me share this as a podcast episode. What better timing than the release week for the new Café Bleu Deluxe Edition boxset!
From her early breakthrough as a backing singer with Wham! to Paul Weller inviting her to Solid Bond Studios, Dee recalls how she became part of a new band without fully realising the shadow The Jam cast - and how quickly she found her place at the heart of it.
She reflects on life inside The Style Council: the collaborative atmosphere at Solid Bond, the camaraderie and chaos of touring, muddy misadventures at Glastonbury, nerves at Live Aid, and the confidence she developed performing her own material alongside the band.
She also speaks candidly about creativity, motherhood, stepping away from the spotlight, and finding her way back to music on her own terms.
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In this episode of the Paul Weller Fan Podcast, I talk to composer and arranger John Mealing, whose work helped define The Style Council’s orchestral and cinematic edge. John shares how he first connected with Paul Weller, starting with 'Shout To The Top', and goes deep into the making of Our Favourite Shop, The Cost of Loving and Confessions of a Pop Group - including strings, horns, live performances and studio experiments.
Along the way, John reflects on his jazz roots, his unlikely journey into arranging, and a parallel career creating some of British television’s most memorable theme tunes. He also offers a warm, revealing portrait of Paul Weller as a collaborator - meticulous, open-eared, and deeply committed to the music - and explains why, decades on, The Style Council’s boldest work is finally getting its due.
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My guest on this episode is Jon 'Mojo' Mills - founder and editor-in-chief of Shindig! magazine, lifelong mod, and someone whose life has been shaped, in very real ways, by the music of Paul Weller.
Jon discovered The Jam at the age of ten, too young to see them live but old enough for the music, the look, and the ethos to completely take hold. From The Jam to The Style Council, through the solo years, right up to the present day, Paul’s work has been a constant presence in Jon’s life - not just as a fan, but eventually as a journalist, collaborator, and trusted voice within Weller’s world.
In this conversation, originally recorded for my book, we talk about childhood fandom, mod identity, tribalism, music discovery, and what it’s like when your teenage hero becomes someone you share playlists, texts, and cups of tea with...
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On this episode, I’m joined by the visionary Belfast musician, composer, producer, and DJ, David Holmes.
From soundtracking iconic films to collaborating with giants of UK music, David’s career is one of creative restlessness and fearless activism...
The biggest surprise is that it's taken this long for him to collaborate with Paul Weller!
We’ll dive into his formative years discovering Paul Weller through the music of The Jam, his journey through club culture, and how those bonds came full circle - culminating in a collaboration with Paul Weller on the song 'Resistance in the Dark' and the creation of The Five Techniques collective, a movement rooted in humanity and protest. Together we explore the intertwining of music and activism, Paul Weller’s legacy of speaking truth to power, and why artists can’t afford to stay silent in the face of global injustice.
A candid, passionate conversation on what happens when creativity meets conscience, and the ongoing power of resistance in both art and life.

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On this episode, I am joined by a true musician’s musician whose artistry crosses borders and genres.
Sheema Mukherjee is a sitar prodigy, composer, and band member with Transglobal Underground and The Imagined Village (where she first played with Paul Weller) - fusing her deep-rooted Indian classical tradition with cutting-edge British musical innovation.
We talk about her family musical heritage, her powerful approach to emotion and improvisation, and how she developed her unique language on the sitar. We’ll explore Sheema’s session at Paul Weller’s Black Barn studio, where she not only played on the song 'Books' for the True Meanings LP, but also contributed a Sanskrit prayer, lending both authenticity and spiritual resonance to the record and Paul's Other Aspects Royal Festival Hall concerts.
Find podcast show notes and sign up for regular information at PaulWellerFanPodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.