Sammy Andrews talking about her time at Cooking Vinyl and getting TDIME to number 1

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2jj6rVWAAsA6rhFfBOgnDc

29.30 mins

‘It Will Be Emotional For Us’: The Prodigy’s Upcoming Australian Shows the First Since Keith Flint’s Passing

“Every tour we do, we try to push it a little more and change it from the last. This is no different. We can’t fuckin’ wait”

The Prodigy are always outnumbered, never outgunned. But with the untimely passing of Keith Flint in 2019, the electronic punks are a main man down.

When the Prodigy embarks on another national tour this February, their first in five years, the Brits do so with a lineup led by core members Liam Howlett and Maxim.

Flint was the firestarter for the Prodigy. A wildman on stage, and with the mic. His last full-fledged tour with the Prodigy was their lap of Australia in February 2019. A month later, Flint was gone.

Does Australia now have a bittersweet edge?

“No, not at all,” Howlett explains. “We can’t wait to return and play again there. We do have a long connection to Australia, all the way back to 1992. But during the heightened chaos of the gigs, it will be emotional for us. It always is.”

Speaking with Rolling Stone AU/NZ, Howlett insists this 2025 version of the Prodigy will unleash the same riotous energy, and the songs, that saw them earn superstar status in the ‘90s, and never relinquish it.

“People know what to expect from us by now. We come to raise and ignite the soul,” he warns ahead of the four-date Disrupta jaunt, presented by Handsome Tours, Astral People and Double J. “Every tour we do, we try to push it a little more and change it from the last. This is no different. We can’t fuckin’ wait.”

The Prodigy was founded in Essex in the early 1990s as a foursome of producer Howlett and three energy men who completed their dynamite live show: Maxim, Flint and Leeroy Thornhill (a dancer, he left the group in 2000 to focus on his solo music and DJ career).

Their debut album Experience from 1992 was on high rotation with savvy music fans in the UK (where it peaked at No. 12) and Australia.

The followup, 1994’s Music For The Jilted Generation, was a monster and gave the Prodigy their first of seven UK No. 1s.

From there, the Prodigy did what few dare to dream. Powered by music videos for “Firestarter”, “Breathe,” and “Smack My Bitch Up,” The Fat Of The Land from 1997 went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

It was on The Fat Of The Land when Flint for the first time unleashed his caustic, scallywag raps.

“I miss not having my brother around, of course,” recounts Howlett. “I miss his humour, he was a very funny guy. That’s what I think of now, all the funny shit we used to get up to, loads of mad adventures. He always had my back and I had his. But also he would bite back hard if he wasn’t happy with something, not caring who he upset. Instead of holding it in. I respected that side of him too, as it was honest. We just had a total understanding of one another.”

On their last visit to these parts, the Prodigy supported their seventh studio album from 2018, No Tourists, a UK chart leader. In the intervening period, a rare quiet patch with no new LPs.

The question was put to Howlett. Is more Prodigy music on the way? The answer, “yeah.”

https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music ... iew-71769/

‘An emotional charge, a primal release’: The Prodigy return to Australia to continue the legacy of Keith Flint

In early 2019 The Prodigy wrapped a triumphant Australian arena tour behind the blockbuster No Tourists.

Weeks later, they tragically lost their much-loved frontman Keith “Keef” Flint. It’s still raw for Liam Howlett, the UK band’s keyboardist and producer.

“The whole of that period is a blur in my mind because of what followed with Keef,” he says. “That’s all I can say about that really. It was a fucked up time.”

But now The Prodigy are returning, with the dynamic Maxim (Keith Palmer) as primary vocalist. “We are brothers who respect each other – two different people that come together for the same purpose: to make noise, unite, shake buildings and shake people’s souls.”

For Howlett, touring has been healing. “This is why it is important to us to come back to Australia and play again. We always love playing there, have so many fuckin’ great memories and made many friends over the years – all the way back from the Big Day Out festivals to the Future Music Festivals we played.”

The Prodigy originated in Essex at the start of the 90s. Howlett was DJing when he befriended Flint, then a dancer – the pair forming a renegade collective with Maxim as MC.

The Prodigy’s electro-punk would provide “an emotional charge, a primal release” for audiences in a volatile world, Howlett says. After 1991’s novelty rave track Charly on XL Recordings crossed over, the band debuted with the hardcore-era Experience, followed by the sonically-advanced Music For The Jilted Generation – the first of several UK #1 albums and critically acclaimed.

In 1996 The Prodigy unleashed the menacing big beat anthem Firestarter – Flint emerging as a flamboyant lead vocalist with his iconic double-mohawk, piercings and kohl-rimmed eyes. Unwittingly, the band ignited a bidding war in the US – labels latching onto the new ‘electronica’.

Howlett, adverse to compromising for commercial success, recalls meetings with execs who “just blew smoke up our asses.” They eventually signed to Madonna’s Maverick Records, home to Candlebox, Meshell Ndegeocello and Alanis Morissette.

“Firestarter was a big tune that came out of nowhere and the US labels wanted a piece of us. Madonna came to see us play in a small venue in New York City. She came on her own, no security, no bullshit – and I really respected that. She hung out with us after and knew a lot about us and how we operate. She was just really into it. I don’t like record labels interfering with any of the creative shit – and she said ‘That’s the way it should be.'”

In 1997 The Fat Of The Land topped charts in the UK, US and here in Australia, The Prodigy’s hybrid of techno, hip-hop and metal unifying subcultures. The band had another hit in Breathe, performed by the overshadowed Maxim. Still, they generated controversy with Smack My Bitch Up – the provocative hook sampled from Ultramagnetic MCs’ Give The Drummer Some.

In the interim, The Prodigy opened for those Brit-pop faves Oasis at their historic Knebworth Park concert and, legend has it, upstaged them. They stayed close to the Gallaghers, with Liam singing and Noel playing guitar on the song Shoot Down off 2004’s Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned.

“We never felt competitive ’cause we were doing our own thing,” Howlett maintains. “Knebworth was an amazing gig and it was Noel who asked us to support them. He has always been into our band. He came to see us in December when we played London. I’ve known both of them a long time. I’ve spent more time with Liam and had some of the funniest times with him. I love them both. I’m glad they are gonna play again – England needs Oasis right now.”

David Bowie approached Howlett to produce an album, only he declined – the single Little Wonder off EART HL I NG subsequently compared to The Prodigy with its industrial breakbeats.

“I love Bowie. He was always a hero of mine and more so as time went on,” Howlett remembers. “I cried when he passed away. When I met him, I liked him even more as just a human – he was a funny guy. We did some big gigs supporting him in the late ’90s.

“He sat down with us and gave us some good life advice which I’ll never forget… [But] it was such a manic time for us. We were so busy on the road, I just couldn’t find any time to work with him – which I always regretted… I just have to think, ‘Fuck it, it just wasn’t meant to be.'”

In 2022 The Prodigy celebrated the 25th anniversary of The Fat Of The Land, with Andy C servicing a banging drum ‘n’ bass remix of Firestarter, and rejoined the live circuit for the first time since Flint’s passing.

Ask Howlett if he’s aware of The Prodigy’s impact and he deflects – legacy is not a preoccupation. “Yeah, I can hear the influence and people tell me, but I never really spend any time analysing shit like that. That’s for journalists to discuss.

“I’ve got better things to do; focusing on what we are doing next and what new tunes I wanna write… I think that’s part of the problem with a lot of artists and bands these days. They are too concerned, or distracted, about everybody else’s opinions; too concerned on being liked.”

And Howlett is buoyant about The Prodigy’s future. “New music is coming this year,” he confirms.

“After Keef passed away, I just didn’t want to go in the studio or do anything – and I didn’t. But time passed and I started buzzin’ going in the studio again. I can’t wait for people to hear our new tunes. I like testing new ideas out live – I’ve always said this – as I can tell straight away if it has the right level of fire! We will have to wait and see what happens in Australia.”

https://beat.com.au/an-emotional-charge ... ith-flint/