States of Independence is a living excavation of the subterranean world that shaped the sound of modern independent music. Across thirteen episodes of its first season, the new podcast series traces the raw beginnings and unruly brilliance of Beggars Banquet, a label that grew out of the punk explosion and still stands tall five decades on.
The voice guiding this exploration is Rob Fitzpatrick, music journalist and seasoned podcast producer. For him, this story carries a personal charge. At 20, he was stacking vinyl in the Beggars Banquet shop in Kingston, Surrey. “The most incredible musical education,” he recalls. He left in 1996, but the fascination, by his own admission, a curiously emotional attachment, never loosened its grip.
The story Fitzpatrick and his guests tell is not a clean ascent but a jagged arc, one marked by extinction scares as much as triumphs. What began as a punk-era shop front now extends across some of the most important imprints in independent music: 4AD, XL, Matador, Rough Trade, Young. Together, they form a constellation that defines an era – and attitude – built from resourcefulness, resistance, and fierce independence.
Season One begins with Martin Mills, the founder whose vision, good fortune, and stubborn nerve carried Beggars from a cramped shop floor to a global indie empire. Mills’ memories are as sharp as ever. “We had 2000 pounds each. It got us a lease in Earl’s Court. It got us some stock. Steve [Webbon] knew how to buy new records. I knew how to buy old records, and Nick [Austin] knew how to bullshit.”
When punk detonated in 1976, the second shop in Fulham found its purpose. Mills laughs at the recall: “‘Suddenly it was all about going down to Red Cow and getting spat on.’” Opportunism turned into action. The label itself was born when Mills and Austin released the debut from The Lurkers, “a very good two-chord punk band. Though they learned a third chord eventually.”
Beggars’ first star blazed fast and bright. Gary Numan’s single Are ‘Friends’ Electric? shot to number one in 1979, turning a fledgling operation into a phenomenon overnight. “With Gary, it felt like the Beatles,” Mills says. But sudden triumph was a trial by fire. “There definitely was no instruction manual.” For Numan, just 21 at the time, the glare was bruising. “I thought it was gonna be more fun, I didn’t expect all the hostility that came with it… You know, people writing things about you as if you’ve just done the most evil thing.”
That dynamic of instant recognition coupled with chaos would become familiar across the label’s roster. The Cult, The Fall, The Go-Betweens, The Charlatans, Peter Murphy, Bauhaus, Love And Rockets, Gene Loves Jezebel, Buffalo Tom, The Bolshoi: each orbiting the Beggars universe, each reshaping its gravity. “They were the band that literally stopped the cheques from bouncing,” Mills admits of The Cult, whose stadium-era success pulled the company back from collapse.
States of Independence launches September 11th with Martin Mills, The Lurkers, and Gary Numan at the microphone. Two years in the making, the series promises not nostalgia, but memory sharpened into testimony. A record of independence, told by those who built it with bare hands and blank cheques.
Host Rob Fitzpatrick with Gary Numan (Left) and Beggars Founder Martin Mills (Right)
Episode List
- EP 1: Martin Mills, The Lurkers, Gary Numan [Launch Sept 11th]
- EP 2: Martin Mills, Gary Numan, Peter Murphy (Bauhaus/Solo), John Rocca (Freeez) [Launch Sept 11th]
- EP 3: Martin Mills, Billy Duffy, Aki Nawaz [Launch Sept 18th]
- EP 4: Martin Mills, Jay Aston (Gene Love Jezebel) [Launch Sept 25th]
- EP 4a: Michael Aston (Gene Love Jezebel) [Launch October 2nd]
- EP 5: Martin Mills, Brix Smith (The Fall) [Launch Oct 9th]
- EP 6: Martin Mills, Tim Burgess (The Charlatans) [Launch Oct 16th]
- EP 7: Martin Mills, Lindy Morrison (The Go Betweens) [Launch Oct 23rd]
- EP 7a: Robert Forster (The Go Betweens) [Launch Oct 30]
- EP 8: David J (Bauhaus, Love And Rockets/Solo) & Daniel Ash (Bauhaus, Tones On Tail, Love And Rockets/Solo) [Launch November 6th]
- EP 8a: David J (Bauhaus, Love And Rockets/Solo) & Daniel Ash (Bauhaus, Tones On Tail, Love And Rockets/Solo) [Launch November 13th]
- EP 9: Martin Mills, Bill Janovitz (Buffalo Tom) Natasha Atlas (Transglobal Underground/Solo), Aki Nawaz (Southern Death Cult/Transglobal Underground/Fundamental Records) and Trevor Tanner (The Bolshoi) [Launch November 20th]
- EP 10: Series Finale – with Martin Mills and more [Launch November 27th]
States of Independence is available wherever you get your podcasts.
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