Guy Chambers is the tenth guest of I Never Thought It Would Happen Season 4
The British songwriter is best known for his chart-topping work with Robbie Williams
Starring on I Never Thought It Would Happen this week is Guy Chambers. Guy is best known for his collaborations with Robbie Williams (who has also previously appeared on the podcast) and from 1997 – 2002, the pair produced five albums together: Life thru a Lens, I’ve Been Expecting You, Sing When You’re Winning, Swing When You’re Winning and Escapology.
To start the episode, Chris asks Guy about his early musical career and finds out that when Guy first moved down to London to study he initially felt like a fish out of water. He remembers there was a class divide at music college and it took him a while to feel at home. He eventually became used to the new environment however and upon finishing university was excited about entering the music industry.
He explains to Chris that he has never had a job that did not involve music. If times were tough in the early days of his career, he would play piano in a pub or teach guitar to keep going. Staying in the industry was always his main motivation.
One of his proudest career moments was performing on Top of the Pops with Robbie in 1998. Guy recalls that his father (a trained classical musician) used to poke fun at pop music but appearing on the show was a big aspiration for Guy. He remembers seeing Destiny’s Child, with a young Beyoncé, on that programme and being blown away even though the group were all at the start of their careers.
In 2024, Guy will be heading out on his own solo piano tour with 8 shows lined up. He’ll be playing some songs and talking about the stories behind them – he hopes the preamble will be amusing for the audience. He also plans to ask a member of the audience to write a song with him each night, which ought to be entertaining.
This episode also features a contribution from a musician we have recently supported, Scottish mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor. Beth was supported by the charity to finance her post-graduate studies and this help has had a massive impact on her career.
In September 2023, she sang in two Proms, which were the highlights of her career so far, and Beth is certain that without support from Help Musicians she would not have been in a position to perform these shows. “Right from the beginning I felt completely understood by Help Musicians. I was never judged because of the fact my family couldn’t afford to pay course fees and I needed financial support to attend university.”
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Series 4 and rest assured there are plenty more exciting episodes to come over the next few weeks. Make sure you listen and subscribe by following the links provided below.