The Hardest Part

On this episode of The Hardest Part with Kieron Banerji, the band's songwriter and frontwoman opens up "Serpent," the song that fought her hardest on The Bestiary: the one where every band member hated a different part, and the only fix was to scrap everything but the lyrics and start again. It's a conversation about ego and letting go, the first genuinely collaborative Castle Rat album, tears in the rehearsal space, the heart-to-heart that revealed her bandmates wanted to write too, and the fear that sharing even 10% of a song would void her contribution, sharpened by years of being a woman in metal whose riffs get credited to "the boys." Plus: the "creepies and crawlies" joke that killed the old chorus, a Dio-style rebuild, a 10-foot rat puppet with the wrong wings, and the "Riley filter" through which everything still passes. 00:00 "That's my riff" 01:32 The hardest song on The Bestiary 01:57 Tears in the rehearsal space 03:39 Everyone hated a different part 04:39 Scrap it, keep the lyrics 06:03 "Creepies and crawlies" 09:21 The 10-foot rat puppet 14:09 Being a woman in metal 15:15 The heart-to-heart & Franco's blindside 19:27 Serpent: Full Track - The Hardest Part dives deep into the most emotionally complex songs ever written. Every two weeks, host Kieron Banerji sits down with artists to unpack the creative process behind their hardest songs—exploring songwriting breakdowns, emotional storytelling, cultural influences, and moments of personal growth. Each episode ends with an intimate, stripped-back performance—raw, real, and sometimes heard this way for the first time. Produced by Palm Tree Island, a London-based creative studio known for standout music documentaries and original voices. Kieron Banerji is a seasoned producer and engineer based in London with extensive experience in music, media, and entertainment. He’s worked with Grammy and Academy Award winners, and has recorded sessions with Portugal. The Man, Jason Isbell, Katie Melua, Rae Morris, Jason Mraz, BROODS, Baio (Vampire Weekend), and more. 🎧 Follow the Podcast: https://linktr.ee/thehardestpart - #CastleRat #Serpent #TheBestiary #TheHardestPart See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of these songs took Gently Tender three years. The other took two minutes. On this episode of The Hardest Part with Kieron Banerji, Gently Tender's Sam Fryer and Francesca Brierley opens up "Staring at Fields" and "The City of the Beast," both from their upcoming album ,This Was Once Fields. It's a conversation about a lifelong Londoner mourning the city's lost magic, think the Astoria and Madame Jojo's, and about why he keeps escaping it on foot: the hyperacusis that makes city noise painful, the walks that became meditation, the "I'm staring at fields" mantra sung alone in a dark London studio. They talk about craft: the song he nearly binned and fought the whole band over, sneaking it onto the album after delivery, why the band always finds his real chorus, and the two-minute drum-machine stream of consciousness that produced one of his favourite lyrics he's ever written. Gently Tender perform also play both songs live and stripped back exclusively for The Hardest Part. 00:00 Two songs, one walk 00:14 "City of the Beast": London's lost magic 00:57 "Staring at Fields" & the walk 01:43 Why the city hurts his ears 03:51 Three years, many versions, nearly binned 07:36 Best idea wins: how the band edits Sam 10:42 "I don't understand my own songs" 13:55 The Mountain Goats & concept albums 15:27 Writer's block: bail the water out 17:33 Mussel shoals & stream of consciousness 22:52: Staring at Fields 28:10: The City of the Beast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Izzy Steele had a full-time job acting on a TV soap, and left it to chase music before she knew if it would work, one of the hardest decisions she ever had to make. On this episode of The Hardest Part with Kieron Banerji, Izzy opens up "Something Infinite," the title track of her EP: a song about the frustration that comes with ambition, that awkward middle part between leaving something safe and arriving anywhere at all. Izzy talks about how honesty is a job description: years of bottling emotions and saving them for the camera, then suddenly writing songs where the character is you; teaching herself guitar because her new London flat had no piano; writing the bones of the song in half an hour and finishing the second verse on the bus home; and the chorus lyric, "you want something infinite and need it in an instant," that came out before she understood what she was saying. Plus her cure for creative block: too much writing, not enough living. 00:00 "Why am I like this?" 01:29 Introducing "Something Infinite" 02:44 New to guitar, needing real sound 07:19 Leaving the soap for honesty 11:30 Half an hour in the studio, finished on the bus 13:09 The lyric she didn't understand yet 14:58 Too much writing, not enough living 17:27 What acting taught her about being watched 20:21 Editing: addicted to the demo 26:54 Full Track: Something Infinite #LittleDogStar #SomethingInfinite #MusicPodcast #TheHardestPart #NewMusic #Songwriting #LiveSession #IzzySteele See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pixie McCann convinced herself in a toilet that everyone hated her, and filled her Notes app with the evidence: "literally everyone here is rotten." Then she woke up, read it back, and decided... this is good content. On this episode of The Hardest Part with Kieron Banerji, she opens up "Rotting," the song that came out of that night, and the debut EP it belongs to. It's a conversation about the pocket between beautiful and horrible things: her first year making music professionally while her personal life fell apart, the pre-chorus that turned into an apology to her best friend ("I'm not that strong, I'm really sorry, take me back home"), working with her producer Joel, part wizard, part therapist, and the easter egg buried in the track: the word "rotting," sung in reverse, embedded into its veins. Then Pixie performs "Rotting" live in the studio, and tells you exactly how to listen to it: back against the door, outside the party, cigarette lit, calming down. Guest: Pixie McCann Host and Executive Producer: Kieron Banerji Photography and Creative: Callum Baker Audio Engineers: Max Walker and Liam Jackson Recorded at Palm Tree Island Studios, London. - 00:00 "Everyone here is rotten" 01:32 Why "Rotting" is the hardest part 02:27 The toilet, the Notes app & the spiral 03:58 The morning after: "this is good content" 04:39 "Take me back home" — an apology to her best friend 05:42 The pocket between beautiful & horrible 06:45 Joel the wizard: producer as therapist 10:03 Drum illiteracy, Logic Loops & Espresso 12:09 The reversed-word easter egg & how to listen 13:24 🎸 Live Session: Rotting - The Hardest Part dives deep into the most emotionally complex songs ever written. Every two weeks, host Kieron Banerji sits down with artists to unpack the creative process behind their hardest songs—exploring songwriting breakdowns, emotional storytelling, cultural influences, and moments of personal growth. Each episode ends with an intimate, stripped-back performance—raw, real, and sometimes heard this way for the first time. Produced by Palm Tree Island, a London-based creative studio known for standout music documentaries and original voices. Kieron Banerji is a seasoned producer and engineer based in London with extensive experience in music, media, and entertainment. He’s worked with Grammy and Academy Award winners, and has recorded sessions with Portugal. The Man, Jason Isbell, Katie Melua, Rae Morris, Jason Mraz, BROODS, Baio (Vampire Weekend), and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of The Hardest Part with Kieron Banerji, Julian Pratt opens up "See You Again," from the band's new record: a song whose chorus, "I'll see you again, no grave or cemetery can keep you from me," was written for his mentor, San Diego hardcore legend Mike Down. After it was recorded, Julian's close friend passed. Now the song belongs to both of them. It's the rawest conversation this show has had: on belief, and what happens when grief shakes it; on riding motorcycles with Noble and refusing to regret the best memories of his life; on being "terrified" of the most honest record he's ever made; and on why he sings the chorus to himself now, to remember that he'll see them again, whether he can believe it yet or not. 00:00 "I've never been so honest on a record" 01:02 The hardest song: "See You Again" 01:45 For Mike Down 03:33 Then, Noble 04:31 A father figure, and a son 05:25 Motorcycles, blame & the best memories 07:15 Grief across the whole record 08:09 "Tonight is the first time I'll play it" 10:16 His friend is on the record 11:39 See You Again - Full Track - The Hardest Part dives deep into the most emotionally complex songs ever written. Every two weeks, host Kieron Banerji sits down with artists to unpack the creative process behind their hardest songs—exploring songwriting breakdowns, emotional storytelling, cultural influences, and moments of personal growth. Each episode ends with an intimate, stripped-back performance—raw, real, and sometimes heard this way for the first time. Produced by Palm Tree Island, a London-based creative studio known for standout music documentaries and original voices. Kieron Banerji is a seasoned producer and engineer based in London with extensive experience in music, media, and entertainment. He’s worked with Grammy and Academy Award winners, and has recorded sessions with Portugal. The Man, Jason Isbell, Katie Melua, Rae Morris, Jason Mraz, BROODS, Baio (Vampire Weekend), and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.