Expect songs, stories and plenty of name dropping!

Mal Pope is a songwriter who co-produced the film Jack To A King, about the 10-year rise of Swansea City FC

- 

IF YOU hear an odd clanging sound coming from Ffwrness Theatre in Llanelli next Thursday evening please don’t be alarmed.

It will just be me and Steve Balsamo dropping some huge names in our intimate show The Stories Behind The Songs.

Now before anyone says “there they go again”, I have to say it wasn’t even our idea. It actually goes back to a student project that Steve and I supported back in January at the Elysium on Swansea High Street.

Alex Owens was studying for a degree in Creative Music Technology at University of Wales Trinity St David. The course is both theoretical and practical. He had an idea for a live music event that he could record and film. Not exactly a concert, not an interview... somewhere in between.

In his other life Alex helps out at Sonic One Studios in Llanelli. That's where he met Steve Balsamo and me. Towards the end of last year he managed to corner us both separately during our sessions at the studio.

I expect he used the same tactics on Steve as he did on me.

“Would you like a cup of tea Mal?”

“How about a chocolate biscuit to go with that Mal?”

“Would you be a special guest for my end-of-year practical project at the Elysium on Friday 3rd January, Mal?” By that stage I felt so in his debt I had to say yes.