Biff Stannard's guest appearances

Biff Stannard

Music Business Worldwide

Blank Podcast with Giles Paley-Phillips & Jim Daly

Such A Good Feeling with Steve Anderson

Justin Bieber

Lucy Porter

Ben Miller

Nick Offerman

Emma Kennedy

David Baddiel

Andrew Hunter Murray

Stephen Fry

Ian Rankin

Angela Scanlon

Sanjeev Bhaskar

Mark Gatiss

Jon Ronson

Louis Theroux

Troy Carter

OwlTail

Biff Stannard is a writer, producer, and record label owner. Biff has been responsible for some of the most iconic and well-known pop records in the last 25 years having worked with the likes of Kylie Minogue, The Spice Girls, U2, Ellie Goulding, Leona Lewis, Will Young, and many more.  He has won Ivor Novello and Brit Awards for his production and songwriting.  We talked to Biff about his earliest musical memories and how music was an escape for him.  He describes the life-changing effects of having so many big hits in a short space of time and how lives his life with positivity and compassion at the heart of everything he does.   PLUS we have an advert-free version for our Patreons at patreon.com/blankpodcast  Massive thanks to our Patrons: Mary Catherine Byrnes, Victoria Nielsen, Manya Kay, Alex Williams, Joel Piveteau, Richard Astill, Samantha Beaton, Claudia McKelvey, John Holland, Katherine Keen, Lynn Robinson, It's Coming Home 2022, Alice Chrystall, Maddie Lightfoot, Alex Collis, Martin Grimm, Liam Deacy.  @blankpod @eliistender @jimdalycomedy @biffco  blankpodcast2018@gmail.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Biff Stannard is a writer, producer, and record label owner. Biff has been responsible for some of the most iconic and well-known pop records in the last 25 years having worked with the likes of Kylie Minogue, The Spice Girls, U2, Ellie Goulding, Leona Lewis, Will Young, and many more. He has won Ivor Novello and Brit Awards for his production and songwriting. We talked to Biff about his earliest musical memories and how music was an escape for him.  He describes the life-changing effects of having so many big hits in a short space of time and how lives his life with positivity and compassion at the heart of everything he does.  PLUS we have an advert-free version for our Patreons at <a href="http://patreon.com/blankpodcast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">patreon.com/blankpodcast</a> Massive thanks to our Patrons: Mary Catherine Byrnes, Victoria Nielsen, Manya Kay, Alex Williams, Joel Piveteau, Richard Astill, Samantha Beaton, Claudia McKelvey, John Holland, Katherine Keen, Lynn Robinson, It's Coming Home 2022, Alice Chrystall, Maddie Lightfoot, Alex Collis, Martin Grimm, Liam Deacy. @blankpod @eliistender @jimdalycomedy @biffco blankpodcast2018@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>

150: Biff Stannard 

On paper, Richard "Biff" Stannard is having one of the toughest years of his life. But music, as it has time and time again, has steered him away from the shadows – and towards celebration.Stannard says that his songwriting style has always been to "write myself happy". This approach has led to him writing and producing some of the fizziest and most successful pop songs of all time, including a run of Spice Girls' hits such as Wannabe – a timeless No.1 record in both the US and the UK."Writing himself happy" is also a big part of how Stannard has dealt with mental health issues across his whole life. That life began in East London in 1966, in a house typified, he says, by an "environment of hyper-masculine men". Stannard had a troubled relationship with his father, a boxer, who didn't take kindly to his son's childhood love of music.In this candid MBW Podcast, Stannard discusses his personal journey, including his early relationship with British maverick impresario, Tom Watkins, who gave the songwriter his break working with boyband East 17 in the 1990s. Watkins sadly died earlier this year – as did Stannard's mother, at 91. Stannard says his mom was particularly "protective" of him during his youth, and the only member of his immediate family that didn't discourage his love of music and creativity. That's not the only trauma Stannard has faced in the past 12 months, either. Having re-invented himself as a weight-lifter – replete with muscles like beach balls – Stannard broke the UK record for bench-press in his age category during a competition. He walked off stage jubilant, an official master of yet another discipline... before suffering a life-changing heart attack.This narrative, though – again, thanks to music – has a happy ending. Stannard has co-written two singles on Kylie Minogue's DISCO, which has just become the UK's fastest-selling album of 2020, even outstripping the first-week performances of new records from superstars like Lady Gaga.As such, DISCO is Stannard's biggest career success since he co-wrote and produced Ellie Goulding's worldwide hit Lights six years ago – and the beginning of a new chapter in his book of triumphs.Kylie has been a constant collaborator in Stannard's career, which has seen him work with everyone from U2 to Little Mix, One Direction and Leona Lewis – and win both Ivor Novello and ASCAP Awards.

On paper, Richard "Biff" Stannard is having one of the toughest years of his life. But music, as it has time and time again, has steered him away from the shadows – and towards celebration. Stannard says that his songwriting style has always been to "write myself happy". This approach has led to him writing and producing some of the fizziest and most successful pop songs of all time, including a run of Spice Girls' hits such as Wannabe – a timeless No.1 record in both the US and the UK. "Writing himself happy" is also a big part of how Stannard has dealt with mental health issues across his whole life. That life began in East London in 1966, in a house typified, he says, by an "environment of hyper-masculine men". Stannard had a troubled relationship with his father, a boxer, who didn't take kindly to his son's childhood love of music. In this candid MBW Podcast, Stannard discusses his personal journey, including his early relationship with British maverick impresario, Tom Watkins, who gave the songwriter his break working with boyband East 17 in the 1990s.  Watkins sadly died earlier this year – as did Stannard's mother, at 91. Stannard says his mom was particularly "protective" of him during his youth, and the only member of his immediate family that didn't discourage his love of music and creativity.  That's not the only trauma Stannard has faced in the past 12 months, either. Having re-invented himself as a weight-lifter – replete with muscles like beach balls – Stannard broke the UK record for bench-press in his age category during a competition. He walked off stage jubilant, an official master of yet another discipline... before suffering a life-changing heart attack. This narrative, though – again, thanks to music – has a happy ending. Stannard has co-written two singles on Kylie Minogue's DISCO, which has just become the UK's fastest-selling album of 2020, even outstripping the first-week performances of new records from superstars like Lady Gaga. As such, DISCO is Stannard's biggest career success since he co-wrote and produced Ellie Goulding's worldwide hit Lights six years ago – and the beginning of a new chapter in his book of triumphs. Kylie has been a constant collaborator in Stannard's career, which has seen him work with everyone from U2 to Little Mix, One Direction and Leona Lewis – and win both Ivor Novello and ASCAP Awards.

Biff Stannard, Songwriter: Spice Girls, Kylie and a Near-Death Experience