The Eras Podcast: Rebecca Lucy Taylor - visionary writing, a Self Esteem trilogy & Madonna surprise

Abbie McCarthy is joined by Rebecca Lucy Taylor aka Self Esteem, deep diving into the Ivor Novello winning artist’s rise to success from a grassroots artist touring small venues, to a critically acclaimed visionary hailed for her groundbreaking performance style and brutally honest lyricism. In this episode Rebecca and Abbie discuss the latest - trilogy completing - album 'A Complicated Woman’, its accompanying theatre show, Madonna being in the audience, art vs commodity, going back to the things that brought you joy in childhood, acting in the west end show Cabaret and Rebecca's previous life in indie band Slow Club. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Coming up... 00:27 Introduction 01:36 Performing with Robbie Williams 04:36 Winning the Visionary Award at the Ivor Novellos 08:33 Pressure of new album era 13:55 Creative process & working with Johan Hugo 15:23 Themes of the trilogy 21:07 Rebecca's favourite tracks from 'A Complicated Woman' 22:44 What track(s) unlocked the new album? 24:56 'Focus Is Power' video 28:33 Reflecting Northern roots 30:09 All female collaborations - Sue Tompkins, Nadine Shah, Moonchild Sanelly, Julie Hesmondhalgh & Meatball 32:10 Accompanying theatre show 34:51 Madonna in the audience 39:32 Defining anthem 'I Do This All The Time' 43:57 Glastonbury performance 45:33 Sense of belonging & community at live shows 47:27 Stage name of Self Esteem 49:23 Mantra for the music 50:19 Debut album 'Compliments Please' 53:00 Rebecca's time acting in Cabaret 54:47 Soundtrack for 'Prima Facie' with Jodie Comer 57:14 Beginnings in indie scene with Slow Club 1:00:17 Legacy 1:02:21 Goodbye & Outro Music produced by JMAC, Freddy Sheed & Rich Zbaraski. The Eras Podcast is a Good Karma Production, recorded at Metropolis Studios. With thanks to our amazing team: Director: Emma Hiley Producer: Joseph Murphy Creative Producer / Guest Bookings: Abbie McCarthy / Good Karma Productions Production Assistant: Ida Just Camera Op: Emma Hiley Camera Op: Lewis Ashley Camera Op: Ida Just Studio Engineer: Cecilia Griffin Editor: Joseph Wallace Senior Editor & Conform: Joseph Murphy Artwork: @malkahart Follow us: Instagram @theeraspodcastuk @abbiejmccarthy TikTok @theeraspodcast @abbie__mccarthy This episode is sponsored by Gear4Music: gear4music.com #rebeccalucytaylor #selfesteem #podcast #musicpodcast #altpop #music #musicinterview #madonna #theeraspodcast #abbiemccarthy