Conversations Late at Night
Simon James French
Deep chats between long-distance artistic collaborators Cody Ellingham and Simon James French who first met and started working together whilst living in Tokyo, Japan. Cody is in New Zealand and Simon is in London. Join them as they talk about the creativity process, inspiration, wandering and everything in between.
Conquering life's difficult work
Welcome to episode 25 of Conversations Late at Night. In this episode, we touch upon what it means to approach and deal with the difficult work that life often throws our way. We discuss the two types of perfectionism and how important it is to move past the unobtainable kind, the hidden joys of repetitive and zen-like jobs, the reflective practice of writing your future self a letter and we spend some time reflecting on Nike's ubiquitous mantra—Just Do It. We also talk about how our Wande
Oct 13, 2022 • 56:46
Take the long way home
Thank you for joining us for episode 24 of Conversations Late at Night, the podcast where we discuss creativity in a chaotic world. This week's conversation touches on the psychological immune system (and it was William B. Irvine that Simon was trying to remember the name of!), becoming more politically engaged once things start affecting you personally, getting started with donating to charity by helping just one person, using the term 'brother' more and how good it feels to be genuinely friend
Sep 8, 2022 • 1:09:12
#VanLife with Patricia Danielle Tan
In this conversation, we’re joined by Patricia Danielle Tan; a fascinating multi-disciplinary artist who recently travelled around the south island of New Zealand for an extended period of time in a van with not much guiding her except a strong desire for the freedom to roam and an aim to rediscover the sense of agency she felt she lost during the pandemic. We talk about what it means to create art as a medium agnostic, journaling whilst on the road, nostalgia for places we’ve never been a
Aug 25, 2022 • 1:18:46
A glass bottle of memories
Episode 22 of Conversations Late at Night. In this episode, we talk about reflecting on the day that's just passed with a journal, #VanLife and whether we can live without posting our lives to social media, the guilt we feel when we don't return people's messages or emails immediately and Simon tells a story about how a gong can change your life. Cody also reads us his story A Glass Bottle of Memories from his DERIVE Wander Magazine #8. ••• Head to www.conversationslateatnight.com fo
Aug 11, 2022 • 1:05:01
Finding joy in small moments
In this episode, we have a deep conversation that covers a range of topics; the novel that Cody is currently writing, work and why we do what we do, what it means to float through life, and finding comfort in just being. ••• Head to www.conversationslateatnight.com for more episodes. ※ All music composed by SJF. Photography by Cody Ellingham. If you like the podcast and want to support it, please share it with a loved one. SJF's Patreon • Cody's Patreon Chat with us, ask questions or let u
Jul 28, 2022 • 52:16
Cycling through the city at midnight
Episode 20 of Conversations Late at Night is here and it's our first journey into recording video. This is just the beginning, look out for more visuals, photography, videos and recordings in future episodes. In this episode we have a conversation about how cycling through the city at night is a far better experience at clearing your head, how taking a walk whilst actively thinking is important, what it means to leave a legacy, and how we could all do with paying more attention to our local comm
Jul 7, 2022 • 1:28:36
Curating compassion
Episode 19 of Conversations Late at Night sees Simon back on the narrowboat in London after a trip to Japan and Cody in his new podcasting space. In this conversation, we talk about Simon's travels in Kyoto & Tokyo, the importance of compassion, how we should stay focused on making gradual improvements in everything we do and Cody talks about the book he's currently reading—The Fourth Turning. ••• Head to www.conversationslateatnight.com for more episodes. ※ All music composed by SJF.
Jun 16, 2022 • 1:30:05
Returning to Japan
Welcome to episode 18 of Conversations Late at Night, Returning to Japan. In this conversation, we talk about Simon's upcoming trip to Japan, how Plato's Republic is necessary reading, the paralysis of choice, and how YouTube comments can sometimes be artistic and beautiful. ••• Head to www.conversationslateatnight.com for more episodes. ※ All music composed by SJF. Photography by Cody Ellingham. If you like the podcast and would like to support it, please share it with a loved one. SJF's Patreo
May 19, 2022 • 51:58
12 principles for creativity with Taylor Deupree
In this episode of Conversations Late at Night we're joined by Taylor Deupree—musician, photographer, mastering engineer and the founder of 12k; a music label based out of New York. We've long been fascinated with 12k due to the distinct organic and natural sound of the music its musicians create. In this conversation, we go into detail about Taylor's connection to Japan, the history of 12k, the twelve principles underpinning everything the label creates, and the community he's been building sin
Apr 28, 2022 • 1:08:17
Lessons from Ojiichan
Welcome to episode 16 of Conversations Late at Night, Lessons from Ojiichan. We start this chat off by diving into what nostalgia means for us and then things progress from there. We hear SJF's favourite poem by Mary Oliver; Wild Geese, talk about Kaitiaki - the Māori term for the concept of guardianship - and about the lessons we can learn from generations that came before us. Our Kickstarter campaign for Wander the Night Japan limited edition vinyl is still running. Please head over to Kicksta
Apr 14, 2022 • 1:22:58
Wander the Night Japan
Join us as we dive into the details behind our collaboration Wander the Night Japan; a Kickstarter campaign that will see the release of a limited-edition 12” vinyl of the Wander the Night Japan album with music by Simon James French (SJF) and photography by Cody Ellingham. In a time when so many of us couldn't get out and explore the world, the original Wander the Night website aimed to recreate that magical feeling of your first night in a new city. Now we’re releasing the Japanese tracks as a
Mar 31, 2022 • 57:32
The concert pianist and the musician – creativity from struggle with Greg Kozakiewicz
We're back for episode 14 of Conversations Late at Night. For this late-night conversation, we were joined by musician and all-round creative, Greg Kozakiewicz. Currently living in Edinburgh but originally from Poland, Greg shared some incredible stories with us about growing up in Poland and how this had a profound effect on his creativity. He also opened up about his journey til now which took him to several different countries and what gives him inspiration. Please enjoy this wonderful chat.
Feb 18, 2022 • 1:19:24
Creating our best work in difficult times
In this episode, the first of 2022, we talk all about SJF's new album Motion, paring your life and possessions back to become lighter, our plans for this year, the desire to live a self-sustaining lifestyle and how the pandemic inspired us to create our best work. We also riff on the idea of sending hand-printed newsletters/stories out to people - something we'd like to do in 2022. The latest album, Motion, by SJF will be released on the 4th of February. The article Cody mentio
Jan 17, 2022 • 1:33:28
75 years and 5000 years of Korea, with Colin Marshall
Welcome to Conversations Late at Night, episode twelve. In this episode we chat with Colin Marshall, a broadcaster and essayist who writes about languages, culture and cities. Colin has a particular interest in Los Angeles and Seoul, the latter being the city he's called home for the past six years. We riffed on many ideas and topics including the subject of whether you can have culture without cities, the history of Korean cinema, and the question to ponder when exploring South Korea: "Are you
Dec 18, 2021 • 1:29:28
Sharing Your Last Packet of Noodles
Episode eleven of Conversations Late at Night. In this episode we question whether the country we grew up in is the same now as it was back then, "The Poet's Death", how the art world might respond to the pandemic and what it means to share your last packet of noodles atop a mountain. As Marcus Aurelius writes: "The pain which is intolerable carries us off; but that which lasts a long time is tolerable; and the mind maintains its own tranquility by retiring into itself, and the r
Dec 5, 2021 • 56:38
Climbing the mountain, with Fernando Gros
Episode ten of Conversations Late at Night. This episode welcomes our first guest, Fernando Gros. We talk to Fernando about his journey of being a writer, musician, photographer and overall prolific creator. Not one to be lumped in any boxes, his Twitter bio reads "Made in Chile, grown in Australia, polished in Japan". He's currently living in London and we talk to him about life in the city, finding moments of joy in the small things, how to use Twitter positively, what it means to be a creator
Nov 20, 2021 • 1:03:02
Ever-shortening attention spans, the current state of the world and dealing with loneliness
Episode nine of Conversations Late at Night. A deep episode where we talk about how the attention span of modern culture is getting shorter and shorter, the current state of the world after enduring multiple lockdowns, how we like to pack when travelling and how to deal with loneliness and what it was like to be lonely in Japan. ••• Links to a few of the things we talk about in this episode. Be curious: Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marqu
Oct 10, 2021 • 1:06:52
FOMO, being nostalgic for an old you, travelling America, Fragments and DERIVE Wanderer 10
Episode eight of Conversations Late at Night. Life seems to be returning back to normal in the UK post-lockdown but it's still difficult for many countries, especially New Zealand where Cody is right now. We chatted a bit about this in today's episode and also the feeling of FOMO or Fear of Missing Out, being nostalgic for an old you, the dream we both have of travelling America one day, SJF's new album Fragments that was just released and Cody's upcoming DERIVE Wanderer 10 magazine. ••• Links t
Sep 12, 2021 • 40:26
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, de-Googling and de-Facebooking life and using creativity as an escape hatch
Episode seven of Conversations Late at Night is a bit of a multi-topic episode but should make for an interesting listen. We talk about the brilliant Meditations from Marcus Aurelius and how to use its wisdom, how to release social media's control over your life and the way it seems that Covid has inspired everyone to become a little bit more creative. ••• Links to a few of the things we talk about in this episode. Be curious: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius SJF's fave • Cody's fave ProtonMail Jo
Aug 22, 2021 • 53:49
Wander the Night: Kyoto and our relationship to that beautiful city
In this episode we talk about the latest city in our Wander the Night series; Kyoto. To experience Wander the Night for yourself please head over to www.wanderthenight.com. During lockdown we were both itching to get out and explore the world so this is something we made to remedy that. A beautiful collaboration of photography and music. We talk about how SJF created the music and how Cody's early wanderings led to the photo we ended up using. We also delve into our relationship with this magic
Jul 24, 2021 • 1:00:35
Zooming out on Life, new music from SJF, Wander the Night, HOPE and post-pandemic DERIVE
The fifth episode of Conversations Late at Night takes a meandering, but deep, journey through the recent work of artists Cody Ellingham and Simon James French. In this episode we hear a new track from SJF and talk about original DERIVE and how it was affected by COVID. And please remember Cody's quote from this week: "A good creative life is like Mediterranean food; it's just basic ingredients put together well." ••• Links to a few of the things we talk about in this episode. Be cur
Jul 5, 2021 • 1:05:43
NFTs, the Metaverse, The Hacker Ethos, Commune Living and Artist Retreats
The fourth episode of Conversations Late at Night from artists Cody Ellingham and Simon James French. In this episode we talk all about dipping our toes into the NFT world, The Metaverse, The Hacker Ethos as a way of life, living on a commune and hosting an artist retreat. ••• Links to a few of the things we talk about in this episode. Be curious: 狂った一頁 (Kurutta Ippeji) • A Page of Madness Way of Ozu Malcolm Gladwell • Outliers DERIVE Moments (our NFT stuff) Village Kit Almost Perfect Toky
Jun 14, 2021 • 48:20
Life on a narrowboat, moving back to an old city, Cody's New Zealand Nocturnes and personal development
The long awaited third episode of Conversations Late at Night. In this episode we discuss living on a narrowboat on a canal in the centre of London, moving back to a city you left a long time ago, Cody's project New Zealand Nocturnes, how to deal with personal development and more. ••• ※ All music, unless otherwise stated, was composed by SJF. If you like the podcast and would like to support it, please share it with a loved one. SJF's Patreon • Cody's Patreon Ask questions or let us know what y
May 28, 2021 • 58:12
Reconnecting with your senses and late night drives with Murray Cammick
Welcome to the second episode of Conversations Late at Night. In this episode we talked about Cody's recent trip to Auckland, his late night drives with photographer Murray Cammick, SJF's upcoming projects, art residencies in Iran and (re)connecting with your senses after lockdown. ••• ※ All music, unless stated otherwise, was composed by SJF. If you like the podcast and would like to support it, please share it with a loved one. SJF's Patreon • Cody's Patreon Ask questions or let us know what y
Feb 12, 2021 • 1:06:05
