Pete Doherty and Josh Pugh have spoken to NME about launching their new project The Pete Doherty Show, which features guests including Sleaford Mods‘ Jason Williamson, Eastenders icon Natalie Cassidy, Richard Bacon, comedians Ivo Graham and Jamali Maddix, and many more.
The unlikely duo of The Libertines frontman and the acclaimed comedian have been teasing the new Youtube show on social media for months, with the first episode finally set to land tomorrow (Sunday September 13).
Filmed in The Libertines’ spiritual home of Margate, The Pete Doherty Show sees the Babyshambles man and Pugh exploring the seaside town and meeting locals, interviewing guests from the worlds of music, comedy and the arts, as well as performances from Doherty and musical guests, such as GANS in the first episode. Pugh even attempts Doherty’s legendary viral ‘big breakfast‘ from The Dalby Café.
“It’s a musical and comedy adventure, that we’d like you all to join us for,” Doherty told NME. “We thought if the world needs anything right now, it needs another podcast.”
Asked how it came together, the frontman replied: “First of all, I just wanted to meet Josh. It wasn’t blackmail, but it was like that couldn’t happen unless we did a show that producers had been talking about. I hated the idea of doing a show, but then they said they had all these amazing guests to interview – who all mysteriously cancelled on the first day. The guests that we did have were amazing.”
Pugh continued: “They’re not who we were promised, but yeah they were good.”
Among the tantalising guests that didn’t come into fruition was a certain Simpsons and Spinal Tap legend.
“I thought Harry Shearer was coming in, so we were all quite excited about that,” shared Doherty. “I was a little bit grumpy and a little bit nervous about it, but we’ll see how it goes. If it is a horrible flop I can say, ‘See? I told you we couldn’t do this’. Then if it’s a success, that dry lack of confidence in it will be what people like.”
Pugh agreed: “I’m not sure you can even have a flop on Youtube. Anyone can upload and I think we’ll be OK. Also, we’re self-producing so if it doesn’t come back that’s our decision.”
Check out our full interview with Doherty and Pugh below, where they told us about grilling the guests, Carl Barât worming his way on, and the chances of another season.
NME: Hello Josh and Pete. Now that the show is finally almost upon us, how confident are you feeling?
Doherty: “We must be able to get a hacker to get the numbers up. It can’t be that difficult.”
Pugh: “There must be things we can do with bots. People are really excited to see it, though. I’m just worried that the wait and the lead-in has been so long now that they just have to enjoy it now. I like going through the comments and assuming they’re about me. ‘This beautiful genius got me through my adolescence’. I did what I can.”
Pete, why did you choose Josh to do this with?
Doherty: “He’s funny. You’ll be on a long tour on the bus and it gets to that point at 5am where you’re asking, ‘What’s left to stay up for?’ Someone would always play me Josh’s skits. Have you seen the one about the gaffer? Then someone also told me he played international football for the partially-sighted men’s national team, which was pretty cool. You’ve got this talented comedian with an amazing physical form, then you’ve got Josh too.”
So Josh, you’ve got it all. How did you feel when Pete got in touch about this?
Pugh: “It was really exciting. It’s been bubbling for a bit, the guys were working on it, and you’re just never sure if anything’s ever really going to happen. I was nervous because it’s got to be good if it’s got Pete’s name on it, but Pete’s easy to be with and work with. He’s a very professional guy. Obviously he’s a chaotic genius and we want to keep that bubbling, but he’s really easy to do it with.”
In the first episode you keep asking the question, ‘What is The Pete Doherty Show?’…
Pugh: “Yeah, I don’t know if we nailed that…”
Doherty: “We spent quite an intense period of time together. We had about two or three days together in Margate, a few days in London in the dug-out, then we went to The Albion Rooms with the whole team. It was a right laugh. We were bobbing around Margate, we went for a swim with the dogs, we organised a little last minute gig/stand up show.”
Pugh: “It was a good time: there was a heatwave, we watched the first World Cup game at The Albion Rooms. It was Pete’s first time back in Margate for a while.”
Doherty: “Yes, it coincided with a beautiful few days. We weren’t just sitting in a small studio in London. We had a blast.”
Josh, one assumes you’ve been a longtime fan of Pete’s work too?
Pugh: “Yes, I love music and I love The Libertines, Babyshambles and Pete’s [solo] stuff. He kept playing the songs at me, which I hadn’t anticipated happening. You can see it when we’re with some of the guests, especially when we had Carl on. You can imagine what that’s like, to have both of them.”
As a fan, is there anything you wanted to unpick about Pete?
Pugh: “The answer is no, really. He’s been interviewed loads and done the Louis Theroux stuff, so I just wanted people to enjoy him. To see him enjoying Margate, playing music, going to the football, I just wanted to show people what a fun guy he is. I didn’t want to get into anything that didn’t naturally come up. I was just trying to be in his company and I tried to be a fan, but with just enough professionalism to keep it moving.”
What did you make of his comedy chops?
Pugh: “Pete knows what’s funny. Sometimes he’ll just give you a little look and you’ll know to let him do a thing. He’s a born entertainer, he’s got all the right instincts.”
How did you get on with a nan?
Pugh: “Very well. She’s like all the best nans: she’s a talker, she gives you gifts, she makes you feel good. Nana is the researcher and researches the guests, which is not an easy job because they keep changing every five minutes.”
Doherty: “There’s a really good clip where she asks Ivo Graham, ‘So when did you first realise you were funny?’ and he pisses himself.”
Pugh: “I’d never met your nanna before. Is this just a character she’s doing?”
Doherty: “No, that’s her. She’s never done anything like that before. She works for the mental health charity TONIC, and she always turns up with the strangest presents. Usually stuff from hotels. She’s got a massive collection of hotel freebies like soaps, ear cleaners. She was giving them away as presents. I assume she knows she’s funny. She’s certainly not the best researcher because she’s always getting stuff wrong.”
What can you tell us about the guests you eventually landed on? What were looking for?
Pugh: “Availability, mostly. That’s the best ability.”
Doherty: “It was a combination of availability, being a person that at least one of us had heard of, and that there was something about them that intrigued us.”
Pugh: “They’re all creative people as musicians, actors or comedians.”
Doherty: “Jason Williamson was brilliant, and there have been things I’ve wanted to ask him for a long time. I thought Natalie Cassisdy from Eastenders was great because she was such a massive celebrity. I had it in my head she was going to be a really down-to-earth London girl, and she was. We were stitched up a bit because we were going to set the whole episode around her being able to play the trumpet and we were going to have a little jam. Of course, Nana hadn’t done her research. She can’t play the trumpet. That was her thing in Eastenders, but she can’t. That was another dream shattered.
“It was interesting to talk about going from that level of exposure, fame, and that dedication of Eastenders of being there from 8am to 8pm to now being free from it. I don’t think she misses it, she’s just trying to live her life.”
Tell us about the comedians you spoke to…
Pugh: “We had Ivo Graham and Jamali Maddix. Ivo got straight into his old NME mags as soon as he got in the room. He collects stuff as well, he gave me a football card, he’s really into his pop culture a lot as well. He’s great, Ivo.”
Doherty: “A lot of his stand-up routines are intensely personal. He talks about his divorce a lot, his children. I went into it wondering how much was true as comedians are allowed to exaggerate, so that was quite interesting. He seems like quite a fragile character as well. I don’t think he’s comfortable doing interviews. During his stand-up he talks a lot about his social discomfort, the class divide, the mannerisms and jokes about himself being from Eton. He’s very good at it.
“Then at the other end of the scale you’ve got Jamali, who’s this fearless warrior from the east end who throws himself against far right Nazi groups in America and EDL rallies. There’s lots of accents and colour. I think we’ve got the best of British on there.”
…and Carl.
Doherty: “Yes, Carl too.”
Pugh: “Carl was great. I wasn’t sure how I’d be in that situation, but Pete asked him some questions and read him something that he’d written himself, they did a Pogues song together, which was brilliant.”
Doherty: “He sidled up to me about a week before and said, ‘So you’re doing a show? Who are you interviewing?’ I was like, ‘Jamali Maddix, Jason from Sleaford Mods…’ and he said, ‘You’re not gonna forget your old pal, are ya?’ I thought, ‘Oh no, this is going to go wrong and get complicated if we don’t get Carl on’. We had to get him on.”
How was your nan’s research on Carl?
Doherty: “Well she knows Carl as well as I do, so I think it was genuine shock and confusion when he saw her there. He normally spends half the gig trying to avoid her. Just joking, no he doesn’t. I think he thought it was just something I’d be organising myself, and then when he saw we had real cameras, real people, a mixing module and all that, there was a deep sigh of relief.”
What did you want to get out of Carl when you got him in the room?
Doherty: “For people to just get to see him relaxed, for a change. That was my main worry, really. He doesn’t really relax. I thought it went really well. He’d just been on a massive writing session in America with loads of different musicians and has come back with loads of new songs, actually. Some absolute belters.
“He’s launching a brand of tequila as well. He was supposed to be bringing in a sample, but it spilt in his boot in his bag, so the only way to sample it was to actually lick it out of his boot. That was a comic masterpiece but not deliberate. Sometimes the universe just comes together.”
What kind of boot?
Doherty: “It was actually a boot that he’d designed as well. ‘Dandy In The Underworld’, Cuban-heeled Chelsea boot.”
Pugh: “That was two of his products he was plugging then. I think he’s done us there. Very clever.”
Now that it’s done, can we expect a season two?
Doherty: “Yeah, bring it on!”
Pugh: “Easy. It’s only five days for us, it’s the other days that have to spend six weeks editing it.”
Who are your dream guests for the next one?
Doherty: “It would be great to finally get Harry Shearer on. That is his last warning, though. If he pulls out again we cut all ties with the guy. That is his ultimatum. Maybe we could do a French leg?”
Who would you get in France? You’re mates with Eric Cantona aren’t you, Pete?
Doherty: “Yeah, I’ve run into him a few times. That would be interesting.”
Pugh: “Macron?”
Doherty: “He’ll have plenty of time on his hands soon.”
Pugh: “Eddie Izzard? Big guest but beyond the budget, I think. We’ll get a foreign producer and some real A-listers. Natalie Cassify again, bring her back.
Doherty: “Carla Bruni, we could get her. We could get Sarkozy.”
We’ve spoken to Pete about what he’s got coming up, but Josh – what’s next for you?
Pugh: “I’ve got a tour coming up in September, I’ve got a sitcom in the can that hasn’t come out yet, I’m writing the next series of that now. Then just enjoying my life with my kids and my wife, having some funny ideas and having somewhere to put them.”
Could you take The Pete Doherty Show on the road?
Pugh: “We could. It’s quite a live thing anyway, with people playing music. It could go on the road. Pete wants an American visa so we could probably take this to Broadway, I would have thought.”
Doherty also spoke to NME about ambitious plans for a new concept album from The Libertines, what the future holds for Babyshambles and his plans for to open a second-hand shop of his old memorabilia.
The first episode of The Pete Doherty Show will arrive on Youtube on Sunday September 13 before a new episode drops every week.
Babyshambles release new album ‘Live At KOKO’ on October 9. Josh Pugh’s UK tour kicks off late September and runs well into November – visit here for tickets and more information.
