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Speaker 1: The Mitch James story is one of music's better ones.

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Speaker 1: I think open mic knights and busking on the streets

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Speaker 1: of London, where if the public weren't generous with the

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Speaker 1: tips then he'd be sleeping on the street that particular night.

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Speaker 1: Eleven years later, we think we've got his final single,

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Speaker 1: Beautiful Strange of the final single is from the album

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Speaker 1: which is due shortly. So is it really over? Mitch

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Speaker 1: James as well? It's good to see you again always mate.

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Speaker 1: Now is it over?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 3: It is, Yeah, it is.

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Speaker 2: It's it's been a crazy journey, like you alluded to.

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Speaker 2: I remember coming in here about eight years ago, scruffy

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Speaker 2: little warriors had on and everything. But yeah, it's been

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Speaker 2: a crazy journey. But I think personally, I've just come

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Speaker 2: to the end of my teather with with the industry.

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Speaker 2: It's a very messed up and at times evil industry.

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Speaker 2: That yeah, I think I've got nothing more to prove.

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Speaker 2: And when you're sort of stuck in that, in that

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Speaker 2: washing machine of an industry with you evil people and

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Speaker 2: thieves and snakes, you know, when you don't have much

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Speaker 2: more to prove and you're looking at the guitar in

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Speaker 2: the morning and it's not looking as beautiful as it

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Speaker 2: used to. I felt like I just needed to step

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Speaker 2: away to sort of preserve that care love for the music.

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Speaker 1: Wow, So what's gone wrong?

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Speaker 3: I think?

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Speaker 2: Firstly, I think, you know, I'm grateful that a lot

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Speaker 2: went right. You know, I think ninety nine point nine

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Speaker 2: percent of musicians aren't lucky enough to be in the

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Speaker 2: position that I've been able to, you know, tour the

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Speaker 2: world and play with my heroes and get hundreds of

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Speaker 2: millions of plays. But I think to keep it succinct,

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Speaker 2: because I could. I could be here for hours explaining

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Speaker 2: the ins and outs of it. But I think, you know,

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Speaker 2: I fell out of favor with a record label and

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Speaker 2: trying to basically climb up the ladder. And then once

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Speaker 2: I got onto this newer, bigger record label, the executive

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Speaker 2: who was in charge of sort of championing championing me,

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Speaker 2: he got into a very big scandal over in Australia

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Speaker 2: which was national news over there, and got fired and

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Speaker 2: all his team got fired, and then I was sort

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Speaker 2: of the casualty. Yeah, I was a casualty and very

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Speaker 2: much the little cousin from New Zealand. As we see

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Speaker 2: with Australia, in all sorts of areas, and I came

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Speaker 2: back with my tail in between my legs, and I

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Speaker 2: was no longer viewed in a positive light by people

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Speaker 2: in the industry here.

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Speaker 3: And is that on you.

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Speaker 1: Or was that just a set of circumstances beyond dual control.

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Speaker 2: I think it's, you know, in retrospect, it's probably a

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Speaker 2: bit of both. You know, I always had the idea

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Speaker 2: and mindset of I'm going to put New Zealand on

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Speaker 2: my back and take it to the world. And I

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Speaker 2: was never never ashamed of that, and I definitely wasn't

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Speaker 2: afraid to step on some throats but to do that,

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Speaker 2: And I think I had the right sort of mindset.

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Speaker 2: But you know, when you try and apply that in

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Speaker 2: a very radical way, sometimes it comes back to.

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Speaker 1: So you're a bit competitive for their liking.

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Speaker 2: I think that's a great way of putting it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Okay, So what they would like is for you

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Speaker 1: to come along, be grateful that you're a talent being

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Speaker 1: picked up by a record label. They'll manage you, you

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Speaker 1: do as you say, and that'll all work out well.

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Speaker 1: Is that's sort of the way it's supposed to work.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And to be fair, you know, all of my

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Speaker 2: initial success was with this record label. But yeah, it's

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Speaker 2: a petty game and a lot of people are very yeah,

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Speaker 2: very petty, and so you know, once I came back

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Speaker 2: with my tail between my legs, I think, you know,

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Speaker 2: they wanted to prove a point and sort of bury

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Speaker 2: my stuff and it never sort of reached the same

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Speaker 2: heights as it did. But you know, I have a

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Speaker 2: great core group of fans who you know, I still

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Speaker 2: got to tour the world after on my own world tour,

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Speaker 2: and that was amazing. But you know, to reach those heights,

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Speaker 2: you definitely need a machine behind me.

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Speaker 1: I was going to ask that. So you're still telling

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Speaker 1: me in twenty twenty four, because there's so much of this.

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Speaker 1: I did it in my bedroom, and I've got my

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Speaker 1: own recorder, and i put it on TikTok, and I've

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Speaker 1: gone to the world and beaten success. You're arguing that

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Speaker 1: there's still a structure in the music industry that requires

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Speaker 1: an established record label or a group of people to

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Speaker 1: get you out to the world successfully.

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Speaker 2: I would definitely say so. And I could sit here

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Speaker 2: and debate that point for a very long time. You know,

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Speaker 2: I think people like to have the idea that you

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Speaker 2: can do it from your bedroom, and that it seems

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Speaker 2: like a very attractive idea and theory. But the way

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Speaker 2: that the Internet works and the current industry works, I

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Speaker 2: would argue you need a structure more than ever, just

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Speaker 2: with the way it sort of goes at the moment.

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Speaker 2: And yeah, I wouldn't know where to start off if

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Speaker 2: I were if I were starting off now, And like

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Speaker 2: I was saying to you off air, I'm very grateful for,

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Speaker 2: you know, the journey that I had, even in retrospect

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Speaker 2: with all the ups and downs, I'm grateful that I

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Speaker 2: did have that machine to take me to places because

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Speaker 2: I wouldn't know where to begin now. But yeah, I

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Speaker 2: would say that you definitely need those people more than ever.

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Speaker 2: But they're just sort of disguised in different ways, I guess.

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Speaker 1: So what's your state of mind where as this realization

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Speaker 1: came to you? You bit or angry, grateful?

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Speaker 3: I think, yeah, probably all of the above.

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Speaker 2: I think it's Yeah, I think once you you know,

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Speaker 2: once you've tasted these heights, it's it's hard to let

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Speaker 2: go of. You know, everyone has an ego. But yeah,

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Speaker 2: I'm very very grateful. I think grateful would be a

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Speaker 2: good sixty five percent chunk of that pipe. But yeah,

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Speaker 2: there's it's it's an ongoing sort of I wouldn't call

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Speaker 2: it a bat or, it's sort of call it a

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Speaker 2: journey that I'm sort of on at the moment. You know,

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Speaker 2: some days I wake up and I sort.

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Speaker 3: Of clinched my first at the air.

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Speaker 2: And think, you know, I still I still have it

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Speaker 2: in the tank, you know, like I can still play

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Speaker 2: for thousands of people, and I feel like I'm better

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Speaker 2: than ever, and I feel like my songs and songwriting

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Speaker 2: is getting better than ever. So that in a sense,

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Speaker 2: you know, it's it's very bittersweet, but you know, I'd

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Speaker 2: be silly to not be grateful for the amazing experiences

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Speaker 2: I've had, you know, like I came into music with

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Speaker 2: the goal of playing R and V and having one

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Speaker 2: hundred thousand and streams on my song, and you know,

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Speaker 2: I got to open for each year and have my

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Speaker 2: own world tour, and I got three hundred million streams.

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Speaker 2: So it's you know, I really blew it out out

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Speaker 2: their part compared to my initial expectations.

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Speaker 3: But you know it's like once you taste that, you

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Speaker 3: want more.

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Speaker 4: You know.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think everyone sort of can allude to that

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Speaker 2: in their own way in their life. But you know,

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Speaker 2: looking back and looking forward, I've got some really exciting

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Speaker 2: doors that are opening and other fields. And you know,

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Speaker 2: if it was never going to happen in the future,

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Speaker 2: I can definitely look back and be incredibly grateful. It's

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Speaker 2: a zero point zero zero zero one thing that I've

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Speaker 2: got to do. And you know, the people are the

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Speaker 2: are the ones that come to the shows and listen

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Speaker 2: to the music. So I'm forever grateful for anyone who's

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Speaker 2: listened or got more tender.

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Speaker 1: So you've got an album still to come as a

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Speaker 1: story behind that we don't have time to tell, but

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Speaker 1: it will be out hopefully by the end of the year.

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Speaker 1: If you're doing a little bit over the summer, I think.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, confess and there yeah.

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Speaker 1: And you're going to sing us a song that has

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Speaker 1: never been released till Mitch James for the final time,

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Speaker 1: until he announces has come back and out of retirement

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Speaker 1: con sort of stuff. What's the song called?

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Speaker 3: The song is called my Favorite Color and fantastic.

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Speaker 1: It's never been hood, it's not really, it's not out

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Speaker 1: there only for you by.

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Speaker 3: Trying to meeting someone know too.

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Speaker 4: He always feels kind of good too, until that one

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Speaker 4: part of the night when they ask my favorite color,

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Speaker 4: and I have to lay because how could I ever telling?

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Speaker 4: It's not blue like the Arsan, it's not quite like

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Speaker 4: the skies. It's deeper than the stormy seas.

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Speaker 3: Even when they cry, it's not like me to start

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Speaker 3: off telling lies.

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Speaker 4: But how could I ever describe the color of your uses?

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Speaker 4: The color of your use? A Hi, It's in my

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Speaker 4: head and in warm move coming in like a tide too.

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Speaker 4: I thought it faded with the time, but when I'm

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Speaker 4: out with another it goes all right. So they ask

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Speaker 4: my favorite color. It's not green like the forest. It's

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Speaker 4: not green like the high.

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Speaker 3: That we had at my flat that day. We laughed

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Speaker 3: and said we cried high. It's not like me to

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Speaker 3: start I'm telling lies, But.

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Speaker 4: How could I ever describe the color of your art,

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Speaker 4: the color of your It's not that I've been trying

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Speaker 4: to keep you in my mind. It don't matter.

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Speaker 3: The person to ask me.

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Speaker 4: Every time when you'd ask me, I've never had to lie.

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Speaker 4: I couldn't wait to say your favorite line, it's the

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Speaker 4: color of your eyes.

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Speaker 1: Say in sessional, Well done, I it's been a pleasure.

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Speaker 1: We'll meet again and talking all that sort of stuff.

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Speaker 1: Give us thirty seconds on your new job. Can you

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Speaker 1: tell us thirty seconds on your new job?

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, I can reveal a little bit.

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Speaker 2: I'm trying to get into the well, I am getting

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Speaker 2: into the sports media space. I'm doing my own thing

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Speaker 2: with someone who's actually in this building, and that'll be

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Speaker 2: called I'll give it Away. I'll give it away for you, Mike.

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Speaker 2: You've been nice to me over the years. It's a

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Speaker 2: sports culture and sports bidding podcast called Our Year, which

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Speaker 2: is sort of an alluding to the Warriors. It's our

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Speaker 2: Year every year. And I've got a few really exciting

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Speaker 2: things in the space that I can't reveal too much

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Speaker 2: about because there was some other and bigger entities. But yeah,

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Speaker 2: I'm looking to get knees deep into the sports media space.

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Speaker 2: And that's been a passion of mine much longer than

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Speaker 2: music had been. So I'm very excited and I'm looking

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Speaker 2: forward to chasing another passion.

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Speaker 1: Good on you, mate, Well go well with it, and

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Speaker 1: you're welcome back here anytime. And I've thoroughly enjoyed meeting

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Speaker 1: and chatting with you and listening to your music over

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Speaker 1: the years.

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Speaker 2: And stuff Always Myke.

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Speaker 1: Thanks Mitch James. For more from the Mic Hosking Breakfast,

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Speaker 1: listen live to news Talks at B from six am weekdays,

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Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio