Don McGlashan: The Stories Behind NZ’s Most Iconic Songs

Описание: Don McGlashan is a national treasure- one of the greatest NZ songwriters of all time.
He is responsible for songs like Anchor me, Dominion Road and Bathe in the river.

And at the time of recording this intro (in mid-January 2026) a documentary about his life is being released: “Anchor me: The Don McGlashan story”

In this candid, funny, and at times emotional conversation, we talk about how the doco came about, his thoughts on being a pensioner, the grief of losing his brother when he was 15, his mental health struggles, playing Glastonbury, how his hits Anchor Me and Bathe in the river came about, why he called Chris Bishop a dickhead and much more.

I’m a fan boy so I was always going to love this conversation, But I think and hope you will as well.
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00:02 – Introduction & discovering The Front Lawn
02:28 – “Anchor Me”: the documentary & Shirley Horrocks
04:47 – Being the centre of attention (without a guitar)
07:05 – Ageing, touring & never retiring
09:32 – Writing songs for kids and staying creatively “match fit”
11:54 – Avoiding self-destruction in rock & roll
14:13 – Early songwriting & the origins of “Giant Friend”
15:55 – Childhood, ADHD, asthma & green medicine
18:55 – Growing up surrounded by instruments
21:16 – Writing “Andy” and grief in songwriting
23:41 – Losing his brother & living with that loss
26:09 – New York, Irish folk music & learning to write songs
28:39 – Memory, mystery & meaning in songs
31:01 – Hearing the news of his brother’s death
33:15 – How grief shaped his ambition & drive
35:41 – Dreaming of his brother & imagining the life he’d have lived
38:01 – Politics, trolling & the infamous crayfish quote
40:22 – Calling out a heckler at the NZ Music Awards
45:14 – Blam Blam Blam & “There Is No Depression in New Zealand”
47:40 – Finding his songwriting voice
50:03 – The Front Lawn: theatre, music & absurdity
52:23 – Embracing a distinctly Kiwi sound
57:14 – Leaving The Front Lawn & starting The Mutton Birds
59:36 – What The Mutton Birds were meant to be
01:02:03 – Why “Nature” became the breakout hit
01:04:24 – Going global: EMI, touring & Peter Gabriel
01:06:45 – Playing Glastonbury & building an overseas audience
01:09:10 – Learning stagecraft from other great performers
01:11:38 – Fame, community & the NZ music scene
01:14:03 – Depression, pressure & struggling in the UK
01:16:30 – Living with depression & not asking for help
01:17:21 – Creativity, pain & the fear of “fixing yourself”
01:22:10 – When he’s happiest: writing songs
01:24:35 – Writing “Dominion Road”
01:26:57 – Songs as projections of the future
01:29:20 – Success, legacy & what really lasts
01:31:43 – What kind of songs he actually writes
01:33:05 – Writing “Anchor Me”
01:36:29 – Singing songs people love without resentment
01:38:53 – Streaming, money & the reality for musicians
01:41:17 – Touring small towns & breathing in the country
01:43:39 – Writing “Bathe in the River”
01:48:29 – Hearing Holly Smith sing it for the first time
01:50:53 – Kapa haka, Te Reo & the song’s second life
01:53:17 – Emotion, ageing & crying on planes
01:55:38 – Redefining success over time
01:58:03 – Legacy, family & letting songs go
02:00:29 – Fatherhood & being a better cook
02:03:16 – Reflecting on his brother & a life imagined
02:05:00 – Final reflections & closing