Mason Newman w/ George Hadley

George Hadley:
3, 2, 1. We are back. George Hadley Show, Sigil Radio. I haven't done this for fucking months. I got a little bit sloppy towards the end of the year. I got a little bit, I got a little bit lazy. I got a little bit lazy. I had one, I had one guest cancel and that was like, that's me done. I'm finished. I'm done. I've dried up. I've dried up. Um, no, I'm absolutely buzzing to be back doing this. I've missed it. Um, And fucking hell, what a guest we are kicking off 2026 with. Mason Newman. Hello. Serious guy, honest. The more research I've done about you, bro, it just blew my head, man. Honestly, the stuff you've done from, you know, your artwork to even taking over the Gunmakers Arms, mate. Your stuff for Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath. It just don't end. It never ends, man. It never ends.

Mason Newman:
No time left in the day, man. No time left in the day. Thanks for having me though, brother. I'm glad to be here.

George Hadley:
Mates, as soon as I saw, as soon as I saw the gunmaker's arms, bro, I was like, yo, I need to get hold of this geezer. I need to talk to him.

Mason Newman:
Give an alcoholic the keys to a boozer and you see what happens.

George Hadley:
How are you finding it all, man?

Mason Newman:
Brilliant, mate. It's the best. Do you know what? It's the best decision I've ever made. But it's just so much time, so much energy, so much effort going in. But it's worth it, man. So worth it.

George Hadley:
Looks wicked. I popped down there earlier and fucking hell, I'm just blown away from how much like it has changed and changed in a good way. The carpet, the walls, the artwork, it's just got so much sauce. It's so sassy, bro. Sauce! It's so good.

Mason Newman:
Thanks, man, thanks.

George Hadley:
And I feel like looking at it, you know, once more people get down there and get some real momentum on social media, I think that's it, bro. I think you're gonna have a seriously, seriously big 2026.

Mason Newman:
Well, we've got the bands coming in from next month, we got the open mic nights coming back, we've got the food trucks coming in from the summer, the garden, the World Cup on show, we've got the footy. We've got everything there for everyone. Pool table with leopard print on top.

George Hadley:
Oh my God, girls, get learning how to play pool quick, man. Amazing, bro. Um, just before we really get into everything, I just need to do a few little Some Cellar bits. Guys, if you was at the New Year's Eve event, honestly, that was just an absolute dream because there's been many, many Some Cellar events where it's gone off. And you know what, for me as a promoter, it just passes me by. I'm either running around, I'm fucking got some sort of shenanigans going on. But for this, it was relaxed. The crowd were just super cool. The DJs were on it and that countdown was just great. And then the fact Jack Bagshaw played, remember David Guetta Memories?

Mason Newman:
Yeah, yeah, big tune, big tune.

George Hadley:
For about the last 2 weeks All I'm singing is, "All the crazy shit I did." Is that the new karaoke song? Yeah. Hey, hey. Karaoke's back. Gunmaker's Arms Sundays.

Mason Newman:
Gunmaker's Sundays at Gunmaker's Arms from February.

George Hadley:
That's it, man. So yeah, I just want to say thank you to everyone who was there, and I'm about to announce the first event of 2026 next week. Originally, there was meant to be a big, big collaboration, which I've just had to push it back till a nice juicy bank holiday. I've got two big, big events lined up. Yeah, so you know what, let's get this underway, man. So Mason, we need to know, where did it all start, bro?

Mason Newman:
Northfield. No, it all started, left school, 16, no GCSEs, teachers telling me I won't be nothing. I was like, fuck that. Am I allowed to swear? I'm allowed to swear. It's your show, I'm allowed to swear, aren't I? No, so I was just like, started making caps, borrowed £200 off my granddad. It was his pension for the week. Made some caps, built a little bit of a brand, sold it to TK Maxx a couple years later, and then started doing art. It's as easy as that.

George Hadley:
Amazing.

Mason Newman:
Well, I say it's as easy as that, I sound like a fucking asshole.

George Hadley:
Granddad, has your granddad got a cap? Did he have a cap?

Mason Newman:
My granddad had a cap. I got a picture of him in the cap, but he always used to wear a trilby, you know, like a proper gangster. He was one of those geezers. It was fully suited, trilby, boots, like always, always smart he was.

George Hadley:
Grandad, if you put this hat on, he's gonna look sick. I mean, he's the reason I'm here where I am now, so big up Grandad, man.

Mason Newman:
Big up Grandad.

George Hadley:
So you started off in Northfield, you've created these hats, you've got them sort of bouncing around between groups of friends, and what was that experience like, you know, sort of like hustling and getting creative?

Mason Newman:
And well, the hustling's cool, but I only bought 25 caps to start with. I had a fist fight with my older brother because he gave two of them away and he broke my nose when I was 16. So I can't breathe out of this nostril, but this one's for other substances. So one don't work.

George Hadley:
One good one, one really good one.

Mason Newman:
One really good one that's not going to be going much longer. Rock and roll. No, so the hustle, the hustle, mate, it was difficult. It was just kicking down doors, being inspired by people, looking up to people like Virgil and Kanye. And then other people from Brum as well that had done it before. Obviously even down to the people at Trapstar and whatever, seeing people build clothing brands that have come from nothing, they've come from council estates and trying to build something from it.

George Hadley:
I think those lads are originally from Erdington, aren't they?

Mason Newman:
Yeah, yeah, no, that's the Hoodridge people.

George Hadley:
That's it, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mason Newman:
I think he cashed out for £10 million.

George Hadley:
Sound.

Mason Newman:
It's not bad, is it?

George Hadley:
It's alright, eh?

Mason Newman:
It's not bad.

George Hadley:
What's he doing now, any idea?

Mason Newman:
I think he might be still involved with the brand, I have no idea. I don't even know his name.

George Hadley:
I'd be spending it, be gone.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, I'd put it all on blackjack.

George Hadley:
Down to my last £200.

Mason Newman:
My mum would be prostitutes and booze.

George Hadley:
Whoa! I'm saying nothing, I'm saying I'm under 0% by the way.

Mason Newman:
He's doing Dry January, which I hate, and I have beef with anyone doing Dry January as a pub owner.

George Hadley:
Listen, anyone who knows me would know if I heard someone doing Dry Jan, I'd be like, fuck him, what's that all about, you know? It's a selfish act. Think about people who've got families in hospitality.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, exactly. People have got to pay their mortgages, man.

George Hadley:
There you go.

Mason Newman:
Get yourself a Guinness. Best Guinness in Birmingham at the Gunmakers Arms, 93 Bow Street.

George Hadley:
From what I've heard, it is top, top draw. It looked good. It looked really good.

Mason Newman:
Thank you, brother. So I tried my best.

George Hadley:
What I'll do, I'll put a picture up on my story. Have a look at this Guinness. It is absolutely banging. And, um, Yeah, so I think for me, Dry Jan, Selfish, over that Christmas period, I must have put on— what people need to know about me is I bloat bad, bloat big, I get the cheeks.

Mason Newman:
You don't look it, you look sweet, man, you look sweet.

George Hadley:
You wait, you just wait, look at me now.

Mason Newman:
Wait for the session, next month we'll go on the proper session, shall we, and we'll see. Moving like Alvin and the Chipmunks.

George Hadley:
That's it, bro.

Mason Newman:
What was his name?

George Hadley:
Theodore.

Mason Newman:
He was a bloated motherfucker, that kid.

George Hadley:
He was a big kid. So yeah, man, check out the Guinness. I'll tell you what, once these Dry Jans done, that first weekend, meet me there. That has to be an official event, I reckon. Get everyone who's doing Dry Jan to fucking land there.

Mason Newman:
I think we do an event and we'll do one day in February, one weekend, one Saturday or Friday, whatever it is, and say anyone who's done Dry Jan—

George Hadley:
beat him up.

Mason Newman:
And I'll go, man, I'll bring the Incredible Hulk out the bag. And you're all gonna be in trouble. Booze is on me, 20% off.

George Hadley:
Let's do it, man. It's an invite that you just can't turn down. So yeah, man, what I also wanted to sort of get, what I want to understand from you, is just like your mindset from the creative process and how you've kept pushing forward and what you look for in your, probably like your decision-making when it comes to creating art and being finding the right people and networking.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, yeah, I'm very, I'm very, I'm a genuine man, so I'm not one of these guys. You've been to events in London, yeah, yeah, you go to these events, it's all the same people trying to, trying to benefit off each other and climb the ladder. I hate it. I don't go to events in London anymore for that reason. I've never been one of those guys. I've been fortunate enough to make friends that have helped along the way. Yeah, I haven't had to climb on or so-called network. There's nothing wrong with networking, but you have the guys at these events that obviously have have there.

George Hadley:
Is that their mission, innit?

Mason Newman:
It's their mission to try and, you know, become something off of someone else, but thankfully I've never been that guy. But it's just down to the hustle. It's about believing in yourself. Like I say, my biggest inspiration growing up was Kanye. So that tells you everything.

George Hadley:
I think probably I'd say a little bit similar to myself. What I noticed when I'd go out to London and we'd do the festivals or whatever, I'd never talk about the event or the brand or what I'm doing. I was just solely just trying to just have a laugh and get on with people and see what it's all about. And then you find out after you go, oh, fucking hell, that person does that.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, yeah, that's like me. It's like when people are like, what do you do? Hate it. Yeah, I say I'm a labourer.

George Hadley:
I'm a labourer and I'm in your kitchen in London.

Mason Newman:
I'm a labourer, I'm here at 7 AM drinking your booze at the afters because I don't know when to call it a day, but I'm a lay, bro.

George Hadley:
That's like me now, bro. It still happens, man.

Mason Newman:
Not in January, it's not.

George Hadley:
Listen, this time last year I was—

Mason Newman:
Every time you drink, it makes me take a drink. This is really, really peer pressure.

George Hadley:
I'm going to say something about this drink. What was it called?

Mason Newman:
It was a Brummie Stout from Birmingham Brewing Co. Shout out Birmingham Brewing Co. Shout out them.

George Hadley:
Shout out them. I was about to let rip a little bit. I'm not feeling that.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, because it's 0.5%, you've got no booze in it, you may as well drink a glass of piss. I don't know if you're into that, but you may as well.

George Hadley:
It's fucking torture, this is. It ain't good. It's not a good time.

Mason Newman:
Get you a proper pint.

George Hadley:
Something I noticed on here the other day when I was doing my research, you've done work with Pete and Baz.

Mason Newman:
Pete and Baz? No, that was a misconception. My friend Connor used to manage Pete and Baz. Well, I say manage, used to work with Pete and Baz's management team, and I would help out where I could help out when I was broken and nobody. So that was just a Birmingham Mail misconception from Sigil Radio.

George Hadley:
Well, you know what, you made it, you made it.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, I mean, I'll use it. Joe and Barn, if you're watching this, I'm sorry, I'll use it, all right? I'll just use it.

George Hadley:
I've got a funny story about them two. So I booked them ages ago. This is like when they weren't as big, but they were on the way.

Mason Newman:
They used to do— is it the Mill down in Digbeth? Yeah, yeah, that's where.

George Hadley:
Yeah, I got them before the Mill gigs. Yeah, so I got it for a lot cheaper.

Mason Newman:
Yeah.

George Hadley:
And, um, we used to get all of our Ryders from Aldi and like whatever the Spice Room one was, it was like Captain Cook.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, something like that.

George Hadley:
I swear to God, I must have only drank about that much. Hardly remember a thing, really.

Mason Newman:
Worse than Uncle Ray's?

George Hadley:
Fuck knows, fuck knows, man. But we've got the lads in the green room upstairs, Pete and Baz, and apparently I was shadowboxing Pete.

Mason Newman:
Pete's a smaller one.

George Hadley:
Yeah, he's got all rings on him.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, he's a proper gangster.

George Hadley:
So I'm doing all this to him and he's just gone whack, hit me straight on my lip. Popped my lip at my event. Gone downstairs, And one of the pals gone, "The fuck's happened to your face? Who's done that? Who's done that? Should we go on fucking Talk, mate?" I went, "Oh, lads, I'll just leave it for a wee bit." "What's happened to you? Is it?" "It's fucking Pete from Pete and Baz." No!

Mason Newman:
Fucking hell.

George Hadley:
So all the pictures at the event on there of like skanky with a fat lip, blood hanging out.

Mason Newman:
That's the best, right? Oh shit, no, I did work with Pete and Baz. I was one of the creative directors of the Christmas music video. I forgot that. Yeah, yeah, at my mate's house and I was cooking the Christmas dinner and then was directing it for the day. Totally forgot that existed. And I'm in it as well, opening a present as a fat motherfucker. Played one of the grandkids in it as well as directed it. Yeah, I totally forgot about that. You see it in the credits and that. Forgot that existed.

George Hadley:
Ah, class, man. I had to bring it up. I have to bring it up.

Mason Newman:
No, Pete and Baz are legends, man. Shout out Pete and Baz, especially Baz. He's a lunatic. He is, he's a lunatic.

George Hadley:
Isn't it the two grandsons?

Mason Newman:
I'm sorry, I know exactly what it is, but I can't say.

George Hadley:
Yeah, yeah, I was just thinking out loud then.

Mason Newman:
It's Pete and Baz, they're genuine rappers.

George Hadley:
Well, let's get back to the interview. So you've, you know, you've started selling your hats. What was like the next, the next thing for you which you wanted next door that opened up.

Mason Newman:
So about 2018, I got a DM on Instagram from someone who used to run Selfridges in Harvey Nicks, like a proper suit, who's become a good friend of mine, um, asking me to go to London and show him some of my samples. I didn't have any samples because I was dropshipping t-shirts. Gildans.

George Hadley:
Yeah, the Gildans.

Mason Newman:
Can't beat the Gildans.

George Hadley:
Big up the Gildans, man.

Mason Newman:
So went down, got them printed, and then I went to this guy who used to run Salvages, bear that in mind. I've gone down with these Gildan t-shirts that were printed in Northfield, right, the t-shirt printers. I said, yeah, I got them made in Milan with the biggest balls. First ever time I went to London, just off of Oxford Street on, um, um, I can't remember the name of the street, no, but it was a really nice office just off of Oxford Street, right by Nike Town. Go in, biggest bollocks ever, and say I've got them printed in Milan. And I think it was that audacity of me me just being that guy that was hustling, he liked, and then he invested in the brand.

George Hadley:
Gildan is an Italian brand?

Mason Newman:
Gianni Versace, Gildan, Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton, all the same really.

George Hadley:
Amazing. So Salvages were interested, you got the ball rolling with that?

Mason Newman:
I got the ball rolling with that, and then they kind of fucked me over, which meant I made no money for for 6 months, go on the dole. I was about 18 at the time, going on the dole for about 2 months, and then start another brand which was Mason Newman Studios. And then within 6 months I've made about £100 grand.

George Hadley:
Amazing.

Mason Newman:
I'm still on the dole, still am today. No, no. So from that, and then it's just a hustle and just the desire to change my situation that I was in, and it's kept me driving throughout the years to this day, man.

George Hadley:
There's something great about— don't take this the wrong way, everyone— like, you need to go on the dole every now and then.

Mason Newman:
Like, it's humbling, but when you go to those meetings at the Job Centre and you look around and you're like, I'm not these people, man.

George Hadley:
I'm not one of these people.

Mason Newman:
They sent me these lifetime benefits.

George Hadley:
I like drawing, man, you know what I mean?

Mason Newman:
You know what I mean? No, it's just just looking around, and I know people are in tough situations that they can't change for multiple reasons, I get it, but it's just looking around when you go into these meetings, like picking up £200 a month here or whatever it was, and it's like, I'm more than this, like I've got more potential, I don't want to waste my potential, man.

George Hadley:
But it's good to have that moment with yourself, and you can either go two ways, you can either not be productive, not be constructive, or you can just, you know, just go on the piss and just Or do both.

Mason Newman:
Oops, oops-a-daisies.

George Hadley:
I think when I started SumCellar, I was in the same boat. I remember just going, fucking hell, there's got to be more to life than this.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, yeah, it's like I was never a kid, I was always destined for something. My mum tells me, she's like, I always knew you was destined for something and you was a bit weird because you used to sit in your baby walker at 2 or 1, whatever it was, and Marilyn Manson would come on the telly and it'd be like, I'd literally be like this. Watching it on the telly.

George Hadley:
This is something else, man.

Mason Newman:
So she was like, I knew you, I knew you'd be destined for something. All right, um, so yeah, but it's about that desire to change your life and become the best version of yourself. I don't want to sound like one of those cringy fucking life mentors or whatever because I ain't one of those, and I wouldn't take any advice from me.

George Hadley:
I'm gonna clip this bit now. Let's make it all inspirational.

Mason Newman:
Don't take any advice from a man from me, you will be a degenerate Lunatic, all right? Don't do it.

George Hadley:
That needs to be like the next edit where you've got like a really motivational one. Oh, amazing.

Mason Newman:
So you come off the dole, come off the dole, start the brand, another brand, Mason Newman Studios, £100 grand in 6 months, build that, build that, build that, sell all the stock to TK Maxx 2020, and then blew the money. Because I was raised broke, so when I got my first bit of big dough, I was like, oh, Gucci, I'm going to Gucci.

George Hadley:
I want a Gucci.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, I want a Gucci that ain't fake. Did that and then, yeah, blew it. And then I was like, what can I actually do? Because all the graphics with the t-shirts I'd hand draw, so it was all hand-drawn graphics. I was like, you know what, my friend actually, I can give him credit for this, Scott Greenwood, very talented artist, now he's just opened a tattoo studio, he's painted for Johnny Depp. Loads of footballers like James Madison, Rio Ferdinand, whatever. He was doing it and he inspired me actually to pick up a canvas and put some of what I was doing on the t-shirts on a canvas and then try and sell it. I couldn't sell them for £100 when I first started, no one was buying them. And then I don't even know where the changing turning point was.

George Hadley:
What was your first painting or your first drawing? What was the first image that comes to mind and that you put I always wanted to create a character, very character-based.

Mason Newman:
My artwork's very character-based, so I was trying to speak to my friend Harry, who's a very intelligent man. He's one of those like super— if you're in a conversation with him, you're gonna go home and have a nap because he's that smart. You've got to proper think about what you're saying. I was talking about like Hello Kitty and all these kind of things. I was like, well, how can I make a kind of Hello Kitty? So that's when I came up with the eyes and the mouth of the drawing, because I can turn you into my character now. I can collab with Ozzy and turn Ozzy into my character. The possibilities are endless. I was kind of trying to create my own Hello Kitty, so it was coming up with the eyes and the mouth that was the first creative thing on canvas that I did.

George Hadley:
So when you finished that painting, what was the Are you showing close friends? Are you just going straight to—

Mason Newman:
No, no, no, I just posted it on Instagram and then put it up in my mom's house. It's still up in my mom's house as well. This is my first ever painting on canvas, it's up there. Just posted it on Instagram to see the reaction and people were like, "Oh, this is brilliant, this is brilliant." And then I was like, and they come up with a series called "All My Favourite Artists Are Dead" and it was newspaper headlines of 'Andy Warhol dead at 58, New York Post,' with a picture of Andy Warhol as my character. And then I'd do Prince, and then I did Bowie, and I did all my favourite artists who had died. Jean-Michel Basquiat, everyone. And then I'd post those on Instagram, get the reels going and whatever, and then you could start to get a bit of attention and attraction.

George Hadley:
I think as well, you're reading off some, like, some people and some characters that just people love. Like David Bowie.

Mason Newman:
Fucking legend.

George Hadley:
Like, it's the legendary people.

Mason Newman:
Legend, man. So I think there's a star man waiting in the sky, he'd like to come and meet us, but he thinks—

George Hadley:
That's not my karaoke song, bro.

Mason Newman:
Don't fucking clip that shit.

George Hadley:
Sorry, Dave. David, we're sorry, man. Um, so you found like, you know, you've there's a lot of legends out there. Who musically inspired you? Like, what— because I always found, and this was when I was probably in my like late teens, I love so much music from a lot of music from like the '60s and '70s, trying to find people who were into the same shit was quite difficult then.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, like growing up in school, like being a teenager in school, everyone's like— I'm 26, so this whole 2016 that's going on, I was 16 in 2016, so everyone's like, we're Drake, Riri, and then you had like Fatih Rafa. Hey, what's up fellas? Sing your prettiest song as you came in the Talk. All that kind of shit. And then I was like, I'll go home and listen to Lenny Kravitz. But in school I was like, you know, I'm just gonna fit in. Listen, I'll rate it all. My taste in music is very broad, but like I'd go home and listen to things that no one else was listening to in school.

George Hadley:
I used to think it was like a curse for me when I was a kid. I go, what the fuck do I like all this stuff, mate? Can't I just like what everyone else likes, and I didn't. I couldn't listen. I remember being a kid, right, and we used to have a CD Walkman. We went to France, I was in Year 8. I've got one CD in my little CD Walkman. I used to listen to the Libertines a lot. Yeah, and the girl I was sitting next to—

Mason Newman:
Legend, Pete Doherty, whatever his name is. Legend of a man.

George Hadley:
Legend, legend. I met Karl Barat in Margate.

Mason Newman:
Oh, brilliant.

George Hadley:
Wicked.

Mason Newman:
What was he like? Class.

George Hadley:
Yeah, he kind of said that because I'd like— you're from Birmingham? Yeah, because I thought we'd fucking don't get none of you down here. And like, you don't.

Mason Newman:
No, you don't. Not down there, because we all get to—

George Hadley:
we all go to Weston-super-Mare.

Mason Newman:
He's always fucking rough.

George Hadley:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mason Newman:
And all my London mates, you know, we'd have Weston-super-Mare, maybe a bit of Blackpool. Yeah, all my Western mates was Brighton or Margate.

George Hadley:
Love Brighton and Margate. Yeah, it's a bit of me, man. Brighton's cool, but I remember sitting next to a girl on the coach on the way. She's like, "Oh, what you listening to? Can I have a listen?" And she's listening to like Can't Stand Me Now, and she's just like, "What the fuck?" Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mason Newman:
This is a thing, man. This is about like when you're in school, when you're in secondary school, you're trying to fit in, you're trying to make friends and not be the kid that gets called a cunt or gets bullied. But really, you should just try and be yourself and find yourself.

George Hadley:
It's amazing how you sort of stick to what you love, stick to what you know, and you sort of grow with it in the end. It almost— it finds the right time. Yeah, in a way. That don't make sense. It could be motivational, but someone will probably—

Mason Newman:
Okay, yeah, well, I didn't find my actual taste. Well, I had me taste, but I didn't realize what my taste was until my early 20s, and I feel like most kids are probably like that.

George Hadley:
It's just an interesting, confusing time, really is. So you've You've started making these— sorry, you started making t-shirts. What was the next step for you after that? Where did you go?

Mason Newman:
From making the t-shirts, sold the stuff to TK Maxx.

George Hadley:
I see, yeah.

Mason Newman:
Paint the paintings, and then it was just hustling for an exhibition, trying to get an exhibition in London, which didn't happen. No one— I met this guy through a friend of mine, my old sales agent, shout out Matt, who's from Wolverhampton, so he's a local lad. That was one of us. He introduced me to this guy in Angel who had the gallery who gave Mr. Doodle his first show, Slawn his first show. Went there and then I had no money at the time. He's like, yeah, we'll do a show, I've put so many other artists down, whatever. It was like 2021, just after COVID. Sends me a bill the next day for rent of the space. I'm like, this ain't a fucking show, man. And bear in mind, I had no knowledge on the art world at the time like I do now. It was just trying to get a quick little buck and then nothing would have— nothing, even if I had the money, which I didn't at the time, it wouldn't have sold. It would have been a waste of money. I would have gotten 100 people there. It would have been a waste of time.

George Hadley:
Do you think there's something about you not knowing sort of like the industry and what you're about to step into, which one, people enjoy and people love that, people crave that, because I think sometimes If you almost know too much about your surroundings or what you're doing, I'm not saying that you care too much, but you can overthink. Yeah. And your interactions could be a little bit messed up and a bit chaotic. I think if you don't know what you're getting yourself into, you're the most authentic version of yourself in a way.

Mason Newman:
I was lucky because I had the fashion background, so I had my little London crowd already from fashion. And then when I did, when I started painting, it's like, oh, Mason's doing art now.

George Hadley:
Shit.

Mason Newman:
Fucking shit. So I was lucky I had that little step already from the fashion world, which they both kind of collide. Yeah. But this guy and galleries— galleries, as any artist, honestly, keep everything in-house. If you think a gallery is going to help you, then not. Galleries are out to make money from you as an artist, as an upcoming artist, whatever you are. Be vigilant because they're out, they're sharks. Anyone that's called a dealer or an agent are out to make money off you.

George Hadley:
Yeah, there's something very interesting I'd say with music as well, anything like that. I think, you know, I've been fortunate to work in venues and we can get caught up in certain DJ sets or nights and what's going on. The fundamental is that these venues and these places and agents, everyone's there to make money.

Mason Newman:
What was that Kanye look? Everybody know I hate agents. I'm too vocal, I'm too flagrant. Something smelling like shit, that's a new fragrance. That's from Life of Pablo. He says he fucking hates agents because they're all out to extort the creatives. They're out to make money. They pay their mortgage off of creatives. Exploiting creatives. It's just not right, man.

George Hadley:
That's how a lot of artists burn out as well.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I've had— I've worked with galleries that had me doing 50 paintings a week. Good money, made a lot of money, made me a decent— made me a decent— which has been why I've been able to buy a pub. But it takes away your creativity for a little while. You burn out.

George Hadley:
Yeah. How do you keep going through that? What's keeping you going? Is it Guinness?

Mason Newman:
Hello, sexy señorita. Booze. Yeah, booze. Can't stop.

George Hadley:
The creative juices, man.

Mason Newman:
Always say creative juices. No, everyone knows when you've had a little tickle of a drink, you feel a lot better about yourself.

George Hadley:
Yeah. Do— would you, um—

Mason Newman:
I've got a Guinness pump in the studio.

George Hadley:
That's naughty, that is.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, I know. That's terrible, innit? Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and tea.

George Hadley:
I bet you start— I bet you talk to it now.

Mason Newman:
I talk to it, I kiss it, I cuddle it. All sorts with Mark Guinness.

George Hadley:
So where did this work with like Madonna come from? How did that come around?

Mason Newman:
So the Madonna thing—

George Hadley:
That's fucking sick, sorry bro, come on, Madonna!

Mason Newman:
Yeah, man, it's cool. No, I never met her, I don't even know if she knows who I am, probably don't know who I am, but it was our brand Material Girl.

George Hadley:
Singing that today, thinking about this.

Mason Newman:
We're just living in a material world and I am a material girl. I'm afraid that this has now become a karaoke and you can watch the whole karaoke live on Sigil Radio. Sigil Radio.

George Hadley:
Tom, would you be up for doing like a karaoke special one, maybe like next Christmas?

Mason Newman:
Oh, shout me in for that, please. Creep by Radiohead on there though.

George Hadley:
Oh, it does take— that takes you on a journey, man.

Mason Newman:
And the venue when I can smoke a cigarette.

George Hadley:
There could be tears, they can be sad, like, I'm a weirdo, what the hell am I doing here, I don't belong here.

Mason Newman:
I'm never going to do the next bit because I'm going to embarrass myself, and I don't want to do that because I've never embarrassed myself before and never do it every day.

George Hadley:
Listen, if If karaoke is happening on that Sunday, bro, I'm there, man.

Mason Newman:
Cher.

George Hadley:
Let the gun makers, I'm there.

Mason Newman:
You're gonna do Cher?

George Hadley:
I'm doing Cher.

Mason Newman:
You've got to do Cher.

George Hadley:
No matter how hard I try, you keep pushing me aside.

Mason Newman:
Do you know the best thing is all I can hear in this is that it's really fucking loud and it's perfect. It's perfect.

George Hadley:
I'm so sad that you're leaving. Yeah, I have. Listen, I tried hard then on that last note, but I am big under the chair.

Mason Newman:
You know what I'm looking into doing? I'm looking into— do you remember Anton Seb from X Factor? Yeah, I'm looking into booking him to do Mysterious Girl just for my childhood. It could probably cost me a couple grand, but for the shit it gets, it's hilarious.

George Hadley:
Mysterious Girl, as in—

Mason Newman:
don't you remember them?

George Hadley:
The two lads?

Mason Newman:
Yeah, the two lads, they're taking bookings, man. I'm thinking of booking them. Just to do it. Come on, move your body, mate.

George Hadley:
Do it on there, man.

Mason Newman:
Mate, the whole of Birmingham will turn up for Ant and Seb. They're legends, man.

George Hadley:
Are they actually— can you actually book them?

Mason Newman:
Yeah, you can book them. They're on TikTok. They released a Christmas song. I was having a poo-poo looking. Class. But no, Madonna thing, um, a guy who we used to work with, who, who is an old business partner of mine, came involved with this Material Girl brand and said, would you want to be creative director? And I was like, I don't know, I was like, how much you paying me? Is that how much you want? I went, this is like, yeah, cool, let's do it. So we only did one collection. Yeah. But no, it was cool. And best believe I listened to Material Girl. My most played song on Spotify for that year was Material Girl.

George Hadley:
So what doors did that open up for you? Surely that was—

Mason Newman:
that opened other doors. I got a little job After that, working with some brands in London on a consultancy basis, design consultancy, and then it opened up the biggest door, which was the breaking point in my career when I started selling, when I actually started selling art and making money, was when I did Ed Hardy. Yeah, becoming the first geezer other than Ed Hardy himself, Don Ed Hardy, to have my artwork on an Ed Hardy garment. I got to tweak the original design, so let me redo the original designs, but was as a kid who wore fakes, which everyone did. Everyone wore fake Adardi as a kid. To be able to do that was just mental.

George Hadley:
Unbelievable. Unreal.

Mason Newman:
And do you remember it was Ed Hardy by Christian Ojaja?

George Hadley:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mason Newman:
It became Ed Hardy by Mason Newman.

George Hadley:
Oh mate!

Mason Newman:
Which was cool. I had a little Tommy Tank over it.

George Hadley:
Oh man, I would. I'd be doing it. I might do one after here just thinking about it, just talking to you. No mate, that is Seriously, seriously, a huge, huge achievement.

Mason Newman:
Thank you, man. There's no beers in the fridge. This is terrible.

George Hadley:
What do we have, Tom? Is there— is that Red Bull? Is that Red Bull?

Mason Newman:
Sorry, I'm just doing a radio interview. Let me call you back. Okay, love you, bye.

George Hadley:
Guinness, please.

Mason Newman:
Guinness.

George Hadley:
So, Ed Hardy, you've got You know, you've gone and smashed that. How has a lad from Brum gone and done this, bro? We need to know. Is he—

Mason Newman:
Ruining the stars a million miles away, a message to the man—

George Hadley:
That's your era, you know that.

Mason Newman:
That is my like golden time in year 6. You could half an hour on a Friday to watch YouTube on the computers. That was my tune, man.

George Hadley:
I was probably in year 11 going, I'm way past this.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But no, kid from Brum. Do you know what it is? All I'm saying is pure determination, pure belief in yourself. You gotta— people, I get people, I listen, thousands of people send me horrible messages, especially since the Sabbath stuff and whatever, which I'm sure we'll get to. Yeah, since that kind of stuff, you just gotta drown it out and just believe in yourself and keep your circle very, very small. Yeah, very, very small. And just have genuine people around you and don't let the vultures in, because there's a lot of vultures out there, man.

George Hadley:
I think as well probably, you know, your work's at such a high level and there's so many people involved that like you can't please everyone. Everyone's got an opinion.

Mason Newman:
I'm not a people pleaser. No. I'm not a people pleaser. I don't care about anyone other than myself and my close circle.

George Hadley:
Exactly.

Mason Newman:
Which is how you have to be. I care about helping people, but in terms of the industry, I don't care about anything.

George Hadley:
No. But also you can lose your authenticity if you start trying to please everyone and fucking, oh, I will do this, I will change that. That's not what it's about.

Mason Newman:
I'm very good at saying no, which is a very strong point of mine. I could have made a lot more money if I just said yes to everything. I know it's not all about money. It's kind of all about money. But I could have made a lot more if I said yes to everything, but it's about my integrity and about keeping my authenticity.

George Hadley:
I think, you know, if you were to say yes to these opportunities, you'd lose a part of yourself in that process.

Mason Newman:
This is what they call selling your soul to the devil. Isn't actually selling your soul to the devil. It's doing shit like that and saying yes to everything and losing parts of yourself and your own soul. It's not actually selling your soul to the devil. It's that.

George Hadley:
There's always that famous quote or that famous time for, you know, Dave Chappelle. He turned down all that money to take on this massive contract. Yeah. And they all thought, oh, he's mad, he's lost the plot. But then he come back and just said, listen, like, you know, look at all the people who accept that. That offer. Yeah, where do they end up? All in the loony bin.

Mason Newman:
Exactly. Look at Britney Spears and all these, like, they've lost the plot because they've taken these deals and they've done this and worked themselves to a point and burnt themselves out and been controlled. The creative industries are all about control. You don't want to be controlled.

George Hadley:
Do you think there's a worry that everybody wants everything now?

Mason Newman:
Yeah, but I'm also guilty on that front. I'm very impatient, but I also am smart enough to understand that nothing comes today. Everything comes tomorrow. That's a clip, that. Fuck it, now.

George Hadley:
That's going to be one of the inspirational clips.

Mason Newman:
You know, when I die, that's going to be on the Mason Newman quotes on Google. It's about being patient as well, but it's also being strategic enough and keeping your business in integrity, because most of art and most of creative industry is about business. Yeah, it's 90% business, 10% creativity.

George Hadley:
Is that something that you've got better with, or were you just really good at from the start, would you say?

Mason Newman:
I've always been good at business because I don't take shit, and like I say, I'm good at saying no. And as a kid, my interest wasn't actually in the arts, my interest was business. Yeah, I always wanted to go to business school. Couldn't afford it. So then naturally, I was always a creative kid and I knew I had creative talent. My dad was a singer, my brothers were singers and rappers, and everyone had musical talent. But I have no musical talent, as you've previously seen, sadly. Otherwise I'd be on the stage with my top off and in really tight leather pants singing rock and roll songs.

George Hadley:
I think, I think, let's say this time next year, we'll be millionaires. Millionaires. I think the karaoke is gonna become a bit of a serious a serious foot in the door to bigger things.

Mason Newman:
Listen, karaoke is going to change my life.

George Hadley:
Once we start filming the karaoke sets, that's it, it's game over. What does that mean? It's not game over, it's the start of something.

Mason Newman:
Game over for my career, it's done. Nice to know you all, I'm going.

George Hadley:
How did the, the work— did you have to deliver some work to Billie Eilish?

Mason Newman:
Yeah, that's insane. Billie, I flew to LA 2023. What was that? No, last— no, that was the last year. 2020. Fuck knows. 23. 23 or 24. 23. It's gotta be 23 because I was fat. I think I was skinny.

George Hadley:
No, no.

Mason Newman:
April 24th. No, 2024. That was it. 2024. April of 2024, delivered Billie Eilish and her manager a couple pieces. Um, I took them off the canvas, rolled them up, um, put them in my hand luggage, got them on the plane, go to LA with my best pal Connor. And I was bald. We rented a Mustang, a convertible Mustang, and me being an absolute— I was gonna say that, I can't say that, I've gone an idiot. I, with the roof down, was going down the 405 with the roof down, bald head, sun blazing, pinging off it. Yeah, I had sunstroke for the whole of the LA trip. I couldn't stop throwing up. I was dying. And then I went to the shop, I went to 7-Eleven and bought water, big massive 5-liter jug of water, because I was obviously ill. Yeah. And it was ionized water, what you use for like washing machines and whatever. So me and my mate drank half of this, we shared it, and then I read the thing, I was like, mate, this ain't good, this ain't good. So I was in this Airbnb in fucking Santa Monica and was seeing Billie Eilish tomorrow, and it's like, oh, this ain't good, man, this ain't good. I spent most of that trip on the toilet, honestly.

George Hadley:
Fucking hell, man. How was you on that— on the day you met her? Was you all right? Did you get through it?

Mason Newman:
I got through it, and the manager was amazing. It was all good. Managed to get through it just about, but inside I was dying. I was dying. And then I had a flight, the 12-hour flight the next day.

George Hadley:
Oh my God. So how long was you there for? Just a few days?

Mason Newman:
4 days. And all 4 days I felt like death. Imagine the biggest comedown of a hangover of all time. Imagine you've done heroin, speed, coke, crack, fucking every drug under the sun. Guinness. Not that I've done any of these, but then the comedown from that is how I felt. Jesus, it weren't nice, man. It weren't nice. It ruined my trip.

George Hadley:
Well, I guess it's a balancing act, you know. You're going to go and meet Billy. That's a huge thing. You've got to suffer somehow.

Mason Newman:
Nothing good comes without darkness, does it?

George Hadley:
There you go, there you go. So that was 2024.

Mason Newman:
Yeah.

George Hadley:
So then where do you find yourself?

Mason Newman:
You get back, get back, go paint me ass off. Um, what happened after that? Um, oh, what happened after that? 2024. Yeah, we having, uh, the rest of the year just focused on bringing things in-house and selling paintings, really. Working on the sales, the sales kind of thing, and getting some pieces out to collectors. Signed with an agency, the biggest art agency, I won't name them. That didn't work very well, they didn't make me a single penny in a year because they signed 40-something artists and focused on the artists that were friends with the CEO. And not the other artists, because I was like, I said to my mum, I was like, I just signed to this massive, massive, massive thing here and each project's half a million quids per project. Don't work that way, sadly, because it's an ego-fuelled project. The CEO had an ego-fuelled project with her billionaire husband.

George Hadley:
Do you think it was just about them trying to just accumulate what you've got?

Mason Newman:
Don't know why they signed me, if I'm honest. Don't know why they signed me. I was still able to do everything I was doing, but it was kind of made me a little bit more laid back in my output because I was expecting things from them.

George Hadley:
Yeah.

Mason Newman:
Which obviously didn't happen. So yeah.

George Hadley:
So do you think that not having— not to say not having like high expectations, but just you'd rather just see where this goes? You're not going to build yourself up for anything? Do you know what I mean?

Mason Newman:
No, I get it. But I did have high expectations for them because some of them, they've done some of the biggest art projects in the world. Yeah, like contracts that are worth £10 million and whatever. So I was like, I've made it, I'm gonna go. I was on AutoTrader looking at Lamborghinis because I'm that idiot.

George Hadley:
You've got to do it though.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, I know, but no, at least that— yeah, I didn't get a Lamborghini, but I got a Porsche, but that was on my own doing.

George Hadley:
I thought you were gonna say like a Peugeot or something.

Mason Newman:
No, I used to drive a blue Peugeot 207, 2006 plate, in 2020.

George Hadley:
Reliable?

Mason Newman:
It got me back and forth to London a few times.

George Hadley:
Do you know what, my— I've got a collection of just Corsas.

Mason Newman:
Oh, I love a Corsa.

George Hadley:
I left my Vauxhall Corsa at Glastonbury the one year. No, it burnt out on the way down. And then, you know, obviously we're all on like a major comedown. Yeah, everybody wants to go home. I know deep down this car ain't getting us back. So we literally pull out of Glastonbury, gone, finished. Everyone's in the car going, fucking, you're having me on, ain't you? This is loads of shit. I had to leave it there, bro.

Mason Newman:
But you got the story, man. You got the story to tell.

George Hadley:
And my dad, my dad's a brickie, and, um, real man, real man. He gets a bit stressed out with me sometimes. You're telling me it's fucking worth it then, was it? You're leaving your fucking car there, was it worth it, Glastonbury? It was fucking good though. Yeah, it was fucking—

Mason Newman:
Bet you had it. What year was it?

George Hadley:
He was chasing me around.

Mason Newman:
He was headlining.

George Hadley:
Uh, you know who was headlining, right? Paul McCartney was there.

Mason Newman:
Oh, I know the one.

George Hadley:
And, um, Kendrick Lamar. Yeah, who else was there? Do you know what, you know, in my sensible head, I was going, it'd be great to see one of the Beatles. What a fucking moment that would be.

Mason Newman:
Paul McCartney said no to me, by the way. It was supposed to be a collaboration. He said no.

George Hadley:
Really? Yeah, well, how'd you feel about that? I mean, I'd be— I didn't see him at Glastonbury. I swerved him in.

Mason Newman:
Never, never liked the Beatles anyway. No, I'm joking. I love the Beatles.

George Hadley:
Your, your works could be very Yellow Submarine-ish.

Mason Newman:
It got to be Yellow Submarine. It's good to make Paul McCartney very modern and make you— make the youth buy you, Paul. Make young people, Gen Z, buy your merchandise, Paul. All right, Paul.

George Hadley:
Tom, could you, could you clip that? Put a bit of money on it.

Mason Newman:
Let's go to the moon, baby!

George Hadley:
Paul McCartney. So Mason, you think that's appropriate, do you?

Mason Newman:
Prefer George Harrison myself.

George Hadley:
I'm a huge, huge, huge Beatles fan. Like, it's something that's come with, with age, I'd say. But when you, when you're getting stuck in the, in the sesh, you've got to ask about it.

Mason Newman:
I can't be like You can't watch him sing Blackbird after you're up, when you're off your tick. Blackbird singing in the day or night, take these broken wings and learn to fly.

George Hadley:
Do you know what was funny? I remember I went to this, it was in this tent, there's probably about 20 people in this tent, these two DJs are on, and I went, listen here, mate, you're up against the Beatles right now and you're having it off. I was just off my head.

Mason Newman:
It's true though, it's fucking Paul McCartney. The fucking Beatles, man.

George Hadley:
There you go, man.

Mason Newman:
Beatles. Like Kanye and Rihanna. No, there was a Rihanna video when they did 4 or 5 Seconds, Paul, Kanye, and Rihanna, and there was a behind-the-scenes video of Kanye styling them all in Ralph Lauren vintage denim. No way. Um, and Rihanna's like, it's the fucking Beatles. Like, even she was guessing. That was like prime 2015. Leng Rihanna, who's still, who's still a beautiful woman, but 2015, lovely woman, was my jam. That was my introduction to women.

George Hadley:
Oh my God. I think once that Rude Boy tune came out, I'm just— I think we all changed a bit.

Mason Newman:
What was the one? Was it Bitch About— when she was on the phone like being a stripper? Was it Bitch About Have More Money?

George Hadley:
Yes.

Mason Newman:
No, when she was on the phone like whatever. All the lads at school used to have the one person had a phone and was all like sat around the phone just dribbling.

George Hadley:
See, I'm going to show my age now. I think it started for me with Kylie Minogue.

Mason Newman:
Carly Minogue was my first crush. What was that one where she had the white scarf thing on? That was Can't Get You Out of My Head. That was my first woman crush.

George Hadley:
I'm going back to I'm Spinning Around. I'm an old man.

Mason Newman:
I actually met, I was friends with her ex-fiancé.

George Hadley:
No way.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, I did some work with him and I just looked at him every time I met him, I was like, you fucked Carly Minogue.

George Hadley:
Yummy, yummy man.

Mason Newman:
You dirty, dirty man. Give me your hand. Shake my hand, please.

George Hadley:
Fucking hell. We need to talk about your work with Black Sabbath.

Mason Newman:
Yeah.

George Hadley:
Unbelievable fucking thing to be involved in, bro.

Mason Newman:
The whole— mate, you was in Brom when it was happening, when the last show was happening back to the beginning. You saw everyone walking around, people from all over the world, man. It was—

George Hadley:
What that done for this city is absolutely incredible.

Mason Newman:
Black Sabbath are the best thing to come out of Birmingham ever, and rename the fucking airport. I said it on ITV News, I've said it on fucking BBC, I've said it everywhere. Rename the fucking airport. Yeah. Ozzy Osbourne International, man.

George Hadley:
Can you imagine that?

Mason Newman:
Ozzy Osbourne International. He may have been a fucking lunatic, but he was Brummie through and through, and he's put this city on the map massively, massively.

George Hadley:
And like, The heart, I just, I can't believe it. Like, we spoke about where we lived, like I live in King's Standing, it's a fucking stone's throw away from Villa Park. And to have all of that going on at that time, it's just, and it's on the doorstep.

Mason Newman:
Even me, I showed you, I live in town, I showed you where I live earlier, it's like that's, you can walk, I walked to the gig from my house.

George Hadley:
Did you go down the canal?

Mason Newman:
Did you go that way? No, I went down past Newtown Swimming Baths and that pub, what's that pub?

George Hadley:
The Barton Arms.

Mason Newman:
Walked past the Barton Arms down that way.

George Hadley:
Beautiful pub. You ever been in there?

Mason Newman:
I have been in there and it's beautiful. My granddad just told me a story of the Krays used to go in there as well when they came to Birmingham.

George Hadley:
Yeah, there used to be the Albo Room which was opposite there, which was like the nightclub, so people would go to the pub, go to the Albo Room. I did the Pete and Baz artwork from the Barton Arms.

Mason Newman:
Oh, no way! Sick, man, sick. But no, Black Sabbath, to get back to the interview for you, came around through Universal Music, a friend of mine. I went to him 2 years before and said, I want to do Sabbath. He's gone, Sharon ain't gonna have any of that. 2 years before, she ain't gonna have it. I was like, all right, fair enough. And then 2 years later I go to him, I was like, mate, Birmingham, Birmingham artist, I'm doing all right, back to the beginning gig, Ozzy's coming home, Sabbath are coming home, it makes a bit of sense, mate. Yeah, I just, I just sent it on a long shot and then he put it forward to Sharon and she said yeah. And then the Sabbath thing went, did the Sabbath, did 3 t-shirts, um, Black Sabbath Mason Newman t-shirts. I got so much hate from the heavy metal community by the way. And then that went into Selfridges, that sold out straight away in Selfridges because my personal shopper told me it was the most popular thing. Yeah. And they sold me a £3,000 jacket. Bastard. So that went well. And then because that went so well, Sharon came to me and said, would you want to do an Ozzy t-shirt for the official merchandise at Villa Park? Ozzy's last ever merchandise by me. And then you've got the reaction. Have you seen that?

George Hadley:
Yeah.

Mason Newman:
I've been putting out. What the fuck is this, Sharon? This is fucking shit. But it was amazing.

George Hadley:
Even though he said that, there's something fucking beautiful. It must be even like— I'd look at that as a positive.

Mason Newman:
No, I love it because it's so Brummie. And I know he don't mean any viciousness from it either, but I met him a week before he died.

George Hadley:
Yeah.

Mason Newman:
And Sharon was like, we sold out. And it all went to the children's, no profit. I didn't make any money from it. Sorry, I need the runny. I've been on the session for 7 days. No profit. She's like, we sold 40,000 of them, we need more. Oh wow, that's kind of cool. Yeah, it was good. I got Sharon Osbourne in front of me like telling me we need more of stuff that I've made for it, and Ozzy sat there next to her. I'm like, fucking hell. He weren't in a good way though, bless him. But then they got the painting as well, the original painting that we used for the t-shirts. The last ever painting that Ozzy got was from me.

George Hadley:
It's beautiful.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, it's brilliant, isn't it?

George Hadley:
It's so special.

Mason Newman:
Like, I wish I bought me necklace.

George Hadley:
Now that, like, you know, I've got to know you, I just think that, like, that is— I can't imagine how great that feeling is.

Mason Newman:
You know what it is? It still hasn't sunk in. It's so surreal. It's not sunk in because my granddad would take me down to Lodge Road in Aston. He'd take me every Sunday to the Villa ground. He'd give me a tenner to spend on anything from the villa shop, go there, but then on the way back he'd drive past Ozzy's childhood home and say, this is where Ozzy Osbourne grew up, be inspired.

George Hadley:
There's something so beautiful about him going to like Beverly Hills, going all across the world and remaining so fucking Brummie.

Mason Newman:
He didn't lose his accent. I've lost my accent, I've been to London twice. This guy lived in LA for 40 years and toured the world.

George Hadley:
I had to go back and watch like the Osbournes. I watched them as the, you know, Once About to Begin gigs.

Mason Newman:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

George Hadley:
Really got back into it. And you know what, it kind of reminded me of my granddad, if anything, because like almost constantly always moaning about something even when shit's good.

Mason Newman:
It's a Brummer. You're always moaning, always moaning, always moaning. Your life could be great, but no, it was a very real experience. Still ain't sunk in, to be fair. The biggest honour of my life, and I don't think I'll ever beat it. And I got some cool shit coming up as well.

George Hadley:
Yeah, are you able to talk about that, or are you gonna—

Mason Newman:
I'll tell you off air.

George Hadley:
Sweet, man.

Mason Newman:
All the other aging rock stars.

George Hadley:
Really?

Mason Newman:
Yeah.

George Hadley:
Paul McCartney, you had your chance. Fuck you, Paul.

Mason Newman:
Love you though, mate.

George Hadley:
So you've just mentioned the villa, so I'm gonna apologise. I'm gonna do a little villa Villa bit here. Tom's rolled his eyes at me several times.

Mason Newman:
Who do you support, Tom? I'm agnostic, I'll keep it neutral. Yeah, glory hunter.

George Hadley:
Baggies, Baggies.

Mason Newman:
You had a good game the other day, didn't you?

George Hadley:
No, I don't know, I don't know if Tom's—

Mason Newman:
No, I keep it neutral.

George Hadley:
So how have you found the recent seasons with the Villa? It's been unbelievable with Unai Emery, like Honestly, Unai has changed the team.

Mason Newman:
Like, he's changed— we were shit, bruh, for so many years. Since Martin O'Neill left.

George Hadley:
No, it all just went downhill.

Mason Newman:
It went downhill. And the fact that we're now in the top 5, and actually apart from the other day for a stupid performance with Everton, it was horrible. We're considered title race, mate. But, what was it? PSG. PSG just ruining, ruining the game, ruining the game. For teams like Villa to be able to compete at the top level and beat Arsenal or draw with Arsenal, whatever it was, can't remember, and be able to compete with teams like that, it's unbelievable. But we're playing beautiful football, big football fan, I'm going to the Young Boys game next week. Shout out to Hublot for the hospitality tickets.

George Hadley:
I've got something to tell you, I am doing the DJ fan zones. Oh yeah?

Mason Newman:
Yeah, yeah, so I'll come and see you there. I'll be in the Trinity hospitality thing.

George Hadley:
Maybe you can get me in.

Mason Newman:
I'll take blowjobs and wanks.

George Hadley:
You gotta do what you gotta do, haven't you? Check this out, right, so I did my first Fan Zone.

Mason Newman:
Mate, I love you, I'm bursting for a piss, I'm gonna wee myself.

George Hadley:
I'm bursting, man. But you did say I could give you a—

Mason Newman:
That's a perfect time to cut it, isn't it? Wouldn't that be good?

George Hadley:
What do you want to do, do you want to wrap it up?

Mason Newman:
No, I don't want to wrap it up. I just need the wee.

George Hadley:
Is there a way— if you want to go and have a wee, I can do some chat.

Mason Newman:
I'll do that. I'll go for a wee. Where's the bugs? I'm going to go and get my massive penis out and have a wee. Is it in the boozer?

George Hadley:
We need to talk about Manjaro.

Mason Newman:
Manjaro, we'll do that when it gets dark.

George Hadley:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mason Newman:
Where is it in the boozer?

George Hadley:
Downstairs. I think it's about 3 levels.

Mason Newman:
All right, I'll find it.

George Hadley:
To be fair, we've only got what, 3 minutes, 3 minutes left? We did start quite late. Um, I think we need to touch back on Sumseller. I always butcher talking about Sumseller at the start. I always feel like it's like a hot potato when you've got a guest and you're like, I really need to get on with the show. But, um, do you know what, it's set— it's— I kind of, I kind of put last year, last year at the very start was quite— I wasn't necessarily in the best place mentally with the events. I was like sort of ready for another campaign. It's not that I felt exhausted, but like I was probably a bit— there's a lot of pressure that comes with promoting, and there'll be a lot of people who, you know, have been in very similar positions. And I was thinking, Am I ready to put myself through this again? And you know what, that first event with local boys, it was such a game changer for, for Samsella, and it was so good. It was so, so good. And it really gave, gave me some momentum to keep, to keep pushing it and to keep, to sort of keep the vision alive because I look, I'm going to put it I looked back on the year previous and I wasn't— I was probably in a very difficult, yeah, mental state with just what I was doing in terms of even events, personal life, work life. It just, you know, you're like, what the fuck? I need to sort of check out a little bit. And there's been many times where I probably should have checked out before that and I just keep pushing, just keep pushing events. Pushing events. But you know what, I'm glad I've done that because it's really helped elevate the brand, elevate what Sumseller, you know, was always about. It's like it's bigger than me sometimes. Well, it is. And there's nothing I love more than getting DJs down, especially new DJs, and everyone having a good time and having a good, good party. And I feel like the last few events that we've done, they can't— they just feel like it feels more like an old-school party in a way. Like, the vibes are just so good and there's no— don't have any issues. And like, the people who I'm linking up with who are creatives in the city are just super, super sound. There's no mad egos. There's no bitchiness. Everyone's just coming, doing their sick thing, and then yeah, we all wait till the next one, or someone's got another event the weekend after. Like, it's just great. And I feel that there's a lot of events and there's a lot of really good creative people at the moment who are doing really, really good stuff. Tom and Poppy are absolutely smashing it. Like, what they've done for the city and the community is just unbelievable. More of that this year. I think that would be good, mate. I'm absolutely bursting for a slash, you know, but I can hold it. I will hold it.

Mason Newman:
I couldn't hold that, mate. It would have been everywhere.

George Hadley:
Did you sit down or did you—

Mason Newman:
I'm a sit-down, we are. Yeah, I'm a sit-downer.

George Hadley:
Yeah, another— it's a good— another good creative process.

Mason Newman:
So out of breath from the stairs. My God, next time get a ground floor studio, please.

George Hadley:
Tom, could you— I think before you you know, if you're going to leave here, there's got to be like a POV walk up these steps. People don't know, the viewers don't actually know what these steps are all about.

Mason Newman:
It's true.

George Hadley:
We've lost people on these steps. We need to—

Mason Newman:
You almost lost me on the way up.

George Hadley:
I was accepting the fact you'd gone. That was it, never see you again.

Mason Newman:
That would be proper rock and roll, that, wouldn't it? But I'm not an asshole, sadly. I wish I was. That would have been funny.

George Hadley:
Mama, I'm coming home.

Mason Newman:
Who the fuck's calling me now? Hold on. Oh, he can get— he's not replying to him.

George Hadley:
2 minutes, we've got to talk about Manjaro.

Mason Newman:
Let's do it because I've got to go on the session. Manjaro changed my life. Yeah, Manjaro was epic. Same thing really, went on it, lost 13 stone, went from a fatty to a skinny, went from mangina to big cock. No, I'm joking, I'm joking, I'm joking. If you looked at the Lad Bible or the Uni Lad or The Sun I rage-baited the press saying I grew 3 inches on my penis, which is just not true. I just lost the fat.

George Hadley:
Do you know what? I was thinking you must have shares or stocks in Manjaro because you'd make a fucking fortune.

Mason Newman:
The best thing was in the articles it was like, we've contacted the manufacturer of Manjaro for comment. Just for me. I was in Morocco for my birthday, I was off me tit at 3 PM, and I've done the interview with The Sun on the phone, and I was like, yeah, I gained 3 inches. But it's got bigger, but it's only because the fat patch has gone. Yeah, like the pube patch thing. It's not grew, it's the same thing. Unless I was on steroids, that's when it grows.

George Hadley:
Yeah. And on that note, thank you everyone for tuning in. Mason, absolute legend. This geezer's work is exceptional. What a guy. Thank you everyone. Big up, man. See you soon. Ciao.