Daryl reflects on Jim Lea's life & music through heartfelt vignettes, rare memorabilia, & untold stories from Jim's heartfelt autobiography.

Join Daryl Easlea in conversation as he talks about How Goes It Feel, the autobiography he has written with the mercurial talent that is Jim Lea. Easlea explores the writing process, having access to the family archive and is delighted to be able to show an exclusive short film from Jim. Jim's younger brother Frank, who played drums for the group in 1973, was part of their road crew, and was Chas Chandler's partner in Cheapskate Records, will be in attendance.

How Does It Feel is a different kind of autobiography. Instead of a linear narrative, Jim Lea – the final member of the fabled four-piece to tell their story – opens his heart in vignettes about not just his time in Slade, but his Staffordshire childhood, songwriting, family life, musicianship, his retreat into the world of the therapy and beyond, exploring how the experiences made him feel, like in the words of one of Slade’s most cherished songs, that Lea wrote the music for when he was a young teenager.

Written with Whatever Happened To Slade? author Daryl Easlea, the book is full of hitherto unseen material from Lea’s personal collection – letters to his childhood sweetheart (and now wife of 52 years) Louise when the group were on tour in the US, archive family photographs, school exercise books, candid snaps of Slade and previous groups, as well as a timeline and discography.

All in all, it’s the book that every Slade has been waiting for.

Copies of the book will be available to purchase at the Festival and there'll be a dedicated book signing after the event.

About Daryl Easlea:

Louder stalwart Daryl Easlea’s books explore some of his great musical loves; pop eccentrics, glam, populist African American music and prog rock. His first, Everybody Dance: Chic & The Politics Of Disco was published by Helter Skelter in 2004 (and updated in 2020). His second was an extended essay to accompany the Supremes exhibition at the V&A. Talent Is an Asset: the Story of Sparks followed in April 2010 and has been reprinted in slimline paperback in 2026 , while Without Frontiers: The Life And Music Of Peter Gabriel was published in October 2013, with an updated edition following in March 2018. Whatever Happened To Slade? – a Sunday Times Book Of The Year – was published in October 2023. His work can be found in Record Collector, Prog, Mojo, and in other places, too.

He also compiles and annotates LPs and CDs, DJs, broadcasts, consults with record companies and was born to dance. He has written sleevenotes for The Fall across a variety of releases since 2003 and was delighted to host The Fall Futures And Pasts gathering at The Band On The Wall this June, where he got the Poet Lauraeate, Simon Armitage to draw the raffle. His talks on popular music, Fast Forward, have been performed at festivals, the British Library and the V&A. In 2022, he returned to Record Collector as editor of The Rare Record Price Guide and has edited Genesis, The Fall, Paul McCartney, John and Yoko stand-alone magazines. His second Rare Record Price Guide is published in 2026 as his How Does It Feel, Jim Lea's long-awaited autobiography, that Easlea wrote with him.

Daryl's image credit: Michael Pollard

Description supplied by the event organiser.