Adam Buxton on how he wrote I Love You, Byeee with an audio first approach
Adam Buxton, one of the UK’s most beloved (and award-winning) podcasters, certainly isn’t afraid to innovate when it comes to audio storytelling.
His podcast The Adam Buxton Show, which has been running for over ten years, isn’t just your typical interview show. Along with his thoughtful and insightful discussions with guests, there’s also his hilarious musical jingles and endearing chats with Rosie the dog.
Along with being a stalwart of the UK podcasting scene, Buxton has spent much of his career working across radio, television and music, from his long-running creative partnership with Joe Cornish to performing with The Adam Buxton Band. So, when it came to writing his memoir, I Love You, Byeee - the follow-up to Ramble Book - it was no surprise that he didn’t see the audiobook as an afterthought.
Speaking to the Listening Books podcast, Buxton discusses his love of audiobooks, why he wrote I Love You, Byeee as an audio-first experience, the emotional challenge of narrating deeply personal memories, and what listeners can expect from his new Audible comedy series, Success Pod.
Writing the book with an audio-first approach
For the Sunday Times bestselling author, the audiobook version of I Love You, Byeee was at the forefront of the creative process from the beginning. Rather than simply recording a narration of the book, Buxton envisioned an experience that sat between a traditional audiobook and a podcast.
"It was definitely audio first," he confirmed, whilst speaking from his home studio. “I was really excited about the possibility of doing something that was somewhere between a book and a podcast, really. And I wrote it with the audiobook very much in mind.”
His second memoir charts his relationship with his self-confessed “comedy wife”, Joe Cornish, from the British comedy duo’s early Channel 4 sketch show The Adam and Joe Show to their time on radio, including their BBC 6 Music radio show and XFM. The audiobook allowed him to weave in archive clips, jingles and interviews that simply wouldn't have the same impact on the page.
"It just seemed obvious to me that because of the fact that I was talking about radio shows and podcasts and music and jingles, here was an ideal opportunity to include some of those."
Buxton is also keen to challenge the ongoing commentary that listening to an audiobook is somehow a lesser way of experiencing a story.
“I still have that impression in my head sometimes that, oh, you know, audiobook isn't really reading a book. And I don't think that that's a particularly useful distinction to make,” he continued.
“I feel like they're slightly different things. I think if you ingest a book by listening to it, you've still ingested that book, you're still enjoying it. But yes, it is a slightly different experience. And in my mind, it can definitely be equally rich.”
Adam Buxton's audiobook recommendations
Asked about his current listening habits and titles, Buxton revealed he rarely sticks to a single audiobook at a time. As expected, in preparations for his podcast interviews, he listens to his guests’ books in advance of his in-depth conversations, along with musical titles which are another of his big passions.
"I listen to a lot of audiobooks... and I munch through an awful lot of books that way," he explained.
“I'm listening to Sara Cox's memoir, Till the Cows Come Home, because I'm going to be talking to Sara on my podcast. She's a fellow 90s TV person. So we're going to reminisce about the grimy old 90s.”
Among his recent favourites was John and Paul: A Love Story by Ian Leslie, and narrated by Chris Addison, which has fuelled what he describes as a "deep Beatles rabbit hole".
Music memoirs remain another passion. Buxton praised The Big Midweek: Life Inside The Fall by former Fall bassist Steve Hanley, describing it as "such a good story", particularly for its account of growing up as a music fan in 1970s Manchester and navigating life inside one of Britain's most influential post-punk bands.
On how recording the audiobook was an emotional experience
While his first book Ramble Book, featured a tribute to his journalist father Nigel, along with documenting his relationship with Joe Cornish, I Love You, Byeee also celebrates his mother, who unfortunately died during lockdown.
“There was definitely some of the stuff with my mum. I definitely got sad. The stuff that's really hard to read sometimes is the stuff about the kids. And sometimes it can be perfectly sweet stuff, it's not like tragic bits.”
He opened up about how recording the story of sharing a particular music track (Green Onions by Booker T & The MG’s) with his son, who was going through a particular grumpy teenage phase, from Ramble Book, was one of the more difficult moments.
"At the end, he sort of turned around and he smiled and said, 'Yeah, that's really good.' It was amazing. It was like winning the lottery, just that moment to connect with him."
Recorded at his home during lockdown, Buxton explained how he had “about an hour” of him “blubbing and trying to read this paragraph."
What's next? Enter Success Pod
Having spent years reflecting on his own life through his two memoirs, Buxton is starting a new chapter by turning his attention to scripted comedy.
His latest project, Success Pod, is a six-part Audible comedy series inspired by a recurring character from his podcast adverts Yandrew. This character is a self-styled internet guru blending business advice, self-help and dubious philosophy.
“So he's really the reason that I started doing this series Success Pod, but now he's just a part of it,” Buxton explains. “And it's a lot of sketches about podcasts, taking the make out of different styles of podcasts.”
The series combines sketches, celebrity interviews and a satirical look at the modern podcast industry, and features an impressive celebrity guest line-up including Louis Theroux, Romesh Ranganathan, Kathy Burke and Sam Campbell.
“They're giving me advice about my ongoing midlife crisis, which now takes the form of me worrying that I'm being left behind in the podcast world, which has changed so much in the last few years,” he continued.
“You know, now everyone's filming their podcasts, and they've turned into something different. And I feel like a grumpy old man that's being left behind and sort of banging the table and saying, no, that's not what podcasting is supposed to be about.”
"It's supposed to be about talking, it's an audio medium. We've got television. If you want to watch television, go and watch television!"
With Ramble Book, I Love You, Byeee and now Success Pod, Adam Buxton continues to prove that the listening experience can be just as emotionally affecting and, perhaps, even more immersive.
You can listen to the full interview on the Listening Books Podcast here.
