THE MUSIC INDUSTRY PODCAST FROM RGM MAGAZINE · RGMMagazine

#252 ROB NICHOLSON

·1 hr 5 min·4 clips

Rob left Apple after 14 years and says full-time creative work means no paid sick days, no paid holidays, and no gym cover.

1. THE MUSIC INDUSTRY PODCAST FROM RGM MAGAZINE episode #252 follows Rob Nicholson in Sheffield as his photography work, bass playing, and old band history overlap. 2. Karl Maloney hosts the episode for RGM, and Rob Nicholson is the guest because he has moved from an Apple job into full-time creative work and recently reopened the Devils Monkeys story. 3. The episode asks what changes when a photographer leaves a 14-year Apple career, keeps talking about mental health, and starts reconnecting with music again. 4. Rob says he bought his first camera in February 2019 and marks six years since that decision this year. 5. He explains that he moved from full-time work to four days, then three days, before leaving Apple entirely. 6. He says the biggest shift is control over the day, because he can plan work around life instead of life around work. 7. Rob names the practical losses that came with self-employment, including paid holidays, paid sick days, private health care, and a gym benefit. 8. He says he kept seeing a therapist after leaving Apple and paid about £120 a session for several months. 9. He says his partner is training to be a therapist and understands the pressures of creative work. 10. He describes the bass videos as a way to stay accountable, practice songs, and improve his Final Cut editing and color grading. 11. Rob says he gets consumed by whatever he picks up, whether that is bass, boxing, or exercise. 12. He says the visual side matters to him because he wants the lighting, graphics, and video presentation to look right. 13. He says the Devils Monkeys idea started with a January 2025 reunion with Andy and Kyle after years of not seeing each other. 14. Rob says Andy wanted to rebuild the first EP with his own bass part because the original recording did not sound like the band. 15. He says Dave Sanderson at Crystal Studio helped by remixing 20-year-old stems with plugins that no longer exist. 16. He says the rehearsal in December landed on the same date as the band's last gig at the Harley, which they noticed afterward. 17. The conversation keeps a light, conversational pace, with Karl and Rob trading Sheffield references, old band names, and personal memories. 18. The episode also turns practical and technical when Rob explains how he records, edits, rehearses, and chooses songs for the set list. 19. People interested in Sheffield music, photography, and band comebacks will get the most from it. 20. People looking for a tightly edited, high-drama story with a single ending may skip it.

As heard by us

A Sheffield-rooted conversation about photography, music, and the family and studio ties behind the work.

Rob Nicholson's conversation with Karl Maloney plays like a relaxed catch-up, but it still has a clear center. It keeps coming back to the people and places that shaped the work: bands nearby, family cameras, Sheffield roots, and the studio-next-door setup that put music and…

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Why you'd press play

Press play for a Sheffield creative story that starts with gigs, runs through the grassroots scene, and lands in photography after six years in the new lane.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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