Podcast Summary: "Classic Replay with Jim Kerr from Simple Minds"

Podcast: takin' a walk
Host: Buzz Knight
Date: October 5, 2025
Guest: Jim Kerr (Simple Minds frontman)
Episode Theme: Exploring Jim Kerr’s lifelong journey in music, his connection to performing live, personal inspirations, and the enduring spirit of Simple Minds.

Overview

This episode of "takin' a walk" features an engaging conversation between host Buzz Knight and Jim Kerr, the charismatic lead singer of Simple Minds. Kerr reflects on formative musical experiences, the power and philosophy behind live performance, and the enduring value of gratitude in an artist’s journey. The discussion also touches on significant personal memories, the origins and creative energy of Simple Minds, and Kerr’s thoughts on their live album "Live in the City of Diamonds" as well as their pivotal role in global causes.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Power and Philosophy of Performing Live

• Living in the Moment on Stage
  • Kerr underscores the transcendent quality of live performance:

    "There's no boondocks. There's no Tuesday night. It's the only night in the world when you go on stage. You're in the here and now. Tomorrow night doesn't exist. Last night’s history." (03:08, 19:29, repeated for emphasis)

    • The artist’s focus is wholly present, making each concert a unique event unburdened by past or future.

If He Could "Take a Walk" With Anyone

• Personal Connection Over Fame
  • Asked whom he’d most like to take a walk with (living or dead), Kerr chooses his late father:

    "I'd love to take a walk with my old dad... We would go off around whatever city or whatever desert or whatever national park, walking and talking and thinking was our thing." (05:04)

  • Despite having met figures like Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, Kerr’s most cherished walks were with his father.

First Musical Awakening

• Hearing "Riders on the Storm"
  • Kerr describes a pivotal moment as a child, hearing The Doors’ "Riders on the Storm" in the back of his dad’s car during a storm:

    "There's this haunted voice and... 'There's a killer on the road / his brain is squirming like a toad'... That's when I knew there was another kind of music." (07:19)

    • The story illustrates how atmosphere and circumstance can make a musical memory indelible.

Formation of Simple Minds & the Punk Ethos

• The Democratic Spirit of Punk

  • Kerr traces Simple Minds' roots to the energy unleashed by punk rock in the late 1970s:

    "The philosophy... to mostly young British working class kids was like a bolt of lightning... Anyone can give it a go. And anyone kind of gave it a go." (11:54)

    • Punk removed barriers (“You don’t have to play like Eric Clapton...”), fostering a ‘just try it’ mentality that shaped the band’s beginnings.

• Early Gigs and Audience Reaction

  • Recalling their debut show, Kerr notes:

    "We knew we didn’t have the chops... but the audience went mental, they went crazy... 50 people, but they went crazy, which made us think we had a vibe." (11:54)

Sustaining Creative Energy and Purpose

• Gratitude, Purpose, and Service
  • Kerr credits lasting energy to both gratitude and the sense of purpose performing brings:

    "You go on stage and you deliver beyond the odds... By the end of the night, they're actually physically jumping up and down, regardless of their age... Some transformation has happened." (15:51)

  • He sees the performance as a service, a communal experience rather than a self-centered act:

    "You’re going out to be of service... If you go on and you think it’s all about you, that’s the last thing... If it’s all about you, stay at home and play in your garage." (19:29)

"Live in the City of Diamonds": A Celebration of the Live Experience

• Old-School Fan Service

  • Kerr explains the enduring appeal and meaning of live albums:

    "Live albums by the very nature are old school... capturing a moment in time... where the live arrangement knocks spots off the record arrangement." (26:58)

  • Simple Minds’ sequence of live albums—“Live in the City of Light,” “Live in the City of Angels,” and now “Live in the City of Diamonds”—serve as energetic snapshots of the band’s live power in different eras and places.

• Why Amsterdam?

  • He clarifies the choice of Amsterdam as the ‘City of Diamonds’:

    "Amsterdam was the original City of Diamonds... they have this amazing venue, purpose built for music... fantastic crowd and the band has a heck of a popularity for some reason in Holland." (26:58)

On Playing for Nelson Mandela’s 90th Birthday (2008)

• Music with a Message
  • Kerr reflects on Simple Minds’ activism, especially their involvement in concerts for Mandela:

    "There comes a time in your life when you think it’s got to be about something more than just selling records and T-shirts. We have a microphone and we’re being asked to add our voices to something that really was important." (31:10)

  • Mandela’s gratitude toward artists:

    "He said, when there was no voice allowed, somehow we always could hear the voice of the artists... That gave us the very oxygen we needed to continue." (31:10)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On performing live:

  • "You're in the here and now... tomorrow night doesn’t exist, last night’s history. And when you attack it like that, the rewards come back ten times." — Jim Kerr (03:08, 19:29)

• On choosing his dad for a walk:

  • "I'm still going to go with my old dad." — Jim Kerr (05:04)
  • "The people who taught us to walk, the people who taught us to take our first steps." — Jim Kerr (06:34)

• On humility and gratitude:

  • "We found out this: when you attack things with 100% but also with gratitude, with love... the doors did actually open easier than we thought." — Jim Kerr (19:01)

• On the role of the artist in protest:

  • "When there was no voice allowed, somehow we always could hear the voice of the artists... That gave us the very oxygen we needed to continue." — Nelson Mandela, recounted by Kerr (32:30)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:08] – Performing live as a present-moment experience
• [05:04] – Who would Jim Kerr take a walk with?
• [07:19] – First transformative musical memory (The Doors story)
• [11:54] – Punk rock and foundation of Simple Minds
• [15:51] – How Kerr maintains creative energy and sense of purpose
• [19:29] – The importance of gratitude and performing as “service”
• [26:58] – The making and meaning of "Live in the City of Diamonds"
• [31:10] – Playing for Nelson Mandela and the significance of artist activism

Conclusion

This episode offers a candid window into both the personal and musical philosophies that have driven Jim Kerr and Simple Minds across decades. Kerr’s humility, sense of purpose, and celebration of the connection between artist and audience shine through. For fans and newcomers, the episode is a heartfelt exploration of how music, memory, and gratitude interweave on and off the stage.