On the 5th of September this year, i was lucky enough to be in an event at Word Festival called I Wish I Wrote That with an incredibly talented line-up of writers including Jon Toogood. Jon had an event before ours and i watched him perform ‘Home Again’ on acoustic guitar from the Green Room. Even backstage and through a screen i found myself moved to tears – it’s an incredible piece of songwriting that just seems to hit me more and more profoundly. About five minutes into Jon’s book signing i needed to go to the foyer and it was wild. One thing became really clear – people love Jon and Jon’s book and Shihad. During our event, Jon read a really beautiful piece about Aldous Harding’s song ‘Treasure’. One of the really great things about Jon’s memoir Home Again is the way he writes about music, not just the music he makes but the music he loves.
Home Again My life and times in a band called Shihad by Job Toogood is out now with Hachette. i wanted to say a big thanks to Tania Mackenzie-Cooke from Hachette for all the fun and cool chats we’ve had at festivals and for her help with this podcast. Home Again is a very good book. i loved it. The audio book is also great. When i was young i never fully ‘got’ Shihad until i saw them at Mt Smart Stadium on the Big Day Out. i remember my friends and i (sort of more used to bands like Bailter Space) turning to each other and saying, ‘Oh, you have to listen to them really loud. They’re a stadium band.’ From then on i was hooked.
This podcast was recorded on Zoom on 7 October 2026
In 2014 Toogood married Dana Salih in Khartoum, the capital of her home country, Sudan. The traditional three-day ceremony included a dance performed by the bride on the final day. Other than the groom, only women are involved as spectators, drummers (the only instruments played) and singers. Women also write all the music and lyrics. The style is called Aghani al-banat, ‘girl’s music’, and is usually only performed live.
Haja combined iPhone recordings made in Sudan in 2015 (the more formal recording sessions didn’t yield anything usable) with basslines played by Toogood and vocal contributions from New Zealand hip hop artists including Chelsea Jade, Raiza Biza and Aaradhna. In keeping with the spirit of Aghani al-banat, Toogood invited mostly female collaborators. He originally didn’t plan to sing any vocals of his own, but negotiations with Warner Music led to him being heard on two songs.
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Music in Better off Read was made by Brent McIntyre.
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