Hi Mick! Thanks again for your time! Firstly, I want to ask about your role at 2SER. What do your roles there entail and how did you come to work at 2SER? And why do you think community radio/outlets like 2SER are more important than ever?
Hi, thanks for the offer to chat about my experience! 2SER has been a lifeline for me in my career. I started there as a volunteer over ten years ago, cutting my teeth as a breakfast radio producer after moving away from my IT career. They welcomed me in and enabled a platform to explore media, radio, and journalism and meet a lot of experienced people as well as make friends with other volunteers and students.
Currently, I co-host ‘The Tuckshop’, a weekly all-Australian music show with co-host Jules LeFevre. It’s my baby and we just clocked over 200 episodes! Until just this week, I was also co-hosting a very loose sports show called ‘Across the Park’, but after six years we’ve decided to move on.
Community radio is so necessary in the media landscape as not only a training ground but one of the only truly independent media sources. 2SER is well renowned for telling stories, playing music and suggesting ideas that other platforms would never touch. Community radio around the country is definitely more important than ever!
You said you also Freelance at the ABC and write about music for different publications. With all of these responsibilities and positions, what does your current media cycle look like? What does a typical day look like for you?
Every week can be different from the last, at the moment! I am working for ABC in a casual capacity, sometimes producing for Sydney local radio or for ABC Sport as a podcast producer or technical operator. I am getting a wealth of experience working with a range of programmes and experienced the collegial and wonderful staff that put together amazing radio programmes every single day.
I find myself needing to pivot very quickly between local news, sports stories and community events from day to day and it can make my head spin sometimes, but I love really immersing myself in whichever job I am on that day.
There are many similarities in the production techniques between the shows, but I love the unique approach that each presenter brings. If I’m working for the breakfast show we come in super early to a show that has already been prepped the day before and that can be a challenge, whereas most shows are linear, preparing the show in the hours before going to air. Days really do go fast!
Pitching is also a big part of freelancing and being a journalist in general. What makes for a good pitch? What should people avoid and what’s your pitching practice like?
If there’s one thing I wish I was better at, it’s pitching! I must admit that it takes not only great ideas to be a good pitcher but also thick skin, persistence and confidence. If only confidence could be taught!
I am going to say something here that I need to listen to myself and that is: Take the plunge, be fearless, be prepared to be shot down and always get back up and go again.
Much of pitching is a marketing exercise, whether it be to your peers or your executive producer, so try to keep in mind the reasons why you think your ideas are great and really sell it.
I’m interested to know about your thoughts on reviewing live music/concerts. What are some of the challenges in reviewing these live events, especially since (presumably) you’d want to really immerse yourself in the experience (while keeping in mind how you want to write about it)? How else does it differ from, say, reviewing an album, movie or book?
I have reviewed hundreds and hundreds of live gigs and it’s true, it can sometimes feel like work when you’re trying to enjoy the show. However, I think this is what can make for a great review. Let yourself be immersed, take in all of those feelings that you feel when you experience live music, but also, just remember how you felt so you can write it down later!
The best reviews aren’t necessarily the ones that detail what happened in the show, but more about how it made you and the people around you react. I usually take notes discreetly on my phone (bless dark mode!) as the show progresses, but instead of tracking which songs were played, I’ll note how the songs made me feel and what the artists say, to give people a sense of what it was like to be there.
Whilst the process of reviewing a gig isn’t too different to a book or movie, it can be a lot more subjective and personal to the reviewer which means that I have rarely seen a bad live show because I love live music so much!
As someone who loves reading any sort of art criticism and media reviews, I want to know which writers and journalists you read/look up to? Who are your influences and what advice do you have for young/emerging arts writers, especially in a (seemingly) saturated media space?
Having been a consumer of music and art journalism for a long time, it has been my link to the entertainment world since I was a teenager. I preferred street media and the now defunct ‘Juice’ magazine was my favourite back in the ‘90s. Co-founder of that magazine, Toby Cresswell, has always been an icon of the Australian music media landscape and I have always looked up to his writing.
Since my first reviews back in the mid-2000s, I have tried to focus on local artists and the promotion of Australian music culture. I have been extremely privileged to co-host an Australian music radio show on 2SER called The Tuckshop and my co-host, Jules LeFevre is a wonderful writer for the SMH, previously Junkee and other music blogs. Another journalist who is fantastic at long-form articles and interviews is Sosefina Fuamoli, whose work I am always in awe of.
Again, persistence is the key to music journalism. Write often, draft, revise, experiment and don’t be afraid to offer up your work and talent to publications that you admire.
Wearing many hats in the media, I was wondering if there was a particular role that you prefer over the others? And how does the diversity of roles that you occupy (Producer, Host, Journalist) impact each other?
This is a question I often ask myself! Where do I want to end up? Music? Sport? Local radio? I really enjoy dabbling in all facets of the media industry and with a technology background I also have a fascination with broadcast technologies and sound mixing.
Whilst there is some crossover, where I get to do sports updates or talk about my favourite Australian music on the radio, there are not many jobs that cover all of these things, other than being the host of your own show.
From a media and consumer point of view, sport certainly has the most coverage and market, but this encourages me to push music more because Australian artists don’t get anywhere near the coverage that Australian sports people do and it’s about time that changed!
Ultimately, I would love to be a host of a radio programme where I can combine my love of music, sport and community into something that the audience will appreciate!
Finally, what has been the most memorable experience of your career thus far? What else do you hope to do and what kind of stories do you want to platform?
There have been many highlights in my media career, from small wins (my first breakfast hosting slot at 2SER), to my first live ABC report on Australian music, to working on the radio coverage of the FIFA World Cup at SBS.
Ultimately, the most memorable experience has come this year, working on the ABC Radio coverage of the Paris Olympics. My life became 100% focused on the Olympics for that period as a technical operator working with Bruce McAvaney, Melinda Gainsford-Taylor and the amazing team of commentators in the ABC Sport stable. These opportunities only come up occasionally, so it was a pleasure to be able to be involved in bringing the games to regional Australian radio.
As I’ve mentioned, I’m not sure exactly where my future lies, but I will continue to focus on highlighting the amazing music that is created in this country, bringing interesting sports stories to the fore and I’ll seek out those grassroots stories about people before they go on to bigger and better things!
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