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[Music]
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Tim Ross Rosso welcome to my podcast
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hello Tom how good is it to be on your
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podcast hey mate I'm I'm so pleased to
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have you here I've got um as you couple
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of cards with with questions on I was
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wondering whether you were going to do
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any research for this I I've I've got
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your book um your first book my mom had
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a kingsworth in my in my library and I
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did flick through that for this it's
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always I find it very strange doing
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these um podcast when it's with um
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someone you know because you I don't
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want to like disrespect you in your time
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by not doing any research but I don't
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want to research too much do you know
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what I mean yeah how long's been we
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known each other for what 20 years now
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you reckon even longer like it was 20
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years ago this year that um me and JJ
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got married and you came to the oh yeah
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has it been 20 years you still married
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legally you still legally hav got to the
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bottom of it but you know but I was
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thinking about this on the plane on the
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way over because I've flown over from
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Sydney just to see you um that I'll
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never it was 2001 or 2002 or something
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like that and we were in in Las Vegas
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was it Las Vegas was the first time I
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saw you radio conference yeah it was
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Vegas yeah yeah yeah and then you came
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bounding up to me you're like a like a
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little still to this day you're still
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the same you're like a little kiwi
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Labrador all energy tongue
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out oh yeah
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and introduced yourself and said oh and
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and you know I'm Dom I'm from New
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Zealand I do the show on the edge and we
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rip off all your gear that's what you
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that's how you introduce yourself we've
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been on your website and you've we all
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your all your segments we all do them
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some of them work you did hello New
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Zealand which was a takeoff on or but
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did that work for you no to us Tuesday
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can't remember yeah we did to Tuesday
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yeah I I remember that and yeah I was
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going to ask you what your recollection
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of our first meeting was because I feel
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like I got off on the you by the way um
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this is going to require a little bit of
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establishment because yeah why you reset
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for your audience here yeah well none of
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the kiwis to know know who you are but
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um uh Tim Ross um His Radio name was
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Rosso part of a very very popular and
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famous and successful Australian duo
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called American Rosso so like heish
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nandy before Hamish nandy yeah L
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successful oh you know yeah my
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recollection of meeting you and your
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your co-host mer exactly the same I
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thought it was CU we were uh your boss
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at the time was a guy called Dean
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Buchanan who was a guy that I knew he
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tried to offer me work over years kiwi D
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and that was his nickname in Australia
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yeah um so I came up and I thought it
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was the ultimate compliment to say hey
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really like your show been to your
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website stolen some of your ideas cuz
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there's a there's that saying imitation
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is the sincerest form was hilarious but
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you I think you were fine with it your
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mate Mir who you were working with he
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seemed really really pissed he came
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around to it at the end but I think you
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found it hilarious but oh I just thought
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it was amazing that there was this you
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know tall gangly kiwi Labrador who would
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like what we did but yes no um I think
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it's interesting
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you know when you back to your question
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about you know people come you know
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before us there was another you know
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really successful you know radio Duo
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Martin Malloy probably oh yeah um MC
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yeah uh was it m Malloy no who and Tony
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martiny they were huge um yeah they used
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to I bought one of the CD the brown ALB
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and very different to what we did um and
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then you know I H sh Andy came along and
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we like this and they were of a gener
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new
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generation and um and all their
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successes because you know they're
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incredibly
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talented and had that X Factor that um
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you know I didn't have so yeah thanks
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for bringing it up mate oh no no I
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wouldn't say that it's just a weird
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thing like I've um I've done some a lot
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of work on myself over the over the last
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few years and I realize it's an it's an
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ego thing and when it happens I I I
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catch myself doing it now like there'll
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be a promo for a new TV show in New
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Zealand something that no one ever like
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tapped me on the shoulder for I did
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audition for didn't even know it was
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coming and I'll be like how how did they
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get that job and I didn't and I realiz
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it's a crazy it is no I think you can
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let that stuff eat you up and I
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um I remembered I I I remember hearing
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them for the first time and I really
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liked what they did and you know I think
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sort of reached out to them and um you
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know that were guys who used to listen
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to us on the radio and they they were
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inspired by that and I think that's
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really important but I think it's
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you know what they say comparison is the
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thief of all joy it is it is I I'd agree
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with that unless you're comparing
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down you don't you never have to look
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too far to see someone that is a lot
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happier with a lot
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less yeah and I think the one thing I've
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always thought is that he also realizes
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that you know there's some things you
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can't control um there's relationships
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that you can't always control um time
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and place is everything m i i I was
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thinking this the other day and like
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when I started and I was
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radio you know there's a lot of really
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talented people around but we were just
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sort of the right place right time and
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in a pre-social media world you know if
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you get one of those lucky breaks you're
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everywhere today it's much more of an
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even playing field you can come out of
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nowhere there's always someone and you
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would have been the same he's got some
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bazillion followers on Tik Tok who's
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doing a live tour and you go [ __ ] I've
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have heard of that person yeah it
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happens all the time time they they're
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filling up theaters so there's something
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wonderful about that so the barriers to
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entry are different and I sort of I also
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think if we were starting
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today it would be far more competitive
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for americ and
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I um but on the other side of it we
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probably would have ended up doing you
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know the potential to do Global things
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might have taken us in another position
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yeah that's true that's true um okay
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well let's go the way back so so um yeah
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how did you and mirik uh meet so you're
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in a band right like like a punk band
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comedy band comedy punk band Yes um
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black roses Black Rose well done you've
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been and I was the lead singer sort of I
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was Rock piss take band you know and we
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was just Melbourne Melbourne in the in
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the '90s and we were gigging around a
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bit and we had a bit of a following and
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I was doing a standup gig at the same
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time as amck and he came up and said
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like you but less Labrador and not he
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has got big Labrador
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energy and uh you know he asked me about
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my band and I I don't think I'd met
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anyone you know very few people that I
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didn't know who was com coming to see
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the band and you know we became friends
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and then you know a couple of years
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later we we start I sort of rang him up
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and said oh look do you want to do some
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shows together and we did one called
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Piss heads from out of space and it did
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pretty well and and then we did another
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one and then we sort of you know I don't
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think either of us probably thought we
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were going to end up in a Duo and then
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we did for you know 15 years or
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something yeah it was it was wildly
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successful and we'll get through all of
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that um ended with you guys being the
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number one Radio Show in Sydney which is
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[ __ ] massive um it's huge Sydney is
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the size of New Zealand um and just the
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the different economies like the amount
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of money you make when you're number one
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in Sydney it's crazy money um You' been
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looking at my old bank accounts you've
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been going through my wheelie I'm stay
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stop staying in your sphere room of your
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primary
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residence after you pick me up on your
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Porsche um that's why yeah people in
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Australian radio seem to like get get
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bored or disillusion and retire early no
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one in New Zealand retires yeah you can
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hang around here forever like out of
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necessity yeah I mean I always loved
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your work ethic though because we used
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to do stuff all and then I remember
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being at your house on on Sunday and you
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went oh I've just got to go and do a
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team call I was like what what you know
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I'm doing some PR you're doing some prep
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for the next
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day and I was like what are you doing
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that for and said well we have to do
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that cuz that you know that's how you do
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it and and to be fair it's probably why
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you stayed on air a lot longer than I
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did you
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know yeah I okay we'll get into that
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we'll try go some sort of sequence so so
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so you and Mir you um hook up you do
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your shows together um really Innovative
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standup too like like um overhead
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projector stuffff with what was that you
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had like letters you yeah we used to
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write prank letters to people you know
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celebrities now this stuff quarter of a
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century later it sounds sounds really
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you said overhead projector Forward
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Thinking things but it was it was this
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is pre- internet so no no one's doing
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um the overhead projector was kit even
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in the '90s and I think that was part of
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its charm I flogged it from the
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University and so um we called it Fonzi
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and what happened is that we would write
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to you know famous people and pretending
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to be children or you know old people or
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you know being a bit special and we just
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you know ask some silly things and um
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sort of I think the one famously I wrote
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to the then prime minister John Howard
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and asked him whether he could do all
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these things like the rank donkey dance
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which just doesn't exist and he wrote
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back saying no I'm afraid I don't do the
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rank donkey Dan it's like and so when
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you put these things up on an overhead
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project people would lose their minds
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and it was sort of um yeah it was
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inventive and we'd go and shoot films
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you know prank films and then I would
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come home and wear a little video camera
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that I borrow of someone and I would
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edit them on the camera on onto a VHS
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tape and then you know like in camera
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editing and then I would take when we'
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go on do our tour sometimes I'd have
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like a TV on stage with the VHS player
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and I'd push play on the VHS player on
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stage uh and then we got into bigger
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venues and then have like a sound guy
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sound guy they had a projector and they
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push play on a VHS and that's how we T
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around we show these videos um and one
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of those videos was an opening of a
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casino and we dressed up as bogens and
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just walked around just going oh [ __ ] me
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dead this joint's off its
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head the characters you did on the like
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the red caret for the was it Bron Craig
00:10:56
yeah that sort of stuff yeah just being
00:10:57
sort of Aussie it's it's quite funny cuz
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when you get to know you yeah you guys
00:11:02
so um your Mer's quite quite the same I
00:11:05
guess like on stage and offstage but
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you're quite deep and introspective and
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thoughtful well mes you know incredible
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performer huge presence I'm a true
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extrovert you know which I'm not
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um but he would I would be more likely
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to be playing a role and that stuff but
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just performing it's like you get on
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stage and also you know I'm not
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25 or six anymore you know I'm a in a 50
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so you know like if you if you present
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if I'm presenting still as that same
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person it's kind of lame it is
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completely tragic um unless you know
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someone's paying you a whole bunch of
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money to still be that person but even
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then I think we all evolve in our own
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ways um and and and whether you do or
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not you know some people never launch I
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suppose but I I think I enjoyed playing
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that role for period of time but I like
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doing different things now it's not like
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giving up being funny or nothing but
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it's just it's just different and I
00:12:06
think everyone looks back at themselves
00:12:08
in their 20s and sometimes you're really
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surprised by it I often look back at
00:12:13
myself in my early 30s and we had a a
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show on the nine Network and that the
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confidence of me at 30 odd I was like
00:12:21
what's what happened to that guy I want
00:12:23
him back um you only have that once that
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sort of naivity and then you you know
00:12:27
you get knocked around a bit or you you
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know you're
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not you know when you're top of the pops
00:12:34
you know you feel like you can do
00:12:36
anything yeah and you can't by the way
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you're unless your tail SED you're a
00:12:41
you're you're a non-drinker now you had
00:12:42
been for a couple of years and I
00:12:43
couldn't be happy about that because
00:12:44
this this voice that you've got now on
00:12:46
the podcast um this is the same voice
00:12:48
you have if you're out at a restaurant
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or a bar with you so I find myself
00:12:52
leaning over the table with my ear like
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centimeters away from your mouth you're
00:12:56
you're a very quiet talk softly spoken
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eh
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yeah I suppose I
00:13:01
mean yeah I probably am in terms of this
00:13:04
is that a shinness thing or no I'm just
00:13:08
just calm
00:13:10
measure well I mean the the the very
00:13:12
nature of a podcast there two things
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that happen you know they're the dumbest
00:13:16
things in the world for anyone to open
00:13:17
up about on because you know you could
00:13:20
do a radio interview 20 years ago and no
00:13:22
one would ever hear it again this thing
00:13:23
sits here forever anyone who thinks they
00:13:26
should come and open up to you is a
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complete [ __ ]
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but because I trust you I'll talk to you
00:13:33
but yeah I mean okay you want me to
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project is that what you're suggesting
00:13:36
no no no no no it's just just obervation
00:13:39
but it's um you know the nature of
00:13:42
asking someone to talk about your life
00:13:45
you got to be reflective about it and
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also um I think most people because more
00:13:51
people did podcasts now than ever who
00:13:52
would never be interviewed in front of a
00:13:54
microphone most people find it really
00:13:57
you know they're okay with it but it is
00:13:59
it is invasive in some way oh it you're
00:14:02
let quite confrontational and um you
00:14:05
know it's reflective and and and only
00:14:07
insane people speak about their own life
00:14:10
without having a little voice going this
00:14:13
sounds really boring and mundane but
00:14:15
then of course when you listen to
00:14:16
someone else talk about their own life I
00:14:17
find it fascinating but for whatever
00:14:19
reason for yourself to be able to talk
00:14:20
about your own life and we were also
00:14:23
taught one of the fascinating things is
00:14:25
that by doing doing what we were doing
00:14:28
for so many years we're taught to keep
00:14:29
everything short you got this sort of
00:14:32
clock in the back 5 minutes and it's got
00:14:33
to be a full length story like an intro
00:14:35
yeah clock in the back of your mind I
00:14:36
think that did enormous damage to me as
00:14:38
a Storyteller because everything you
00:14:40
feel like you've got to condense
00:14:41
everything and then one of the things
00:14:43
when I started telling stories and
00:14:45
working out live again was just to
00:14:46
retrain a brain not to make everything
00:14:50
as short as possible just to let
00:14:51
everything breathe and you know let let
00:14:54
stories roll yeah untrain untrain the
00:14:57
radio in a way and in radio if someone
00:15:00
someone has an interesting answer and
00:15:02
you you you think oh I got to pull on a
00:15:04
thread there and it goes goes nowhere
00:15:06
you're at the end you're like oh [ __ ]
00:15:07
I'm going to be red over the coals for
00:15:08
this this sort of thing and I am and
00:15:11
also the the nature of interruption so I
00:15:14
I remember seeing bumping into some guy
00:15:17
who was doing a who had had a regional
00:15:19
Radio Show in New South Wales he's
00:15:22
having a couple of beers with his mates
00:15:23
and he waved at me and went over and I'd
00:15:25
met him at some you know I've been on
00:15:26
his show a couple of times and he was
00:15:28
there with a couple of really straight
00:15:29
beer drinking
00:15:31
mates and he said something really
00:15:33
fascinating to me he said oh you know
00:15:36
you guys are radio people you just
00:15:38
interrupt and so you can't just tell a
00:15:42
story around radio people because the
00:15:44
whole nature of it is
00:15:47
[Music]
00:15:51
interrupting and they don't know when to
00:15:53
stop and it's like oh it's mate Fitz he
00:15:56
does the Nova breakfast show it's like
00:15:58
dude stop in corupting let's we just you
00:16:00
know you can't get you know your life's
00:16:02
might breaks there was a
00:16:04
famous um guy called Jonathan comman who
00:16:07
was an Australian broadcaster and did
00:16:10
really well in the UK really successful
00:16:12
in Australia and I met him for the very
00:16:14
first time we going to Tokyo on some
00:16:17
junk junket to um meet the cast Superman
00:16:20
Spider-Man or some [ __ ] and he talked in
00:16:23
mic breaks he would say this is my
00:16:27
daughter I've got a son he's on the he's
00:16:29
on the PlayStation for too
00:16:31
long you know it's like he's giving you
00:16:33
the backstory every time you go your
00:16:36
life is one continue life break you know
00:16:38
just my wife she does this she does that
00:16:40
it's 7:45 you know oh God it makes
00:16:43
people it's exhausting makes people
00:16:44
insane yeah so yes so you and mck you're
00:16:47
doing your comedy show and then you did
00:16:49
like live live prank calls and stuff on
00:16:51
stage yeah so prank calls were huge part
00:16:53
of what we would do was this about the
00:16:54
same time as the Jerky Boys you know
00:16:56
they yeah um it would have been around a
00:16:59
bit later I think the JY boys when I was
00:17:00
at school but you know talk about tech
00:17:03
things so in order to do prank calls
00:17:05
live on
00:17:06
stage uh I would plug a phone that I
00:17:10
took from home
00:17:13
into where the the pay phone was at the
00:17:16
p on the pub wall cuz it was close to
00:17:18
the stage and then I had a box it was
00:17:21
like a beer box and I had foam in it and
00:17:25
you like soundproof and I had yeah and I
00:17:27
had a microphone that this guy rigged it
00:17:30
up at Uni to use for the student radio
00:17:32
station and had a microphone you put the
00:17:34
and a and a and a speaker and you put
00:17:37
the microphone on it in the box and had
00:17:39
a lead that would go into the PA and so
00:17:42
you basically have a you know that's how
00:17:44
you could hear it and make it work and
00:17:46
then we had after that we had a guy who
00:17:47
worked out how to you know this Tech Guy
00:17:51
to take a noia and you know like a
00:17:53
classic old school noas and take the
00:17:56
handsfree microphone and turn that into
00:17:59
a thing that you could do prank calls
00:18:01
live on stage but how do you how I'm
00:18:03
thinking from like a cuz on our radio
00:18:04
show we do prank calls from time to time
00:18:06
and you might have to record 10 of them
00:18:07
before you find one that's usable like
00:18:09
when you're doing it live on stage in
00:18:10
front of an audience you there's no yeah
00:18:13
and I think we you know there's no
00:18:14
safety net is there no and we were
00:18:17
pretty loose in in how we did things and
00:18:19
we the nature of what we did we weren't
00:18:21
very good at
00:18:22
rehearsing um you know we couldn't plan
00:18:25
a mic break we couldn't plan anything
00:18:26
we'd just we just do everything off the
00:18:29
because that's what we
00:18:30
do um it's not you know when I think we
00:18:34
probably would have liked to have been
00:18:35
able to rehearse and to plan things and
00:18:37
do things quite in a well structured
00:18:39
manner but it just it's just not how our
00:18:41
brains worked or not how we worked
00:18:43
together um and so our execution on
00:18:46
things was sometimes pretty ordinary but
00:18:49
then it also had this wild you never
00:18:51
know what's going to happen type yeah
00:18:52
that unpredictability but it must have
00:18:54
um must have worked as well cuz you had
00:18:56
this swelling sort of fan base at the
00:18:57
time yeah and then good enough to I
00:19:00
guess get the attention of the
00:19:02
programmers or management at Triple J
00:19:04
which is uh I think it's reasonably well
00:19:06
known here in New Zealand you run in New
00:19:07
Zealand would know about the uh Triple J
00:19:09
Hot 100 that comes out every Australia
00:19:11
um Triple J I I don't know if any radio
00:19:15
station has the same sort of appeal now
00:19:16
but at the time in the late 990s early
00:19:17
2000s that was a cool [ __ ] station
00:19:20
yeah and I mean that's the hotter grunge
00:19:22
around that when we joined um the B big
00:19:25
day out was huge actually was the
00:19:27
actually to be fair it was the end of
00:19:28
and it was the start of shitty Pro Tools
00:19:31
Rock You
00:19:32
Know play a lot of corn and Limp Biscuit
00:19:35
um no but
00:19:38
let's it was a bleak time was it it was
00:19:40
a ble it was that that sort of 97 998 99
00:19:43
there was some there was some rubbish
00:19:44
out there but
00:19:46
um yeah I mean it's the big day out was
00:19:48
huge um you know the hottest 100 it's a
00:19:51
national station we were doing Drive um
00:19:55
we did a we did this thing called The
00:19:57
Love bus where we took a bus and we We
00:20:00
Tour it around the country and every day
00:20:02
we' stop in a regional place and then
00:20:05
you know people would just turn arms you
00:20:07
know you're in Newcastle there's a
00:20:08
couple hundred people there and by the
00:20:10
time we got to Brisbane we got to the
00:20:12
Queen Street mall and there was I I
00:20:13
think there was 3 or 4,000 people there
00:20:15
and we just lost our mes like um yeah no
00:20:19
no radio activation is going to have
00:20:20
that sort of impact now no no you know
00:20:24
you'd have to give I mean it was simpler
00:20:25
times but that's you know there was
00:20:29
everyone listened to the radio um and
00:20:32
also I remember when we
00:20:35
started
00:20:36
doing we selling a lot of tickets for
00:20:39
one of our first interstate shows in
00:20:40
Adelaide and we'd been on Triple J
00:20:42
part-time for a while and being able to
00:20:46
walk past the lines of people coming to
00:20:48
our show and people not knowing what we
00:20:50
look
00:20:51
like oh yeah yeah was in the very early
00:20:54
days dial photos of Might SE who might
00:20:59
have been on TV once or twice or
00:21:01
something but you know they people
00:21:02
wouldn't have seen um yeah might have
00:21:04
seen our face on the poster but they
00:21:06
wouldn't put two and two together so
00:21:07
that that's really you know a lot
00:21:10
happens in your lifetime in terms of you
00:21:12
know this is R they were radio people in
00:21:15
those days who never showed their faces
00:21:16
and that was part of them they quite
00:21:18
like that most of them because they were
00:21:20
ugly the face for radio face radio yeah
00:21:24
yeah yeah there was a guy on pth right
00:21:25
that was there for New Zealand guy a guy
00:21:27
called Fred boder and
00:21:29
old he never his they want the audience
00:21:32
to know he was like 17 yeah exactly he
00:21:35
was he was like yeah I he was 70 and
00:21:38
still talking about yeah became became a
00:21:40
thing even when the internet was on I
00:21:41
remember when I was I've got some
00:21:42
siblings in Perth and it was almost like
00:21:44
um you know the next door neighbor on
00:21:46
Home Improvements yeah next door it's
00:21:49
kind of like that so Al so you're at
00:21:51
Triple J and then um then you get um a
00:21:54
new station comes on board called Nova
00:21:56
uh which is a very big brand now um
00:21:59
I remember this was this was inventive
00:22:01
it sort of changed radio like instead of
00:22:02
doing you know 15 minutes of music and
00:22:05
then a 3 minute a break thatd have like
00:22:06
two EDS in a row so like one minute Ed
00:22:08
breaks it was just and the slogan was
00:22:10
sounds different and it and it did and
00:22:12
it was exciting and they they poached
00:22:14
you guys to be to be the breakfast show
00:22:17
so you guys went from doing afternoons
00:22:19
on this um grungy sort of cool station
00:22:23
to being on this the sort of mainstream
00:22:26
Beast of a station that must have been a
00:22:28
weird there was a time now uh that was
00:22:31
that was a time then where selling out
00:22:32
was a thing oh yeah I remember oh yeah
00:22:35
just a couple of weeks ago I listen to a
00:22:37
um a podcast with Billy Joe Armstrong
00:22:39
from Green Day yeah and he talk it's
00:22:42
coming up to the 30-y year anniversary
00:22:43
of dookie and he he talked about that
00:22:45
and how they made the Breakthrough to
00:22:46
commercial he was having the time of his
00:22:51
life um but it must have been the same
00:22:53
for you guys like going from this yeah
00:22:55
people people for years would come up
00:22:58
till you go and see a band and you be at
00:23:00
a sort of Indie band venue and they'd Go
00:23:02
why'd you leave Triple J and I was like
00:23:04
oh mate it was 10 years ago can you just
00:23:07
stop um it was a real I found
00:23:10
it Merck was into it from day one I
00:23:13
loved working at Triple J I love the
00:23:16
audience and I never got that audience
00:23:17
again because it was National they
00:23:20
really deeply engaged um you know we'd
00:23:23
turn up and we do these outside
00:23:24
broadcasts and there'd be people that'
00:23:25
make their homemade American Roso
00:23:27
t-shirts though they really subscribed
00:23:30
to what we were doing just Bor into it
00:23:33
yeah and um it
00:23:35
was you know we playing good music we
00:23:38
were broadcasting to people you know
00:23:41
that'd be in the city or they could be
00:23:42
in the country so it's that National
00:23:45
reach was was really important and then
00:23:47
we went to a one market
00:23:49
only um Sydney though yeah not like wool
00:23:53
and gong no uh and look the money of
00:23:57
course was important the it was excit if
00:24:00
it had if it hadn't been a new station I
00:24:02
don't think we would have left I think
00:24:04
that was the the idea to start something
00:24:06
and um without sounding like a wanker
00:24:09
that you know they sort of based the
00:24:12
ethos of the station or the well maybe
00:24:15
it wasn't the ethos but certainly so
00:24:17
they want to be like a cool top 40
00:24:18
station yeah I think in terms of the
00:24:21
comedy stylings of it the brand values
00:24:24
in terms of um you know how it sounded
00:24:28
and how felt that sort of irreverence
00:24:30
was based on our personalities and that
00:24:33
still sits in the DNA of the radio
00:24:35
station which is sort of interesting I
00:24:36
think um but ultimately yeah they came
00:24:40
with the checkbook and you know you're
00:24:42
talking about a you know your mate Dean
00:24:44
Buchanon came this sort of ko g a really
00:24:47
shitty pair of cargo pants and you know
00:24:50
oh it's Rich coming from you look you
00:24:52
your cargo suit yeah but you know just
00:24:54
you know terrible shoes on I still
00:24:57
remember
00:24:58
you know these orange shirt and he like
00:25:01
whoa you know um and I wasn't buying
00:25:03
what he was selling and um but
00:25:06
ultimately they got us but I I
00:25:09
think I do remember we normally would
00:25:12
finish up the year and would say thanks
00:25:14
lot we see it next year and I I think
00:25:17
just we hadn't told anyone cuz the deal
00:25:20
was a secret and they were trying to not
00:25:23
let anyone know that we were launching
00:25:25
the station but I don't know how people
00:25:26
didn't work it out but maybe they didn't
00:25:29
think we were good enough to do it but I
00:25:31
put down the headphones and you know
00:25:33
after saying goodbye without saying
00:25:35
we'll see you next year and I cried you
00:25:36
know because I was knew that that was an
00:25:38
end a really important part of my life
00:25:41
um really how old you at the time late
00:25:43
20s yeah did 20 30 or something yeah 30
00:25:46
30 31 or something yeah that's yeah and
00:25:50
I loved it says a lot about lot about
00:25:52
you but I GRE I grew up listening to the
00:25:54
ABC um and watching the ABC and I'm
00:25:58
firmly you know I just I you I make
00:26:00
docos for the ABC now I love public
00:26:02
broadcasting and it um and it's reason
00:26:06
for being was so pure and then we got to
00:26:08
do great things at Nova and it was
00:26:11
really an incredible experience and one
00:26:14
of the great experiences in my life but
00:26:15
it was is a different job completely
00:26:17
different job and not just the different
00:26:19
hours of the day but suddenly you know
00:26:22
things are about selling ads and you
00:26:25
know promos to crush cars and get people
00:26:29
to eat [ __ ] that they shouldn't and
00:26:31
all we a lot of that the Jack yeah put
00:26:35
you know we had this thing where box of
00:26:36
mystery you know you put your hand in
00:26:38
the box and it could be a snake in there
00:26:40
or it could be a dogs to it you know
00:26:42
just in Australia you know it's a dog to
00:26:44
there's a lot of dangerous snakes around
00:26:46
so how I this is a redundant question
00:26:50
because I'm probably not going to get an
00:26:51
answer of you but how much was the money
00:26:52
at the time given surely it was over 20
00:26:55
years ago surely you can answer it now
00:26:56
what is it like half a million what
00:26:58
I can't
00:27:00
remember a show in Australia at the
00:27:02
moment significantly more than I was
00:27:04
making at at the ABC yeah yeah ABC the
00:27:08
Triple J is like a government station
00:27:09
government funded so the money would be
00:27:10
sh you'd assume um yeah but can you not
00:27:14
remember or you choosing not to remember
00:27:16
I just think it's rather vulgar to talk
00:27:18
about you know but there's a there's a
00:27:21
what how come we we hear about Kyle and
00:27:23
Jackie O now they are the number one
00:27:25
Sean Sydney and that like whenever they
00:27:28
sign a new deal it's like um oh they've
00:27:29
just signed a 10-year deal with $100
00:27:32
million why um how like how is that so
00:27:35
public now cuz they tell you they like
00:27:37
telling that stuff I mean that's their
00:27:39
stick you they're really good at it um
00:27:43
did did you we cuz heish and
00:27:45
Andy I think in the same camp as you and
00:27:47
that they'd find it vulgar and you they
00:27:50
they've never even though I mean some
00:27:51
people do and like it's just a personal
00:27:53
thing you know like I just don't think
00:27:55
it's anyone's business and um never been
00:27:58
driven by the money though I whereas I
00:27:59
feel like mir's probably more like me in
00:28:01
that
00:28:02
respect I can't talk for M but no I
00:28:04
think M likes the art of things he's
00:28:06
he's he um no he liked the he he liked
00:28:11
the creative stuff he likes you know he
00:28:14
likes he likes the fun of it he likes
00:28:16
the he loves the joy of being in a room
00:28:19
and making people laugh that's that's
00:28:21
he's a he's it is about the
00:28:23
entertainment for him yeah 100% yeah no
00:28:26
no but I suppose what I'm saying is it's
00:28:28
seems like a no-brainer that if you're
00:28:30
at one place and you're getting x amount
00:28:33
of dollars then you can go to the
00:28:34
another place oh don't get me wrong I
00:28:35
was never going to start the
00:28:38
ABC no CU you
00:28:43
you that said I have knocked back you
00:28:46
know considerable money since then to do
00:28:48
other
00:28:49
things because Life's too short to do
00:28:51
[ __ ] you don't want to
00:28:52
do
00:28:54
um but rightly we made that decision
00:28:57
because it was incred R exciting time
00:28:58
you know Sydney had just come off the
00:29:00
back of the Olympics um there a brand
00:29:02
new station we were going to be the face
00:29:05
of it they were you know um the music
00:29:09
wasn't too in those early days it wasn't
00:29:12
remarkably that far removed from what
00:29:14
we're playing at Triple J in some ways
00:29:18
um
00:29:20
and it was a great Challenge and I think
00:29:23
that's ultimately too it's like you know
00:29:25
if we if we stuffed it up
00:29:28
we couldn't go back that would be it and
00:29:31
we but yeah I mean it was and being on
00:29:35
there launching the excitement of and
00:29:39
everyone was interested in it and it
00:29:40
didn't it didn't take off hugely
00:29:43
straight away but in a short period of
00:29:44
time you you guys did very well I think
00:29:47
part of the success is that you were you
00:29:48
were you were the the station slogan was
00:29:50
sounds different and you were so
00:29:52
different your main competitor was um
00:29:54
was it that Wendy hmer lady Yeah Wendy
00:29:56
hmer lady that was so rich she used to
00:29:58
like import tea bags from India or
00:29:59
something didn't she was there all sorts
00:30:01
of Y know wend he had been there forever
00:30:04
and um you know really really great
00:30:07
comedian a really good
00:30:08
broadcaster but you know you come in as
00:30:12
new and you you know that there's
00:30:15
there's always a challenger coming on
00:30:17
and you know and like when K and Jack
00:30:19
came along that you know they had a
00:30:22
certain stick at the right time and
00:30:24
nothing we could do could compete with
00:30:26
that yeah a good how long were you guys
00:30:29
on Nova for 10 years yeah about 10 years
00:30:31
I suppose yeah what are some of the
00:30:33
memorable like radio moments from that
00:30:35
time stuff that you look back on now and
00:30:36
go now that was good or that was
00:30:39
memorable or that stands
00:30:41
out we did one of my favorite things was
00:30:44
that we were doing this prank call to oh
00:30:47
actually Merck was doing it we was doing
00:30:49
this prank call to this guy I don't know
00:30:51
why we just after the studio we just
00:30:53
ring hotels and overseas and because if
00:30:55
you rang overseas you didn't have to get
00:30:57
permission because at the end if you run
00:30:59
within Australia you have to get
00:31:00
permission to put on here and we ring we
00:31:02
just ring reservations and just use
00:31:04
stupid names and so that have to you
00:31:08
know read it back to you you know and
00:31:10
you say you know can I have a book of
00:31:12
room for 15th of February and what's
00:31:14
your name and it's like Darren [ __ ]
00:31:16
Buster you know it's all that stuff
00:31:20
you and can you read it back for me yeah
00:31:23
and so we got this guy Kenny and he was
00:31:24
working at the park height in Tokyo and
00:31:28
he was the sweetest guy
00:31:30
and we actually felt so bad about I
00:31:33
think Amer felt so bad about it that we
00:31:35
I think we rang him back to say that we
00:31:36
were a radio station from Australia and
00:31:39
because he was so helpful and so polite
00:31:41
and he said my dream oh you're from
00:31:43
Australia my dream is to come to
00:31:46
Australia and so we thought we should
00:31:48
bring him out right so we did this thing
00:31:50
we got airfare sponsored and we had an
00:31:54
outside
00:31:55
broadcast we wrote songs about him
00:31:58
and we had a at the opera house at the
00:32:01
front of the Opera House thousand people
00:32:03
there so this guy comes straight off a
00:32:05
plane and there's people screaming his
00:32:07
name and he's a celebrity and he just
00:32:10
loved it but he the thing was he
00:32:12
couldn't work he thought everyone in
00:32:14
Australia knew who he
00:32:17
was and we took him to the races he met
00:32:19
Bob Hawk one of our most famous Prime
00:32:21
Ministers I said and and then he he's
00:32:24
just waving at everyone and like it was
00:32:26
huge and it was one of those also in at
00:32:28
a time when you could you could own
00:32:31
these things um that was great I I love
00:32:34
that stuff um we just do dumb stuff as
00:32:37
well we just bike you know we have a
00:32:38
station car we had a dutson 180b as a
00:32:40
station car when everyone else had you
00:32:43
know missing patrols and all that sort
00:32:45
of stuff it was it was sort of
00:32:47
anti-commercial radio in some ways but
00:32:49
yeah it was it was sort of um yeah it
00:32:51
was was Anarchist in a way wasn't it for
00:32:54
the time like you hear it now and anyone
00:32:56
that's listening to this be like oh it's
00:32:57
it's like heish Andy like you talk about
00:32:59
the love bus thing it's like the Caravan
00:33:01
of colage yeah mean yeah they they
00:33:03
definitely took that from us but you
00:33:05
know there nothing's new but I mean we
00:33:07
were we'd come from a different time
00:33:09
than those guys um and so and we were
00:33:14
different generation and we we what what
00:33:17
was interesting we'd started in a doing
00:33:20
standup during you know in a recession
00:33:22
and that in a different time and a
00:33:24
different place and then we had and we
00:33:26
we just had a different to us I think
00:33:28
we're a bit we're a bit n here yeah I I
00:33:31
think it it's just you you're very
00:33:33
you're just very likable like just
00:33:35
Aussie leads well that's what they say
00:33:36
you know they would just go we just want
00:33:38
you to you know call people tiger when
00:33:39
they call in oh thanks for calling in
00:33:41
Tiger I was half yeah I I started doing
00:33:43
that for a while here to on my radio
00:33:44
show calling people tiger made
00:33:46
absolutely no
00:33:50
sense but don't don't come for me come
00:33:52
for [ __ ] he miss Andy but I the rest
00:33:54
of it I I don't know I mean there was
00:33:55
plenty of stuff um that was fun but I
00:33:59
just I mean I like talking to people up
00:34:01
hearing people's stories but you know
00:34:02
like it's just it's all I don't know
00:34:05
it's all it's all I'd have to go back
00:34:06
and listen to the Tes it's it's funny
00:34:09
that isn't it because it's um people
00:34:11
come up to me mention things that they
00:34:12
we over the 20 years and I've got no
00:34:14
recollection of the [ __ ] they're talking
00:34:15
about you remember the big things the
00:34:17
mess I suppose the mess of what you'd
00:34:18
call in radio story arc like you calling
00:34:20
the guy and then getting the E is and
00:34:22
bringing them over to Australia and
00:34:23
doing a whole thing because it goes for
00:34:25
more than one show but otherwise it's
00:34:26
just a f minute bit
00:34:28
yeah I mean it was just all fun and it
00:34:30
was all and it was all loose and yeah it
00:34:34
was good geig yeah all right let's talk
00:34:36
about some of the celebrity interviews
00:34:37
because it's
00:34:38
um you know Australia and New Australia
00:34:40
is a big territory New Zealand's on the
00:34:43
it's on the oh M you met edir come on
00:34:45
your mates but in terms of um like movie
00:34:48
stars and big stars like if we had if we
00:34:50
had a movie star on our show we knew
00:34:51
that the especially if it was a big star
00:34:53
we knew it was a [ __ ] movie they really
00:34:56
had to promote it hard so let's about
00:34:58
some other the people you David Bowie
00:34:59
you met David
00:35:00
Bowie briefly or was this like a
00:35:03
backstage thing backstage and it was
00:35:06
great cuz I was going out with this girl
00:35:07
at the moment used to work for Sony and
00:35:08
she organized it and then I bumped in
00:35:11
and made him M Robbie Buck I used to
00:35:12
work at Triple J with and I said we're
00:35:13
going for meet and great with David
00:35:15
Bowie and he had that one of those great
00:35:18
suits on you know on stage we gonna get
00:35:20
a photo just beautiful and then someone
00:35:23
had given him this terrible orange Mambo
00:35:25
shirt he looked like a [ __ ] C driver
00:35:28
in
00:35:30
it and so so there we go backstage what
00:35:33
are you wearing that for Bowie and um
00:35:37
someone introd was introduced and said
00:35:39
this is you know this is Tim and I can I
00:35:41
can still hear it he just please to meet
00:35:44
you Tim in that David Boe Voice who just
00:35:47
sits there just forever he was so
00:35:49
charming and it was just the smallest
00:35:51
moment and I was like a and and I'm so
00:35:54
glad that happened and I didn't need to
00:35:57
interview him in that way that was
00:35:59
enough he he said my name and plenty of
00:36:01
them don't Tain didn't T and then asked
00:36:05
if you want a photo and you're like not
00:36:06
on the 100% membo [ __ ] [ __ ] no no thanks
00:36:09
no
00:36:10
but the there was all sorts of we ended
00:36:14
up cuz you get a photo with other people
00:36:17
oh meeting greet photo the worst so yeah
00:36:20
but I was on one side then my then
00:36:23
girlfriend maybe was closer to him or
00:36:24
something I can't remember and then
00:36:26
there was another guy there and then he
00:36:29
sadly died he was a journalist and then
00:36:30
a friend of mine was
00:36:32
at at his funeral and then they flashed
00:36:35
the photo of up at the funeral with me
00:36:38
and my ex-girlfriend David Bowie in the
00:36:40
shitty orange T-shirt and then my
00:36:43
ex-girlfriend I think she someone told
00:36:45
me cuz she Banned Me on blocked me on
00:36:47
Facebook but um she she always posted it
00:36:51
all the time because it was she was a
00:36:52
Bowie fan but I think I might have been
00:36:54
closer or something but anyway she cut
00:36:56
me out of the photo because that's so
00:36:58
I've got a friend that's got a photo
00:36:59
with the Rolling Stones but it's there's
00:37:01
like 20 people from Universal Music
00:37:03
whatever so everyone's like rushing to
00:37:06
be with their armor on MC Jagger you
00:37:08
don't want to be the person on the AR
00:37:09
back no I had that with um with Nick
00:37:12
someone I worked with the the radio
00:37:14
station and they had a photo with r but
00:37:16
everyone had their their arms around RM
00:37:21
but she put her arm around the guy like
00:37:23
the assistant program director was like
00:37:25
what are you doing put your hand around
00:37:28
stpy um Russell Brand you guys opened
00:37:31
for Russell Brand yeah yeah really
00:37:34
interesting experience like um you know
00:37:36
this is the top of the pops for Russell
00:37:38
Brand time and he was coming out and um
00:37:41
somehow I was chatting to the promoter
00:37:43
and I said oh we can do the support if
00:37:45
you like and uh we did two gigs with him
00:37:49
first one wasn't amazing it was because
00:37:51
he was just super super super deep
00:37:55
Russell Brand fans in a 2000 C the
00:37:58
second one was bit more mainstream of
00:37:59
5,000 CED and we actually killed on that
00:38:01
one but the first one was was a bit
00:38:03
tricky cuz people were like what are you
00:38:04
doing here but he' he'd come on the show
00:38:07
and he was good fun and and we said we
00:38:10
said oh we we're supporting you and he
00:38:12
said um you know he should should come
00:38:14
and hang out you know after the show and
00:38:18
um the first night he wasn't even at the
00:38:21
theater when we when we're gone and he I
00:38:23
said where's russling s he's not here
00:38:25
and then the second one was thought we
00:38:27
were going to sort of hang out um that
00:38:30
actually moved us like we W it was a big
00:38:33
theater and it it was backstage areas
00:38:36
and we didn't get any of those they put
00:38:38
us in the sort of car Park area next to
00:38:40
this John's ambulance
00:38:42
guys and he clearly didn't want to see
00:38:45
us at all and I remember going to sort
00:38:47
of see where he was and I went what are
00:38:49
you doing I said I was just going to say
00:38:50
good day to Russell it's not going to
00:38:52
happen that's going to happen wow yeah
00:38:54
he was an interesting guy but I do
00:38:56
remember at the the time some of the
00:38:59
material that had come up more recently
00:39:02
and those was 2000 I'm going to try to
00:39:03
think this 2006 or 2007 oh some of the
00:39:06
sexual stuff that hasn't aged very well
00:39:07
really aged and like all of us have you
00:39:10
know I've spoken a lot about some of the
00:39:11
material I've done that have has an AG
00:39:13
well that I'm embarrassed of and it's
00:39:15
not horrific stuff but it's just it's
00:39:17
time and place and you know you mature
00:39:19
and you learn and you move on but that
00:39:21
stuff for me even then I'm like ooh but
00:39:24
on the night yeah U it surprised me to
00:39:27
be honest but then you part of it is is
00:39:29
like those English Comics would always
00:39:32
push the boundaries far more than we did
00:39:35
in Australia isn't that funny though CU
00:39:37
English radio is so conservative like
00:39:39
insanely conservative compared to but
00:39:42
but when you're live in terms of
00:39:44
language and concept and yeah like even
00:39:47
their books you know those huge
00:39:49
comedians write these Memoirs and they
00:39:51
talk what they talk about sexually and
00:39:52
with who and I was with some news reader
00:39:54
and I did this to them and I'm like whoa
00:39:57
whoa that's
00:39:59
yeah um who else oh Stallone sesta
00:40:02
Stallone you you you got have to sign
00:40:05
some like weird fan art or no what was
00:40:09
actually yeah yeah so he he someone had
00:40:12
sent us a like a painting of Rambo you
00:40:15
know you know what listeners just send
00:40:17
you random [ __ ] I can't remember why you
00:40:19
know it's like listener food you know
00:40:21
they oh such and such from parata loves
00:40:24
the show she's made you some lamington
00:40:25
you go I'm not eating the list you
00:40:27
probably ate the listener food did you
00:40:29
never did never did you just I don't
00:40:32
know what I don't know why you just
00:40:34
you're not sure what the kitchen they're
00:40:36
operating no no no no no it's
00:40:40
like but it's like when you go we
00:40:42
talking about listeners because I I'll
00:40:44
come back to to the Stallone stuff but
00:40:46
you know like going to their houses when
00:40:47
we do some sort of outside broadcast or
00:40:49
some competition to go to someone's
00:40:51
house and listen his house and you end
00:40:54
up and like we were doing a thing and
00:40:56
this guy had snakes
00:40:58
and like a wall of snakes and then he
00:41:01
had a wall of rats that he was breeding
00:41:03
to feed to the snakes like
00:41:06
okay uh so yeah they this someone had
00:41:08
sent us this painting of Rambo or maybe
00:41:11
we bought it some I can't remember
00:41:13
anyway but it' been in the office
00:41:14
forever and we thought oh we better get
00:41:16
that and get him to sign it and then so
00:41:19
we we had a photo of him signing it him
00:41:22
holding the photo and then I think we
00:41:23
had a photo of that or some [ __ ] like a
00:41:25
whole Inception thing pre Inception
00:41:27
thing yeah but he would
00:41:30
he he'd been taking steroids and he'd
00:41:33
got busted for having steroids on him
00:41:36
because he'd been doing the movie again
00:41:37
so he had to bulk up and so there was a
00:41:39
bit of controversy around that I think
00:41:40
they were not going to let him into the
00:41:42
country for bringing in illegal drugs at
00:41:43
the
00:41:44
time and he was wearing like cuz he's a
00:41:48
tiny man he was wearing little like
00:41:51
platform Runners that were probably
00:41:52
three or 4 inches these sort of High
00:41:54
Heeled Spice Girl type Runners which was
00:41:56
interesting
00:41:58
but then you know like he just we making
00:42:01
he did that film Tango and cash with
00:42:02
Kurt Russ right America had a fixation
00:42:05
with the movie or whatever like for
00:42:07
whatever reason liked it and so he
00:42:09
brought the movie up and then he just
00:42:11
sort of went like just sort of
00:42:14
completely deep on it and he went
00:42:16
all oh that was a bad idea I should have
00:42:19
taken the Kurt Russell role they offered
00:42:22
me that but we were trying to change my
00:42:24
image I was wearing the glosses playing
00:42:25
the straight man bad move oh so that
00:42:29
that wasn't the movie he was promoting
00:42:30
that was like no that was like a that
00:42:32
was like a movie from 1985 like cut deep
00:42:35
yeah still cut deep it's like dude it's
00:42:38
in the rear Vision M I watched it on VHS
00:42:41
in 1985 you know move on I can't I think
00:42:44
it was it must have been Rocky 17 or
00:42:46
something that he promoted nice guy but
00:42:49
he was sort of he was he was he was
00:42:52
quite humble and that that moment really
00:42:54
shocked me but those earlier days sort
00:42:56
of pre- inter
00:42:58
they were a bit more open like I
00:43:00
remember chatting to Jody Foster who was
00:43:03
lovely and she was quite unreserved she
00:43:06
was she was speaking quite open
00:43:08
unguarded she really unguarded and I
00:43:10
think you know two years on the other
00:43:12
side of that she would have been
00:43:13
completely different but I remember
00:43:14
being quite surprised I was quite taken
00:43:16
by her
00:43:17
actually yeah I was I always found that
00:43:20
like um an artist at the beginning of
00:43:22
their career someone that comes to mind
00:43:23
is um like Charlie poth you know Charlie
00:43:25
poth the singer no don't no the first
00:43:29
time he really taken off has
00:43:30
he she hasn't made it to Australia yet
00:43:33
obviously um we had an interview with
00:43:36
him in the early stages of his career
00:43:37
and he was talking about yeah which
00:43:39
which Jina girl had likeed to date the
00:43:41
most then we had him on a year later he
00:43:42
was just jaded yeah like obious
00:43:45
obviously had said some stuff in
00:43:46
interviews that have come back to haunt
00:43:47
him or bite him in the ass and they
00:43:49
become guarded yeah there was always a
00:43:51
few of them you'd get early on the
00:43:52
career that um it's wonderful yeah and
00:43:54
then then you and they'd come into the
00:43:56
studio and then wise you're in a hotel
00:43:58
room interviewing them but I I I did a
00:44:01
sketch with Will Ferell that was cool
00:44:04
and what was that um so i' met him a few
00:44:07
times we got him quite well and then we
00:44:09
got him into when I was doing a show for
00:44:12
foxel and Merrick couldn't do the
00:44:14
interview he had I can't remember what
00:44:16
happened but so I thought I'll I'll do
00:44:19
this thing where I'm auditioning people
00:44:21
for new comedy partners and we'll
00:44:23
audition will Ferell to do that um just
00:44:27
by luck heish and Andy were in the
00:44:28
building doing something with him as
00:44:30
well and I said can you be part of it as
00:44:31
well so I think you know they they came
00:44:33
in and you know one by one to audition
00:44:35
first and like said no you're not good
00:44:37
enough and then you know will frell came
00:44:39
in and he was great you know that was
00:44:41
quite was quite a buzz I'm not going to
00:44:43
say the sketch was amazing cuz if it was
00:44:45
that amazing you would have seen it
00:44:46
because it would be all over Tik Tok but
00:44:48
um yeah but this was this was sort of
00:44:49
pre yeah but I mean someone would have
00:44:51
posted or whatever but it was but you
00:44:53
know like so when I'm
00:44:55
watching you know some movie like Step
00:44:57
Brothers or something with my kids and
00:44:59
then realizing it's
00:45:00
actually content's not quite right have
00:45:02
to turn it off but you know or they're
00:45:04
watching Elfie God you know Dad did a
00:45:06
sketch with him once dad met him I met
00:45:08
him you know they don't care but you
00:45:11
know yeah it's cool okay Dad cool a lot
00:45:13
about well fi though and and and for
00:45:16
those years he'd you know he'd come back
00:45:18
and you know and go hey Russell you know
00:45:20
which is nice you know which you didn't
00:45:22
have to and um the Charlie's Angels cast
00:45:25
you had a memorable experience with them
00:45:26
right
00:45:27
so that was um Drew Barry Cameron Diaz
00:45:30
and Lucy Lucy Lou yeah and it's big it's
00:45:34
a big lineup yeah and they were hot and
00:45:37
amazing and it was the big film remember
00:45:39
that was huge that Rive I think the film
00:45:42
was [ __ ] but I can't remember um but
00:45:44
they were sort of cool and one of them
00:45:46
you know they we used it a promo for
00:45:48
years but it was um who were the three
00:45:53
again Lucy louon Diaz Diaz
00:45:58
Diaz looked at Merrick and said I wonder
00:46:00
if you've got a big
00:46:02
[ __ ] or I think I bet he's got a big
00:46:07
[ __ ] and so yeah I mean that thing they
00:46:10
were playing every two minutes or
00:46:13
something yeah for years but it was a
00:46:14
big moment of course they wouldn't say
00:46:16
it today but they absolutely not not and
00:46:19
also you know there was a rich tradition
00:46:22
of you know celebrities coming up and go
00:46:24
out and going oh it doesn't matter like
00:46:26
no one's ever going to hear it out here
00:46:28
you know be on radio once and you know
00:46:30
you talk about stuff in Australia that
00:46:32
you wouldn't talk about and the you know
00:46:34
like some about Boe used to come out to
00:46:35
Australia and you know spend his sumers
00:46:37
there and Elton John would in the 80s
00:46:40
you know got married there on a whim you
00:46:42
know this to a lady you're lady yeah and
00:46:45
they didn't have enough French champagne
00:46:46
in the country for his wedding that's
00:46:48
how backward everything was then um
00:46:51
because there was no Paparazzi and there
00:46:53
you could do whatever you wanted with
00:46:54
whoever you wanted without anyone really
00:46:56
realizing so um it was quite an
00:46:59
interesting experience but
00:47:01
they some of them
00:47:03
were more interested in the country I
00:47:05
always thought it was and we're
00:47:06
interested in the Dynamics of what was
00:47:08
going on I always thought it was
00:47:09
fascinating that pink used to spend so
00:47:10
much time in Australia and but still
00:47:12
really didn't know anything about the
00:47:13
country um whereas other people would
00:47:16
would come and they remember who
00:47:17
everyone was and they'd be deeply
00:47:19
interested in how can pink not know like
00:47:22
she she she'll go to Australia now
00:47:23
she'll do like 50 days yeah but I think
00:47:25
whatever version of Australia she lived
00:47:27
in she wasn't didn't she was just busy
00:47:29
and whatever not I just think I mean she
00:47:31
was always Pleasant um really pleasant
00:47:33
but I she wasn't wasn't a person who was
00:47:36
she she had a shtick and she talk about
00:47:37
VB you know and that and that sort of
00:47:39
stuff a couple of cultural but not not
00:47:42
nothing out of a deer but you know she
00:47:44
didn't need to she was you know
00:47:46
selling every everyone went and saw
00:47:48
those tours yeah 100% And they still do
00:47:50
like she'll do eight dates and Perth or
00:47:52
something it's crazy what about um Kathy
00:47:54
Griffith so she's the comedian she
00:47:57
the most famous iist reference point for
00:47:59
who is like holding up a uh like a
00:48:02
Donald Trump's head yeah yeah yeah
00:48:04
Donald Trump's head in a in an Instagram
00:48:06
post and she got canceled for that but I
00:48:07
think she sort of bounced back was was
00:48:09
your you had a memorable interaction
00:48:10
with her yeah I mean she was asking
00:48:13
about we're doing a phone interview it
00:48:15
was a pre record and she was asking
00:48:18
about Australian sayings and there's a
00:48:21
very famous Australian play called Don's
00:48:24
party uh from the 1970s and sort of um
00:48:29
you know sort of M toxic M culture and
00:48:32
there's this character in it called coie
00:48:34
and he's famous opening words they
00:48:35
turned into a movie I studied at
00:48:37
University but Don opens up the door for
00:48:40
this party for the 1969
00:48:43
election and and and coie says to Don
00:48:46
get a [ __ ]
00:48:51
features right and
00:48:54
so well I don't know what's happening
00:48:56
Kathy Griffin's coming to Australia on
00:48:58
tour she goes I need to know some
00:49:00
of I need to I need I need to know some
00:49:03
of the local Australian words and so we
00:49:04
just did that as a joke you know we're
00:49:06
never going to put it to
00:49:07
where no didn't think anything more of
00:49:09
it few years later I was in America and
00:49:13
I Kathy Griffin has this show called my
00:49:16
life on the D list cable
00:49:19
show and she is interviewing Olivia
00:49:22
Newton John you know fabulous Australian
00:49:26
dear departed Olivia Newton
00:49:28
John they sit down for the chat and she
00:49:31
says oh I've heard you know um Olivia
00:49:35
I've I've heard that you know I've been
00:49:36
doing a bit of research about Australian
00:49:40
welcomes and apparently a very popular
00:49:41
one is to say get a [ __ ]
00:49:46
features and I was like oh my God to
00:49:49
Sandy from Greece De John and then I
00:49:52
years later I
00:49:54
interviewed I interviewed her and not
00:49:57
Kathy again for the first time I met
00:49:59
Olivia Newton John and I apologized I
00:50:01
said I'm you're the reason that Kathy
00:50:04
Griffin said get a [ __ ] features did she
00:50:06
remember you'd remember that she must
00:50:07
have remembered the oh she remembered it
00:50:09
yeah she remembered it she didn't blame
00:50:11
me for it but and but she didn't I mean
00:50:14
she's very she's a lovely woman I
00:50:16
shouldn't have brought it up but I
00:50:17
wanted some sort of closure for it but
00:50:19
it was very peculiar thing to happen and
00:50:22
like cuz I had no idea that it happened
00:50:24
I you know show I think the show ran
00:50:26
astray but no watched it but then I just
00:50:27
managed to catch it and I was like by
00:50:29
chance that's amazing by chance yeah
00:50:31
that's incredible and what about um I
00:50:33
think they play they played the audio of
00:50:35
the that's what she was because it was a
00:50:36
you know observation oh they were
00:50:38
recording on her end her end yeah and so
00:50:40
it went from that going oh [ __ ] we're on
00:50:42
the TV show to her using it me saying
00:50:44
good I can't features that's amazing
00:50:46
that must have been yeah how did that
00:50:48
feel sitting in a hotel room in America
00:50:49
seeing that was it quite satisfying or I
00:50:52
was so embar I was deeply embarrassed by
00:50:54
it you were done with radio by by
00:50:57
you know I wasn't really comfortable
00:50:58
about saying it on your show but you
00:51:00
know you I work out whether you're going
00:51:01
to bleep it or not that' be an
00:51:02
interesting question for you won't it
00:51:04
bleep it absolutely not okay unless you
00:51:06
want unless you request it um what let
00:51:08
me think about it whether I approve any
00:51:10
of the content we're doing oh when you
00:51:11
go you that's I've stopped doing any
00:51:14
editing I I I I edited it but I found
00:51:16
all I was editing out was my stutters
00:51:18
and stumbles and I'd get to the end of a
00:51:20
an editing session I'd just be full of
00:51:22
self-loathing and why bother you but if
00:51:25
the guest wants anything taken out I
00:51:27
will um oh what about um one of the
00:51:29
nicest new zealanders imaginable I don't
00:51:32
think there's anyone that doesn't like
00:51:33
this person um you were MC at Sam Neil
00:51:37
and an Australian Guy Brian Brown's 6th
00:51:40
birthday party yeah we talked our way
00:51:43
into that um how do you talk your way
00:51:45
into him seeing someone's 60th birthday
00:51:47
part I think I can't remember it was
00:51:48
Brian or S must have been Brian was on
00:51:50
the show for some
00:51:52
reason and we just s be Brian Brown um
00:51:55
I'm just trying to a reference point
00:51:57
probably probably the Tom Cruz movie
00:51:58
Cocktail yeah cocktail was the big one
00:52:00
for him and oh God you name it just
00:52:01
Google um but you know he he did FX
00:52:04
remember that movie American Special
00:52:06
Effects movie yeah I mean he done anyway
00:52:09
absolute Legend yeah and I can't
00:52:12
remember how it all happened but I think
00:52:15
we sent an email we said we just invited
00:52:17
ourselves to do it on air or something
00:52:19
and then we got an email from his
00:52:21
assistant or something and said yeah do
00:52:22
you want to you know MC 60th and then we
00:52:25
didn't really think about about the
00:52:28
implications of that I'm not sure that
00:52:30
we did a great job what you what do you
00:52:32
mean what do you mean the implications
00:52:34
well I just don't think we were that
00:52:35
prepared for it right um yeah because it
00:52:37
was was like a it was like a festival
00:52:40
there Wasa there Tim Neil morrris yep
00:52:43
they were all there um and I remember we
00:52:46
sort of I remember Sam being quite upset
00:52:49
because bck was about to sing or
00:52:50
something and everyone was talking and I
00:52:52
think he felt like not everyone
00:52:54
knew it was was as aware of some of the
00:52:57
other guests or something weren't as
00:52:58
famous in Australia as as the um as the
00:53:02
as the Finn brothers or whatever it was
00:53:04
a great night but I think I think we
00:53:06
just turned up and I went oh my God you
00:53:07
know there's all these people here and
00:53:09
lots of auss these celebrities and I was
00:53:10
like oh oopsy yeah we weren't terrible
00:53:12
but you know Sam still Sam will still
00:53:14
reply to my emails from time to time is
00:53:16
that so [ __ ] he's he's a he's a great
00:53:19
news he's a lovely guy he's an
00:53:21
architecture nut is he yeah but he's
00:53:24
making just making wines with his uh two
00:53:26
pedics no I was on a I was I got an
00:53:29
email out of the blue from him one day
00:53:31
um I'd gone to see some building in
00:53:33
France and he'd been to see it so fam
00:53:37
Emil oh he's he's a fake AR architect
00:53:40
like you yeah he's exactly the same he
00:53:42
doesn't ever degree or any P just lik
00:53:44
looking at building likes looking at
00:53:45
buildings so he sort of mildly mildly uh
00:53:49
bonded on that yeah oh how good what
00:53:51
about Russell cry what were your
00:53:52
interactions with him you used to do you
00:53:55
you look a lot bit like Russell Crow
00:53:57
you've got the same sort of I suppose
00:53:59
tone or Cadence of spe for a period of
00:54:01
time that you know I used to get we had
00:54:03
similar haircuts and whatever
00:54:06
and so we thought we'd use it to our
00:54:09
advantage and so we were doing a TV show
00:54:11
and I would dress up as Russell CRA even
00:54:13
though I'm much shorter than Russell
00:54:14
you're like rabido Jersey and because he
00:54:16
wore the same thing all the time at that
00:54:19
um yeah he wore the because he thought
00:54:22
if I wear my rabbito jersey in the same
00:54:24
cap every time they can't sell the
00:54:25
photos cuz they look the same as every
00:54:27
other photo which is really clever which
00:54:29
made it really easy to impersonate him
00:54:31
and we went to America First up and we
00:54:32
did a whole bunch of things where I was
00:54:34
going into music stores and you know
00:54:36
pretending to buy guitars and stuff like
00:54:38
that and then like saying you're Russell
00:54:40
Crow CR yeah yeah and just playing
00:54:42
really [ __ ] songs and stuff and there's
00:54:44
one one sketch in particular that I I
00:54:46
remember was stand out for me so you'd
00:54:48
be um dressed as Russell Crow baby
00:54:50
stroller this is when you had a baby and
00:54:52
fans would stop you for autographs and
00:54:54
you'd let the prayer
00:54:57
down hell you end up in a pond yeah no
00:54:59
we're at Bondo Beach and yeah stopped to
00:55:02
say hi Russell and then I just there's
00:55:03
nothing in the pram and then I just let
00:55:05
the pram go and every and then like it
00:55:08
made the paper that Russell Crow had let
00:55:11
you know almost killed his child at the
00:55:13
beach he find it funny that could have
00:55:15
backfired no and then no actually cuz
00:55:17
that we that was the first sketch we did
00:55:19
and so and then he sent me a note saying
00:55:24
if you're going to do it you need the
00:55:25
proper gear and he sent me his own hat
00:55:26
and his own you know Russell Crow
00:55:30
top and so we he was sort of interested
00:55:32
in us for a while and then he rang up
00:55:34
one day and um he goes well get out it's
00:55:38
Russell here just um going up to Cops
00:55:41
Harbor because he's got this Farm
00:55:42
there's going to be a few of us it's
00:55:44
just going to be me Kevin spacy Chris
00:55:47
Christopherson and you
00:55:50
guys and I was like okay and then we
00:55:53
couldn't go we had to work and we never
00:55:55
went but I mean then you hear stories
00:55:57
and it's not just him there's a million
00:55:58
other people that go as well but it was
00:56:00
it was pretty surreal yeah that's
00:56:03
amazing but you know and I love Chris
00:56:04
christofferson I think it would and
00:56:05
Kevin Spacey well you know um that would
00:56:07
have been interesting yeah or you you
00:56:09
would have been safe you were well out
00:56:10
of his demogr by then um W touch that um
00:56:14
and I haven't thought about this stuff
00:56:15
for years it's interesting you bringing
00:56:16
up yeah well this is what I like about
00:56:18
the podcast like a couple of my guests
00:56:19
have said to me I like you know great
00:56:21
greatest Greatest Hits and and sort of
00:56:22
greatest shits as well like the good and
00:56:24
the bad that everyone has in their life
00:56:25
um but it's nice to reflect on this the
00:56:27
stuff sometimes it's something that uh I
00:56:29
think especially if you've got like a
00:56:30
growth mindset which you you definitely
00:56:31
do you're always looking forward so you
00:56:33
never forward yeah I mean this time I'm
00:56:35
I'm a nostalgic person but not
00:56:37
necessarily about you're more nostalgic
00:56:40
I think about things yeah I am more
00:56:42
nostalgic about things rather than you
00:56:44
know it's like your your house is
00:56:46
amazing because it's almost like a
00:56:48
museum it's like a house that's stuck in
00:56:50
time and the best photos of me and sylv
00:56:54
I mean like the the dinner sets have and
00:56:56
the furniture and everything it's all
00:56:58
like from sort 1950s but it doesn't look
00:57:00
like a house where you've got two boys
00:57:01
running around no they're not to touch
00:57:03
anything they're not allowed to touch
00:57:05
any they learned the hard way jug cord
00:57:08
bang um so you so why did you end up
00:57:11
calling it on the radio show you guys
00:57:13
weren't push day like you you decided to
00:57:16
end the American Rosso relationship it
00:57:18
was just what was the straw that broke
00:57:20
the camel's back paying off paying off
00:57:22
your mortgage or was there like a a
00:57:24
moment on the a where you're like h i
00:57:26
just can't do this anymore I think at
00:57:28
some stage
00:57:29
I got to the point where um that sort of
00:57:34
Showbiz cycle that was huge
00:57:37
and um and I was re-referencing things
00:57:40
and you know you'd be talking about some
00:57:41
movie that was you know you pretended to
00:57:43
be younger than you really are which was
00:57:44
part of it and it's so is the world was
00:57:47
sort of pulling me in another way and
00:57:49
you know America and I had lived a
00:57:50
lifetime together in a short period of
00:57:52
time we did a lot we did too much we
00:57:54
were done breakfast radio and TV shows
00:57:56
running you know production company
00:57:58
working live
00:58:00
and yeah and I mean it's just sort of
00:58:02
there was sort of you know not
00:58:04
everything can go on forever and you
00:58:07
know I'm incredibly proud of that time
00:58:09
and it's just meds you know we've got
00:58:11
that for us forever but it was it was it
00:58:14
was it was time and
00:58:17
um you know and and
00:58:20
enabled me to truly just to do what I
00:58:23
wanted to do and but there must have be
00:58:26
been terrifying terrifying I suppose I'm
00:58:28
predicting here it's a golden handcuff
00:58:31
situation yeah I mean I you know I had
00:58:33
half an act and I just didn't want to do
00:58:34
half an act so I had to start again and
00:58:36
I mean I went back to radio a few years
00:58:37
later after that um you know in a couple
00:58:41
of different you know when I had my
00:58:42
second child um so I was at home and I
00:58:46
quite enjoyed that and um and doing it
00:58:49
in a different way it was really
00:58:50
interesting I did like I went did a
00:58:52
breakfast show didn't work so well but
00:58:54
then I did a drive show K and Jack came
00:58:57
to I was at the station that turned into
00:59:00
kiss um and um I did the drive show with
00:59:04
them uh which I quite enjoyed it was
00:59:07
nice to see what they did but I did it
00:59:09
with Matt basley who was who who used to
00:59:11
been my panel operator when I was at
00:59:14
Nova and so he knew all my tricks and
00:59:16
everything and it was it it didn't have
00:59:20
the high moments of working with MES you
00:59:22
know um Mees is hysterical you know like
00:59:27
on his day you won't me a funniest per
00:59:29
funnier person um but enabled we because
00:59:33
we didn't have we couldn't rely on that
00:59:35
sort of manness of what meds and I had
00:59:38
you know we had to craft it a lot more
00:59:40
and in many ways it was
00:59:42
probably
00:59:45
uh it was the best execute it might not
00:59:47
have been the funniest but it was the
00:59:48
best executed show had the best ideas
00:59:50
had the best thought processes in some
00:59:52
ways it didn't
00:59:54
have you know
00:59:57
those the you know Mercurial moments
01:00:00
that American Roso show had but yeah I
01:00:02
was really proud of that too and that
01:00:03
you know that show went to number one as
01:00:04
well and so and I I was quite I was
01:00:06
quite proud of in my in my radio
01:00:11
career um in that part of my life that I
01:00:14
had a number one breakfast show on a
01:00:16
number one drive show in Sydney and you
01:00:18
know and that's that's rare yeah oh it
01:00:20
really is it's something to be proud of
01:00:22
actually if you if you Google uh Tim
01:00:24
Ross um you know Google comes up with a
01:00:26
bunch of I suppose frequently asked
01:00:28
questions one of the top ones is what
01:00:30
happened to him what happened
01:00:33
to well that is that is number one
01:00:36
number two why did amican Roso split and
01:00:38
uh you click on that this is the a
01:00:41
paragraph of the answer here when they
01:00:43
parted have you read this by the way or
01:00:45
you know this I don't know I find out
01:00:46
when they parted ways in 2009 mer said
01:00:49
this has nothing to do with Rosso and I
01:00:50
not liking each other no fights there's
01:00:52
no carry-on there's nothing like that
01:00:54
however other sour in the radio industry
01:00:56
said at the time that Tim was jealous of
01:00:58
mir's success as a solo
01:01:03
performer yeah there was more to it than
01:01:05
that I mean um no I can't I've forgotten
01:01:07
about that yeah but I mean that's like
01:01:09
the that's the gossip page of stuff and
01:01:11
I think that
01:01:13
was I yeah I read that just yesterday
01:01:17
I've never known you to have a jealous
01:01:18
phone there not enough reason to
01:01:21
um to to not not continue with something
01:01:24
I think it's ludicrous but um no I think
01:01:26
I mean I I supposed don't really think
01:01:28
about it it was a long time ago and
01:01:30
[Music]
01:01:32
um the
01:01:36
My you know and part of it I can't you
01:01:39
know like I describe it once we're doing
01:01:41
it and then we weren't you know like in
01:01:48
um we the best way is like I said before
01:01:52
is is that we we put too much into
01:01:55
everything I was always incredibly
01:01:57
jealous of those bands that could write
01:02:00
a record then tour and then go and do
01:02:03
their own thing for a while M and we we
01:02:06
just never had that option and it was
01:02:08
our it was all our own
01:02:11
doing um and I think if we W weren't
01:02:15
doing breakfast radio we could have gone
01:02:17
and made some really interesting TV
01:02:19
shows or we could have toured live MH
01:02:21
and um just the day to day of doing what
01:02:25
we're doing
01:02:26
and um you know I fell I fell out of
01:02:29
love with it and it showed yeah I think
01:02:31
you just get exhausted don't you it's
01:02:33
very few people that would understand it
01:02:34
but when you've done this radio for a
01:02:36
while you and and the show had changed
01:02:38
and the time had changed um they bought
01:02:40
in someone else to the show and that
01:02:43
didn't that that made it that changed
01:02:45
the dynamic as well so we couldn't do
01:02:48
exactly what we wanted to do and it's
01:02:51
just was that was that a consultant's
01:02:53
idea I don't I can't you know like
01:02:56
they just exercise in compromise and so
01:03:00
I always say and this is it makes total
01:03:03
sense for you like you you rattle off
01:03:05
all those people that you meet you meet
01:03:06
everyone but no one and in the time that
01:03:10
I've stopped doing radio the people I've
01:03:12
met people and you properly meet people
01:03:14
and you hear their stories you become
01:03:16
friends with them but that you know like
01:03:18
a radio you don't so you you meet people
01:03:20
in a in in a room and you've got two
01:03:23
other people in there trying to get
01:03:24
their little bit in or one other person
01:03:26
and so if you're deeply interested in
01:03:27
people it's really unsatisfying and you
01:03:30
know the world was pulling me in another
01:03:31
Direction
01:03:33
um and uh you know and and that
01:03:37
Direction's been you know been amazing
01:03:41
yeah which is um which is what you're
01:03:42
doing now um and you've done for for
01:03:44
many years um a comedy series called man
01:03:47
about the house uh where you combine uh
01:03:50
your I suppose talent for stand-up
01:03:52
comedy with your love of architecture so
01:03:54
you select houses um usually
01:03:58
modernist 1950s yeah all all eras eras I
01:04:02
started doing sort of the modernist you
01:04:03
1950s and 60s houses cuz that's my thing
01:04:05
and I like architecture and you fill it
01:04:08
up with people it's like a house party
01:04:09
week and you know see a see a show with
01:04:13
my best mate kit um and it's great it's
01:04:16
a fantastic thing to do um but you know
01:04:20
that just branched out to all sorts of
01:04:22
things being able to do TV shows and do
01:04:26
and um create exhibitions write books
01:04:30
anything design and architecture Focus
01:04:32
which has always been my love you know I
01:04:34
I collect furniture since I was in my
01:04:36
20s and um you know I still do the
01:04:39
funnies but there's always comedy
01:04:41
associated with stuff and my latest show
01:04:42
that I'm doing in houses is got very
01:04:44
little architecture at all I've just
01:04:45
gone back to doing writing funny songs
01:04:47
and telling funny stories which I think
01:04:50
is really important so you know you
01:04:52
don't it's just doing it using comedy to
01:04:54
tell stories that I think important yeah
01:04:56
it's it's been I'm I'm incredibly proud
01:04:58
of you and it's been it's been it's been
01:05:00
really good to watch this um it's
01:05:02
[ __ ] it's [ __ ] weird people don't
01:05:04
understand it but it makes sense for me
01:05:05
and and I don't know like I I oh no no
01:05:08
but it it it is weird and it's so unique
01:05:10
and so different but you've um you've
01:05:11
made it work and you've been grafting
01:05:12
away it for a long time yeah but it's
01:05:14
completely different to what you were
01:05:16
you doing and I
01:05:18
think I remember when I um you when I
01:05:21
when I stopped working with Mays you
01:05:23
know I did a couple of couple of things
01:05:25
and I did TV show that didn't work so
01:05:26
well and you I didn't quite know what my
01:05:28
Act
01:05:29
was um and then I just sort of I chucked
01:05:32
out all my material and I started again
01:05:34
and you know worked out what I really
01:05:36
wanted to do and and then you know years
01:05:40
later I'd sort of I was doing all this
01:05:43
design stuff and doing shows and houses
01:05:45
and I was doing a little travel you know
01:05:46
going to America with it going to the UK
01:05:49
with it and I met this guy called um am
01:05:51
Demetrius and his um Grandparents were
01:05:54
Charles and Ray famous American
01:05:56
furniture designers and he gave me a
01:05:58
book when I saw him in LA to have a cup
01:06:01
of coffee and and then that book was a
01:06:03
series of quotes from his grandfather
01:06:06
and I opened up on the first page and
01:06:07
the quote was you know um take your
01:06:10
pleasure seriously and I'm not a big fan
01:06:13
of quotes you know you know there's
01:06:15
always people got
01:06:16
[ __ ] I know you do but you don't like
01:06:19
people I got this mate as a personal
01:06:20
trainer and he's got his you know you
01:06:22
know fatest what's he what's the quotes
01:06:24
like um
01:06:26
yeah sweat is your is your fat crying
01:06:28
you know it's all that rubbish you know
01:06:30
pain is
01:06:31
weakness there's no need to share them I
01:06:33
know you do a lot a lot of quotes it's
01:06:35
um often it's a penny drop moment
01:06:37
because it's it's a way to um often
01:06:39
explain a complex yeah and important I I
01:06:42
have done you know I mentioned one at
01:06:43
the start about you know comparison
01:06:45
being the thief of all joy which is
01:06:47
really they're really important but the
01:06:49
the idea was um you know take your
01:06:51
pleasure seriously and what Ames meant
01:06:53
by that was that we
01:06:56
often give too much to the things that
01:06:58
don't and I would constantly say I met
01:07:00
people who used to play the piano they
01:07:01
used to ski you know man of people go I
01:07:03
used to scar I don't do it anymore I
01:07:04
used to paint but I haven't painted for
01:07:06
20 years and our guilty secret is always
01:07:09
we give our jobs far more than we should
01:07:11
and the things that we love we don't
01:07:12
give them the respect we deserve and so
01:07:15
and then I realized that what what had
01:07:16
happened was
01:07:18
that you know in that process of meeting
01:07:21
am Demetrius I'd done exactly that I'd
01:07:23
been taking my pleasure seriously the
01:07:25
things that I love I just like life is
01:07:27
short and people who work in the media
01:07:30
so addicted to having a job or you know
01:07:34
but you know i' when I my last my last
01:07:39
radio gig I read it recently you know
01:07:42
the headline was you know Rosso was
01:07:44
happy to be
01:07:46
sacked and I was because I'd had a I had
01:07:49
a documentary up my sleeve I'd been to
01:07:52
America doing this show I liked
01:07:54
Broadcasting
01:07:56
I was a really good
01:07:58
broadcaster but I I don't I don't fit
01:08:00
well in radio stations like I don't like
01:08:03
having a job I I I believe that you know
01:08:06
part of you dies when as soon as you
01:08:07
have a swipe card in your life so you
01:08:10
know like um so yeah to be able to go
01:08:14
and do something else and in that
01:08:16
article I was rereading it cuz my
01:08:18
mother-in-law was going going through a
01:08:20
whole bunch of stuff and she'd cut it
01:08:22
out you know there was no [ __ ] about
01:08:24
what I wanted to do I happy to say that
01:08:26
I was happy that they decided not to
01:08:30
sign a contract a relief or yeah because
01:08:32
I didn't I I had you just just
01:08:34
indifference I I was out growing the job
01:08:38
and I wanted to do it successfully you
01:08:41
know like I really liked the craft of
01:08:44
radio more than anything else I liked
01:08:47
putting things together but you can do
01:08:48
that with anything you know they're the
01:08:50
things I liked I like telling stories on
01:08:52
air but I can tell stories anywhere but
01:08:55
I
01:08:56
you know I didn't like I've been really
01:08:58
blessed with
01:08:59
M cuz we've been successful for a long
01:09:02
time and no one really told us what to
01:09:04
do and then I when I went back to radio
01:09:07
when um you know I was working on a show
01:09:10
that didn't do very well and like they
01:09:12
just stick us in a room at the end of
01:09:15
after the shift and you weren't allowed
01:09:17
to leave you didn't have a window and
01:09:19
you weren't allowed to leave until you
01:09:21
came up with content ideas for the next
01:09:23
day and was ludicrous you know like the
01:09:25
the content it's not how creativity
01:09:27
Works doesn't work you know um and I
01:09:30
said I don't want to be part of that and
01:09:32
you know like I think remember doing and
01:09:35
the and the and your and your privacy
01:09:36
goes out the window mining your life you
01:09:39
know I shouldn't known what JJ's boobs
01:09:41
look like but I do because of your
01:09:42
[ __ ] radio show you know
01:09:45
um but but so you and it
01:09:49
becomes taken for
01:09:52
granted that you have to M your personal
01:09:54
life and your friends and every weekend
01:09:56
where you're listening to stories and
01:09:57
you're wondering oh I'm going to tell
01:09:59
that story and suddenly story someone
01:10:00
told you to barbecue talk back and um
01:10:03
and that's cool for a period of time but
01:10:04
it's not for me
01:10:06
forever and
01:10:09
and you know talking about your
01:10:13
kids you know you end up that would
01:10:15
would have been on the and I started
01:10:17
doing that when they were little but I
01:10:18
wouldn't I wouldn't it's not fair on
01:10:20
them the way you have to and this
01:10:22
particular program director is just
01:10:24
doing his job but you we're doing this
01:10:25
thing on
01:10:28
bullying and the irony of it was you
01:10:30
know and I'd
01:10:31
mentioned that you know I'd been bullied
01:10:33
at school and then there was I was
01:10:36
basically bullied into talking about it
01:10:37
on air because you can cuz the more you
01:10:40
care the more the more you share the
01:10:42
more they care yeah and it's
01:10:43
exploitative yeah and you and you you're
01:10:46
um you're sort of selling your soul in
01:10:47
away once once you've once you've got
01:10:48
the stuff out you can't you can't take
01:10:50
it back and I probably regret that in a
01:10:52
way I mean it's a it's a necessity in a
01:10:54
way I can see why they encourage you're
01:10:56
all to and no one has any sympathy for
01:10:57
breakfast announcers that do whatever
01:10:59
you do yeah um but they
01:11:04
don't yeah it's you know it's it's a
01:11:07
good gig for a period of time it's funny
01:11:09
my um my partner now she's not from a
01:11:11
radio household um I was driving her to
01:11:13
work one day in the car and we were
01:11:14
listening to a radio show here in New
01:11:15
Zealand and um they they told a story
01:11:18
that was to me clearly fake you know how
01:11:21
you have to you have to we had an old
01:11:22
Australian boss Ryan he said oh nothing
01:11:24
wrong with adding GST a story like
01:11:26
basically giving and they this guy who I
01:11:29
know reasonably well and he would never
01:11:30
do this he talked about driving home
01:11:32
from a meeting and he was busting for a
01:11:33
poo so there was an open home so we
01:11:35
stopped down and went for
01:11:37
poo um but my girlfriend was like when
01:11:39
you were on radio like did you do [ __ ]
01:11:41
Yarns like this and I actually got into
01:11:43
defensive mate I was like listen in
01:11:46
respect to these guys like you have to
01:11:47
come up with like 20 stories like this
01:11:50
everyone's making stuff up or
01:11:51
remembering stuffing or reusing things
01:11:53
or um it is exhausting yeah and like
01:11:57
it's great but yeah like this this the
01:12:00
world's full of other things to do and
01:12:02
um the world's are far more interesting
01:12:04
and and also you know like radio isn't
01:12:07
what it what it was and so no well go
01:12:10
well going full circle to like when you
01:12:12
were talking about Triple J and the uh
01:12:14
the promotion you did with 3,000 people
01:12:15
turned up um you just you're not you're
01:12:18
not getting that now no one's getting
01:12:19
that now no unless you got Taylor Swift
01:12:21
coming to do a live show or that you you
01:12:23
know some YouTube sensation you don't
01:12:25
know get a bunch of you know but also uh
01:12:29
you know I'm not 27 anymore so you know
01:12:31
you shouldn't get 3,000 people turning
01:12:33
up for anything you at that at my age I
01:12:36
came over to Australia for your wedding
01:12:38
you're still married to Michelle yeah
01:12:40
yeah yeah I've been married to Michelle
01:12:41
for 16 17 years or something yeah yeah I
01:12:43
I I came to came to you winning I was
01:12:46
sitting next to Kate Richie who you sit
01:12:48
next to Kate Richie see there you go
01:12:49
yeah at a moment did you get a story out
01:12:51
of that oh yeah talked about that when I
01:12:53
came back home yeah yeah see you would
01:12:55
have done a bit of gear on that yeah it
01:12:57
was good she was in home and away like
01:13:00
yeah so she was she big star um how old
01:13:02
are the kids now so you got Bugsy and
01:13:04
bugs just gone into you seven so he's 12
01:13:07
and bobb's just turned 10 and he's
01:13:09
having a I'm in New Zealand and he's
01:13:13
having his birthday party with like 11
01:13:17
boys in the backyard camping and I've
01:13:19
escaped it I should be there for it but
01:13:21
how did you well he you know what
01:13:22
happened was he wanted to do it this
01:13:24
particular week as close to his birthday
01:13:26
as possible his birthday's on Australia
01:13:27
Day so it's always a holiday um and he
01:13:30
didn't want to wait until I'm not
01:13:31
touring or whatever and
01:13:34
so my mother-in-law's coming over
01:13:36
Michelle's doing the whole lot I'm sort
01:13:38
of pretending that totally um they're
01:13:43
very cute kids and you guys are doing a
01:13:44
great job raising them I'm not sure if
01:13:46
it was Bugsy or Bobby but um I was over
01:13:48
in Sydney for something a few years ago
01:13:50
when Bugsy or Bobby whenever they were
01:13:52
like maybe three or four um you met me
01:13:55
the hotel for some brunch and just out
01:13:57
of the blue he was like um I think he
01:13:58
was holding like a little stuffed
01:14:01
[ __ ] koala or what and he was like oh
01:14:02
this is a koala it's a mupi or the
01:14:04
nocturnal and and I remember saying to
01:14:06
you but your kids are [ __ ] genius and
01:14:08
you're like no no no can you remember
01:14:10
what you said yeah you teach them one
01:14:11
thing yeah teach them like one one big
01:14:15
word or one fun fact fun fact and they
01:14:17
just roll it out you know that old
01:14:18
addage mate don't change your material
01:14:20
change your
01:14:21
audience how good so what are you doing
01:14:23
here what what is uh big enough to
01:14:25
and important milestone in your kids
01:14:27
life I'm I'm going to napia for the
01:14:29
first
01:14:30
time uh Deco City yeah um I'm here uh
01:14:34
with my friend Kevin McLoud from Grand
01:14:36
designs and um he one of the people you
01:14:39
know who I met through my you know so
01:14:41
many people have met through
01:14:42
architecture and design and he's on tour
01:14:45
uh he starts on a couple of days and so
01:14:47
he said oh look we're just sort of
01:14:48
hanging out in Sydney and he before that
01:14:49
he said do you want to do you want to go
01:14:51
to napon I'd never been and um so we go
01:14:54
to that and I've also been organizing
01:14:56
for us to do some House tours and
01:14:58
there's um John Scott who's one of your
01:15:00
great Architects his own house is in
01:15:02
Hawks Bay and so it's it's a wonderful
01:15:05
thing about your country is that you
01:15:07
know like I I know these people through
01:15:09
Instagram and so was just messaging some
01:15:12
that I've met some that I have in here
01:15:13
in New Zealand Architects architect
01:15:17
lovers photographers and I was talking
01:15:19
to this particular person said I reckon
01:15:21
there's any houses we can we can get in
01:15:24
to see this you know by this architect
01:15:26
John Scott and they said oh this one
01:15:28
should be fine um here's their
01:15:32
email I love you guys don't introduce
01:15:34
people do you in emails you just give
01:15:36
you an email and just go oh yeah here
01:15:37
they go just email
01:15:39
them yeah I always do I do really do
01:15:41
other people not do that yeah I've
01:15:43
noticed a lot em them C just give them
01:15:45
the email so I just emailed this woman
01:15:47
and just said oh look you know my name's
01:15:49
Tim David gave me her email you know we
01:15:52
just wondering whether we could I'm an
01:15:54
architecture fan you know and you know
01:15:56
from Googles or whatever and I got an
01:15:57
email straight back and she said you
01:15:59
know yeah no problems come over and I
01:16:01
haven't told it Kevin's
01:16:03
coming oh but she'll love that though
01:16:05
right well
01:16:06
I I didn't want to I didn't want to drop
01:16:08
his name to think that's I didn't want
01:16:10
Kevin to think that I dropped his name
01:16:11
to get into the house I wanted to prove
01:16:13
that you know I could call call someone
01:16:15
in New Zealand you can get a house on
01:16:16
your own and then I thought well if I
01:16:18
then I talked to him about it and I was
01:16:20
like if I tell I should spend two days
01:16:23
cleaning up the house but she did
01:16:24
suggest that it's full of Lego anyway
01:16:26
and it's not but then I'm I cannot wait
01:16:29
to see the look on her face when she
01:16:31
opens up the door cuz all she knows is
01:16:32
I'm coming along with a couple of
01:16:33
friends so yeah we're going to do that
01:16:35
and um you know maybe do some we've been
01:16:37
talking about doing some podcast stuff
01:16:38
we might do that depends on how many
01:16:40
wines everyone has and that well how did
01:16:42
you you you don't drink wines anymore
01:16:44
though right you um you've been alcohol
01:16:45
free for a couple of years I'll be I'll
01:16:47
be D I'll be the I'll be the driver
01:16:48
right how what was the Catalyst for
01:16:50
going uh going just you know you get B
01:16:54
of it or you know when you run over the
01:16:56
next door neighbor's cat when you're
01:16:57
blind
01:17:00
no no I I I I like a lot of people you
01:17:05
know you drink start drinking a lot in
01:17:07
your 20s and is a bad habit you get into
01:17:09
and you don't stop and it's been a huge
01:17:11
part of my life in terms of working live
01:17:12
and being a comedian and you can and um
01:17:16
this wasn't feeling great and I stopped
01:17:18
for a little while just to get my health
01:17:20
back into TR check just didn't miss it
01:17:23
and then i' haven't missed it ever since
01:17:24
it wasn't hard I didn't find it hard to
01:17:26
give up I didn't get the shakes or have
01:17:28
to be locked in a rumor or anything but
01:17:29
yeah I just it's just um you my my age
01:17:33
and it's much more common now like very
01:17:35
few people give me a hard time about it
01:17:37
but you know 10 years ago if you gave up
01:17:39
the booze you know you're on Australian
01:17:41
yeah I was listening to an audio book
01:17:43
just last week about Wayne Bennett you
01:17:45
know the famous Australian Coach and
01:17:46
he's been he's in his 70s now he's been
01:17:48
sober his whole life I can't imagine
01:17:50
what it was like being a league coach in
01:17:51
the' 60s 7s or ' 80s and saying no I
01:17:54
don't I don't but if you never have it's
01:17:56
like you never have but if you were
01:17:57
suddenly that person and I was always
01:18:00
drinking you know like I you remember
01:18:02
where I was doing this in the early days
01:18:04
of podcasting we americ and I came over
01:18:06
here and we were doing like a podcast a
01:18:08
live show live podcast meet your
01:18:10
audience and you yeah and there was like
01:18:11
five people came to this joint in Pon
01:18:13
penbury or wherever it was you know yeah
01:18:15
yeah malt and and greyland by the way
01:18:18
this is like um I suppose 15 years ago
01:18:21
so this is this is be probably before
01:18:22
Joe Rogan even had a podcast wasn't even
01:18:25
really at the time that was the the
01:18:27
charts the podcast charts or the Apple
01:18:29
podcast was the only chart then it was
01:18:31
like Ricky jaas and we were number two
01:18:32
with this thing called we had called
01:18:33
Original pirate material and cuz what I
01:18:36
I lik that we could go out of the studio
01:18:38
after 9:00 and just do whatever we
01:18:40
wanted so we started this new podcast
01:18:41
cuz I really felt that there was
01:18:43
something creatively interesting that we
01:18:45
could do and you could do prank calls
01:18:46
and you could swear and you could do
01:18:47
whatever you wanted to do and then we
01:18:49
started getting emails from people like
01:18:50
who were listening in New Zealand and
01:18:51
then we thought oh why don't we just fly
01:18:54
over and we did a podcast on the plane
01:18:55
on the way over and we did you know you
01:18:57
were on a you podcast at the pub and you
01:18:59
know the five people turned up that
01:19:01
listened to the podcast and it was
01:19:02
there's something really cool about it
01:19:05
um and then the radio station got funny
01:19:07
about it that thought we were putting
01:19:09
too much effort into the podcast and N
01:19:11
enough into the show cannibalizing your
01:19:13
radio show yeah and whereas I I thought
01:19:15
they were great companion pieces 100%
01:19:17
And you know you wouldn't do an hour you
01:19:19
would do 15 minutes and um sometimes we'
01:19:23
you know get guests so and I remember
01:19:26
where Pete helier and and Ro mcmanis
01:19:29
were feeling in for us when Mez and I
01:19:32
went on holidays and we asked them if
01:19:33
they could keep doing this original
01:19:35
pirate material as well and they really
01:19:37
loved it as well they went oh this is
01:19:39
really this is really interesting and
01:19:41
because you could get some feedback and
01:19:44
you might get 10 emails a day but there
01:19:46
was some there what you couldn't do
01:19:48
calls but you would get some feedback
01:19:50
and people really started to like it and
01:19:53
people could listen all over the world
01:19:55
and you weren't wasn't about music or
01:19:57
celebrity or whatever
01:19:59
and probably should have gone but you
01:20:01
know um I think I had a pretty
01:20:04
reasonable knack for understanding what
01:20:06
was what was in the Zeitgeist or what
01:20:09
was about to
01:20:10
happen um we did a similar thing like I
01:20:13
loved with in the in the days of my
01:20:15
space and you remember how you could put
01:20:17
a song up your favorite song up upload
01:20:21
we used to do a thing called the top
01:20:22
seven remember there was the top seven
01:20:24
people top seven friends yeah yeah yeah
01:20:26
and Tom my my was one one and so what we
01:20:29
would do is we would randomly get people
01:20:31
from our Myspace followers and put them
01:20:34
in our top seven and then every week
01:20:36
this before podcasting we' do a top
01:20:38
seven show so we would record in the
01:20:40
studio we just go to those seven people
01:20:43
and look at their pages and sort of
01:20:45
character assassinate them and talk
01:20:46
about their [ __ ] chased and music and
01:20:48
then we would uploaded as a little thing
01:20:49
to listen to which was sort of cute so
01:20:52
there were there that shift around
01:20:54
around you know 2006 2007 where you sort
01:20:59
of YouTube came into play and there was
01:21:01
suddenly it appeared to me that there
01:21:03
was just a a different chance to do
01:21:06
different things in different ways which
01:21:09
I still do to this day like I'm very
01:21:10
driven by the idea of doing things
01:21:14
differently and being fresh and being
01:21:15
Progressive in the way that that I that
01:21:18
I make my content yeah I I like that I
01:21:20
like that a lot on
01:21:23
um yeah I um learned this yesterday when
01:21:26
I was doing some research for this but
01:21:27
um yeah you lost your mom a couple of
01:21:28
years ago yeah how how's how's you dead
01:21:32
I I met I met your mom at your wedding
01:21:34
but I I know you did quite well because
01:21:35
you've taken him on holidays to New
01:21:37
Zealand and stuff is he okay yeah no
01:21:39
dad's terrible thank you um yeah now
01:21:42
dad's got Alzheimer's and he's in a home
01:21:44
and it's horrific mate it's the worst
01:21:46
how old is he now dad's 86 or 87 or
01:21:49
something
01:21:50
um both my parents had it and Mom
01:21:54
mom escaped the worst of it but Dad is
01:21:57
you know doesn't talk and it's it's
01:21:59
terrible but he he left me all these
01:22:02
things you know like he was putting
01:22:04
everything into place before he you know
01:22:06
completely lost his mind but I found a
01:22:08
diary entry from that time and because
01:22:12
we we were taking abroad a trip we I
01:22:14
took him to eastar Island because he
01:22:15
always wanted to go when he was a kid
01:22:17
for his 70th and so we on the way we
01:22:19
came here and you know caught up with
01:22:20
you and and JJ and had had a lovely
01:22:23
dinner and um
01:22:25
Dad wrote in his sort of very very you
01:22:27
know simple and notes as a sort of
01:22:31
travel diary you know caught up with
01:22:34
Tim's friends Dom and JJ lots of radio
01:22:38
talk oh that's all it would have what a
01:22:43
punish could being you know the the loss
01:22:46
of my
01:22:47
mother you know
01:22:50
um wow nothing prepared me for that
01:22:54
really no no it's so you were how old
01:22:56
win died like 40 no was 50 50 but you
01:22:59
know like I think that that's a blessing
01:23:01
right if you can get to 50 yeah it was
01:23:03
more about I mean knew was kind it's
01:23:05
just i' hadn't felt the grief like that
01:23:08
and was um I was glad I was
01:23:10
sober I I found the beauty in the grief
01:23:13
someone sort of told me that it was you
01:23:16
know you get all these wonderful emails
01:23:17
when you're in this situation you
01:23:20
friends come out of
01:23:21
nowhere and someone had said to me that
01:23:25
uh you know I I see it as my dad's final
01:23:30
gift and because when those early days
01:23:34
of the grief with the Deep
01:23:37
gutural there's this enormous sense of
01:23:39
love that I could only compare to you
01:23:43
know having a
01:23:44
child or um interviewing Sylvester
01:23:47
Stallone
01:23:49
um both both very memorable moments no
01:23:53
some ofar side too no so and I and I I
01:23:57
love that idea of finding the Beauty and
01:23:59
the grief and I what does that mean
01:24:03
um because of that there is this sort
01:24:07
of in this deep
01:24:10
despair you understand how much you love
01:24:14
that person with all your
01:24:17
heart and it's um it's a it's a it's a
01:24:21
deep feeling in your soul
01:24:25
um and I
01:24:26
was putting together all the photos for
01:24:30
Mom for the funeral it's like oh
01:24:32
watching it over and over again you know
01:24:35
every time you check it for glitches or
01:24:36
whatever and think
01:24:37
oh what music am I going to use is that
01:24:40
going to be too much is that um and I'm
01:24:43
just go for a walk go for a run cry cry
01:24:46
watching my
01:24:48
brothers you know grown men beautiful
01:24:51
men just falling a piece and they both
01:24:54
spoke so
01:24:55
beautifully did you um and then watching
01:24:58
a sun you know helping put push the
01:25:01
casket
01:25:02
out yeah it's it's a great order of
01:25:05
things though isn't it yeah um and then
01:25:09
and then it sort of and then you then
01:25:11
you realize yeah you're it you're the
01:25:13
top of the
01:25:15
tree um and I think I I think I spent
01:25:20
you know a lot of time trying to trying
01:25:23
to make my mom happy
01:25:24
make it proud of me she was she was you
01:25:26
know she was incredibly successful
01:25:29
academically incredibly bright woman you
01:25:31
she was a doctor
01:25:33
and um and I felt for a long time took
01:25:36
me a long time to get my [ __ ] together
01:25:38
to do what I was doing how how do you
01:25:41
mean you've always sort of had your [ __ ]
01:25:42
oh no not you know it took me it took me
01:25:44
five six years to finish University I
01:25:46
got kicked out of one
01:25:48
University um and then when I you know I
01:25:52
was lucky enough to make a couple of
01:25:53
documentaries that were on the national
01:25:56
broadcas and which she loved and my
01:25:59
father loved when my father was still
01:26:02
making sense you know I sat down and
01:26:04
watched one of them with him and
01:26:07
involved me going back to our old Family
01:26:08
Home and um which was quite moving and
01:26:10
I'm like I'm tearing up on screen and
01:26:13
then Dad you know just looks at me and
01:26:16
you know he said just just keep making
01:26:19
films like that son and so
01:26:24
that's probably from a vocational point
01:26:27
of view you know like dad mom and dad
01:26:28
never really heard me on the radio
01:26:29
because they're in a different city and
01:26:31
nor are they that interested you know
01:26:33
and they' come and see me do stand up
01:26:35
not really their stick no not really
01:26:37
that stick no but I'm sure they they're
01:26:39
um wise enough and smart enough to see
01:26:41
other people enjoying it oh and they
01:26:42
totally in you know and had commercial
01:26:43
you know television shows and they
01:26:45
understood that people like
01:26:47
them but then you know like the if you
01:26:50
you if you're you know lucky enough to
01:26:52
be uh in a situation like I've been a
01:26:53
couple times times to get
01:26:55
money
01:26:58
from you know funding bodies bodies to
01:27:01
make what I think you know culturally
01:27:03
significant television
01:27:05
shows that you know Mom could go to
01:27:08
church and every when I real like that
01:27:11
show your son did you know it it was
01:27:13
that was incredibly important to me but
01:27:15
if I hadn't done it she wouldn't have
01:27:17
cared but they were the things I think
01:27:19
she was the most proud of oh that's
01:27:21
among amongst my children I suppose yeah
01:27:24
um yeah I read some some article online
01:27:27
I think it was from the guardian and uh
01:27:28
you talked about how you've got a
01:27:30
necklace of hers that you keeping your
01:27:32
bedroom so every every morning you you
01:27:34
see it it's like a reminder yeah I mean
01:27:36
I I um mom's mom's house is still there
01:27:39
with all that stuff there cuz her
01:27:41
husband still lives in the
01:27:43
house but on the day most of the things
01:27:46
I wanted from
01:27:48
Mom mom had given me you know um you I'm
01:27:51
quite sentimental about old pots and
01:27:54
things like that so when we come to
01:27:56
clean out most of her things you know
01:27:58
I've taken everything um but that
01:28:01
particular necklace I didn't talk to my
01:28:03
brothers they'll never listen to this
01:28:04
but if they do I'm sorry um but I went
01:28:07
into her bedroom and I and I sorted out
01:28:09
because I just didn't want you know a
01:28:10
cleaner to come in or take it and it's
01:28:12
not it's only pure sentimental value
01:28:14
nothing else but you never things just
01:28:15
go missing you know anyway I always
01:28:17
looking for it I found
01:28:19
it I'm I'm a I'm a I'm a letter writer I
01:28:22
write notes and cards to people all the
01:28:23
time but I'd forgotten this one but next
01:28:26
to it in Mom's socks and undo straw was
01:28:29
a note that I left I'd written to mom
01:28:32
only a couple years ago just simply
01:28:34
saying Mom I love you has not been a
01:28:37
time in my life that I haven't been
01:28:38
proud of your
01:28:40
achievements and so I just like on the
01:28:42
day of like oh but then I was incredibly
01:28:46
touched that you know that sits there
01:28:48
that was sitting there that mom kept she
01:28:50
could have kept it anywhere but she was
01:28:52
kept it somewhere where she could see it
01:28:53
every day that's um that's satisfying
01:28:55
though that you didn't leave um things
01:28:57
unsaid you know so you said things while
01:29:00
you had the chance I was really I think
01:29:03
because I'd moved cities and I I was
01:29:05
mindful of doing lots of things with my
01:29:07
parents in terms of travel speaking to
01:29:10
them 6 months before mom died I remember
01:29:13
you know making her give me the longest
01:29:15
hug
01:29:17
ever and then I started was she quite
01:29:19
ill by then no but it was
01:29:21
just oh we don't we don't have to stop
01:29:24
this hug let's keep hugging and I can
01:29:26
still feel that hug and then I I used to
01:29:30
go and see her every time I was in
01:29:31
Melbourne for work I go someone say I'll
01:29:33
put you up in a hotel I go now just give
01:29:35
me a High car I'll go down and stay at
01:29:36
my mom's
01:29:37
place and then I started getting my
01:29:39
brothers to come down and then Mom
01:29:41
wasn't cooking as well as she used to so
01:29:43
I used to make all the dishes that Mom I
01:29:45
love cooking and Mom tght one of my
01:29:47
favorite things to do was cook with Mom
01:29:48
on Christmas day and then
01:29:51
um I would I would cook the thing things
01:29:54
that mom used to make for us and and
01:29:55
just my brothers not our partners or
01:29:57
their kids would come which
01:29:58
is you know really intimate and um I
01:30:02
value those times so they're really
01:30:04
important for all of
01:30:06
us um yeah it's it's um it's quite a
01:30:10
transition in your life and she was a
01:30:13
she was a fantastic woman and you know I
01:30:16
miss her very
01:30:17
much I'm sure she's immensely proud of
01:30:19
everything you've done even even even
01:30:21
the radio stuff if she didn't understand
01:30:23
it to to oh yeah she would have loved
01:30:25
you know you know Tuesday oh she she was
01:30:31
she was she was right up until uh she
01:30:33
was right up into saying get a can't
01:30:35
features to
01:30:38
people oh mate oh that's
01:30:40
rough it's um yeah it's the trade-off
01:30:44
though isn't it for for loving someone
01:30:46
yeah it is and the cliche to go with it
01:30:48
and but it makes you
01:30:51
understand people and when I one of the
01:30:53
things I think I love and I I can't do
01:30:56
it cuz I I I don't I don't have it in me
01:30:59
but I do love people who post photos of
01:31:02
their parents all the time on
01:31:05
socials you know just once in a while
01:31:08
they go I miss your dad and they post a
01:31:09
photo I love that why don't you do it
01:31:13
um I know it's not your sort of
01:31:15
Instagram aesthetic but why can't it be
01:31:17
I just I think you can I think you sort
01:31:19
of internalized that I think not
01:31:21
everything has to be
01:31:22
shared M I think you just H yourself you
01:31:25
like it I like other people doing it
01:31:28
yeah and I and I and I'll often say
01:31:29
please don't stop doing that I cuz I
01:31:31
prefer people not to feel like I do I
01:31:33
feel that oh God he's banging on about
01:31:35
his mother again but I write a lot about
01:31:37
her um and I have written a lot about
01:31:40
her wrote something about her last week
01:31:42
you know about like a public piece or a
01:31:44
private yeah I got this newsletter that
01:31:46
I I sent off to to you know I got this
01:31:48
huge mailing list of people and I just I
01:31:49
think I'm on I must check out my spam
01:31:51
pholder
01:31:53
I write I write stories all the time cuz
01:31:55
I like writing and um because my son was
01:31:58
going off to starting high school and I
01:32:00
wrote a story about my brother went and
01:32:03
started High School in 1978 I started
01:32:05
High School in 1982 but I went off to
01:32:08
school in his hand me- down Levi
01:32:11
California jeans and a lot happened in
01:32:14
that four years in terms of fashion and
01:32:16
they basically flares and they'd been
01:32:18
taken up and taken down and they like
01:32:20
like they were like a concertina in
01:32:21
terms of the we marks and my brother had
01:32:23
warn and whatever and I said to my mom
01:32:26
you know I can't wear these I can't wear
01:32:28
flares in 1982 they're deeply out of
01:32:31
fashion and so she said you're right and
01:32:34
I was really surprised by it and then so
01:32:37
I went off and played Cricket with my
01:32:38
brothers and then I came back and they
01:32:40
were lying on my bed and she' just taken
01:32:42
them in with the S machine she can go
01:32:44
buy me a new pair she went this
01:32:48
really says a lot about the times and
01:32:51
you know my children this wastage wasn't
01:32:53
it yeah my children would crack the
01:32:54
absolute [ __ ] if I did that you know
01:32:57
they've they've thrown out more clothes
01:32:59
than I had had in my whole childhood
01:33:01
already you know you know that's just
01:33:04
it's crazy but that's a perk of being um
01:33:06
our age I guess in our 50s like we
01:33:08
remember that time where actually
01:33:10
actually I've got some friends that went
01:33:11
to the UK this was I guess in the '90s
01:33:12
or early 2000s and they took a shipping
01:33:14
container over there and then back home
01:33:16
with you Furniture in and Cutlery and
01:33:19
plates now you just wouldn't do it it's
01:33:21
like you just go to no everything I mean
01:33:23
everything was so expensive
01:33:25
um you'd never transport a TV from the
01:33:28
UK it's like you can't you know no one
01:33:31
breaks into your house they don't steal
01:33:32
the TV cuz they're worth 100 bucks
01:33:34
they're not worth
01:33:35
carrying you know it's um they don't
01:33:38
break into houses for that reason they
01:33:39
take a bit of jewelry they want your car
01:33:41
keys how do you feel about um aging are
01:33:43
you quite comfortable in your what are
01:33:44
you now mid-50s yeah I'm 53 No I um you
01:33:48
feel good about it I do like I had this
01:33:51
fantastic moment I turned 53 in per and
01:33:53
I was doing a
01:33:54
show and I came out on stage and I said
01:33:57
oh it's my birthday and everyone's like
01:33:59
oh happy
01:34:00
birthday and I went yeah I'm 53 and this
01:34:03
woman in the front row went oh
01:34:07
[ __ ] and I I didn't ask her why it
01:34:10
wasn't like i' had sex with or anything
01:34:11
but
01:34:12
um I think sometimes people forget that
01:34:16
you know it makes them feel old if they
01:34:18
went you know they listen to you on the
01:34:20
radio and they think whatever um and
01:34:23
then it's really surprising so and then
01:34:25
everything evens up the older you get
01:34:28
like this is really
01:34:30
fascinating I am four years younger than
01:34:33
Rick
01:34:36
asley so he's 50 577 yeah they're never
01:34:39
going to give you up guy yeah amazing he
01:34:41
he looks a lot younger than you
01:34:42
still that's true but you know he dies
01:34:45
the hair red but you know you think well
01:34:47
you know like who else is it like um I'm
01:34:49
only five years younger than Robert
01:34:51
Downey Jr and there are people but in
01:34:54
when they were huge they were adults
01:34:56
when I was a
01:34:57
teenager but then that the difference
01:35:00
between 15 and 21 is narrower and narrow
01:35:04
it's crazy it's crazy so yeah I was
01:35:06
watching um a new documentary on Netflix
01:35:08
um last night called the best night in
01:35:10
pop or something it's about us Africa
01:35:12
and where the world and I was I was um I
01:35:14
don't know I suppose I was like 12 or 13
01:35:16
when that song came out so I was a I was
01:35:18
a teenager I was you sort of in puberty
01:35:19
I guess and you look at the old footage
01:35:21
of the cars and Lon Richie had a a car
01:35:24
with a phone in and that was a big deal
01:35:26
at the time makes you feel [ __ ] old
01:35:28
oh they do and then like you know and
01:35:30
there's you know that classic footage in
01:35:32
that of Bob Dylan just not wanting to be
01:35:35
there but he was not even 50 he was
01:35:37
younger than me there's that there's
01:35:38
that Meme that goes round of all the
01:35:40
members of The Traveling wbes when they
01:35:42
were in at their Prime Roy alberon
01:35:45
George Harrison je Roy alberon was
01:35:48
younger than me when he was in the
01:35:50
traveling Ms he was
01:35:52
52 like that that's [ __ ] up it's crazy
01:35:56
you know like I think uh yeah George
01:35:58
Harrison was 41 or 43 or something like
01:36:01
that so you know you think that in the
01:36:03
80s when they when those 60s pop stars
01:36:06
you know you know having another go at
01:36:08
it and you know um Jagger was growing
01:36:12
the mullet that he would be 50 or
01:36:13
whatever but no he was in his he was in
01:36:14
his late 30s early 40s yeah well I
01:36:16
remember starting in radio in the the
01:36:17
early '90s and um I heard another guy on
01:36:20
the same station use this joke so I
01:36:22
thought I'm going to use that so every
01:36:23
time my back announced a rolling stone
01:36:25
song I'd call them the strolling bones
01:36:27
oh Jesus and but they would have been um
01:36:29
they would have been like early 40s at
01:36:31
the time Yeahs yeah I mean those guys
01:36:34
like you imagine someone like Christ ber
01:36:36
or someone like that you know bald you
01:36:39
know Phil Collins coming along and
01:36:41
getting a a career um you could be sort
01:36:43
of you know you could be in your early
01:36:47
40s and have a really really really big
01:36:50
career in those days Peter Gabriel in
01:36:53
and wouldn't happen today if you're
01:36:54
You're gone it's music really is a Young
01:36:57
Person's g game unless you have made
01:36:59
yourself so successful in those early
01:37:02
years it's absolutely it's hugely
01:37:04
changed hey thanks for coming over today
01:37:07
that's all right been it's really good
01:37:08
to see you know you're looking so fit
01:37:10
you know we didn't get to talk about my
01:37:12
running career but
01:37:14
that's yeah we went for a run do you
01:37:16
remember yeah I do and I it was really
01:37:18
embarrassing because you know we were
01:37:20
running we did about 10K I was running a
01:37:22
bit in those days you were running in a
01:37:24
full length track suit as well and then
01:37:26
and then you went well I'm just going to
01:37:28
go keep going for another 15ks and I
01:37:29
went back to your house and then I I
01:37:32
made some joke about it or something on
01:37:34
Facebook on your Facebook page and one
01:37:35
of your listeners got all angry about it
01:37:37
and I don't think they realize we're
01:37:38
friends or something around I was like
01:37:40
that stuff but yeah no yeah no you're
01:37:42
but the big surprise for me is he's come
01:37:44
up a bit in this chat today um Mir your
01:37:46
old co-host he's like super fit he was
01:37:49
in the the news in Australia a couple of
01:37:50
years ago for winning that SAS show he's
01:37:54
it's just a complete transformation and
01:37:55
I find it quite inspiring actually what
01:37:57
both you guys have done yeah he's um
01:38:00
yeah he looks great and I think he's
01:38:02
found found a lot of joy out of it you
01:38:04
know um and but he you I mean you both
01:38:08
seem kind of like um I maybe the part of
01:38:11
this was the shtick at the time but you
01:38:12
kind of ly like Aussie s bogans um and
01:38:16
he I remember when we went to the
01:38:18
conferences he always had like a yeah
01:38:19
always had like a little bit of a gut on
01:38:21
him and beer handles or whatever and now
01:38:23
he's just spel yeah and his skin looks
01:38:26
amazing yeah you know and he's he looks
01:38:28
good for 50 he looks really good for 50
01:38:30
you know he's always had he's always had
01:38:32
good complexion old watsi um but you
01:38:35
know certainly he certainly looks
01:38:36
amazing would you ever do something
01:38:39
together again or is that door shut now
01:38:40
you think look you never say never on
01:38:42
that stuff at all
01:38:44
um you know like we
01:38:47
do we enjoy the reminiscing a lot you
01:38:51
know only it's really only us and you
01:38:53
know you know we had some really great
01:38:55
producers um you know the people that
01:38:57
were in there at that time and so we
01:39:00
laugh a lot about that stuff and you
01:39:02
know he was great he came and did I was
01:39:05
doing a car podcast and he came on that
01:39:08
and he was
01:39:09
fantastic um and whenever we whenever we
01:39:12
sort of guessed on something hello sh um
01:39:16
sh whenever we guessed on something
01:39:17
together you know I really I really
01:39:19
enjoy it the feeling comes back or just
01:39:21
that just the mus the muscle memories
01:39:23
extraordinary
01:39:25
um I think the first thing we we did in
01:39:28
years was something like a radio
01:39:29
industry podcast and it would just we
01:39:32
got in front and we just doing the AL
01:39:33
sck again so yeah um
01:39:37
but if you ever did something we get
01:39:40
asked us a lot um yeah JJ and Mike Peru
01:39:43
I don't know if you met him but the
01:39:45
three of us were at the age together for
01:39:46
like 10 years nice guy yeah lovely guy
01:39:48
um was the other you got there was there
01:39:50
was a few of them yeah we turned through
01:39:52
a few car
01:39:53
yeah Mike was the longest standing one I
01:39:55
wasik he he was my favorite yeah he he's
01:39:58
great but people ask all the time yeah
01:40:00
for you get back together and it's like
01:40:02
you want to make sure you're doing
01:40:03
something that's good now you don't want
01:40:04
to get back together and there's that
01:40:06
excitement or wave of nostalgia and then
01:40:07
people go oh [ __ ] no I just do it for
01:40:09
the money really I
01:40:11
was you're you're joking but that would
01:40:14
be my motivation for doing it that's the
01:40:16
difference between you and me he don't
01:40:17
know you just don't I I think it's
01:40:19
really life is really interesting I I
01:40:21
remember thinking
01:40:24
um when I was back doing Nova and I'm
01:40:28
there with me and if someone had said
01:40:31
you know in eight years time you're
01:40:33
going to be doing drive with Matt basley
01:40:36
who is my panel operator with kle and
01:40:39
jackieo at another radio station I'd go
01:40:41
what are you talking about it's like my
01:40:43
you know my wife used to be my publicist
01:40:45
and we hated each other and so it wasn't
01:40:48
until years later that we got together
01:40:50
and if someone had said to me the same
01:40:51
thing you know if you one day you and
01:40:53
Michelle are going to get married are
01:40:54
you like what are you talking about so
01:40:57
you just don't you don't know what
01:40:58
opportunities will come up or what what
01:41:00
and if we feel something what I would
01:41:02
say is I think you know wouldn't be
01:41:04
radio be something fun for us I think
01:41:07
but as you said it's amazing what
01:41:08
happens over a period of time everything
01:41:09
happens for a reason like he could never
01:41:11
have I mean I don't think anyone could
01:41:13
have envisaged him winning that SC show
01:41:15
so for anyone that hasn't seen it it's
01:41:17
like an extreme version of sort of
01:41:18
survival or something it's jump out some
01:41:20
helicopter and stuff and yeah all sorts
01:41:22
of [ __ ] yeah but
01:41:23
rods up your ass or something I think he
01:41:25
would he would have probably been
01:41:26
selected as being like the Goon the
01:41:29
radio goon you know the Joker or
01:41:30
something the guy that that was going to
01:41:32
be put out of his comfort zone and not
01:41:33
last and um Mally pretty tough very
01:41:38
tough as he showed yeah hey um and you
01:41:40
look like an sas instructor actually
01:41:42
with that old military suit on this is
01:41:44
my this is my latest modernist suit
01:41:46
thanks very much it's first outing I put
01:41:48
it on for you um yeah this is my uniform
01:41:51
I normally wear a blue one but I've got
01:41:53
this this new one which is you you
01:41:54
kindly called the um Steve Irwin out big
01:41:57
Steve energy my my wife who desired it
01:42:00
for me is going to be devastated by that
01:42:02
you know like I got a compliment on the
01:42:05
plane I love your suit I love your suit
01:42:08
Mr Ross and then I get Steve Owen when I
01:42:10
get in here M really good to see got to
01:42:12
got to keep your mates grounded hey um
01:42:14
[ __ ] it's been an hour 46 it's crazy I
01:42:17
remember the first podcast I did you
01:42:18
know you talked earlier about radio
01:42:20
break length um the first podcast I did
01:42:22
I was talking to the New Zealand singer
01:42:23
Mitch James and for maybe like 10 or 11
01:42:26
minutes and I was looking at the my
01:42:27
watch thinking [ __ ] I'm ready to wrap it
01:42:30
up now um but you actually get quite
01:42:32
comfortable with the pace of podcast
01:42:33
after a while oh I'm sure no one's still
01:42:35
with us but you know like you can split
01:42:37
it into two or something this is I've
01:42:39
had relationships that have been shorter
01:42:41
than this podcast thanks Ross I love you
01:42:43
good to see you buddy love you
01:42:53
oh
