I teach how to produce recordings to cheerful, enthusiastic undergraduates at SAE Creative Media Institute, and I also produce, record and mix music for artists. Preach then practice.
Why do you do it?
I like doing what I do, and some say I’m actually not too bad at it!
What do you love about the city you live in?
Sydney has one of the world’s most beautiful harbours and the crescent beaches that line its eastern edge more than make up for the inconveniences of big, city living that Sydneysiders commonly groan about. Like so many port cities it’s vibrant and hectic with a mixed bag of cultures all shoe-horned in. Simultaneously exciting and exasperating, but never boring.
Where did you go for your last holiday?
I took my fiancée to Hobart to meet the fam, see the sights and visit MONA, the best thing to happen to Hobart since the road to the top of Mt Wellington.
What's your favourite item of clothing? Why?
My bathers. Everyday, they keep me decent in the pool.
What was your favourite TV show when you were a kid?
'Mr. Squiggle', a puppet spaceman who lived on the moon and had a pencil for a nose. Kids from the audience would send in random squiggles that he would turn into fun illustrations on his visits to Earth. A bit ADHD, he would go for occasional space walks when his creative focus strayed. There was also a depressive talking blackboard and a snail with a television on his back. It was all highly imaginative and a bit wacky.
If you could travel back in time for a day, where would you go?
Tough one. Is the day before last week’s lotto draw cheating? Ok, I’d like to have a casual dawdle through The Forum in Late Republican era Rome. The people watching would be incredible and the grandeur and architectural scale, gob-smacking. Slave labor and ruling the world had its side benefits.
If we were coming over to your place, what would you cook us?
I'm big on Israeli food at the mo, so something veggie based with dates or figs, roasted nuts and sumac.
What's the best lesson you've ever learned?
That to be useful is to be happy.
Tell us one thing about yourself that nobody else knows...
My feet are so flat that they are more duck than human.
Are you happy with your work/ life balance?
Does it have to be a division? If my work is rewarding and enjoyable then I’m content with life, so long as it doesn’t swallow me. For years, I worked 70-80 hours a week which left little room for anything else. I’ve learnt now that a more varied life is richer and more interesting.
How do you define success?
I don’t buy the idea of striving to arrive: you never arrive. Whatever is happening today is your life. Success is fulfilling my intentions for that day and throwing myself at each task with attention and commitment.
What's your spirit animal?
A giraffe, they always take the long view.
