I work at PBS 106.7FM as music and interviews coordinator. I’m also a DJ, though I’m more of a house party DJ than a nightclub DJ, and I mostly like playing 6-hour, long morning sets.
Why do you do it?
I love music and radio, and I am inspired by those who make both of these things. Working at PBS means that I’m surrounded by dedicated music lovers and that I’m constantly exposed to wonderful new music.
What do you love about the city you live in?
Melbourne has such a vibrant music community that it’s impossible to ever feel bored here.
So much of the music that comes out of this city is truly cutting-edge. We export such magic to the rest of the world and this makes me really proud to call Melbourne home.
Where did you go for your last holiday?
I went to Barcelona. It was my fourth time visiting this exciting city and I really felt less like a tourist on this visit. I made some wonderful new friends, ate a lot of delicious food, DJd at a couple of parties and co-hosted a radio show.
What's your favourite item of clothing?
I love wearing my PBS t-shirt, for obvious reasons, but I feel extra colourful when I put on this wild turquoise track jacket that my mum bought me from Baku, Azerbaijan.
It is decorated with a representation of life in the old city that’s inspired by Persian miniature painting and is nothing short of fabulous.
What was your favourite TV show when you were a kid?
I grew up in Syria where heaps of foreign cartoon shows were dubbed in Arabic and aired on national TV. My favourite of these was a Japanese anime series called 'Sasuke' about a young, legendary ninja who loved prawn noodles.
If you could travel back in time for a day, where would you go?
I would go back to 25 November, 1976 and be firmly placed front row and centre at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco to see The Last Waltz, which was The Band’s farewell concert, and would of course especially lose my shit seeing Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison and Neil Young.
If we were coming over to your place, what would you cook us?
I would make you a mean eggplant tagine.
What's the best lesson you've ever learned?
That good things come in their own time and that the essence of all beauty is gratitude.
Tell us one thing about yourself that nobody else knows?
I genuinely believe that everything you do is a balloon.
How do you define success?
For me, success is contingent on knowledge. Not knowledge for knowledge’s sake. In other words, not simply the kind of knowledge that one uses to accumulate unnecessary material wealth or to win at pub trivia.
Rather, I value knowledge that inspires empathy, compassion, creativity and togetherness. If you’re able to use your knowledge to do that then you’re truly successful.
What's your spirit animal?
My spirit being is Don Quixote. I like his chivalrous romanticism, though I hope to not engage in too much tilting at windmills.
