I'm a musician, an audio engineer, event producer, director of The River Folk Festival – and more recently, a dad. My work involves booking bands, organising events and festivals, arranging music tours for artists, mixing live bands, stage management, and recording artists in the studio.
Why do you do it?
Sound, music is my life. Ever since diving into Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd albums in my teens, I've been in complete awe of the power of music to move people in a way no other language, no other art form seems to be able to do so.
I believe music has the unique capacity to change people, to heal people, irrespective of culture, language, upbringing, status, or any other human conditioning – and being a small part of this is continually edifying.
What do you love about the city you live in?
Warburton (VIC) is somehow the combination of all the things I dreamed of living as a child – a town on a river, surrounded by trees and nature, a beautiful, welcoming community. But more than that, there is undeniably a magic to our quaint, little town – it is somehow outside of time slightly, bordering on the fairytale, and so very beautiful.
Where did you go for your last holiday?
Our last, big holiday was six months travelling all over Europe.
What's your favourite item of clothing?
My dad's old suit jacket that's losing it's lining. It's so old and has such history, and I wear it to all the special gigs I attend.
What was your favourite TV show when you were a kid?
Never really done TV.
If you could travel back in time for a day, where would you go?
Woodstock 1969. Easy.
If we were coming over to your place, what would you cook us?
Polpettine – pasta with Italian meatballs, my mum's recipe.
What's the best lesson you've ever learned?
Your priorities can change in a heartbeat, and reveal how many ways there are to perceive and interact with the world, and how we fall into such attachment to one particular way of being.
Tell us one thing about yourself that nobody else knows. . .
I listened to 'Stairway To Heaven' by Led Zeppelin each night before every single exam in my final years of high school for good luck. And I still absolutely love it.
Are you happy with your work, life balance?
That's an interesting one. . . when so much of my "work" is so fulfilling and rewarding, it's hard not to start to feel it as a lifestyle, rather than a job or work – and so I guess when I have enough time for family, listening to music and watching films, being active in nature, if my work in the music industry is still very fulfilling, the distinction between life and work becomes a little blurry. I could roll leads, turn knobs, and carry speakers for days.
How do you define success?
Arriving at happiness, contentedness in pursuit of your purpose, your direction in life – a grounded sense of calm and inner expansion, and a knowing that where you are right in a particular moment, what you are doing, is brightening the world in some way, however small, and committing to that, upholding that.
What's your spirit animal?
I'd have to say the bear, although maybe that is just me.
