I have a three-prong business: management, PR and bookings. It keeps me busy and off the streets – oh, and it gets some rad bands the exposure they deserve along the way!
Why do you do it?
Why? Because I gotta! There was something that clicked in me about eight years ago – I saw a band and just thought: ‘I have to be involved with that band somehow’. And I have kept finding that. I feel like if there is one song that I have helped get out there to the audience it was intended for and it has affected even just one person on a positive level, then my effort has been absolutely worth it.
What do you love about the city you live in?
I love Brisbane for the music scene here – I think we are blocks ahead of other cities in terms of how helpful and open our bands are; and I think that we punch WAY above our weight, per capita. We are throwing down on the same platform as Sydney, Perth and Melbourne and just as many of our bands are doing great things on the radio, on tour and internationally.
Where did you go for your last holiday?
My last holiday was… what is that again?
What's your favourite item of clothing?
My favourite item of clothing is either my Big Day Out 2014 basketball jersey or my Toronto Raptors flat brim that I bought while at Canadian Music Week while I was there in 2013 with The Good Ship. I bought it before I went into any meetings so I had something to talk about with Canadians (and I love basketball).
What was your favourite TV show when you were a kid?
I had so many – I am a child of the ‘80s, so I was spoiled. ‘ALF’, ‘The A-Team’, ‘Fame’, ‘He-Man & The Masters of the Universe’, ‘Transformers’, ‘GI Joe’, ‘Thundercats’, ‘Dino Riders’, ‘MASK’... the list goes on. I defy anyone to say there wasn’t a radder time for TV. Except maybe now. Pretty rad stuff going on at the moment.
If you could travel back in time for a day, where would you go?
I would travel back in time to Rockhampton in 1996 and tell myself to start playing the drums earlier, which would have got me into promoting and managing music earlier!
If we were coming over to your place, what would you cook us?
My famous spaghetti bolognese – it’s the recipe that I learned in Grade 8 Home Economics class at Emmaus College in Rockhampton with Mrs Kilgour. My family loves it to this day and though it’s a really simple dish, helped me win over my current partner, Emma-Kay – it was the first thing I cooked for her.
What's the best lesson you've ever learned?
The best lesson I have ever learned was: You have two ears and one mouth, use them in that proportion. Shut up and listen, you might just learn something.
Tell us one thing about yourself that nobody else knows...
I was a really big fan of the first season of ‘Big Brother’ – I loved the concept of a human social experiment (it all turned really crappy after that and now… MY GOD, what a fucked up show.) I picked Ben to win it in the first couple of weeks and it kind of became an obsession to see how my horse was running the race. I lost interest in the show after that because it became a game show.
Are you happy with your work/ life balance?
At the moment, yes – I have to really make sure that it doesn’t tip too far to the work side sometimes – I have a lot of work on at the moment, but I make sure I spend plenty of time with Emma and I try to catch up with friends (both music pals and friend pals) as much as possible on the weekends and sometimes gigs.
How do you define success?
I define success as whenever you have hit the goals you set for yourself, but it’s never-ending, really, there’s no moment you can just go, ‘Well, that’s everything! I’ve done it all, I am out!’ in the music industry. It’s ever-growing and ever-changing. I feel like success is just celebrating those moments, those wins, when they come in and acknowledging them, then going ‘ok, what’s the next thing, let’s go!’
What's your spirit animal?
I feel like there’s some kind of chimpanzee that probably sums me up.... hahahaha!
