Summer series: in conversation with Hamish Blake

In the meantime, each day for the next two weeks, we'll be revisiting some of your favorite episodes from the past year. And I'm happy to report that there have been a lot of popular episodes, but out of the fifty we released in twenty twenty four, we've narrowed it down to ten conversations to revisit over the summer break. Today you'll hear from Hamish Blake in a rare in

depth interview. The popular entertainer and two time Goldblogie winner join me in the studio to talk black cat lollies, the burial rituals of ancient Egypt, and his theory that a well stocked snack cupboard is the key to a happy workplace. Don't worry, we talk about his life too. Here's my chat with Hamish. Now, like all meticulously researched podcast hosts, I have referred to your Instagram bio in preparations.

value you. If it's like some if it's just like a few pieces of fruit, it's a slap in the face. If it's good biscuits, and we all know what we mean here that UFE can buy like the non cream biscuits or cream. If you're giving someone a Kingston, you're saying to them, we tried and we love you. And it's not that much of a jump money wise right to get good biscuits versus this.

actually doing all the work behind the scenes. So it's like, as a way to slightly address this imbalance, whatever anyone wants, like, we'll take it. Me and Andy will take care of it. Like just if you like macada, if you want oat milk, whatever, let's not have a moment at work where we're not pumped to open the fridge or the pantry. I hate that feeling when you like I need a little morale boost and you open the pantry and it's just full

of morale destroying foods. So I think snacks are a huge element of morale in podcasting, there's not that you know, sometimes you're in separate studios, man, me and you are very big on like, you know, hey, everyone, let's just like let's get Nando's or Indian food, because it's like once a week you get to see each other. So again it should be like a joyful moment when I do how are the dad's dad? Which is a much

smaller operation. It's just me and my mate Tim. We have a policy to that the drink like, we have a very strong please tell us your favorite drink like and be honest, like if you want a frappucino or something like, we will get it. Because again, how great is if you walk through the door and what you were like excited to have is waiting on the desk anyway, So that's sometimes so sometimes it's our footing the bill, but I see it as a very very small cost to bear for the joy that it can bring. So

at Lego, I run a small kitchen backstage. There's like the general snack foods, and I'm not having to go at the production company here. They do a very good job. The catering's great, but I think you can boost morale by having you know, some great other foods backstage.

I'll do it. I'll do a coffee and I'm a Flurry. I kind of think there's no better combination.

Because something that a lot of people talk about now is the fact that radio used to be a non visual medium. Now it is for you in terms of workload or just natural affinity, Is there a medium where you feel most at home?

then they also love netball. I would have to say, like I think, for for just pure flow, it is podcasting like and and what began is great a bit podcastings and even and even more refined, like you know, more of an analysa like a more refined serum of what radio is, because I think it comes down to, you know, you're ultimately doing it to for you know, enjoy creating moments and having a connection with your audience, which of course is what you go for in TV,

or certainly an unscripted TV. You're like what Lego is, and a bunch of other shows are generally unscripted. You're trying to create something out of nothing, and that's a lot of fun. But there are there have to be so many moving parts in TV, and there has to be such a long production chain to get something on screen that just by the very nature of the length of that production chain, it can lose its excitement's spontaneity,

and I think I just really love spontaneity. So you can do a lot of things to keep the magic for on camera, which we do both on Lego and then on you know, the other shows that we've done, but it's still that the distance from conception to execution can often be like weeks until you kind of that chance to do it, and that's fun, that's part of the work. That's just the nature of the beast. On podcasting,

it really is a lot closer. You know that that sort of brain to mouth to ear connection is pretty instantaneous, Like you and I think that's really special, and you get to create that the most magical thing, which is to create a moment that then goes straight to a listener. And as you know from podcasting, like podcast listeners are the best just because it's by choice. It's so different

to radio. And we obviously love all the people that joined us for the radio show and listened, and there was a large percentage of people you know that of course would make an appointment to listen to the show. But by and large, radio is a medium of convenience. It's like you're not getting in the car at four o'clock and hoping to find somewhere to go because you like the radio show.

twenty five minutes. On Tuesday, maybe they got an hour Wednesday, possibly missed it and have forgot about that Thursday half an hour whatever. Those would be a high volume listener, but they're probably still only hearing about twenty percent of what you did that week, just because of life with podcasting, as you know, like people hear it all. And so our podcast listeners are the best because you don't have

to ever reset anything. In fact, they remember more than you do about the show, and so you just end up with a much much deeper connection. And so we're like, it's the greatest fun in the world doing the Hamishinaity Podcast. We literally just get to turn up. The show kind of now is self sustains, like there's way more stuff coming into the show from our listeners and from like

It doesn't rely on any sort of outside influence. You could record the show today, you could listen to the show today, you can listen to it in five years. It has nothing really to do with any topical events. And so it's in this beautiful little ecosystem that we just get to play with and it's the funnest part

of our week. We're always like crying with laughter. We have the greatest time doing it, and you know, we win the ultimate prize, which is people enough people enjoy it that you get to keep doing it, which is kind of in entertainment, that's all you can hope for. If enough people enjoy it, you get to do it again.

sort of yeah, it's a really long time. It's it's accidentally become like a large chunk of my life and one hundred percent of her life. I've been this person that goes and plays in this shed full of lego, so it's probably skewed her idea of what lego is like. She has more exposure to it as the thing at dad's work than what I had as a kid, which was like just standing in the toy store and coveting it and not being able to have it until it

was your birthday or Christmas. So possibly have ruined her in that sense because we do I mean, I know this is admitting to theft from work, but I do take a bit from the brick pit and bring it home.

But unlike the criminal syndicates, I sometimes have the guts to push back on the crime boss and go I'm not boosting fifty. Maybe maybe I can get you one by the end of the season.

have older kids, I understand it a lot more. I'm like, yes, we're not all sitting down to watch Avatar the Last Airbender. As good as that show is, there are very few things and we're not making the kids stay up so that they can watch The Curse. So it's yeah, I really understand that a lot more so. That is a huge compliment that there could be a fun thing for certain families to actually kind of watch the show. And then the ultimate layer on top of that compliment is

that people play Lego while they're watching the show. And then God, everyone's just pat themselves in the back, going, look at us, what great parents we are. The kids are doing something creative. We're all watching TV together.

I was trying to answer it properly. It's it's one of those things where I'm we were really lucky to begin when we began, Like I think even just to be in that era of TV, it would be much it would be a really different prospect now if we were those people as twenty two year olds or whatever we were, And the answer for anyone would be, of

course you change, Like twenty years. I was like three years into my four years into being an adult, and now you know, as a forty two year old dad, you just of course you're diff Like you hope you change every year, let alone every two decades. So I would hope I'm a vastly different person, but that retains some of the same some of the same features, some of the same characteristics that we had when we were twenty two. I think I think it was really in

terms of it being fun. I think it's I think that has been the sort of the north star on any project anyway, and I think you have to. There's just no rule book for TV or radio or podcasting or any creative pursuit, songwriting, whatever creative outlet people have. There's no like, there's no guarantees, there's no there isn't

a rule. It sometimes makes sense in retrospect, like sometimes you could look at someone's trajectory and be like, oh, that was obviously the plan, but not really if you rewind to any particular moment, you're mostly just guessing and going, well, this feels like fun. Do we give it a go, and I think I think that's kind of only that's

that's a pretty simple algorithm. But it's served us well to just sort of go, this seems like it contains the right amount of excitement, uncertainty, possible upside, acceptable downside. And then the questions always been does it fit into our lives at the moment, And obviously our lives have changed a great deal. But one thing I'm really proud of between and On and Eers, we've always been very clear with each other that, like, let's with this is

really fun in its best form. The one thing that probably squashes this thing we have is it gets too we take on too much, or it gets too big, or one side of the equation is it's not working for them. So let's just always stay ahead of that and let's let's adapt before circumstances kind of break us.

And so it's you know, the times we've wrapped up a TV show or kind of changed from radio to go into podcasting have always been because there was just something in the air that made us go, I think this will be more fun if we move in this direction. And thankfully, you know, twe years is a long time, like I thank it's worked to this to this extent.

So I also do think for anyone that has had longevity, I think it's your responsibility to acknowledge luck in the process, which isn't to say you didn't work hard, didn't try hard, didn't take risks, didn't put it on the line in a calculated way when you had to. You can do it. There are plenty of people that do all those things though, and it's just not there's a bunch of stuff out

they control and it's bad timing. So I think you kind of owe it to the industry to go Anyone that ends up lasting a long time has to have had a certain amount of luck, plus the preparation and the hard working the other things that you also, I think do need to last.

probably something that lucky people say. And I say that as someone that's also had periods of great lucky in my life, but say that to an unlucky person, that there's no such thing as.

You and Andy have recently been announced as ambassadors of Hubble. That technology alone. I mean, what does that say about the changing consumption? That's theory habits.

going on. But you know, Hubble is obviously made by Foxtel, who do Kale and Binge and and have the weight I suppose, or like the technological ability to do something like that. So in essence, if Hubble, the way I describe to people is if you've sat on the couch and you're like, why can't you just search for something rightout having to like jump in and out of apps and all that sort of thing. That is what hubble is,

so it sort of brings everything back together. I think that's a great reflection of a technology kind of meeting people where they are on the couch going this is what we want, so you know, and that that is amazing too. When we think back to where we started, like you know, that first Hamishanity show two thousand and five. I think it was like you know, seven thirty or eight thirty at nine or something on Channel seven, and

I remember we got when you're in TV. It's funny when you're in TV you care about the ratings, not that much, but to the extent like we talked about before, like if you rate high enough, you get to go again. It's not like you don't like a dollar for every rating or whatever. So no one. I never really understand whe people cared that much because I'm like, you know, well who cares? There's good stuff on. My question was

always like can we keep doing it? And if the answer to that easy, yes, I kind of don't really care about ratings after that. But I remember back in that those Channel seven days we got acxed because we had fallen below like a an inconceivably low mark, which and this means nothing to anyone, because no one ever looks at the ratings except people that are in television or write about television. But there's back in those days, it was like your five city capital number had to

be a million, and that was like minimum. This is in the days when Master Chef finales were doing like three million viewers and stuff, and like, you know, if Kathy Freeman had been cooking something while she's ratting one hundred meters, it'd be like a ten million viewer event. So the four hundred meters, so we'd like dropped to like under eight hundred thousand, and it was like, oh my god, that's almost no one watching. And then we dropped under six hundred. I think I think we we

rate it in the six hundreds. And then the network was like the way it was, the way the mood was, it was like this is never like we cannot believe this. This has never happened in the history of television. We can't believe this is this is like every Formula one car crushing at once for a race, Like this is a disaster. So they're like, well, you know, we have to like we just can't, like there's no way, there's

no way we could make money from something the six hundreds. Anyway, we laugh about that now because like, as you would know, that would easily be the most popular.

celebrated number because there's just fine. I think there's like a new rating system this year that I haven't really looked into too much, but I know moving they know they're moving around to kind of reflect how people watch it, because for many years I was like, wow, like you know, catch Up should absolutely be included only, and I mean we're always biased about how you watch it at home, but I'm like, I'm never watching stuff at the time,

but I still like it. So when people be like, you know, your show's rated this, and then later on we'll tell you how many people watched it on catch Up as if that doesn't matter. I'm like, well, I'm a catch up person and I love shows that I watch on catch up, so it's still it still matters. That's so that's a I think I think it's moving now to Fativa to reflect that, and there's like a new way to report numbers kind of includes all of that, but it kind of has to move in that way

because that's that's how we're watching TV. Like it is a very I don't think my kids, I don't think our kids are our generation will ever understand when we're like, so the show's on at eight thirty, and if you're not there, you miss it.

there's no there was no YouTube. YouTube didn't coming two We've been in TV for like ten years, so there was no YouTube, no TikTok, no Instagram, there was no other way like the we did community TV first, and that like we thought we were the luckiest people in the world because we were allowed to film things and edit them and then you could see them back like

and again. In a pool of probably tens of thousands of people that wanted to do that, we were some of the few dozen that were like allowed to be on community TV. So like we're like, oh, we've hit the jackpot here because we've got a chance to practice. But like now that is completely times a million available on your phone and kids just innately know how to film things, know how to edit stuff, know how to create because you kind of were like, it's it's there's entertainment,

but there's also just attention. Like people know how to get attention now and that is really that's the game, and it's a TV show is one way to get attention. But you have to acknowledge your you're kind of you if you if you're someone that owns a TV which I'm not, but I'd be like, all right, we make a thing that is to try and get people's attention, but we're also battling against many other things that are trying to get people's attention, not just other TV shows.

a jury of Australian TV industry professionals. The changes are being revolved to reflect the changing nature of the industry, and I would also assume the way that people consume content and they will actually be a hybrid of those and instead of most popular and outstanding, it will be.

From what I remember, it was like the these are like the six people that have polled the highest thus far. We will now. It just makes me laugh because it's like it sounds like the Duckworth Lewis system always in cricket, or like how you decide to tie in a golf game. So it's like, we will now continue voting for one month. Again,

I think for like everything's shut. Everything's now closed, and the nominee, say for Best Actor, almost popular Actor, the winner is already in there, but we're going to show you the top five people. But the winner has already pulled those votes. So everything shut except gold LOGI nominee these which will keep open and you can continue to vote for them. I don't know if you could vote if you've already voted or whatever. But and of course that's done by the Logi's like keep the interest up

to the night what like. You know, it's not certainly not my place to overhaul the logis. It sounds like I tell you what it does take into account, you know, And I say this with two hats on. One is someone that has had people vote for them before, so you're grateful for the people that could be bothered doing that. But then also as someone who's sat at the logis and gone, well, the most popular show category was always an interesting category because you're like, we have a system

for that. It's ratings, like that's that's kind of the system. We have little boxes and I don't know if anyone knows this or not, but we there's a system. You don't have to relog onto a website somewhere to confirm that you watched an episode of Survivor or whatever. So it has always that's always been a source of kind of like amusement amongst people to be like, how do you do this? How do you decide this? So it sounds like there's a mix of like ratings numbers and

then people voting. Because I will say this, it's like whether you win, don't win, whatever, it's still like, I think it's great to have the logis when need you know, you have to have it's as an industry, it's great to have something. It's obviously better to have them than not, I think, to recognize there's much great work that happens. I'm not saying it doesn't. I don't need it doesn't.

This is not me saying I want a LOGI this is me saying I think it's great, especially for crews and especially for teams that make shows, like it's a great moment of recognition for those people. But the voting system was always like you voted the highest, but it's not mandatory for strains to vote, like you voted the highest of the people that could be bothered voting, And that's a really different thing necessary. It's true, this is true,

So I'd say that's what they're trying to address. So even with the gold loggie, again I say this with much gratitude for having people that could be bothered voting and for selecting me on those years. But again I think there was eight people. I think there's eight people that are up for the goal, and if you do the maths on that right, you could win if it was a very even race. You can win an eight

horse race with thirteen percent of the vote. So again, I think you just have to keep it in context a little bit because I'm not like I definitely am not of the school that wants to stand and be like, yes, yes I got this, I knew it, I'm the best. I think you have to stay a little bit realistic to go technically. I could have won this with like, let's say, fifteen percent of those who voted, so I'm well aware there'd be like one hundred millions of people

out there going I didn't vote for that guy. So it's lovely, but I think you have to kind of also keep it in context.

the idea that we can keep the tradition going. I think it's I think, by and large, if you had to pick between, do you would try and adapt to a more reflective system or do you just like steadfastly stay the same I think it's great that they're having a go at adapting.

vote on Facebook and that's unfair. And I was like, yeah, like we put something on the Hami Shady page and most was like yeah, but isn't it like a popularity contest And they were like ye, but you use social media and that's that's a that's an unfair advantage for people that don't have social media. I'm like, all right,

I said, hang on a sec. Didn't Channel ten didn't I see a full page ad in the newspaper for someone and I won't name who, but someone on Channel ten that year taken out like a full page ad because we put something very small up as a joke, right, because we're like, what a funny thing to be nominated for gold Loggie. So it's not like we ran a full fledged campaign, but we'd had mentioned something on social media. So I was like, didn't every Channel ten to take

a full page ad? And they're like, yeah, but that's in the newspaper. I was like, you're not saying that my Facebook page is more powerful than a full page ad, are you, because like maybe we should sell our Facebook page. And then it got awkward and then then he was like, well, I just think the newspaper's fair because I was like, I really don't see the difference, to be honest. I was like and he was like, yeah, we just have

so many people following you on social media. I was like, yeah, but again, isn't like the gold log.

It didn't go well. In fact, she actually addressed that whole incident a few weeks later in a column for Stella. Her words here, I tried to crack a few jokes that in my head were funny, but went down like a lead balloon with the equally exhausted audience. For people that don't remember, Sonia was talking about how Hamish, who a lot of people had assumed would win the Gold again would have been a back to back victory after winning the year previously. An agent and how the agent

had been saying, people are a little over Hamish. The room was a bit going, what's going on here? And then she was clarifying, I'm just joking. It didn't really say that, Hamish. You of course, the camera cut to you as it does. You haven't won the goal, then this happens. What was going through your mind?

And that is that's the reporting. No one's the media out there to be like this is lovely, you guys look great. All these like really privileged people should give each other awards and have an even better night. Don't care about that. So they're like someone's got to mess up, and unfortunately, like they were like, okay, that's it, like we we've decided like that's the bit, like we're going to jump on that, unbeknownst to me. Unfortunately, I just

didn't care at all. So the unfortunately, I think the camera cut to me and I went for a joke of my own, which was pretend to be shocked, like doing sort of like a fake what like as in like I can't believe I'm hearing that my manager thinks this, and then laughing afterwards because I'm joking around with Andy and my wife sitting next to me. So but the camera had cut away by the time we're laughing at Sonya's joke. So to the rumor probably looks like okay,

that's you know, that hasn't gone that well. But I didn't care at all. You got to remember in the room, it's often much different than like whatever an article decides is like okay, this is the scandal. Foolishly or not. I'd sometimes take like weeks off Instagram, so I just wasn't on social media. Like we finished the night and again, love that Sonya one. She deserves it. It was great.

I wasn't I wasn't trying to, I wasn't campaigning. I didn't I would be very grateful to win, but I was not upset because that's the funny thing about the god loggire, like you don't don't, you don't enter, you don't ask to be nominated. It's just something that pops up, and if it happens, it happens. And if it's not, that's great to go to someone else. So yeah, I was like, great, we can go home. Like I went home. I when cuddled my daughter in bed, and I was

actually sitting there thinking this is so nice. This is great. I get to like lie here, I don't have to I'm not doing media. I don't have to wake up in the morning do the today. Like there's again, I'm very grateful for the honor when it happens, if it ever happens, but there is a silver lining to not having to do media in the next day. So I

was just having a final time. And then I didn't realize until probably a little bit later, like maybe late in the next day, and by that stage, like the new cyclic gone and I probably should have done the right thing. I was propaty should have posted something and said I don't care about this at all, but I just wasn't paying attention to it. So unfortunately for something

like the blowback happened. And then I can't remember she e mailed me or I emailed her, but I kind of realized late that next day that she was copying heat for this, so I think I maybe emailed her and just went, Hey, if this is a bother, I don't care at all. I know what it's like to be up there. Your mind's racing, You're trying to think of something to say. People are exhausted, You're trying to

think of something funny to say. We'd actually done that kind of Joe, We've been on fits in whipper earlier in the week, And I think she just was like, we did this joke earlier, let's go again. So from her perspective, I completely understood all the choices she made to be there, and I didn't care at all. Probably the only the thing I felt bad about was not having enough presence to go this could be a bit of blowback for us, so I probably have the chance

here to snaffle that. For her, I wasn't really paying attention, so unfortunately she I would say like felt a really unnecessary amount of heat or pressure over that. To explain herself for what was I would say, at best, just a kind of a neutral thing to say, like, it's just everyone up on stage is gone for gags the whole night right. Some hit, some don't. It's not a big deal.

during lockdown? Of course, you and Zoe were living in Melbourne at the time with your family.

not something I think about a lot. You know, I would say the same thing anyone would say, which is just like you know, we every relationship is different because no people are different, and so the combination of two people is always going to be a unique thing. And so you know, you try the best you can. You have ups, you have downs, you work on things, you come back, you never really feel like you're nailing it, and then but you're always in there to keep going.

And so I wouldn't say the other people's opinion of our relationship is anything that takes up too much mental space to be.

younger friends or our gay friends. And in fact, Beck also was saying that for her in particular, there's this pressure, constant questioning to the two of them, when you're going to have kids, when a you're going to quote unquote settle down. I'm going to sneak in two questions here, What could you tell me about that life cycle?

That is wild. So yeah, I mean everything else like that is a clear indicator of what life cycle we're at. But he, you know, he does it well. Again, we're just I think the fun part about and and eyes. We're very different people but have that have found an amazing but on some levels, like we've never met anyone more similar, Like there are some parts of a personality but completely lock like lego if I may use a slight piece of cross promotion, but we're also extremely different pieces.

So you know, there are this is actually a perfect analogy. There are some studs and anti studs that will go together, but we're like totally different pieces too. So that's the beauty. I think that's a bit of our relationship. I think with the bits that we do together, we're in complete lockstep, and we love that we have very separate lives too.

For some people, especially the way we view women, that's seen as an obstacle that can't be overcome in a relationship. That's I think it's so important that we're calling bs on that stereotype.

you're doing similar things. But then there's also plenty of mates that don't have kids, and I love those guys being in the kids' lives as well because I want them to see people of all and same with a lot of friends that come in that don't have kids, just because you, as a parent, you love your kids being exposed to good, fun, positive grown ups that are doing lots of different things that aren't all just kind of cut from the same cloth.

you're an ambassador for Food Bank Victoria. You've lent your voice to call on the federal government to fund twelve weeks of paid parental leave for fathers and non birthing parents. You recently posted about getting a skin check, what do you choose that you will or will not speak up?

that day, do you have the inclination has it? Because I'm not really personing on social media that much, so this would be a different question if I was like every day I sit down for two hours and I

live stream what I'm thinking about. Different situation. But as I sort of said before, like it would probably be a false read about what does this person care about or not care about to just look at someone's social media because I do delete it for weeks and things are always happening and you're just not doing stuff on

social media, I guess it doesn't get talked about. So for me, I'm like, I think you have to have a what for the things that you'd end up talking about you have a personal connection and or you have those several factors kind of aligned for a moment and you're like, all right, I think this could do some good in the world to lend your voice to this. But by the same time, it doesn't mean that then everything else you're against or you have no opinion on.

I do also, I also think that there are some things where you're like, well, I don't think that's what my people are coming to my account for or looking to me to say, And I think there's value in that too. There are many many avenues we can get news, resources, facts, and for me personally, in my senses like, I don't I'm not rushing to take a stand on every on everything because I don't think I think that would be

you know, to respond to people. I don't think that's necessary for me to do as a Just just because you happen to be on social media, I hope.