American rapper Common is a renaissance man. Growing up on the south side of Chicago, his records reflected the world he saw; and the one he wanted to see. He’s an acclaimed poet, has featured on the silver screen as a lead actor, and taken to the stage as an activist; using his platform to rally against social injustice, and rally for unity, for peace, and for change. He does this all with love, as you’ll hear for yourself. For his Take 5, I asked him to Take 5 with his music for a movement. Th...
Dec 11, 2020•31 min
American rapper Common is a renaissance man. Growing up on the south side of Chicago, his records reflected the world he saw; and the one he wanted to see. He’s an acclaimed poet, has featured on the silver screen as a lead actor, and taken to the stage as an activist; using his platform to rally against social injustice, and rally for unity, for peace, and for change. He does this all with love, as you’ll hear for yourself. For his Take 5, I asked him to Take 5 with his music for a movement. Th...
Dec 11, 2020•31 min
Tara June Winch knows how to tell a story. In 2006 she released her first novel, Swallow the Air. It won a bunch of awards, and was added to the high school curriculum. Years passed. She released a collection of short stories, but it wasn’t until 2019 that she published her follow up. And oh what a follow up it was. The Yield is the tale of two generations, a Language that tells their story, and a connection to culture that stretches back tens of thousands of years. A Wiradjuri woman herself, Ta...
Dec 03, 2020•38 min
Tara June Winch knows how to tell a story. In 2006 she released her first novel, Swallow the Air. It won a bunch of awards, and was added to the high school curriculum. Years passed. She released a collection of short stories, but it wasn’t until 2019 that she published her follow up. And oh what a follow up it was. The Yield is the tale of two generations, a Language that tells their story, and a connection to culture that stretches back tens of thousands of years. A Wiradjuri woman herself, Ta...
Dec 03, 2020•38 min
2010 was a big year for bangers. The Australian dance music scene in particular, was thriving. Stalwarts like The Presets and Cut Copy were kicking it, and a new breed of beat makers were coming up, soundtracking hedonistic summer days and big festival party nights. This was the year Bag Raiders released their debut album, and on it’s 10th anniversary I invited the duo to Take 5 and go back. Jack and Chris joined me for the final Take 5 for Ausmusic Month, and so I thought it’d be fun to stay lo...
Nov 26, 2020•30 min
2010 was a big year for bangers. The Australian dance music scene in particular, was thriving. Stalwarts like The Presets and Cut Copy were kicking it, and a new breed of beat makers were coming up, soundtracking hedonistic summer days and big festival party nights. This was the year Bag Raiders released their debut album, and on it’s 10th anniversary I invited the duo to Take 5 and go back. Jack and Chris joined me for the final Take 5 for Ausmusic Month, and so I thought it’d be fun to stay lo...
Nov 26, 2020•30 min
I think we can all agree 2020 has been a YEAR. No one more so than country music singer Fanny Lumsden. Based in the tiny town of Tooma, on the western side of the Snowy Mountains, her release plans for her beautiful third album Fallow took a turn for the worse, when disaster and pandemic struck. But that didn’t stop Fanny. Her resilience, and optimism has carried her and her community through this year, and it’s why I asked her to share her songs of solace for her Take 5. Fanny Lumsden has been ...
Nov 19, 2020•33 min
I think we can all agree 2020 has been a YEAR. No one more so than country music singer Fanny Lumsden. Based in the tiny town of Tooma, on the western side of the Snowy Mountains, her release plans for her beautiful third album Fallow took a turn for the worse, when disaster and pandemic struck. But that didn’t stop Fanny. Her resilience, and optimism has carried her and her community through this year, and it’s why I asked her to share her songs of solace for her Take 5. Fanny Lumsden has been ...
Nov 19, 2020•33 min
Bjorn Stewart is a slashie. An actor, director, writer, and comedian; I became a massive fan seeing him doing Quarantine Cooking Challenges on the lockdown TV series At Home Alone Together. He’s also written and appeared on Black Comedy, and has been performing on stage for years. Recently Bjorn flipped to director, and will soon showcase his latest project, a comedy called All My Friends Are Racist. I wanted to get to know Bjorn, so asked him to Take 5 with the full course. Five songs for five ...
Nov 12, 2020•29 min
Bjorn Stewart is a slashie. An actor, director, writer, and comedian; I became a massive fan seeing him doing Quarantine Cooking Challenges on the lockdown TV series At Home Alone Together. He’s also written and appeared on Black Comedy, and has been performing on stage for years. Recently Bjorn flipped to director, and will soon showcase his latest project, a comedy called All My Friends Are Racist. I wanted to get to know Bjorn, so asked him to Take 5 with the full course. Five songs for five ...
Nov 12, 2020•29 min
Where do I begin with Kylie Minogue? She’s been in our lives for over three decades, she’s sold more than 70 million records, holds multiple ARIA and Brit Awards, and a Grammy. Over fifteen studio albums, countless tours, and plenty of other side hustles, she has become one of the most legendary Australians alive. She’s just Kylie, our Kylie, and she’s an icon. No doubt like many of you, I grew up with Kylie Minogue. Her new albums would be on every Christmas and birthday wish list, and as I got...
Nov 05, 2020•30 min
Roisin Murphy is a force of nature. We first met her as one half of Moloko, whose pop house hits made them a household name. But since 2005 Roisin Murphy has carved out an incredible solo career, and a dedicated fanbase to boot. Her latest album is Roisin Machine; it’s a deep cut of house, disco, and industrial sounds fuelled by her formative years in Manchester and Sheffield. Roisin’s life story is pretty fascinating, which is why I asked her to choose her foundation songs. From formative momen...
Oct 29, 2020•31 min
There are some bands that just sound like summer. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, are one of them. Those jangly guitars, the three part harmonies… pressing play on their songs sends me straight to the beach, to balmy nights and road trips with friends. We’re on the cusp of summer right now but given 2020’s shitshow of a year I figured we may as well skip ahead to that happy place. So I asked Tom from the band to Take 5 with his “songs of summer”. Whether it’s a sound, or a memory, he transporte...
Oct 22, 2020•26 min
You know when you meet someone, and from the get go you think, you’re good people. Julia Baird is good people. An acclaimed journalist and broadcaster, she’s spent her life chasing rabbits down the hole, fighting for the causes that deserve it, and telling the stories of icons and everyday folk alike. Julia’s life has been a tale of two cities; a childhood in New York that would bring her back to the Big Apple and be the site of some of her biggest moments. And a home in Sydney, where as host of...
Oct 15, 2020•41 min
So where I do even begin with Peter Garrett? He’s one of the most iconic front men, and activists in Australia. As lead singer of Midnight Oil, he lit a fire with their music, bringing the plight of First Nations peoples, of environmental degradation, and the threat of nuclear war, to Top 40 radio. The Oils were the first band I ever saw live. I was 12, and my parents took the whole family along to their Blue Sky Mining tour. That lit a fire in me, of the excitement and connection of live music....
Sep 25, 2020•34 min
It’s hard to remember it now, but back in 2010 Tame Impala were getting excited about the prospect of their first headline American tour. The Perth band had just released their debut album Innerspeaker. We all thought it was pretty good, and it would go on to win the J Award for Australian Album of the Year. This month, September 2020, we’ve been celebrating great Australian debuts on Double J Radio, so I thought it’d be fun to jump in the time machine, and dig into the Take 5 archives to share ...
Sep 18, 2020•26 min
For Felix Riebl, exploring the world has been his life for more than twenty years. As founding member of The Cat Empire, touring all over the planet and experiencing all kinds of wild adventures is his day job. Away from the stage his curious spirit has taken him to some incredible places. And creatively, the map he draws with his music (whether in his band, solo, or collaborating with others) is broad and unknown. From Athens to New Orleans, Glastonbury Festival to the remote Pilbara, settle in...
Sep 11, 2020•34 min
Have you ever seen one of Karen O’s outfits and thought to yourself “who MADE that?”. Today you’re going to meet her. Christian Joy is a fashion designer and lifelong collaborator of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman. Her DIY style has become iconic over two decades, gracing album covers, video clips and wild stage shows. For this untrained punk from Iowa, meeting Karen O right before Yeah Yeah Yeahs broke it big, changed the trajectory of her life. In between that epic friendship she’s made costum...
Sep 04, 2020•33 min
Have you ever seen one of Karen O’s outfits and thought to yourself “who MADE that?”. Today you’re going to meet her. Christian Joy is a fashion designer and lifelong collaborator of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman. Her DIY style has become iconic over two decades, gracing album covers, video clips and wild stage shows. For this untrained punk from Iowa, meeting Karen O right before Yeah Yeah Yeahs broke it big, changed the trajectory of her life. In between that epic friendship she’s made costum...
Sep 04, 2020•33 min
Have you ever wondered why you get goosebumps when you listen to certain songs? Or what makes a hit, a hit? Maybe you’ve argued that the music you listened to when you were younger, is the best music that was ever made. All of that, relates to neuroscience. The way the brain processes music is a huge field of study; it’s why music therapy exists, why people with Alzheimer’s can remember a tune from the childhood, or why songs can be a way for non verbal people to communicate. It’s something I’m ...
Aug 28, 2020•39 min
Quan Yeomans is a guy who likes to play. Whether fronting Regurgitator for the past quarter century and bringing his songwriting clout to their punk, pop, and electronic missives, stepping out with the hyper sounds of Happyland, or collaborating on any number of other projects, there’s a sense of childlike wonder, of curiosity and risk, to all he does. That’s why I asked him to Take 5 with his inner child songs. I wanted to hear that music that, for him, captured that sense of freedom, of newnes...
Aug 21, 2020•33 min
Darren Hanlon is one of Australia’s great troubadours. His music has charmed us for near on twenty years now, and he’s known as a songwriter’s songwriter; his skill at getting straight to the heart of the matter has built him a loyal following of fans and fellow muso’s alike. Daz is also one of those people who you want to pull up a pew and have a cuppa with. There’s a sense of calm that falls whenever I chat with him, and for all of these reasons I asked him to Take 5. From new friends, to unhe...
Aug 14, 2020•30 min
When I say the name Virginia Trioli, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? For me, I think boss. I think killer journalist who, when she does interviews, it’s like watching sport. I think sharp wit, and big passion. If you listen to the Take 5 outside of Australia, you may not think anything… so let me catch you up. Virginia Trioli is a Walkley Award winning journo. Her career began in print media in Melbourne, before she pivoted to radio and then TV; holding it down as host of ABC News Bre...
Aug 07, 2020•45 min
One of the biggest and best voices in Australia, is Emma Donovan’s. As a little kid, Emma got a heap of practice in with her family band. The Donovans were a legendary country group, and whether her uncles were pushing her to the front of the stage to sing, or her mum was plopping her in front of crowds at Tamworth talent quests, her soulful voice was honed over years of family support and self belief. Emma would go on to form the Stiff Gins, she’d release solo records, join The Black Arm Band, ...
Jul 31, 2020•31 min
Courtney Barnett is a national treasure. Ever since I started hearing her songs, around 2013, she’s been one of my favourite storytellers. A dry wit, with a knack for writing very catchy indie rock songs and reflecting back on the world around her; big and small. That talent has taken her around the world, and for a good part of the last five years, Courtney has been on the road; consistently touring around Australia, the US, and Europe. When coronavirus hit, that all stopped. And CB found herse...
Jul 17, 2020•34 min
Rufus Wainwright is one of the greatest voices of our time. Hailing from a dynasty of incredible songwriters in Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III, his life has stories and then some. From the get go, Rufus’ 1998 debut album announced an artist who stood on his own two feet. He would make a handful more, before stepping out of the pop realm and into the classics; performing opera and Shakespearean sonnets on stage for a decade. In 2020, he returned to his old stomping ground, and on the d...
Jul 10, 2020•31 min
Susan Rogers, by her own admission, is a rare bird. A female producer and sound engineer in an industry dominated by men, her drive and commitment would land her side by side with Prince as his star soared. She came to work with him in Paisley Park as an audio technician right before he would begin Purple Rain, and she’d stay working with him and becoming his sound engineer through his commercial peak; recording Parade, Around the World in a Day, The Black Album, and Sign O the Times. But Prince...
Jul 03, 2020•58 min
Ricky Powell is a collector of stories. Whether on the street shooting the daily comings and goings of his beloved New York, or on tour with Beastie Boys and RUN DMC capturing 80’s rappers in front of the Eiffel Tower, or Andy Warhol uptown, standing side by side with Basquiat in a singular moment of modern art. See you may not know Ricky Powell’s name, but you’ve seen his pictures. As a street photographer for the past thirty years, he’s one of those people who has always been at the right plac...
Jun 26, 2020•28 min
There’s only one person on the planet who has played Coachella, the New York Metropolitan Opera, and hit the stage at Eurovision; and that person is Kate Miller-Heidke. With her soaring voice, Kate’s talent has taken her to stages all across the world. And her talent has made her creative life a rich tapestry; writing musical theatre, performing in many different guises, and penning her own albums over the past fifteen years. With that in mind, I asked her to choose songs for the stages. Music t...
Jun 19, 2020•29 min
I was 21 when I first heard Pnau. Their debut album Sambanova would become the soundtrack to pre drinks and after parties, it signalled a duo who knew how to bring it, with an exceptional debut of house music. Nick Littlemore was the producer behind it, and alongside Pete Mayes they’d craft many more records, reaching new levels of explosive, ecstatic pop music. It wasn’t the only project Nick would excel at through. With Luke Steele, he formed Empire of the Sun, and topped the charts in Austral...
Jun 12, 2020•38 min
