During my 12 week Internship at the Bulletin I learnt many valuable lessons. For the most part, I spent my time in the features department of the newspaper interviewing solo artists, local bands, DJ’s, out of state acts and event coordinators. I did however get out into the field completing Vox Pop questionnaires as well as a few news stories. In this blog entry I will be taking a look back at my past 12 weeks, detailing my various responsibilities, analysing my performance and discussing the ethical issues I encountered.
Before I delve into my nostalgic entry, allow me to provide a brief overview of Townsville’s local newspaper. The Townsville Bulletin is responsible for covering news worthy events through out Townsville and the North/North West district. While keeping readers informed about regional politics, news and current affairs there is also a focus on local entertainment and human interest stories. With a broad circulation area, the paper aims to met the interests of readers within Townsville and abroad. In addition to this wide regional coverage, the paper also provides several pull out feature sections, Savvy, The Weekender and The Guide, which is where the majority of my articles were published.
As I was based in the features department, most of my interviews were conducted over the phone. Phone interviews were necessary as many of my interviewees were not in Townsville, as a result I did not step out of the office for the first few weeks. While the phone interviews were always successful, I could not help but compare them to traditional face to face interviews. Previous to my internship, all my interviews had been conducted in that manner so it was a bit of a switch for me. While I always received the necessary information and great quotes, I noticed upon re-playing my audio recording that I sounded disengaged from the conversation. I believe this was because I could not see my interviewee, there was no eye contact and I had no idea what they looked like. In the past I had always melded physical descriptions of the interviewees into my articles, something that could not be achieved through a phone interview. In order to fill this void, I would ask questions that were likely to lead to funny, quirky or intriguing little stories that I would be able to employ as opening anecdotes. Questions such as “Have there been any funny moments at previous performances?” “Was there a particular moment when you realized that you wanted to pursue music professionally?” or “What is your fondest memory from the road?” were all kept as backup prompters, in case the interviewee had not brought up interesting stories on their own. Once I had this tactic available to me, phone interviews become a lot more enjoyable and engaging for me.
The booking of photo sessions was another responsibility entrusted to me. Initially the hardest part for me was deciding on a location. The first photo session I book was with local vocalist Ebony Buckle, a young and pretty girl so I selected the memorial gardens in Thuringowa as I thought that would make a beautiful background. When the article and photo was published I noticed that the photo had been taken at a low angle, so the background was nothing but sky. I assume this was done so that Ebony was the focus of the photo rather then the gardens. After this experience I always had musicians, bands and DJ’s either photographed in their homes, practice space or at venues where they were playing. I believe this made the photographs more organic, while also being much easier for the talent as the environment was familiar to them.
On the occasion when I had finished all my allotted stories for the day, I would spend the afternoon reviewing Albums. This was a very comfortable practice for me as music is a great passion of mine and my ultimate career goal is to work at one of the music magazines in either America or the United Kingdom. In addition to my reviews, I was also required to do a few rewriting for pieces such as ‘cinema group’ where I would have to write a synopsis on a foreign film. On occasion I would also do mini-biographies on celebrities for Savvy Magazine. These little re-writes were easy enough as they only took 15 minutes to complete with the aid of a Google search.
On several occasions I was required to go out with a photographer to complete Vox Pop for either Savvy Magazine or topical news stories. For news stories I simply had to find two guys and two girls to answer a question that had been given to me by my mentor Isis Symes. This type of Vox Pop was very easy as it did not require me to think on the spot or do any deep digging in order to get the required information. The Vox Pops for Savvy however were much more in depth. Savvy required me to find one girl and one guy, ask them five random questions and then discover a little bit about them so I could write a blurb to accompany their photo. Coming up with the five random questions was easy enough, but trying to decipher something else from the talent required a little more thought. I chose to always start with the five random questions because this often led to an interesting answer, so I could ask the talent to tell me more about their answer. For example, one of my random questions was “What is the worst injury you ever had?” from the talents answer, I asked how did this injury happen? How old were you? And so on. The other problem I encountered with Vox Pops relates to time constraints. In order to quicken up my writing skills I chose not to take a recorder along on these expeditions. As I do not know short hand, I had to write brief disjointed notes. Even with these brief notes I found that it still took me a long jot down the talents answers. I have no doubt that there was some lost information as a result, but I figure the best way to improve my note taking skills was by going out and interviewing people on the fly. However, I do believe that it would help immensely if I were able to learn short hand in the future as I have no doubt it would be a beneficial skill to have.
The other responsibility that obviously fell into my hands was the actual writing of my features and news articles. The largest problem I had with feature articles was the overwhelming amount of information and quotes. I realise that it is better to have too much information as opposed to too little, but there were occasions when I simply didn’t know where to start. To overcome this I would start by constructing the body of the story first, leaving the lead for later. I found that once I started, the story would virtually write itself. As I went along I would rearrange and rewrite the article so that it had a better flow. I would also try and use a quirky anecdote as the lead in order to hook in my readers. While some of these tactics were employed in news writing, I did struggle a little bit more with news style.
When it came to news articles, the distribution of quotes and structure of the story was easy enough however, I found the lead intensely difficult to get right. During my 12 weeks, I only wrote four news articles, but I found these to be particularly painful. The chief of staff explained to me that my leads were far too serious, because me articles were accompanied with pictures, these are typically more light hearted stories. It took me a while to grasp what she was saying but then it hit me like a ton of bricks, I had been starting my soft news stories with hard news leads. Once I understood this, my leads did improve, but only after many rewrites.
Over the course of my internship I did run into a few ethical issues. One of the biggest ones occurred in my second week when the publicist of a hip hop artists asked if I would email him a copy of the story before it was published. I am sure this occurred because I have given him my JCU email address. I instinctively knew that I had the right to refuse but decided to consult some of the other reporters at the Bulletin. The decision was unanimous; no I should not send him a copy. I quickly wrote back to the publicist and explained in a polite manner that it would be unethical for me to send a copy of the article as it undermined my journalistic integrity. The next big mistake I made was failing to collect the contact details of my interviewees on two separate news stories. I believe I made this blunder because in the features department the contact phone numbers had been given to me, so I simply forgot with the news stories. This is a complete rookie mistake and I can hardly believe I did it. Needless to say, the one time I did not have my talents contact information was the one instance when I actually needed it. Upon returning to the Bulletin after interviewing a few army lieutenants, I realised that I actually did not understand most of what they had said. Fortunately there was a contact number on the press release so I was able to clear a few things up after that, but I got lucky.
Through out my internship I am proud to say that I met every deadline that I was given. If a story could not be completed it was because the talent was not answering their phone, and that was very rare. When I started my Internship at the Bulletin I was already a confident writer and interviewer, I had a bank load of musical knowledge which I drew on when interviewing musicians, writing and reviewing CDs. However, I also learnt some very important lessons throughout my 12 weeks. I learnt quickly that you can not depend on recording devices, as these failed me on several occasions. Fortunately I always take notes so I was able to go ahead with the story in these instances. I have since realised however that I do need to become more efficient with my note taking as it is clear that I write too slow. For the first few weeks my feature articles were heavily edited, with the paragraphs being rearranged and the lead changed completely. However, I quickly righted this by using either an interesting anecdote or the most important fact as the lead, and then allowing the story to flow from there.
Through my Internship I was able to experience first hand what it means to be a newspaper reporter and features writer. While mentors, staff and other resources were always available, it was me alone who had to research, interview, construct and perfect my copy. While support was present, I largely worked independently which meant that it was up to me to complete my set tasks and meet my deadlines. I learnt valuable lessons through out these 12 weeks as I was finally able to go out into the real world and put my textbook knowledge to the test.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Week 11 of Internship
Today I was based in the Newsroom. The first story I was given was on a RC helicopter competition being held over the weekend. I was given a media release and flyer for the event and that was it. This is definitely a change from the last few weeks because I did not know who I would be interviewing until I got out to the location. Usually I know exactly who I am interviewing because I am doing a phone interview and so I have to personally chase up the talent myself. In this instance I went out to the location with a photographer and basically asked around, “who has a good story? Who would make for a good interview?” I quickly found out that one of the “pilots” was from Sydney, which seemed a long way to travel for a toy helicopter competition.
Thankfully the guy was atheistically pleasing as well so the photographer and I thought the profile would work best if he was the subject. While I was only suppose to interview one person, another competitor obviously felt that his opinion was also worth sharing and kept answering questions that I was not directed at him. Fortunately the photographer caught on and she was able to distract him for long enough so I could interview the talent. By the time my interview had completed and photos had been taken, 45 minutes had passed!
Once I was back in the newsroom I was very concern about my story, I had not taken a voice recorder because I wanted to fasten up my writing pace. The real problem however is that the piece had to be a profile on one competitor but the information provided by the event co-coordinator was more informative about said event….go figure. In the end, I had to put some quotes in by the coordinator in order to get all the essential information in. Fortunately I found that once I started writing the piece came together very smoothly.
Once that story was compete, sorry complete, I was sent the media release about an event being held at the local RSA. The ceremony involved the presenting of blazers to RAR soldiers are going to compete in Cambrian Patrol in the London. The Cambrian Patrol is basically the commonwealth games of the Army. Once I had done up my questions I found that I had about an hour to kill until it was time to run out and do my interview
I headed out on my second story to the Townsville RSL, a lot more relaxed. But then when I walked in the door there was that moment of confusion, looking around the room who was looking at me and the photographer, with no idea who I was suppose to talk to. Luckily the events head chief made his way over to us. I asked him if there was anyone I could talk to who was going over to compete in the competition, and he introduced me to the right fellows. The interview went fine, the only problem was when more then one person was talking and I had to scribble down as much as I could catch from each guy.
After the interview and photos were done, I didn’t feel at all worried about the story until I got back to the news desk. The usually “where do I start?” question popped up and while I was writing the story I was definitely struggling to met my supposed length. In order to over come this I simply included some in-direct quotes, and then the piece came together fairly quickly towards the end.
However, once I had told the Chief of staff that my stories were done and in - she told me (after reading them) that I needed to work on me leads. She said that because they were picture stories the should be fun and bubbly "silly." This surprised me. I suppose with all my focus on feature writing over the past year I had forgotten the difference between hard and soft news. These were soft news stories but I was writing them like hard news - cold, sterile facts - bam bam bam. Needless to say it, going back to the computer and re-doing the leads seemed particularly painful. I had to re-ring one of my sources (whose contact was on their email) and basically re-interview him. I must admit I was pretty embarrassed that I had to do that, but at least it made me understand the story content better.
Another rookie mistake I made, and I don't even know why I did it, was failing to get the contact information from the people I interviewed! Something that has only been drilled into me from day one at JCU!! I have no idea how I managed to forget the devastatingly basic journalist tactic. In the end though, I managed to make do with the quotes I had and made the stories work. So my verdict for this week is, news journalism is alright but I know where my passion lies, so I am looking forward to returning to feature writing next week! :)
Thankfully the guy was atheistically pleasing as well so the photographer and I thought the profile would work best if he was the subject. While I was only suppose to interview one person, another competitor obviously felt that his opinion was also worth sharing and kept answering questions that I was not directed at him. Fortunately the photographer caught on and she was able to distract him for long enough so I could interview the talent. By the time my interview had completed and photos had been taken, 45 minutes had passed!
Once I was back in the newsroom I was very concern about my story, I had not taken a voice recorder because I wanted to fasten up my writing pace. The real problem however is that the piece had to be a profile on one competitor but the information provided by the event co-coordinator was more informative about said event….go figure. In the end, I had to put some quotes in by the coordinator in order to get all the essential information in. Fortunately I found that once I started writing the piece came together very smoothly.
Once that story was compete, sorry complete, I was sent the media release about an event being held at the local RSA. The ceremony involved the presenting of blazers to RAR soldiers are going to compete in Cambrian Patrol in the London. The Cambrian Patrol is basically the commonwealth games of the Army. Once I had done up my questions I found that I had about an hour to kill until it was time to run out and do my interview
I headed out on my second story to the Townsville RSL, a lot more relaxed. But then when I walked in the door there was that moment of confusion, looking around the room who was looking at me and the photographer, with no idea who I was suppose to talk to. Luckily the events head chief made his way over to us. I asked him if there was anyone I could talk to who was going over to compete in the competition, and he introduced me to the right fellows. The interview went fine, the only problem was when more then one person was talking and I had to scribble down as much as I could catch from each guy.
After the interview and photos were done, I didn’t feel at all worried about the story until I got back to the news desk. The usually “where do I start?” question popped up and while I was writing the story I was definitely struggling to met my supposed length. In order to over come this I simply included some in-direct quotes, and then the piece came together fairly quickly towards the end.
However, once I had told the Chief of staff that my stories were done and in - she told me (after reading them) that I needed to work on me leads. She said that because they were picture stories the should be fun and bubbly "silly." This surprised me. I suppose with all my focus on feature writing over the past year I had forgotten the difference between hard and soft news. These were soft news stories but I was writing them like hard news - cold, sterile facts - bam bam bam. Needless to say it, going back to the computer and re-doing the leads seemed particularly painful. I had to re-ring one of my sources (whose contact was on their email) and basically re-interview him. I must admit I was pretty embarrassed that I had to do that, but at least it made me understand the story content better.
Another rookie mistake I made, and I don't even know why I did it, was failing to get the contact information from the people I interviewed! Something that has only been drilled into me from day one at JCU!! I have no idea how I managed to forget the devastatingly basic journalist tactic. In the end though, I managed to make do with the quotes I had and made the stories work. So my verdict for this week is, news journalism is alright but I know where my passion lies, so I am looking forward to returning to feature writing next week! :)
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Week 10 of Internship
Well unfortunately I was not able to go into the Bulletin last week because I was sick, but I mostly made up for that this week. Over the weekend I worked on a feature article for Savvy titled "Naturopathy vs Modern Medicine." I had conducted an interview with a Naturopath last year for writing assignment, so I was so happy that I was able to use that material and actually get it published! The interview had been taped, so I did a re-transcript (because I lost the last one) and then went from there. To ensure that the piece was balanced, I also decided to interview on of my friends who is studying medicine. As she is a busy girl, I had to email her the questions. Usually I would never do this - but my questions were quiet complex and the did need a little digesting time before being answered. I knew that if I were to ask her the questions in a typical interview I would have received far less articulate and thoughtful answers. Fortunately, she answered my questions brilliantly - the next challenge however was piecing it all together.
It is very easy to form a solid story when you have only interviewed one person and the theme of the story is obvious. In this instance however, I had two voices to work with and a number or subjects to explore. I also knew that I could not favour one for of medical treatment over another, so I had to end the story on neutral terms. I got the basic crux of the story done on Monday, and I decided not to look at it again until I was in the office on Friday. Fortunately that break had allowed me to return with fresh eyes. I was able to re-arrange the paragraphs and rewrite the ending so that the story flowed better.
Isis has also given me two 'filler' stories that will most likely be used during the Nov/Dec period when "all stories just dry up and this isn't much happening" as Isis said. I got most of one story done, but still need to contact another performer for some quotes to through in. Both articles are about open mic nights - just held at different venues - one is at the Riverside Tavern and the other is hosted by the folk club at the Bellview hotel. So I will just be working on these pieces over my last few weeks.
Isis was absolutely loaded with stories on Friday, so at 1:15pm she asked me if I could do one of her interviews which was slotted in at 2pm. The story was on a hip-hop duo Koolism, who are headlining at the Full Noise festival next weekend. I quickly read through the media release, myspace page and bio. I scribbled down my questions as they came to me and then re-wrote them in a more cronilogical - linear order. I continued chipping away at another story until 2pm hit and then I rang Dan - the Dj behind Koolism. The interview went great - 15 minutes which is more then enough for a 600 word article. Once I produced the transcript I had the age old predicument or "Where the hell do I start?" In these instances, I find that you just need to start writing - you can change the lead and structure later - but you need to just start forming the body of the story. I found that the article came together quiet easy once I begun.
Linda informed me two weeks ago that a one of the requirments of my internship is to produce three news articles, so next week I will be in the newsroom. Now, I am not going to lie - I am not looking forward to next week! News really isn't my passion at all, but since I am there...and since I have to do it anyway....I will....and hopefully I will do it well. Until next week fellow bloggers!
It is very easy to form a solid story when you have only interviewed one person and the theme of the story is obvious. In this instance however, I had two voices to work with and a number or subjects to explore. I also knew that I could not favour one for of medical treatment over another, so I had to end the story on neutral terms. I got the basic crux of the story done on Monday, and I decided not to look at it again until I was in the office on Friday. Fortunately that break had allowed me to return with fresh eyes. I was able to re-arrange the paragraphs and rewrite the ending so that the story flowed better.
Isis has also given me two 'filler' stories that will most likely be used during the Nov/Dec period when "all stories just dry up and this isn't much happening" as Isis said. I got most of one story done, but still need to contact another performer for some quotes to through in. Both articles are about open mic nights - just held at different venues - one is at the Riverside Tavern and the other is hosted by the folk club at the Bellview hotel. So I will just be working on these pieces over my last few weeks.
Isis was absolutely loaded with stories on Friday, so at 1:15pm she asked me if I could do one of her interviews which was slotted in at 2pm. The story was on a hip-hop duo Koolism, who are headlining at the Full Noise festival next weekend. I quickly read through the media release, myspace page and bio. I scribbled down my questions as they came to me and then re-wrote them in a more cronilogical - linear order. I continued chipping away at another story until 2pm hit and then I rang Dan - the Dj behind Koolism. The interview went great - 15 minutes which is more then enough for a 600 word article. Once I produced the transcript I had the age old predicument or "Where the hell do I start?" In these instances, I find that you just need to start writing - you can change the lead and structure later - but you need to just start forming the body of the story. I found that the article came together quiet easy once I begun.
Linda informed me two weeks ago that a one of the requirments of my internship is to produce three news articles, so next week I will be in the newsroom. Now, I am not going to lie - I am not looking forward to next week! News really isn't my passion at all, but since I am there...and since I have to do it anyway....I will....and hopefully I will do it well. Until next week fellow bloggers!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
week 8 of Internship
For Week 8 of my internship I had to finish up a piece that was left over from last week, I also had to a box plot for Savvy and interview a local group who have organised an open mic night. However, I also received one very exciting job, an interview with Brisbane band and one of the feature artists from Triple J's unearthed artists - Hungry Kids of Hungry!
Like last week I had two hours to "kill" before any of my interviewees were available. I simply used this time to research, and organise my questions while tightening up the article that was left over from last week (which was incomplete as there was a second party I had to interview but whom I could not get in contact with last week).
All of interviews went great and my interviewees gave me brilliant answers which made writing the stories much easier. The interview with the Hungry Kids of Hungry was an interesting one as the front man almost gave me too much information! Don't get me wrong, too much is far better than too little but when I first looked at the transcript I felt a little overwhelmed by the amount of information that was there! Over the weeks I have sort of come up with a system, building the body of the story first and then using whatever quirky anecdote the interviewee reveals as the lead. Then I usually link the bottom paragraph to the top paragraph. This isn't what I do for every single article, but it is usefully whenever I am feeling overwhelmed by the mass of information I have collected.
Till next week my fellow interns....
Like last week I had two hours to "kill" before any of my interviewees were available. I simply used this time to research, and organise my questions while tightening up the article that was left over from last week (which was incomplete as there was a second party I had to interview but whom I could not get in contact with last week).
All of interviews went great and my interviewees gave me brilliant answers which made writing the stories much easier. The interview with the Hungry Kids of Hungry was an interesting one as the front man almost gave me too much information! Don't get me wrong, too much is far better than too little but when I first looked at the transcript I felt a little overwhelmed by the amount of information that was there! Over the weeks I have sort of come up with a system, building the body of the story first and then using whatever quirky anecdote the interviewee reveals as the lead. Then I usually link the bottom paragraph to the top paragraph. This isn't what I do for every single article, but it is usefully whenever I am feeling overwhelmed by the mass of information I have collected.
Till next week my fellow interns....
Friday, September 18, 2009
Week seven of Internship
Week seven of my internship was a slow one...to begin with anyway. The first two hours were spent playing phone tag with my interviewees, but I chose to use this time to re-work question and do whatever research I could. I had three stories to complete for The Guide and one for Savvy. The Guide stories were an interview with a pianist who was performing two shows in Townsville, a local DJ who won the coveted opening spot at Godskitchen Worldwide and a profile of local band who were entering battle of the bands.
Now, the only probably with band and DJ interviews is that the likely hood of them answering their phone at 9:30 in the morning is slim, at best. Needless to say I left voice messages but continued to ring every 20/30 minutes anyway...just in case. I knew I had to go out with a photographer at 2pm and I had to ring the pianist at 11am (as this was the only time he was available) so I had to try and organise my other stories around these factors. As fate would have it, at 10:50 the local band returned my phone call! I apologised and asked if it was ok if I rang him back in 15 minutes because I had another interview lined up, Lucky he was a very mellow guy so that didn't bother him at all.
The interview with pianist went great and he gave me some great quotes. So, I rang the local band back to discover that my interviewee was in the middle of ordering Subway - but he wanted to do the interview anyway...DO NOT DO THIS! A few minutes into the interview I knew this was a mistake, I don't know if my interviewee was just shy or if he was simply more interested in his lunch then doing an interview. It was one of those situation where I would ask a question like "So are your lyrics taken from personal experience or are they more general?" and he would respond with "Yeah, some are taken from personal experience and some are general."
I got the impression that normally he would have been a good interviewee, but I just rang at the wrong time. Fortunately I have another person I am going to interview next week to get some background info on the "battle of the bands" comp, so I am going to combine the two lots of information and I am sure it will turn out fine.
The DJ I had interview was much more giving. She had a really vibrant personally and gave great quotes, so writing her story was very easy. However, I have to admit that while I am a BIG music freak I have absolutely no interest in techno/DJing. This was very obvious as she was talking about House Music vs Trace music and who her influences were. I had to ask her about seven times how to spell the names of the DJ's she admired...despite what you have heard ignorance is not bliss...but besides that I really did enjoy the story -both the interview and the writing of it.
In the afternoon I went out with the photographer (yes out into the real world!) to do the "5 minutes with and "A guy's view" for Savvy. We went to the JCU creative Art building as the Photographer was also taking pictures for another news story. Honestly, I was feeling a little nervous about going up to complete strangers, but honestly the hardest part was the first 10 seconds when you go up and introduce yourself - after that it was smooth sailing. And as it turns out, Uni kids are more than happy to talk to journo's - if it means they don't have to work on their uni assignment for 10 minutes.
I ran back to the bulletin, put the finishing touches on the DJ story and then quickly wrote up the four Savvy interviews I had done. While Week seven began slowly I was in a made rush by the end of the day to get everything done. I did really enjoy this week however, because I was really feeling the pressure of time - something I haven't felt most weeks.
Now, the only probably with band and DJ interviews is that the likely hood of them answering their phone at 9:30 in the morning is slim, at best. Needless to say I left voice messages but continued to ring every 20/30 minutes anyway...just in case. I knew I had to go out with a photographer at 2pm and I had to ring the pianist at 11am (as this was the only time he was available) so I had to try and organise my other stories around these factors. As fate would have it, at 10:50 the local band returned my phone call! I apologised and asked if it was ok if I rang him back in 15 minutes because I had another interview lined up, Lucky he was a very mellow guy so that didn't bother him at all.
The interview with pianist went great and he gave me some great quotes. So, I rang the local band back to discover that my interviewee was in the middle of ordering Subway - but he wanted to do the interview anyway...DO NOT DO THIS! A few minutes into the interview I knew this was a mistake, I don't know if my interviewee was just shy or if he was simply more interested in his lunch then doing an interview. It was one of those situation where I would ask a question like "So are your lyrics taken from personal experience or are they more general?" and he would respond with "Yeah, some are taken from personal experience and some are general."
I got the impression that normally he would have been a good interviewee, but I just rang at the wrong time. Fortunately I have another person I am going to interview next week to get some background info on the "battle of the bands" comp, so I am going to combine the two lots of information and I am sure it will turn out fine.
The DJ I had interview was much more giving. She had a really vibrant personally and gave great quotes, so writing her story was very easy. However, I have to admit that while I am a BIG music freak I have absolutely no interest in techno/DJing. This was very obvious as she was talking about House Music vs Trace music and who her influences were. I had to ask her about seven times how to spell the names of the DJ's she admired...despite what you have heard ignorance is not bliss...but besides that I really did enjoy the story -both the interview and the writing of it.
In the afternoon I went out with the photographer (yes out into the real world!) to do the "5 minutes with and "A guy's view" for Savvy. We went to the JCU creative Art building as the Photographer was also taking pictures for another news story. Honestly, I was feeling a little nervous about going up to complete strangers, but honestly the hardest part was the first 10 seconds when you go up and introduce yourself - after that it was smooth sailing. And as it turns out, Uni kids are more than happy to talk to journo's - if it means they don't have to work on their uni assignment for 10 minutes.
I ran back to the bulletin, put the finishing touches on the DJ story and then quickly wrote up the four Savvy interviews I had done. While Week seven began slowly I was in a made rush by the end of the day to get everything done. I did really enjoy this week however, because I was really feeling the pressure of time - something I haven't felt most weeks.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Josh Rawiri profile
A bon fire lights up a Broome beach, as musician Josh Rawiri chows down on Kangaroo while learning how to make a rope from the animals skin.
`I was up in Broome and playing a gig when I met this bloke who taught me how to run under water, we ate kangaroo and he taught me how to utilies the animal by make a rope from its skin` said Josh.
`One of the best parts about being a musician is the people I get to meet,` he said.
Following the release of his debut album, Josh is returning to Townsville on the back of his national tour.
`I have been to Townsville one time before, lots of young people who like to party but also a nice place to relax and take it easy,` he said.
After spending 12 months writing the album, Josh is happy to see the music translate live.
`It is really good to play live and interact with people,'
`The album is really diverse which is good, because there is nothing worse then when each song sounds the same as the next,` he said.
`I really did not want to make an album like that.`
With influences such as Bob Marley, Ben Harper, John Butler and rock bands like Led Zeppelin, Josh has developed a unique sound.
`It is a fusion between rock, reggae and blues with guitar work.`
`They aim of my music is to get people together so people can let go of their inhibitions and interact with each other,` he said.
A self taught musician with the ability to play four types of guitar, harmonica and sing, it is hard to believe that Josh original started out as a chef.
`After I finished my chief course I decided I wanted to follow through with music,'
`I started off playing Sunday sessions and then went on to open mic nights,` he said.
One of Josh's more memorable gigs occurred at the Bondi Hotel.
`A footy team were really excited by the music and everything, a few of them got naked, that was defiantly one of the funniest things I have seen.`
Kangaroo skin rope and naked footballers - no doubt that Josh will collect more memorable tales as he continues his national tour around Australia.
Joshs Townsville gigs are September 18 The Exchange Hotel, September 24 Molly Malones, September 25 The Australian, September 26 The Imperial Hotel and October 1 Molly Malones, all at 8:00pm
`I was up in Broome and playing a gig when I met this bloke who taught me how to run under water, we ate kangaroo and he taught me how to utilies the animal by make a rope from its skin` said Josh.
`One of the best parts about being a musician is the people I get to meet,` he said.
Following the release of his debut album, Josh is returning to Townsville on the back of his national tour.
`I have been to Townsville one time before, lots of young people who like to party but also a nice place to relax and take it easy,` he said.
After spending 12 months writing the album, Josh is happy to see the music translate live.
`It is really good to play live and interact with people,'
`The album is really diverse which is good, because there is nothing worse then when each song sounds the same as the next,` he said.
`I really did not want to make an album like that.`
With influences such as Bob Marley, Ben Harper, John Butler and rock bands like Led Zeppelin, Josh has developed a unique sound.
`It is a fusion between rock, reggae and blues with guitar work.`
`They aim of my music is to get people together so people can let go of their inhibitions and interact with each other,` he said.
A self taught musician with the ability to play four types of guitar, harmonica and sing, it is hard to believe that Josh original started out as a chef.
`After I finished my chief course I decided I wanted to follow through with music,'
`I started off playing Sunday sessions and then went on to open mic nights,` he said.
One of Josh's more memorable gigs occurred at the Bondi Hotel.
`A footy team were really excited by the music and everything, a few of them got naked, that was defiantly one of the funniest things I have seen.`
Kangaroo skin rope and naked footballers - no doubt that Josh will collect more memorable tales as he continues his national tour around Australia.
Joshs Townsville gigs are September 18 The Exchange Hotel, September 24 Molly Malones, September 25 The Australian, September 26 The Imperial Hotel and October 1 Molly Malones, all at 8:00pm
Tim Griffin Profile
Local family man Tim Griffin is about to exchange his blue collar status for a guitar strap, as he heads to Bayron Bay to record his debut album.
“I’m singing for all the battlers of the world,” he said.
Tim’s blues, roots and reggae influence music is accompanied by personal lyrics inspired by his own life.
“I write about real experiences and that’s why it connects to people, because it’s the same thing everyone goes through,’
“I’ve written one song called the “Company man” after I was pissed off at work,’ he said with a chuckle.
After working odd jobs at meat works and other non-descript occupations that “nobody else wanted to do,” Tim’s dream is becoming a reality.
“All my friends are really excited saying this is my big break but I’m just trying to keep my mind on the job so I can go down there and do my best.”
Tim is definitely a local boy, with one song on the album titled “King of Castle Hill.”
“The song is basically about what naughty people get up to when they go up to Castle Hill,” Tim said laughing.
“I really want to put something out that Townsville can be pound of just trying to keep my head in check at the moment,” he said.
One of Tim’s biggest highlights over the years has been meeting his mentor and friend Willie Hona.
“He was in a New Zealand called “Herbs” that were really popular in 80s.”
“Willie Hona is the father of South Pacific Reggae, not only has he influenced me musically but personally, he is a very humble man,”
A trait that Tim himself certainly possesses.
“I have sixteen songs ready to go when I hit the studio,” said Tim.
“I have been playing this stuff around Townsville for the past 8 years, a catalogue from the last 10 years of songs I have written in that time.”
“You know they have stood the test of time because I can play them now and it sounds like they have just been written.”
Lately, Tim has made a move towards more positive lyrics.
“Of late I have been focusing on up lifting peoples spirits,’
“Trying to write a lot of positive songs to show people who are done in the dumps that there is a lot of life out there to be lived.”
At the end of the day however, Tim says it is his family that inspire him the most.
“Everyone out there that knows me knows that I couldn’t have done this without the support of my family.”
Balancing a blue collar on his neck and a guitar strap across his back, Tim’s most important role is the hat of a family man.
“I’m singing for all the battlers of the world,” he said.
Tim’s blues, roots and reggae influence music is accompanied by personal lyrics inspired by his own life.
“I write about real experiences and that’s why it connects to people, because it’s the same thing everyone goes through,’
“I’ve written one song called the “Company man” after I was pissed off at work,’ he said with a chuckle.
After working odd jobs at meat works and other non-descript occupations that “nobody else wanted to do,” Tim’s dream is becoming a reality.
“All my friends are really excited saying this is my big break but I’m just trying to keep my mind on the job so I can go down there and do my best.”
Tim is definitely a local boy, with one song on the album titled “King of Castle Hill.”
“The song is basically about what naughty people get up to when they go up to Castle Hill,” Tim said laughing.
“I really want to put something out that Townsville can be pound of just trying to keep my head in check at the moment,” he said.
One of Tim’s biggest highlights over the years has been meeting his mentor and friend Willie Hona.
“He was in a New Zealand called “Herbs” that were really popular in 80s.”
“Willie Hona is the father of South Pacific Reggae, not only has he influenced me musically but personally, he is a very humble man,”
A trait that Tim himself certainly possesses.
“I have sixteen songs ready to go when I hit the studio,” said Tim.
“I have been playing this stuff around Townsville for the past 8 years, a catalogue from the last 10 years of songs I have written in that time.”
“You know they have stood the test of time because I can play them now and it sounds like they have just been written.”
Lately, Tim has made a move towards more positive lyrics.
“Of late I have been focusing on up lifting peoples spirits,’
“Trying to write a lot of positive songs to show people who are done in the dumps that there is a lot of life out there to be lived.”
At the end of the day however, Tim says it is his family that inspire him the most.
“Everyone out there that knows me knows that I couldn’t have done this without the support of my family.”
Balancing a blue collar on his neck and a guitar strap across his back, Tim’s most important role is the hat of a family man.
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