If it's already apparent to you, clearly I march to the beat of my own drum. - It's just the way I am.
The evidence goes way back. As a 3yo in pre-school while other kids finger painted, I grabbed a brush a painted my fingers (akin to the the literal translation “finger-painting”). The teachers found this very funny !
This sort of natural curiosity both benefits me and haunts me – There's been wonderful discoveries and downright silly things I've done as a young man realising his youth. If there's a bike helmet and a brick lying around at someone's backyard party, I'm the guy to get the thought “I might test that helmet's durability – You reckon it can handle a brick from the 2nd floor balcony if I wear it ?” … Pretty soon, people are smiling and nodding heads, and there I am requiring stitches later on in the night after a beer or two more.
With that in mind, I LOVE my guitar ! Playing an axe has been going on for 20 years. Only sleeping and breathing can match the number of hours I've been playing in my lifetime !
So how the hell did I become a Wild FM tragic ??? - Herein lies the story …. :)
AN AWAKENING OF SORTS ...
I have several people to blame first of all.
Sarah Humphreys : I dont know where Sarah is these days. I never actually met her to say Hello. But she was in my high school a few years above, and without ever knowing it, was the original influence on me to “march to the beat of my own drum” - A highly idiosyncratic character in a crowd of sheep. A rainbow in sea of grey. I harbour hopes I can randomly bump into her one day, or chance upon her so I can thank her.
Amanda and her blonde friend – One fateful night, Mandy and her mate pulled this metal loving guitar freak onto a dance floor to protect them from toey locals. Armed with two left feet, they both educated me in some simple drunken moves. Which in turn, enabled the start of a snowball running down a mountain, that lasted years.
Matty Fuzz (not his real name) – One fateful day he introduced me to the world of Raves/Dance events (and hash cookies, but that's another blog). We're bloody good mates and go way back.
Sanity Music – I got a job there. And they sold shitloads of Wild FM CD's like hotcakes at a time when I had no idea what Wild FM was ! Turns out it was the source of all that doof-doof music I and many others use to make fun of.
A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY
I'm by no means a historian on the topic, but from my own hazy recollections of a decade ago, here goes ...
Before Wild FM went somewhat mainstream, licences on FM radio (pre-digital and internet era) were expensive and hard to get. The Sydney club scene was craving their own voice (like Melb, Bris). As an example 3D street press emerged from this early ground roots movement of electronic dance.
Every so often, the authorities would allow a 'test broadcast licence' for aspiring stations - For 6 weeks you could schedule you own programme with whatever you want to see it is had enough viability - There were language stations, classical FM, jazz/blues ... and of course Wild FM, then based at Central Station records (Oxford St) got their chance approx 1995-1997.
Their impending arrival would send shudders of joy down the Sydney dance scene. 3D did the promoting with full colour ads months in advance - "Wild FM ... coming soon on 99.9 FM” (or whatever it was) - In a world saturated by grunge, the emergence of nu-metal and the post-Cobain depression, this was a lifeline for the next generation of music enthusiasts.
The signal barely reached Liverpool, and the majority of the base was inner Sydney. Club events drew so many people, you could line up for 3 hours and NOT get in. Shock Records got the rights to distribute the first Wild FM mix into store across Australia - It went on to sell multi-times platinum. The combination of Shock and Central Station made for a very happy marriage.
MEMORIES
At the end of each broadcast period (in my time Wild had "three" 6 week periods over 3 or so years), they'd throw an "end of Broadcast" party. I was lucky enough to go to two of them and it was Matty Fuzz who dragged me to my first at SkyGardens in Castlereagh St when he had spare tickets.
“Dress nice bro” he said. “Women everywhere !”
I walked into a world of universal multicultural acceptance … and the similarities between my favoured “mosh-pits” were not lost upon survereying the scantily dressed and sweaty thousands. A very long way from the guitar wielding metal dude from high school. - It was a total re-invention !
The last I went to was in 1999 at Maroubra Seals - 8pm > 6am and 4,000 people and 25 podiums and lasers like I've never seen before ! By then I knew the DJ's like household names - Dave Austin, Alex K, Nick Skitz, Captain Kirk, LCB ... all of 'em got at least an hour each !
Eventually the day came where people would come up to me and I'd get a random compliment “Man … I been watching you. You GO ORF !!!”
I know I'm not alone in saying this. The YouTube comments I see on various (old-school) songs tell me this feeling is universal among those who knew and loved Wild FM in it's early days. - They were some of the best times of my life.
Coming from a dude who for the last 8 years had been devoted to guitars and metal , under the dim lights of a bedroom with headphones ... I learned how to dance on podiums with the hottest of girls, and it totally changed my perspective on lots of things !
Try new things folks.
Food. Travel. Music.
March to the beat of your own drum.
Your soul will thank you forever.
;)
The evidence goes way back. As a 3yo in pre-school while other kids finger painted, I grabbed a brush a painted my fingers (akin to the the literal translation “finger-painting”). The teachers found this very funny !
This sort of natural curiosity both benefits me and haunts me – There's been wonderful discoveries and downright silly things I've done as a young man realising his youth. If there's a bike helmet and a brick lying around at someone's backyard party, I'm the guy to get the thought “I might test that helmet's durability – You reckon it can handle a brick from the 2nd floor balcony if I wear it ?” … Pretty soon, people are smiling and nodding heads, and there I am requiring stitches later on in the night after a beer or two more.
With that in mind, I LOVE my guitar ! Playing an axe has been going on for 20 years. Only sleeping and breathing can match the number of hours I've been playing in my lifetime !
So how the hell did I become a Wild FM tragic ??? - Herein lies the story …. :)
AN AWAKENING OF SORTS ...
I have several people to blame first of all.
Sarah Humphreys : I dont know where Sarah is these days. I never actually met her to say Hello. But she was in my high school a few years above, and without ever knowing it, was the original influence on me to “march to the beat of my own drum” - A highly idiosyncratic character in a crowd of sheep. A rainbow in sea of grey. I harbour hopes I can randomly bump into her one day, or chance upon her so I can thank her.
Amanda and her blonde friend – One fateful night, Mandy and her mate pulled this metal loving guitar freak onto a dance floor to protect them from toey locals. Armed with two left feet, they both educated me in some simple drunken moves. Which in turn, enabled the start of a snowball running down a mountain, that lasted years.
Matty Fuzz (not his real name) – One fateful day he introduced me to the world of Raves/Dance events (and hash cookies, but that's another blog). We're bloody good mates and go way back.
Sanity Music – I got a job there. And they sold shitloads of Wild FM CD's like hotcakes at a time when I had no idea what Wild FM was ! Turns out it was the source of all that doof-doof music I and many others use to make fun of.
A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY
I'm by no means a historian on the topic, but from my own hazy recollections of a decade ago, here goes ...
Before Wild FM went somewhat mainstream, licences on FM radio (pre-digital and internet era) were expensive and hard to get. The Sydney club scene was craving their own voice (like Melb, Bris). As an example 3D street press emerged from this early ground roots movement of electronic dance.
Every so often, the authorities would allow a 'test broadcast licence' for aspiring stations - For 6 weeks you could schedule you own programme with whatever you want to see it is had enough viability - There were language stations, classical FM, jazz/blues ... and of course Wild FM, then based at Central Station records (Oxford St) got their chance approx 1995-1997.
Their impending arrival would send shudders of joy down the Sydney dance scene. 3D did the promoting with full colour ads months in advance - "Wild FM ... coming soon on 99.9 FM” (or whatever it was) - In a world saturated by grunge, the emergence of nu-metal and the post-Cobain depression, this was a lifeline for the next generation of music enthusiasts.
The signal barely reached Liverpool, and the majority of the base was inner Sydney. Club events drew so many people, you could line up for 3 hours and NOT get in. Shock Records got the rights to distribute the first Wild FM mix into store across Australia - It went on to sell multi-times platinum. The combination of Shock and Central Station made for a very happy marriage.
MEMORIES
At the end of each broadcast period (in my time Wild had "three" 6 week periods over 3 or so years), they'd throw an "end of Broadcast" party. I was lucky enough to go to two of them and it was Matty Fuzz who dragged me to my first at SkyGardens in Castlereagh St when he had spare tickets.
“Dress nice bro” he said. “Women everywhere !”
I walked into a world of universal multicultural acceptance … and the similarities between my favoured “mosh-pits” were not lost upon survereying the scantily dressed and sweaty thousands. A very long way from the guitar wielding metal dude from high school. - It was a total re-invention !
The last I went to was in 1999 at Maroubra Seals - 8pm > 6am and 4,000 people and 25 podiums and lasers like I've never seen before ! By then I knew the DJ's like household names - Dave Austin, Alex K, Nick Skitz, Captain Kirk, LCB ... all of 'em got at least an hour each !
Eventually the day came where people would come up to me and I'd get a random compliment “Man … I been watching you. You GO ORF !!!”
I know I'm not alone in saying this. The YouTube comments I see on various (old-school) songs tell me this feeling is universal among those who knew and loved Wild FM in it's early days. - They were some of the best times of my life.
Coming from a dude who for the last 8 years had been devoted to guitars and metal , under the dim lights of a bedroom with headphones ... I learned how to dance on podiums with the hottest of girls, and it totally changed my perspective on lots of things !
Try new things folks.
Food. Travel. Music.
March to the beat of your own drum.
Your soul will thank you forever.
;)