I work as a music publicist; essentially I’m emailing and calling people all day asking them to pleaaase put my artists on their station/ publication.
When it’s not Corona Time I also co-produce a pop night named Cherch at Knox St Bar. I’m in charge of putting together promotional material, liaising with artists/ production, and then run of the mill updating spreadsheets. I also DJ and produce under the name HAVHEE.
Why do you do it?
After giving over 6,000 Uber rides, I really felt like it was time for a change and to focus on things that interest and inspire me.
What do you love about the city you live in?
As a former Uber driver, I got to see a LOT of the city compared to most of my friends. I love that everywhere has something different to offer with food, culture, architecture and scenery.
Bondi is beautiful and has beaches second to none, but have you ever had a pork roll at Cabramatta? For me it’s all about that diversity.
Where did you go for your last holiday?
I went to Singapore, Taiwan and Japan in 2017. I think that was the last time I’ve had a holiday.
What's your favourite item of clothing?
There’s this black, denim jacket I have that I love. I found it at a pop-up Cotton On store for $20. I was immediately in love; however, when I looked at the back in the mirror it had a huge 2pac patch on it. I remember feeling my heart sink (no disrespect to 2PAC, but the patch was ugly AF).
I still really wanted to capitalise on this deal so I bought it, took it home, and carefully removed the patch with a seam ripper. The ugly patch was no more, and I had a beautiful black denim jacket. It was a success! In the end the jacket cost me $20 and about ten minutes of my time.
What was your favourite TV show when you were a kid?
Probably 'Pokémon', I absolutely loved it. That is until they started going past the initial 150, by that point I was 13 and was no longer interested.
If you could travel back in time for a day, where would you go?
Warriewood, 26 October, 2019; it’s the last time I can remember complete peace and presence.
If we were coming over to your place, what would you cook us?
This is something I’m yearning for the minute everything is unlocked. I’ve got friends from both sides of the meat eating spectrum, so I’ve got several answers.
Easy and omnivorous: If I wanted to do something delicious, impressive and quick I would make burgers. There’s be a bit of mise en place and prep I’d do before you arrived, but after that the effort would be minimal; I could still cook and entertain.
Easy and vegan: Smoky, pulled-pork jackfruit sandwiches with a vegan slaw of sorts. I’ve made it at many potlucks and they’ve always rocked people’s socks.
Laborious and omnivorous: I would make a lasagna and spend six hours on it beforehand. This would involve finely chopping all the aromatics to make a soffritto; cooking down the aromatics and meats for a couple of hours into a ragù; and finally, making a delicious béchamel from scratch, none of that jar sauce crap. You would then arrive 30 minutes into the 50 minutes it’s supposed to be in the oven, and your sense of smell would be hugged by lasagna.
Vegan and laborious: I saw this shepherd’s pie video the other day. It used chopped shiitake mushrooms, textured vegetable protein and the usual other filling bits expected in a shepherds pie. I was very impressed, especially at how the potato got golden and crispy in the oven with no dairy whatsoever. I want to give it a crack very soon :)
What's the best lesson you've ever learned?
Industry wise: Networking is IMPORTANT! If you’re studying at a music institute such as AIM, JMC, TAFE etc., make sure you make friends.
Good grades are all well and good, but they’re only half the equation. If you’ve left and made zero friends, I can guarantee you’ve wasted your money and your time. The friends you make there are the people you will work with in future, and well. . . they’re your friends!
General life: There’s rosemary EVERYWHERE. If you’re spending $3 at woolies to buy a couple of sprigs, then quite frankly you’re a chump. Go for a stroll, familiarise yourself with your neighbourhood and take note of all the rosemary bushes.
Tell us one thing about yourself that nobody else knows?
If I told you though then EVERYONE would know; let’s save that for therapy.
Are you happy with your work/ life balance?
It feels like it blurs quite a bit to be honest. I live and breathe music; when it’s not Corona Time, I like to go to gigs and getting in and among it.
Inevitably, you meet people who can help you career wise. It might be someone that wants you to DJ, an artist you want to book for the next Cherch, someone that might be looking into releasing music and looking at some way to get some PR done. I’m just happy that my work/ life balance is being blurred with music, and not something mundane.
How do you define success?
Success is relative, but if you’re doing what you love and you have people around you that you love, then you’re halfway there at the very least.
What's your spirit animal?
I’m really into servals right now, they’re this exotic, wild cat. Think of a medium-sized leopard on stilts with big ears that can run up to 80km/h.
