Talking to Aled Jones

August 25, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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Aled Jones began singing in public around three decades ago. He joined the choir of Bangor Cathedral when he was just nine and was lead soloist within two years.

His remarkable voice led to a recording career and before his voice broke at the age of sixteen he had already sold more than six million albums, sung for the Pope performed a private recital for Prince Charles and Lady Diana, and sung at the wedding of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates.

After his voice broke he studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

In 1995 he secured the leading role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and met his future wife, Claire Fossett, while touring in Blackpool. The couple married in 2001 and now live in London with their two young children, Emilia and Lucas.

These days he has a busy broadcasting career working in both radio and television.

In an age where those who find fame early tend to turn their careers and lives into a train wreck, it’s refreshing to see someone like Aled who still has his feet firmly planted on the ground.

He’s in Perth this week for a concert at Burswood Theatre and so I caught up with him during my morning programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM this morning.

I last spoke to Aled a couple of years ago by phone so it was a real delight to meet him face to face today. If you’d like to hear what we chatted about just click the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.



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Gina Williams’ Remarkable Story

August 24, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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For almost two decades Gina Williams has been dedicated to the telling of stories; both her own story and the story of her people.

Gina is a Balladong Noongar woman who uses the traditions of her elders to take audiences on an amazing journey of a proud Aboriginal woman who has struggled through the dysfunction of the past and embraced the hope of the future. Her story unfolded piece by piece in her younger years as she discovered that she was adopted and that she was indigenous. Life seemed to take turn after turn, as she went from one home to another. Gina says she’s one of the few people who can actually claim that she has four families.

Gina is a multi WAMi award winner including The Most Popular Local Original Indigenous Act and this Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings she’ll perform Downstairs at the Maj featuring songs from her album Brilliant Blue.

Gina was my guest during the morning programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM today. You can hear part of her story by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/MOR240810_0945.mp3]

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Talking to Michael Paynter

July 12, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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Even as a young child it was obvious that he had a special connection with music. At the age of 7 he was learning the piano, at age 12 it was the guitar, and by the age of 15 he was playing drums. Combine that with a big voice and you’ve got a winning formula.

Now at 24, Melbourne born Michael Paynter is releasing a five track EP, Love the Fall.

His musical influences are as diverse as Rick Price, Muddy Waters, Elvis, Blink 182, Sam Cooke, Stereophonics and a range of others. His voice has been compared with the big sound of John Farnham.

You’ll find some of his music here.

Clearly he is a guy who is ready to give the musical world a big shake.

I spoke to Michael Paynter on my morning radio programme today. He’s a great guy and I’m sure he’s got an amazing future ahead of him.

(You can hear a more recent interview I did with Michael here.)



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WASO to Infinity and Beyond

July 9, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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Western Australia certainly has an incredible symphony orchestra. I’ve experienced the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in various settings and they never fail to impress.

I’ve seen them supporting acts like Human Nature and Glen Campbell through to playing for the West Australian Ballet and much more. They’re always superb.

Tonight was certainly no exception. Our family headed to the Perth Concert Hall for an amazing musical experience as guests of the orchestra.

The West Australian Symphony Orchestra launched the audience on a journey to infinity and beyond with Space Classics.

They played classics such as Holst’s The Planets and the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey as well as John Williams’ music from Superman, the Thunderbirds theme, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, The Return of the Jedi and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Conductor and presenter Anthony Inglis was superb with a wonderful mix of music and humour. I only wish that he was spending more time in Perth. I would have loved the opportunity to interview him on my morning radio programme.

I loved the mix of familiar movie music with some more unknown music (at least to me it was) like three movements from Holst’s The Planet’s Suite. One interesting side note was that while I was listening to Holst’s Jupiter from The Planets, I recognised part of the music. I had to think for a few seconds but then it hit me; it was Daddy Cool’s song Make Your Stash. (Ross Wilson was obviously influenced by Holst. Who would have guessed?)

I don’t know if tickets are still available for the Saturday night concert but if there are any left and in in Perth, grab some and get there.

Late last week I spoke with Marshall McGuire, Executive Manager, Artistic Planning with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra during my morning radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM about the concerts. Click the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post to hear more about Space Classics and other concerts coming up with WASO.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/MOR070510_1303.mp3]

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Ding Dong

May 24, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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Yesterday afternoon I installed a device that will allow me to hear my music at a louder volume when I’m at home. I don’t want to blast my ears but I do enjoy listening to music at a reasonable level.

Our stereo has always had the capacity to play at the right volume but there’s been a problem. The living area of the home we bought last year is towards the back of the house so if the music reaches a certain level we can’t hear anyone knocking on the front door. We don’t have a lot of people dropping in but I don’t want to miss hearing anyone who might be trying to grab our attention.

Yesterday I finally got around to putting a button for the door bell next to the front door. With the drilling and the fastening done everything’s as it should be. (There was a doorbell in place when we first moved in but it stopped working after a short while.)

The doorbell’s chime is quite loud, and at the back of the house, so I can now enjoy my music without the fear of missing any visitors. Now we just have to wait for someone to come along and press the button.



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