Grace Kindellan: PBS volunteer receptionist. A much loved PBS volunteer- one of the ones who isn’t on air, but does reception duties every Thursday afternoon. 19 year old Grace started volunteering at PBS in the music department cataloguing CDs, and has recently completed the Broadcasting course. She’s mega into punk and rock n roll music, and digs hanging out at the station “because you get to know what’s going on around Melbourne and what’s happening in the music world”. She wishes there were more chicks in bands.
Let’s start from the beginning, do you remember the first time you first heard radio?
My parents listened to 774 ABC Melbourne almost religiously. Great times.
When did the musical obsession begin? What did it stem from?
I’d always listened to a lot of old Oz Rock and 50s/60s rock n roll that my parents liked – I remember borrowing a Cold Chisel best of and putting it on very high rotation when I got my first CD player as a kid – but when I was about thirteen my best friend lent me a copy of Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not by the Arctic Monkeys and it’s fair to say it blew my tiny mind. I was a total nerd all through high school, so it was nice to go home and listen to some garage or riot grrrl and pretend I was really a rebel. Since moving to Melbourne last year I’ve become really interested in local bands and try and see as many as I can.
What was your first experience working in radio?
It was cataloguing CDs in the music library at PBS which is pretty boring any way you look at it but I really enjoyed being at the station, finding out what’s going on in music around Melbourne and meeting lots of interesting individuals.
How did you first get involved with PBS?
I told some of my friends who I was going to see bands with that I was listening to Triple R. They said to listen to PBS because it was better and cooler. So I did. After a while I came in to do some cataloguing in the music department and fill in on the reception desk. This year I scored a permanent reception shift on Thursdays and just completed the announcer course.
What do you think the fate of radio is going to be, with people being able to craft their own playlists at will?
Even though people are able to download almost every song in existence and organise their music in so many different ways, they will continue to listen to radio. In terms of finding new music and collecting bands you like, listening to radio also means that someone else does all the work for you; all you have to do is tune in and listen up to the voice breaks. It’s nice to have a real person playing music that they truly appreciate and know about in detail to keep you company over the airwaves.
What role then, do you think community radio plays?
Community radio gives a whole lot of different people the opportunity to play the music they wanna play and speak in their own normal voice, unlike the sugary, sped up blackboard screeches of announcers on commercial radio. It promotes diversity, accessibility and progressiveness on radio, providing an important alternative to cheesy commercial programs and distant government sponsored stations. Without sounding like a hippie or a socialist, community radio really is the people’s radio.
Do you feel that community radio plays as big a part in the community as it ever has?
Uuuum, I think it plays as big a part in the community as it did when I first started listening last year…
What do you think separates PBS from other community radio stations?
PBS is excellent and different because it is totally dedicated to music and doesn’t playlist any of its shows. It’s totally accessible and I’ve found it a bit friendlier, more casual and just easier to get involved with than other community stations. It’s great just hanging around at PBS because you find out everything that’s going on in music around Melbourne, meet a lot of people and occasionally score spots on the door at some pretty rockin’ gigs and the odd free CD.
If, no sorry, WHEN you host your own show, what’s it going to consist of?
Garage, punk and rock n roll; music that you can jump up and down and bang your head to really fast. Also lots of local stuff and plenty of female artists – there just aren’t enough chicks in bands these days. There will definitely be a lot of information about gigs that are coming up and new releases from local bands.
Be honest; when you’re cataloguing CD’s, how many do you steal?
None, yet. To be honest you have to sort through a lot of shit to find anything good, or suited to my particular tastes, in the new releases that come into PBS every day.
If you could have your own mini-punk festival, who would be playing?
Beat Disease, Cuntz, Brat Farrar, Drunk Mums, Messed Up, Bitch Prefect, Mesa Cosa, The UV Race, Velociraptor, and Scotdrakula for the dancing types in the audience.
What’s the best part about being a part of the Melbourne music community?
All the sick as gigs that are on most weeks! I like that it’s a big enough city to have a lot of stuff happening throughout the week but it’s still small enough to be inter-connected; you can walk into a gig and run into a bunch of people from different bands and areas of the music scene who all know each other or are connected in some way. I’ve heard people say that the Melbourne scene is in decline or isn’t as good as it was in the old days. I haven’t been around that long but as far as I can see, from new local releases, record shops opening up, packed out venues for local bands and all the committed fans, it’s doing pretty well. There is one big complaint though: beer should be cheaper.
Support the Radio Festival from May 14 – 27th by becoming a member on 84151067 or www.pbsfm.org.au
