At a time where the pool of music shows on Australian television is getting increasingly shallow, one stalwart remains – SBS’s RocKwiz. The program is adeptly hosted by the charming Julia Zemiro as well as the equally endearing Brian Nankervis, who not only adjudicates the program, but is also a main reason for show’s existence, having written for and produced it since the premiere in 2005.
The popular program has graced TV screens and The Espy’s Gershwin Room for a total of 12 seasons. Nankervis reflects on the time when the RocKwiz family took the program on the road in 2007 for a series of live shows .
“We did a couple of shows for Moomba,” Nankervis recalls. “We were a little nervous about how it would work with 2000-3000 people, and it worked really well. That gave us the confidence to do more live shows.”
In December they’ll be paying tribute to the legendary Australian songwriting duo Vanda and Young in a string of live shows in Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide. Having had themed shows before (such as their annual Christmas specials), Nankervis said the idea to base it on the duo had been floating around for a while.
“You look at Vanda and Young who were the founding members and later songwriters of arguably one of Australia’s most famous bands. They had the biggest hit in England with ‘Friday On My Mind’, they wrote and produced John Paul Young’s ‘Love Is In The Air’ and ‘I Hate The Music’, they wrote and produced ‘Evie’, they produced the first six AC/DC albums,” Nankervis draws breath, “Flash In The Pan, The Angels, Rose Tattoo…there’s just this incredible selection of Australian music that has them at the heart of it.”
“I think people love that we represent young as well as established artists. We have guests who are household names alongside those who might’ve just made their first record.”Known for its loyal fan base, it’s refreshing to see a program such as RocKwiz run by someone who is just as big a music aficionado as the audience.
“It seems that people who watch it have a real passion for it; they seem to get really excited about it,” he gushes.
“Possibly it’s because it’s different from a lot of the music shows on TV…I think people love that we represent young as well as established artists. We have guests who are household names alongside those who might’ve just made their first record. People tend to be very, very loyal.”
Loyalty isn’t the only recurring characteristic among the RocKwiz fans, Nankervis suggests. “It also attracts the nerds,” hastening to add that he himself is “probably like them, to a degree”.
“I know a lot of people who are obsessed with music. It’s a pretty common obsession. Because we use our audience members on the panel, it’s great. We’ve had some really good stories.”
The impassioned Nankervis goes on to tell an anecdote about an audience panel participant who confessed her adoration for Tina Arena, admitting that she wrote her PHD on the Melburnian’s career. Unbeknown to her – and as a total coincidence – Arena was waiting behind the curtain to be the guest for that night’s show. Nankervis and the RocKwiz team “were trying very hard to suppress laughter”.
It’s moments like this that bring a unique quality to the show, teaming up genuine music lovers with genuine musicians.
That being said, it’s the cream of the music nerd crop that are lucky enough to join the RocKwiz panel.
“It’s a pretty rigorous selection,” Nankervis explains. “We invite 24 audience members up on stage. We say: if you’ve got some rock knowledge, if you’ve sat at home on a Saturday night thinking ‘I could do that’, then come up and have a go.”
“Every night there’s men who say ‘Oh my girlfriend is incredible’ or wives who say the same of their husbands. Then they get up there and they either freeze, don’t get any right, or they actually do really well. We then pick the best four and put them on the show.”
While Nankervis says that a great show is made up of talented musicians and “the quirkier the better” audience guests, he does make a point of clarifying that sometimes too quirky can make things “a bit awkward”.
“There are a lot of acts on our show who are very independent and without much of a mainstream profile, yet nobody has said we can’t have them on. We have a lot of freedom, and that’s very rare.”“We once had a guy that was so fast and so good that nobody else got a look-in. The funny thing was, he was so caught up – it was like he’d waited his whole life for this moment – that he didn’t realise he was really annoying, so the audience sort of turned against him. It was horrible.”
Thankfully, the negative moments on RocKwiz are few and far between. This round of live shows are set to be as exciting as ever, with what Nankervis describes as “a cavalcade of stars” already booked in.
“It’s really exciting for us. I can’t tell you any names as that would spoil the fun,” he teases.
“As is normal with RocKwiz, there’ll be some household names, some up-and-comers, maybe a local star who lives overseas and comes back occasionally…”
The SBS network has always been entirely supportive of RocKwiz, putting very few restrictions on who they can and can’t have as guests on the show.
“There are a lot of acts on our show who are very independent and without much of a mainstream profile, yet nobody has said we can’t have them on. We have a lot of freedom, and that’s very rare.”
Despite having released several DVDs, only the Sydney Vanda and Young live show will be filmed. Nankervis says performing live gives everyone “a greater feeling of abandon”.
“It’s better, it’s more real. I know that our energy levels are really high up for the live shows. We love it.”
Any music nerds out there would be foolish to miss out on experiencing this high-energy show. Who knows, you may just get to share the panel with your own music hero – just don’t get too quirky.
THE ROCKWIZ DUETS Volume 4 CD and DVD is out now.
ROCKWIZ SALUTES VANDA AND YOUNG
WEDNESDAY 4th DECEMBER – THEBARTON THEATRE – ADELAIDE
Tix (08) 8225 8888 www.venuetix.com.au
FRIDAY 6th DECEMBER – ENMORE THEATRE – SYDNEY
Ticketek 132 849 www.ticketek.com.au and all outlets
SUNDAY 8th DECEMBER – PALAIS THEATRE – MELBOURNE
Ticketmaster 136 100 www.ticketmaster.com.au and all outlets
