triple j Breakfast host Liam Stapleton has undoubtedly just managed pull off a hoax many of us could only dream of, meeting the Arctic Monkeys thanks to an elaborate ruse.
Despite how famous some people can be, it’s often pretty easy to get wound up in a case of mistaken identity before finding a way to use that to your advantage. While we’ve seen Ruby Fields’ guitarist get mistaken for Vance Joy, we’ve also seen a bloke edit Peking Duk’s Wikipedia page to score access to the backstage area with the duo.
Now, we’ve managed to see one of the most familiar faces at triple j become a master of disguise, posing as a producer to meet some rock idols.
With the Arctic Monkeys hitting up Sydney over the last couple of days, the English rockers found themselves doing a little bit of publicity in the lead-up. One of these publicity stops just so happened to be at Sydney’s triple j studios for a chat with Veronica and Lewis.
Undoubtedly bummed that the Sheffield weren’t visiting the studios for a Like A Version performance that morning, Breakfast host Liam Stapleton decided to take matters into his own hands.
Donning a headset and a notepad, Stapleton decided to try his luck at musical espionage, faking his way into meeting the beloved rockers with a “fool proof plan” that he says “worked a treat”.
“Sometimes you get given the good interviews you want, sometimes you don’t,” Liam Stapleton explained to Tone Deaf, “they go to the Drive show.”
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“And look, I’d consider it frowned upon if you think about getting photos when someone else is doing an interview, so I thought I’ll just pretend to be a part of their segment instead.”
Of course, this wasn’t necessarily a spur-of-the-moment decision, with Liam explaining that Veronica and Lewis were in on the whole scheme from the beginning, though the Arctic Monkeys seemed oblivious that anything was up,
“I vetted with them obviously and they were cool, so I just chucked on a fake headset, held someone else’s notepad and got in there,” Liam revealed.
“I think the band just thought it was business as usual, I tried not to talk too much, which is unlike me, but I just thought I’d keep it cruisy.”
“I’d actually interviewed them on the phone before anyway, so I’ve had a bigger conversation with them but I thought, ‘you know what? I need to get the photo. I need proof, I need to physically make contact.’ So I think it was all worth it.”
But are Liam’s days as a veritable master of disguise all done and dusted, or is this just the beginning of a new interview technique for the smooth-voiced presenter?
“I feel like if the right people come through I know it’s a tried and tested manoeuvre now,” he joked. “So yeah, I might need to pull the Cheap As Chips headset back on.”
Check out the Arctic Monkeys’ ‘R U Mine?’:
