I’m back in your inbox, with one of my rare and random solo podcast rambles.Press play above to hear about: what I’ve been doing for the past three months; ongoing experiments with community-building; thoughts on virtual reality vs reality reality; a government policy roundtable that felt like it was missing something important; book and podcast recommendations; answering a handful of your questions (a.k.a. requests for hot takes) from Instagram.

You can also listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. The podcast is called Shiel Feels, the same name as this newsletter.

And yes, I have two podcasts now. it’s embarrassing, confusing, unnecessary, oh I know. I’m fully aware. My f**k-around-and-find-out era is still in full swing here.

But to be clear:

* Why Make Music is for deep conversations about music and purpose, with really incredible guests (in my opinion) and it is weekly.

* Shiel Feels is indulgent solo rambles, a bit like an audio diary. I record them when I feel like / not often. But I just recorded one. Like, just then. Hence this email.

Here are links to both:

Shiel Feels: Apple Podcasts | SpotifyWhy Make Music: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

WHILE I’M HERE

A reminder that I’m doing a live stream on the internet next Thursday night (Naarm/Melbourne time) - at this point its just a handful of us hanging out, which is just the way I like it.

If you want to join in, there are more details here:https://events.humanitix.com/distraction-session-36-w-tim-shiel

Aaaand as for the “other podcast”, well, just going up in the Why Make Music podcast feed today is my chat with Ed Service from SHOUSE.

It’s a good one - we talk about how the success of “Love Tonight” launched him and his mate Jack out of Brunswick’s indie music scene and onto the global EDM stage, collaborating with David Guetta and Jason Derulo. But more importantly, we talk about the deep community-minded values and philosophies that underpinned their work before all of that, and how now that the dust is settling, they are returning to community in a deep and intentional way.

This chat was recorded live in front of 20 friends! Very fun. We also just recorded another live one with Ella Thompson, on Wednesday morning, thanks to Ella and to those who came along. Really wholesome vibes. There will be more live Why Make Music events in 2025 and I’ll share more info here when I have it.

Until next Tim (which maybe will be when I see you in the chat at next week’s live stream ? ok if not),

Tim

ps. I’m going to ask my kids to put “ok if not” on my tombstone when I’m gonepps. j/k getting cremated

In this conversation, Tim Shiel shares his thoughts and experiences, including his dentist visits, involvement in a government round table, and upcoming projects. He discusses the importance of addressing climate change and reframing arts and culture as a practice of inspiring and nurturing people towards change. He reflects on the 10-year anniversary of Gamergate and explores the difference between skepticism and curiosity. (WRITTEN WITH UNSETTLING EFFICIENCY BY AI)

* APRA AMCOS High Score 2024

* Want to listen to some of my unreleased music? With me? On the internet? Fill out this Google form please and thank you.

* The “flâneur”

* An introduction to Spirit Level

* The Spirit Level Discord server

* WAV Island Season 2 on Bandcamp

* Green Music Australia’s Sound Country Green Artist Guide

* What is a Climate Cafe?

* The “third place”

* 10 Years of GamerGate

I’m back, immediately, drunk on podcasting. I was too lazy to do show notes last time, this time I’ve tried to put some links below. I have no idea how the formatting here works yet to be honest so if it’s a mess, you have my humble apologies. Podcasting still runs on tech invented in the previous millenium. Thanks again to the AI for suggesting an unsettling and accurate episode title.

* El1jah (interview coming soon)

* APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards

* China: A Century of Revolution (1997) - Part 1 (the other two parts are also on YouTube)

* Time Wharp on Spotify / Bandcamp

* Octavia Butler’s “The Parable of the Sower”

* D&D Wizard Name Generator

* Ursula Le Guin’s translation of the Tao Te Ching

A long-winded ramble, an update on me and what I’m thinking about. I talk about: exploring and getting lost; Bayo Akomolafe; my skepticism about art music; why I want to be near creeks constantly; how great it is to be one of those annoying “guys who rides a bike”; recently reading Ursula Le Guin’s anarchistic utopia classic “The Dispossessed.” I’m just a boy, standing in front of a microphone, asking that microphone to love him. Also, I said I’d do show notes, but I’m out of time today, so y’all can Google. I believe in you.

You can also watch this conversation on YouTube:

Maggie Tra is an Australian-born DJ and producer with Vietnamese and Cambodian heritage. She has lived all around the world including London, Brussels and Hanoi, and is currently based again on Eora land in Sydney. Driven by a desire to help local Vietnamese artists, Maggie launched Hà Nội Community Radio in 2021.

Her music is kinetic, generous, and playful - just like she is - and in both her productions and her DJ sets she continually embraces not just her own heritage, but also the culture of whatever land she’s in, doing so with wholeness and conviction.

I wanted to ask Maggie Tra about some of the differences she’s noticed between how music works in Vietnam as opposed to Australia, about what she’s learned as someone who has spent a lot of time trying to build community in music, and simply, why does she make music in the first place?

This conversation was recorded on Wurundjeri land in April 2024.

I answer your questions about early inspirations, on how to find lightness, and how to "stay sane" as a musician in 2023. The answer may surprise you.

Find me everywhere at @timshiel.

Here I am, answering a bunch of your questions. Thanks to Mario, Max, Waldo, Sam, Lisa, Wendy, Cam, Zed and a few anonymous subscribers for asking good questions.

I also wove in a bunch of unreleased music, tell me which ones you like ;)