Take 5

Stella Mozgawa is one of those artists who orbits many worlds. She’s the drummer with Warpaint, but on stage she’ll often join Kurt Vile and Cate Le Bon on tour, and while in the studio she’s working with The xx and co-producing Courtney Barnett albums.

Her skills and curiosity brought her here, but so did her passion for all forms of music. And after hearing this Take 5 you’ll understand why. Stella is one of those people you want to bail up at a house party, finding out what they’ve been listening to or just hearing why that song or that artist cuts so deep.

And it’s why I asked her to Take 5, and share her labyrinth across five songs. The musical map of Stella Mozgawa is beautiful to hear, and hearing her speak about each choice opened up a whole labyrinth of sound for me. From Bjork to Kraftwerk to Aaliyah, this is the DNA of one of music’s most interesting minds.

• Bjork - I Miss You
• Chaka Khan - I Feel For You
• Arthur Russell - Habit Of You
• Kraftwerk – The Man Machine
• Aaliyah - Try Again

What do The Late Show, Utopia, The Castle, and Have You Been Paying Attention? all have in common? Tom Gleisner. As a part of Working Dog, he’s been behind some of the most successful and funny stories on Australian screens for 3 decades.

Tom has always been a collaborator but for the first time ever he’s stepping out on his own. With a musical. You guessed it, I had to ask him to Take 5. From Tom Waits to Bette Midler, this is a beautiful glimpse into one of Australia’s funniest creator’s mind.

• Tom Waits - The Piano Has Been Drinking 
• Beth Nielsen Chapman - Seven Shades of Blue 
• George - Special Ones 
• Eleri Ward - Another Hundred People 
• Bette Midler - Hello In There 

Anyone who has ever seen Danielle Walker, becomes a fan. If you’re yet to witness this award winning comedian, you’re about to become one too… Danielle has a way of telling stories that are both hilarious and full of heart.

Her stand up show Nostalgia won big awards, she was the winner of the first season of Taskmaster, and is starring in her first acting role in Gold Diggers, a new comedy on ABC.

A big part of Danielle’s comedy is her family, and her childhood growing up in Far North Queensland with a bunch of other great storytellers. So it’s no surprise that she tells some cracking yarns. Which is why I asked her to Take 5.

Danielle picked the most eclectic bunch of songs I’ve seen in a while… I was pumped for this Take 5. From Alex Cameron to Mariah Carey to Chris deBurgh, fall into Danielle Walker’s world. You’ll be happier for it.

• Bobby Goldsboro - I’m a Drifter 
• Niki & the Dove - The Fox 
• Alex Cameron - Miami Memory 
• Chris deBurgh - Don’t Pay the Ferryman
• Mariah Carey - Heartbreaker (feat Jay Z) 

When Electric Fields first burst onto the scene, they grabbed everyone’s attention. This South Australian duo of Zaachariaha and Michael brought beauty, beats, and a soaring sensibility to all they did. Since 2015 they’ve crafted bangers, heartfelt ballads, lullabies for little kids, and anthems for Eurovision and World Pride.

I’ve been chasing Electric Fields to Take 5 for ages, so I’m so stoked they were finally able to do it. Hearing the DNA of their musical passions is a joy, and from Nina Simone to Daft Punk to Beyonce, this Take 5 will make your heart soar.

• Nina Simone – My Baby Just Cares for Me
• Daft Punk – Around the World
• Sam Cooke – Bring It On Home To Me
• Corona – Rhythm of the Night
• Beyonce – Break My Soul

If you’re like me and you were a child of the 80’s, then Jason Donovan was your world. He burst onto our screens as the star of Neighbours, Scott and Charlene, Jason and Kylie… at the peak of the soap opera’s powers. Jason became famous in Australia and around the world, particularly the UK where he’d launch his pop career and a wild adventurous life.

That life was filled with ups and downs, drug addiction, controversy, but also new beginnings. For the past 20 years, Jason has been a star of musical theatre, wowing audiences with turns in Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat, Chicago, and the Rocky Horror show.

It’s that production that’s brought him back home, starring in the 50th anniversary tour as Frank n’ Furter. And I just had to have him Take 5. Jason is a bloody legend, he has a brilliant outlook on life and a gratitude and lightness in how he approaches it. So I gave him the theme of LIFE – why not hey? He’s had a heck of one, so far.

From Bowie to INXS to Rick Astley, this Take 5 will give you life.

• David Bowie - Ashes to Ashes
• Talk Talk – It’s My Life
• Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up
• INXS – To Look At You
• Boy Meets Girl – Waiting for a Star to Fall

The Waifs are one of those bands many of us have a connection with. It felt like they came up as we came of age, the soundtracks to our own first adventures and a band with a loyal live following. Three albums into their career this steadfastly independent band broke through with ‘Up All Night’. It was helped by the juggernaut single “London Still”, which managed to capture a quintessentially Australian experience perfectly.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of that moment, the band are back in the tour van and doing what they do best; trekking to all corners of Australia to sing their stories.

And oh boy, are they good at telling stories. It’s why I asked them to Take 5. Josh and Vikki are about to transport you back to the first seeds of their band, to dingy motels in the States, and to the very heart of why we love them so much.

• Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
• First Aid Kit – Emmylou
• Creedence Clearwater Revival – Lodi
• Aretha Franklin – Say a Little Prayer 
• Paul Kelly – To Her Door

Tim Ross is one of those fella’s you want to bail up in the kitchen at a house party. Better known to many as simply Rosso, he’s a triple j legend who we first met as co-host of Drive alongside Merrick Watts. He’d go on to launch a new commercial radio station, publish books, and fall deeper into his love of Australian architecture.

What I love about Tim is that he makes me feel like design is for all of us. And the way he tells stories connects to the very stories these buildings tell. Of who we were, who we are, and who we want to be.

He’s just made a new series for ABC called Designing a Legacy, and it’s bloody brilliant. From Bruny Island to far up north in the Torres Strait, it’s an eye opening show about what structures can do for a community.

With that idea of legacy in mind, I asked Tim to pick songs that shared his legacy. From The Fauves to Kelis to Joni Mitchell, it’s a heartfelt and hilarious trek through a colourful and curious life.

• The Fauves – Everyone’s Getting a 3 Piece Together 
• Chemical Brothers - Leave Home
• Kelis - Milkshake
• The Go-Betweens - Streets of Your Town
• Joni Mitchell - Coyote (live from The Last Waltz)

This week’s Take 5 is a dream come true. Ever since I first met Thundercat, I wanted him on this podcast. Stephen Bruner is one of those magical humans whose musical DNA you want to explore. Born into a family of legendary players, Thundercat grew up with a famous  drummer dad, who played with Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, and the Temptations. His older brother Ronald was a jazz drummer too, and a member of hardcore band Suicidal Tendencies. And his mum played as well, so it’s no surprise that Stephen Lee Bruner would come into this world strumming.

His path has been a kaleidoscopic one. In the early days he gigged with Erykah Badu, who helped him find his performative style as an artist. He became friends with Flying Lotus, and found a home on his Brainfeeder record label. And Thundercat’s profile was given a huge leg up when he helped craft the backbone of one of 2015’s biggest albums, Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly”.

With four albums of his own, and a recent collab with Tame Impala, I jumped at the chance to meet with him again, and go “all over the shop” with a Take 5. And from Stanley Clarke to Drake, this is a gorgeous conversation about music, and how the songs that we connect to land in the right place at just the right time.

• Steve Kuhn - The Meaning of Love 
• Stanley Clarke - Journey to Love ft George Duke
• Flying Lotus - Zodiac Shit
• Tame Impala - Apocalypse Dreams
• Drake – Successful ft. Trey Songs and Lil Wayne

Are you ready for some incredible stories? Take 5 always gifts us with some cracking yarns, but this week’s episode takes the cake. In fact, I’ve had more responses to Ed Le Brocq’s Take 5 than any other, in ages.

Boy & Bear have been making beautiful music for more than a decade now. The Sydney band are ARIA award winners, have  won the Australian Music Prize, and gathered a huge fanbase. Known for their warm folk guitar sounds centred around the gorgeous voice of Dave Hosking, Boy & Bear have made us swoon over four albums.

But they’re taking a little side step with their fifth. This new chapter sees Boy & Bear bring a whole lot more synths into their sound, it has a breezy quality to it, and as a result it shimmers. On the day they released their new record, I invited Dave and Jon from the band, to Take 5 – and to share the songs that shimmer for them. From Lana Del Ray to Radiohead to Future Islands, get a peek inside the musical minds of on of Australia’s most loved bands.

• Lana Del Rey - 'Norman Fucking Rockwell'
• Laura Mvula - 'Remedy'
• Radiohead - 'Codex'
• Phoenix - '1901'
• Future Islands - 'Born in a War'