Episode 50 – Jake Skinner (Personal Trainer and Musician)

 

I first met Jake many eons ago in the freezing cold New Zealand city of Christchurch, when LORD shared a stage with his band Dissolution. Since then we’ve kept in touch and I’ve been fascinated with Jake’s transformation and newly found interest in the health industry over the past several years. Not only has Jake taken on a pro-active approach to his own health, but has also helps others to appreciate healthy living, working as a personal trainer.

Jake and I spend a lot of time talking about his own journey as well as the benefits of protecting your physical and mental health. Much to my own selfish reasons, we also spent a fair bit of time discussing the amazing world of sensory deprivation floatation. Jake worked in Canada for 12 months for a float centre and regularly visits a local float space in Christchurch, so he had a lot of awesome insights of this new world (for me anyway!).

If you’ve ever been fascinated by floatation, personal health, or even wanted to know more about his awesome band, you should enjoy this one!

Show notes

Mentalphase on Facebook.
Mentalphase blog.
Jake Skinner Personal Training on Facebook.
Cloud 9 Float Club – Christchurch, New Zealand.
Float House Victoria – Victoria, Canada.
Check out Jake’s band Dissolution on Facebook and grab their music on Bandcamp!

Jake is on the left!

Episode 49 – Kurt Schober (Pod Kembla)

 

A great thing about this podcast is connecting with others who are doing the same thing. I discovered Pod Kembla (a great play on words linking to the show’s location in Port Kembla, an hour south of Sydney), through the host, Kurt, finding my podcast randomly online and I’ve become a dedicated listener from then on.

Pod Kembla is another great Australian podcast that demonstrates how exciting and promising this medium is in Australia. Personally, I’d love to see more people jump onto the podcasting band wagon and create their own shows. It’s all about building a network together!

Also, this is a swapcast! To save time, we recorded one episode at the Commercial Hotel in Port Kembla, and have aired it on our own shows. You can check out the Pod Kembla version of this episode here.

Be sure to reach out to Kurt and let him know what you think of our chat, but more importantly check out his podcast!

Show notes

Pod Kembla – Main website, Facebook, Twitter.
Listen to Pod Kembla on iTunes, and Soundcloud.

Photo by Megan at Cocoon Floatation

Episode 48 – Skruins and Co Breakfast Show

 

The man would rather not be personally identified, however has happily referred to himself as ‘The Genius of Podcasting’. The Skruins and Co Breakfast Show is an Australian Podcast that airs weekly on all of the usual platforms and is one of my personal favourites. The show features a lot of tongue and cheek humour centring around the hosts 6 year stint living in China as well as his daily observations (and poorly thought out theories) living in Melbourne.

This is one of the only shows I listen to where I find myself tearing up from laughter, and is highly recommended for anyone looking for a great Australian comedic podcast.

Show notes

Skruins and Co Breakfast Show – Listen on iTunes, Libsyn, Stitcher and support on Facebook and Twitter.
Celebrity article – Kate Ceberano kicked out of Qantas Club Lounge
Tune – Tina Arena – Chains
Tianjin – Learn about it via Wiki.

Episode 47 – Kaj Löfgren (The School of Life…

 

Kaj Löfgren is the Director of The School of Life Australia. A unique an exciting space which was first established in London and now has a number of branches all over world which continues to expand.

The School focuses on answering many of life’s questions through the development of emotional intelligence. In a world of countless self help guru’s focused on positive thinking alone with many misguided principles, SOL is striving to educate people on how to handle all of life’s moments, from the high points of happiness to the lowest points of pain and suffering. The realities of life that we all experience.

Kaj and I dig into a number of popular topics around the balance in life between optimism and pessimism, a brief touch on the self help industry, education and how we reach out to people in all demographics. This is a great insight into the amazing things that Kaj and his team are doing in Australia and I do hope that even through the videos alone, you’ll discover a wealth of knowledge that will help you navigate through life’s ups and downs.

Show notes

Kaj Lofgren on Linkedin
Kaj Lofgren on SOL website

The School of Life
Purchase The School of Life books from Amazon! Amazon also supports this podcast!
The School of Life Australia
The School of Life Australia Facebook Page
The School of Life YouTube Channel

Alain de Botton
Roman Krznaric

Photos by H.Walker

Episode 46 – David Tieck (Writer and Comedian)

 

David Tieck is a writer and comedian from Sydney who has penned several books touching on his own life experiences through discovery and reflection. I first discovered David through one of his books ‘Losing My Virginity 52 Times’ many years ago where he sets himself a challenge of trying one new thing a week for an entire year. It’s a great read and I remember at the time a real feeling of inspiration as David was constantly going out of this comfort zone to learn and grow.

David and I talk about some of those experiences and what’s stuck all of these years later. We also chat about his other written accomplishments and some general life chit chat. This is another inspiring episode for anyone looking to break through that wall of fear to try and enjoy life more.

Show notes

David Tieck on Facebook
David’s blog – Fleeting Forever
You can pick up David’s 3 books here at Amazon on Kindle, Paperback and Hardcover.
David co-hosts Crown Comedy in Parramatta. Check it out here.
David teaches at Laugh-Masters Academy in Surry Hills. Check it out here.
David is off to study to be a clown in France!

Easter Egg: Henry Rollins talking about Hubery Selby Jnr. One of the best stories I’ve heard.

Episode 45 – May 28

 

If you’re in Sydney, Saturday May 28th, then we should have a few drinks!

For more details, have a listen to this quickie of an episode.

 

Episode 44 – Fredrik Hjelm (Swedish Muay Thai Kickboxing…

 

From the quiet, but sometimes rough streets of Malmö in Sweden, Fredrik looked to martial arts as a way of defending himself from local gangs in the area. As he began to get deeper into the sport, he realised that his first choice of Tae Kwon Do was not for him and moved onto Kickboxing which began a long and prosperous road of success not only in his native country but also in Japan and the United States.

Fredrik and I talk about his journey and struggles through adversity to find greatness. It’s an incredible story with many chapters in various parts of the globe. His story is quite inspiring, regardless of whether you have an interest in martial arts or not!

As a bonus, we also discuss Fredrik’s love of heavy metal and his adventures meeting some of the greatest in the metal world, including his personal relationship with Dave Mustaine of Megadeth.

This is another great example of someone showing true dedication to their passion and making their dreams become a reality. Cheesy stuff to say, but it doesn’t get much realer than Fredrik!

Show notes

You can reach out to Fredrik on Facebook here.
Fredrik’s old website with lots of information and great photos.
Watch Fredrik in action on YouTube – US Champion Muay Thai Kickboxing
Learn more about Andy Hug here.

Episode 43 – Arjun Shenoy (Commercial Airline Pilot)

 

Apart from Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, could you name another metal head who’s a commercial pilot? Well, Arjun Shenoy is a Captain Pilot for Air India and is one of the biggest metal fans you will ever meet!

In this episode Arjun and I talk about what it looks like to be a commercial pilot, how he became one and of course his love of metal from his discovery to travelling over the world to see some of his favourite bands.

Show notes

Contact Arjun on Facebook.
Article: Turbulence – Everything You Need to Know.
Check out all of the planes in Air India’s fleet.
Metal Days Festival.
Arjun’s favourite metal bands – Dream Theater, Nevermore, Carcass, Bolt Thrower, Autopsy, Paradise Lost, Type O Negative and Opeth.
Arjun and I met on the Metal-Rules.com forum, many years ago!

Episode 42 – Steve Watts (Heaven the Axe)

 

You’ll never meet a more modest and down to earth guy! Steve Watts (Heaven the Axe) has been around for a few years in both the metal and rock worlds and with his current band Heaven the Axe with his wife Phoebe, they are one of the more exciting straight up rock bands in the country at the moment.

Steve and I chat about the unique set up of Heaven the Axe and how they juggle life, band members, and hustling from the stage and on the TV screen. This is a great example of hard work paying off and with new members and a new album in the near future, there is so much more to come!

Be sure to reach out to Steve and the band if you enjoy this conversation!

Show notes

Check out Heaven the Axe – Official site, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
Steve’s old band Manticore. Hear the track ‘Mask‘.
Check out Bogan Hunters here.
Check out Fat Pizza Vs Housos here.

 

Episode 41 – Steve Bull (Icehouse)

 

Not only can Steve Bull be found belting out the low end in one of Australia’s most renowned bands, Icehouse, but he is also Head Teacher of Music at WSI Entertainment at Nirimba TAFE in Sydney. With a career in music spanning over 30 years, Steve has a wealth of knowledge that he is passing onto the next generation of music careerists, with the hope of longevity in an often unpredictable industry.

We cover a whole range of topics from song writing, music education, misguided approaches, to working with other musicians and so much more. A very music heavy episode and of course, we talk about Icehouse which was a slight fan boy moment for me!

Feature photo by Ellyn Cook.

Show notes

Find Steve on LinkedIn.
Purchase Icehouse music straight from Amazon! Amazon also supports this podcast!
Discover Icehouse via the official website, Facebook and YouTube.
Check out WSI Entertainment at Nirimba TAFE College. Steve’s staff profile here.
Australian Artist Centre Profile for Steve here.
Buy Icehouse merchandise here including their latest live album In Concert.
Learn more of Iva Davies here.