Doug PollardTranscript - Digging Deeper with Dean Murphy
DOUG: This hour we’re going to be digging deeper with a special guest, Dean Murphy – who, some of you may have heard on this station from time-to-time?
DEAN: Hi, Doug.
DOUG: Hello there. You’ve been on the mikes here quite a few times - - -
DEAN: Once or twice.
DOUG: That was the Black Eyed Peas, “I got a feeling” what made you pick that one?
DEAN: M’mm, I thought the track when it first came out it was the real pinnacle point in American music. They’d been in a very dark hole as far as music goes and when I heard that particular track – especially from the Black Eyed Peas, it was like it turned the corner and everything became a little more uplifting and inspirational and their music, themselves – the Black Eyed Peas, completely changed directions. I also saw it on a – m’mm, there was an Oprah Winfrey flash mob done in Chicago – and if you haven’t seen it - - -
DOUG: I have, yeah.
DEAN: It’s amazing, 20,000 people doing this routine which caught Oprah completely off-guard, which I thought was brilliant - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - and I decided to do my own flash mob to that song at one of the parties, which turned into a complete disaster ‘cause I had them all in ski boots. Not only could they not dance but they couldn’t walk.
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: So, it was – yeah, it brought back lots of memories. That one [laughs]
DOUG: Well, music is obviously one of your great loves?
DEAN: Love it.
DOUG: Absolutely one of your great loves, you’ve been a DJ on this station. You’ve actually been part time manager on this station - - -
DEAN: M’mm, m’mm.
DOUG: - - - taking care of the music side - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: Of things, for quite a while at one stage and of course everyone knows you for the parties you’ve done - - -
DEAN: Those parties.
DOUG: How did you get into the party business?
DEAN: Well – the parties – kind of, I was working at a radio station, working at FoxFM at the time and I’d only been out for a couple of years. It was about ’99, I went to my first party - - -
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm?
DEAN: - - - Red Raw and I liked it but the minute I walked in – ‘cause I’d been in Events and I’d run events with a radio station for a long time – the minute I walked in, I went: I love it. ‘I could change that’, ‘I’d do that’ and it all went from there - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - and I thought well, if the opportunity ever arose I would - - -
DEAN: Yes.
DEAN: - - - see how it goes and in 2004, I got offered the opportunity to be involved in a particular party and I only thought it was going to be for that one party - - -
[laughs]
DEAN: Six years later here we are - - -
[laughs]
DEAN: - - - yeah it was an interesting process. But I do love them, I like the concept of being able to – you know, entertain people. Because of the music side of things I think that’s what’s kept me in it for long ‘cause the music is always evolving and I like finding new talent and new DJs and new sounds. Getting excited about: okay, I’m going to introduce this new sound to this group of people. Yeah, it’s good.
DOUG: In other words you’re still bloody enthusiastic about it - - -
DEAN: Ah - - -
DOUG: - - - and that always helps when you got a - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: - - - job to do, if you really love it?
DEAN: There’s(sic) a lot of ups and downs, obviously. With everything you do – in that, kind of – it’s an entertainment. Its - - -
DOUG: Lots of back-stage drama?
DEAN: Lots of backstage dramas.
[laughs]
DEAN: I’ve – there’s many, many stories of things that haven’t gone quite right and you laugh about it later on ‘cause no-one’s aware of what’s actually happened so - - -
DOUG: Well, we have shows like that here this programme sometimes. I refer to them as: swan shows - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: - - - because as far as the listener is concerned we’re floating along nicely - - -
DEAN: Absolutely.
DOUG: They don’t see that we’re paddling away like fury [laughs]
DEAN: Yep, yep.
DOUG: In order to try and keep the whole thing afloat; m’mm, there’s a lot to put together when you’re putting a party together I mean, it’s not – just, you know – a DJ throwing some tracks on.
DEAN: Yeah – well, its - - -
DOUG: ‘Cause you’ve got your lights, you’ve got - - -
DEAN: - - - correct.
DOUG: (and)All the other things you might do?
DEAN: Yeah, each party takes about – I reckon, about two-and-a-half months to set up. Because you’ve got your line-ups to do, your talent to find. Your entertainers to find, DJs and this is where a lot of people have failed in the past because they tend to go: we’ll run a party – ‘we’ll grab this DJ’ – we’ll grab that one, we’ll grab that one, we’ll grab that one – ‘we’ll just throw them into a room and see what happens’. That’s a cocktail for disaster. I’ve worked out over the years there’s a flow of music and the flow of music also means you’ve got to have the DJ in the right spot. The day has to have a flow in itself, it’s got to take you on certain journeys and you’ve got to spend time researching each DJ to find out exactly what levels of energy they play, what sound they’ve got – what they – yeah, it’s quite a process.
DOUG: You try and devise a shape - - -
DEAN: Yes.
DOUG: - - - for the event.
DEAN: Yeah, yeah.
DOUG: Describe what sort of shape that might be – I mean, do you hit for example high-energy upbeat stuff right at the beginning or - - -
DEAN: We – I used to – we used to find in parties way back in the piece they had a philosophy of warming people up - - -
DOUG: M’mm.
DEAN: - - - now I go: they’re warmed up, they know what they’re there for. They want to dance and so realistically, I’d get the boys to come out of the gates pretty strong and then what happens is because they’re at a certain level the next DJ has to perform a little bit more. He has to give a little bit more and then that one will push the next guy a little bit more - - -
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm.
DEAN: So, you’re trying to – I suppose, create – an energy level which keeps growing on itself during the day so hopefully by the end of the party they are on a high and excited about the – there’s never been, in six years there’s never been a party which I feel has got to a point where its filtered out dramatically during the day ‘cause the music hasn’t been right. We’ve always finished on a high. We’ve always finished on a packed house.
DOUG: Right. How important are the lights, the light shows and things that you put on ‘cause they’ve gotten awfully elaborate now - - -
DEAN: Yeah, they have. They have – m’mm, I think it was about ’99 that trance music came into play and that’s when lasers - - -
DOUG: All those flickering little lasers - - -
DEAN: - - - yeah, all the lasers and - - -
DOUG: Before that it was all – like, mirror balls and whirling spotlights.
DEAN: - - - absolutely. Absolutely, yeah-yeah-yeah - - -
DOUG: Perhaps a dry-ice machine - - -
DEAN: [laughs]
DOUG: - - - if you were lucky?
[laughs]
DEAN: The lights are important but – you know, like most of my events there’s always a power failure somewhere along the lines - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - we had a party – m’mm, it just goes back to proving that really, music is the key point of the day. Because we had a party at a venue in South Yarra and I was sitting with a mate of mine. He goes: oh, what a brilliant day. This was the after-party - - -
DOUG: M’mm?
DEAN: He said: what a brilliant day, nothing’s gone wrong. The minute he said it the lights and sound went out - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - and I went: okay, that’s not too good. We went to find out what the problem was and the DJ said to me, look, it’s either sound or lights – what do you want?
DOUG: M’mm.
DEAN: You know? (and)I said: we’ll probably need the sound - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: So, we had about 600 people dancing in the dark - - -
DOUG: Yeah?
DEAN: - - - like, apart from a couple of “EXIT” lights in the building - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: But dancing in the dark for another five hours. Which told me as long as the music’s right - - -
DOUG: The rest is just decoration.
DEAN: - - - you could do it in a caravan and they’d still dance.
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: So - - -
DOUG: Why have the parties gotten so elaborate, do you think?
DEAN: - - - m’mm; I think people expect more, I think – realistically, they’ve seen it all. Especially with the Internet and being able to download – you know, You Tube any party around the world - - -
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm.
DEAN: Or scene – they do expect more – I mean, our biggest problem in Melbourne is we don’t have the population to sustain it. You have a massive party in a massive venue – the ALSO foundation did a great job of doing that in the early days with the dock parties. I hear stories they’re $300,000 productions they used to put on they would only pay off the party at 12 midnight when the last person came through the door.
DOUG: Yeah. Yeah.
DEAN: That kind of stuff scares me. It is a costly exercise to do those big – and we don’t have the population in Melbourne to sustain it.
DOUG: A lot of people think the dance-party culture has died away quite a bit from what it was?
DEAN: It’s changed.
DOUG: Is it more intimate now than it used to be?
DEAN: M’mm, I think - - -
DOUG: Huge parties in Sydney don’t seem to go so well anymore?
DEAN: - - - people have got a little sick-and-tired of putting their money – you know, they’ve become costly, too – like, $150 tickets.
DOUG: Yeah.
DEAN: If I’m charging $150, I want to give people a result.
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm.
DEAN: I just think people are being let down time and time again as far as the big productions. Things like Toy Box in Sydney I think do a fantastic production and for $150 you get a wow factor. It’s incredible.
DOUG: Obviously, my panel operator here – Ben – has been to quite a few of these - - -
DEAN: Yeah, I’ve seen him there.
DOUG: - - - and knows quite a lot about it ‘cause he’s not talking and he’s laughing - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: - - - going: oh yeah, I remember that [laughs] we shall talk later Ben.
DEAN: It has evolved, it’s changed. The boutique parties, we started doing smaller size – about 1500 people, I think people enjoyed – it’s a little more intimate. I have a lot of people say to me they get nervous around those big parties, anyway. It’s too big – like, there’s(sic) too many people. It’s just horses for courses, I suppose.
DOUG: I suppose it is – and of course, venues? I mean how well supplied is Melbourne for venues because - - -
DEAN: Well - - -
DOUG: You broke out of your usual, standard venues?
DEAN: - - - yeah.
DOUG: [indistinct] going down King Street - - -
DEAN: Well – yeah, we did.
DOUG: - - - [laughs] - - -
DEAN: That was a challenge. Trying to get people into the city. They’re really hesitant about actually doing it and especially because we took one to – m’mm, the Men’s Gallery - - -
DOUG: Yes.
DEAN: - - - in the city.
[laughs]
DEAN: Which was – m’mm, which they went: what? ‘We’re going to a female strip joint in the middle of the city near King Street are you crazy’ and it paid off. They loved it. You’ve got to open peoples’ eyes that there are some beautiful venues in Melbourne. We’re very lucky that we have some great venues and with the Rogue parties in the last two years I haven’t exhausted all of them yet but we’ve certainly moved it around to a lot.
DOUG: I want to get away from the music stuff, go back in time a little bit to where this all began, whereabouts were you born?
DEAN: I was born in Melbourne.
DOUG: You are a Melbourne - - -
DEAN: A Melbourne boy.
DOUG: - - - boy?
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: Whereabouts in Melbourne were you born?
DEAN: I was born in Noble Park actually but we moved to Ballarat and I spent the first four years up there and we moved back and I lived in bay-side Beaumaris for a lot of years.
DOUG: So, pretty much of a city boy?
DEAN: Yeah – yeah, I moved away for a couple of years. When I got into radio I did two years in Bendigo and then I did another two years up in Cairns.
DOUG: Well, you have to.
DEAN: You have to [laughs] well you did in those days, anyway.
DOUG: You still have to - - -
[laughs]
DOUG: If you want a career in radio you’ve got to go everywhere and do every shift - - -
DEAN: Absolutely. I mean, it was amazing though because - - -
DOUG: Small world.
DEAN: - - - yeah. You think back and I was in Cairns when I was – m’mm, 21. It was before Internet and it was before mobile ‘phones and you were so isolated. Even Cairns felt like it was a million miles away because you had a landline and you had two radio stations. One TV station and the radio station was it. It was – like, you were a little celebrity in a little town. Because that’s what they listen to, that’s what they did.
DOUG: What was your childhood like, did you have a happy childhood?
DEAN: I had a fantastic childhood. I was always a bit of a ratbag, I suppose – I was never not in trouble but I had a great - - -
DOUG: Were you always into sport?
DEAN: Yeah, I was always into sport actually. I took-up springboard diving at 12.
DOUG: That helps a lot in Australia doesn’t it - - -
DEAN: What was that?
DEAN: If you’re into sport and you’re good at sport that really helps a lot.
DEAN: Oh yeah. It gets you out of a lot of – especially, I noticed when I was at school it was – like, ‘I can’t do that double math class, I’ve got to go off and train’ – and they’re like: go you elite athlete, go - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: I played roller hockey and I was given the choice out of doing roller hockey or springboard diving. So, I went – I should’ve known I was gay, then – I chose springboard diving - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - it was - - -
DOUG: I don’t know, I think you’d be quite good at roller derby - - -
[laughs]
DEAN: Thanks.
DOUG: I think you’re probably safer doing springboard diving?
DEAN: Yeah, yes.
DOUG: You’ve been diving since you were 12 obviously, that’s another of your passions?
DEAN: Love it.
DOUG: Because you’re still diving - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: - - - competing in Masters events - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: - - - and Gay Games.
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: You’re also coaching?
DEAN: Yeah, been coaching for the last ten years and on a really broad spectrum of coaching, too. I didn’t want to lock myself in to just kids. Kids can be challenging and a little frustrating at times. But I took on the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre adult programme about eight years ago; so, teaching adults how to dive. It’s rewarding. If you see an adult who may be in their 30s or 40s who have never done a summersault before – just the sheer joy on their face, when they get it right – is fantastic. It’s great. But I’ve got a whole bunch of other – m’mm, I take some really – I get schools ringing me up to take their roughest children, that they have at the school - - -
DOUG: M’mm.
DEAN: For a boot camp diving clinic.
DOUG: [laughs] A boot camp – those two ideas don’t really match very well?
DEAN: Yeah – well, it’s a day that they invest in the kids to do something challenging - - -
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm.
DEAN: - - - and they come into the aquatic centre and they say: this is the roughest bunch of kids we’ve had, ever - - -
DOUG: M’mm.
DEAN: - - - and I take them aside and there’s a bit of that attitude at the start. But it’s such a sport that if you don’t listen to what the coach is saying you’re going to hurt yourself [laughs] so within the first ten minutes, I’ve got them eating out of the palm of my hand. It’s a great way to see these ratbag kids focus for a day and the come out so inspired. It’s great.
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: I love it.
[laughs]
DOUG: You’re obviously an inspiring teach because if you can get them into shape - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: - - - in one day and get them fired up – you know, it must be something to do with you?
DEAN: M’mm - - -
DOUG: Do you like teaching other people?
DEAN: - - - yeah. I’ve always enjoyed helping people reach a target or a goal.
DOUG: ‘Cause the one thing about you whenever I meet you, whenever we talk you’re always going 90 miles an hour - - -
DEAN: [laughs]
DOUG: - - - and you’re always unless there’s been a big party the night before - - -
DEAN: [laughs] slow.
DOUG: [laughs] (and)You’re firing up – your ideas, up - - -
DEAN: M’mm.
DOUG: - - - and you’re full of enthusiasm.
DEAN: I like to see people – I love it whether it’s a sport or through work or through the parties or whatever it is – look, I spend half the time with DJs giving them little motivational speeches before they start to play - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - and they get so wound-up and excited and I just – like, I like to bring the best out of people.
DOUG: What is it about diving that’s so attractive, though – I mean, you know – you climb up on a board. You jump onto the water. You get out, again and you do it again.
DEAN: Yep and again and again and again and - - -
DOUG: What’s so fascinating?
DEAN: It’s an adrenaline rush that you can’t get from anything else.
DOUG: Well, you could. You could throw yourself off a building.
DEAN: Well – yeah, correct [laughs]
DOUG: I presume when you’re on the really high board that’s how it feels?
DEAN: Yeah. That’s how it does feel, actually. It’s one of those things that you – you start your approach along the board and when you hit the water – it takes about five seconds - - -
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm?
DEAN: - - - and in that time, in that four or five seconds you have not only landed on the end of the board, let the board take you way up in the air but you’ve completed the trick and then landed perfectly in the water. In five seconds. The rush – the little rushes you get through that is incredible.
DOUG: Do you get one of those time dilation affects when you’re doing it, does five seconds seem incredibly long?
DEAN: Seems like forever. Yeah, they actually do – some feel – like, it’s – m’mm, especially if you’re learning dives. The mental process that you go through getting into something which is quite challenging and hard is so draining. It’s really, really draining. But it’s a thrill. It’s a graceful sport, too.
DOUG: You’ve got this intense focus that you have to have in order to do all the bits of the trick that you have to do?
DEAN: Yeah. Yep, ‘cause you’re working every muscle in your body, when you’re into the dive - - -
DOUG: But at the same time you’ve got this adrenaline rush going on?
DEAN: - - - yep.
DOUG: That’s the contrast that’s in there that obviously fires you up, I think by the sounds of it?
DEAN: You’ve got to look like you’re calm and you know what you’re doing at the same time your heart’s going a million miles an hour ‘cause you’re trying to get this incredible trick off - - -
DOUG: I get that, yeah. But you also get a kick out of the rush of actually doing it - - -
DEAN: - - - yeah.
DOUG: So, it’s almost like you’re in two minds at the same time?
DEAN: Absolutely.
DOUG: You’ve got one thing over here you’re working on - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: - - - you’re keeping the emotions over there.
DEAN: You’re very much in a – m’mm, in a state.
DOUG: In the zone.
DEAN: Yeah, you are. It’s like a meditation state while you do it.
DOUG: That I can understand, I can relate to that. I’m a writer when not broadcasting and when you’re writing an intricate piece of work and you’re concentrating on it time disappears.
DEAN: M’mm.
DOUG: Obviously, it takes a lot longer to write a piece of music than it does to dive into a body of water - - -
[laughs]
DOUG: - - - it’s the same type of principal.
DEAN: Absolutely.
DOUG: When you’re completely focussed and bringing all your skills to bear on something, time ceases to matter.
DEAN: Yep.
DOUG: Then when you’ve completed it you do get the rush.
DEAN: Absolutely.
DOUG: Then you go and do it again - - -
DEAN: (and)Again and again.
[laughs]
DEAN: You can never really - - -
DOUG: You can never get it perfect.
DEAN: - - - no and this is the thing I tell people all the time when they - - -
DOUG: Unless you’re Matthew - - -
DEAN: - - - well, he is a freak but he’s brilliant. He’s got such an awareness of where he is – like, no-one else I’ve ever come across. He’s a great ambassador. If you knew his background – and he’s someone you should get on the show because quite frankly - - -
DOUG: I’ve been trying but it interferes with his schedule.
DEAN: - - - yeah.
DOUG: He’s up in Sydney all the time.
DEAN: Yeah, he is a busy boy. But he’s had a hard background. He’s come through and he’s an amazing kid.
DOUG: Well, we know what sort of listeners we’ve got; Dean, do you wear those tight little bathers when you dive?
DEAN: [laughs]
DOUG: Says John. Yes, he does - - -
DEAN: I whack on my budgie smugglers from time-to-time.
DOUG: Well, you did the last time I saw. When I saw the photographs - - -
DEAN: [laughs] It was the Gay Games.
DOUG: - - - in Chicago, was it?
DEAN: Yeah. Ah, no – it would’ve been the Sydney one, actually.
DOUG: I do remember the pictures and yes, they were budgie smugglers so you can keep your imagination working overtime there, John.
DEAN: [laughs]
DOUG: He also did a naked broadcast here at Joy, once. As I seem to remember - - -
DEAN: Oh, God. That still keeps cropping up.
DOUG: - - - and that photos still around somewhere, yeah.
DEAN: Terrible stuff.
DOUG: I think it’s still on the poster out here in the foyer isn’t it, where he said he would strip naked if enough people ‘phone in - - -
DEAN: Yep.
DOUG: - - - for our radiothon at the time.
DEAN: Anything to get that membership drive happening.
[laughs]
DOUG: If you’re looking for somebody shy you don’t look for Dean, all right?
DEAN: [laughs]
DOUG: I think we’ve established that one. The dancing, that’s another physical activity, the diving – how does that play into your work with the AFL?
DEAN: M’mm, that came about – I needed a mental challenge and for some reason, I don’t even know how it happened now – I ended up doing a diploma in hypnotherapy - - -
DOUG: M’mm.
DEAN: - - - and it was an intense couple of years and I came out the tail end of it. I knew I always loved sports people but from a young age I knew a lot of sports people, they get blocks. They lose their focus. They can’t overcome hurdles and barriers and – whatever, having done it through diving I realised there was a marketplace there to hone in on.
DOUG: You work on things like motivation?
DEAN: Visualisation, motivation, goal setting. Getting them to be able to – you know, especially with AFL footy players what we fail to remember is they’re just young guys who kick a pig skin around and all of a sudden they’re thrown in amongst – you know, they’ve got a lot of money. Fame. Fortune – blah-blah-blah – and then, they get a block.
DOUG: M’mm.
DEAN: How do you get over that? So, I found a way to be able to teach them how to get past those barriers and hurdles.
DOUG: They’re taken out of everything, aren’t they; they’re taken out of normal life, they’re basically stuck in a goldfish bowl where they do nothing but play footy?
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: (and)Go out and get drunk - - -
DEAN: Yep.
DOUG: - - - [laughs] apparently there isn’t much else for them to do in a sense - - -
DEAN: No.
DOUG: They’re not required to have a job outside of football.
DEAN: I think there’s a lot of – m’mm, there’s so much pressure on these young minds. When they do get the blocks there’s not really anyone there to help them overcome it. It’s – like, ‘come on, get out there and kick harder’ – well, that’s not really going to get the mental aspect of the game into perspective.
DOUG: When you talk about a “block” what do you mean by “block”; we’ve heard about people for example, who keep missing the goal?
DEAN: M’mm.
DOUG: They keep missing the goal post or they - - -
DEAN: Well, it’s - - -
DOUG: - - - they can’t get their kicking accurate. Is that what you would call a block?
DEAN: Yes. They’re the blocks; the first guy I ever worked with and he doesn’t mind me using his name, was Paul Mecurio and he was at a point where he was desperate. Because they were going to get rid of him if he didn’t perform - - -
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm.
DEAN: - - - and my simple words to him were: what seems to be your problem? (and)He didn’t know what I did, we were just talking. I’d met him through a function and he said: I’ve got a really big problem when they kick the ball to me and I miss the ball I won’t go for the ball again. I go well, that’s a pretty big problem then - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - isn’t it, being a football player?
DOUG: Yes.
DEAN: So he was not looking good. It didn’t look like he was going to get drafted in and what I did is I worked with him for 12-months and at the end of that 12-months he won his club’s Best and Fairest. Now, how can you - - -
DOUG: M’mm.
DEAN: To me, that was a clear example of someone who’d overcome the mental aspect of the game. They faced those small challenges and that’s what I did through the skills that I’d learnt.
DOUG: Are you still involved with coaching with AFL and - - -
DEAN: I work with – the hardest thing with trying to fit everything in it got to a point where – yeah, I was doing a lot of individual players from a lot of different clubs and I got to a point where I’d done, really, five years of it I went: either I’m going to take it – m’mm, I’d like to actually do one club - - -
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm.
DEAN: - - - and see whether that makes a difference, with one club. Rather than just individual players so that’s a work in progress.
DOUG: Eddie, if you’re listening?
DEAN: [laughs]
DOUG: He’s looking for a job.
DEAN: Absolutely.
DOUG: Yet another string to your bow and you have rather a lot of them, is you’ve worked professionally in radio - - -
DEAN: M’mm.
DOUG: - - - as a DJ. Take us through your career with that.
DEAN: I started at Fox - - -
DOUG: FoxFM.
DEAN: - - - FM - - -
DOUG: (and)TripleM, we’ve got here.
DEAN: I was at Fox when I was – m’mm, I think I was just 19. I did a commercial radio course at Swinburne and I’d won the copywriting award which I’d put together the night before they had to be handed in. I wrote some ads about my dog, Sparky. For some reason I won this copywriting award and it happened the graduation night was at FoxFM and the copywriter saw I’d won the copywriting award – mind you, I’d only written two ads about my dog and he said: you’ve won the copywriting award, I’m going away for six weeks would you like to fill-in? It was – like, the best leeway into - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: But at that stage, he was on a typewriter. There was no – he didn’t have a PC or whatever - - -
DOUG: M’mm.
DEAN: I didn’t know how to type so what I did when I got the job is I found this girl in the office and said listen, I can write the ads but can you type and I’ll pay you 150-bucks a week – right, I just needed that job to work and – m’mm, made it through the six weeks. I don’t know how I made it through the six weeks and then at the end of that a job was offered in Promotions and that was when the Black Thunder-time happened with the radio station. It was huge - - -
DOUG: Black Thunder?
DEAN: - - - well, the Black Thunder(s) were – like, a – the promotional manager might have been drunk I don’t know. But went out and blew the budget in one day, he bought six cars, a chopper, a boat and painted them all black and called them all the Black Thunder Crew and had 12-people driving these cars. We’d drive around the streets and throw chips and drinks and free stuff, we gave away millions of dollars worth of free stuff. It was just ridiculous - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: We were cowboys, you know? We would drive up median strips and there were police officers waving at us ‘cause it was so popular. It was one of those really weird jobs that you felt very lucky to have. It was a good in for radio. I wanted to get on air. I used to listen to – m’mm, John Peters and the Top 8 at 8 on TripleM and EON FM and all that, it was something I always wanted to do. I moved to Bendigo, I did some time up there – went to Cairns, I didn’t even know where Cairns was. I just took the job and fled.
DOUG: How old would you be when you went to Cairns?
DEAN: I was 21, 22. When I was up there.
DOUG: In those days that was a very big move, wasn’t it?
DEAN: Huge.
DOUG: It didn’t have the same level of communications that we have now – there was no Internet, no mobiles, no - - -
DEAN: No.
DOUG: - - - and of course Cairns wasn’t particularly developed in those days was it?
DEAN: No, it was the mud flats and a pub. A couple of pubs.
DOUG: A lot of cane farms and - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: - - - that was about it?
DEAN: We used to laugh, we used to say anyone who wants to escape anything ends up in Cairns – you know?
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: It was quite backward. I’ve just spent some time up there, actually. It’s a lot more developed now, it’s quite a pretty place.
DOUG: Boy, is it ever.
DEAN: Yeah – and it was a good learning curve to be in a radio station that far away and really, just - - -
DOUG: So, this must have been a smallish radio station ‘cause Cairns is only a smallish place isn’t it?
DEAN: It was – m’mm, I think Cairns was a population of 100,000 at the time. So it’s not that huge a marketplace, it’s considered to be a provincial station and – m’mm, but it’s different. The country radio stations, they rely on that information that’s being broadcast especially in those days there wasn’t any Internet. It was the hub of information for the town so when there were hurricanes coming through I remember being there for only two weeks and the station manager rang me up and said, okay, the hurricane’s coming – you’re going to be on air, you’ll have to give the hurricane warnings and I thought – like, don’t I get evacuated? What – I’ve got to sit in a radio station - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - while everyone else gets evacuated, what’s going on; yeah, it was an interesting time.
DOUG: It’s Queensland - - -
DEAN: ‘I don’t want to be here, I want to run’.
[laughs]
DEAN: I came back here, I was very lucky to get offered a job back at Fox and I started doing late nights and panelling all the shows, Take 40 Australia. All that kind of stuff, I did weekends at TripleM ‘cause TripleM and Fox had merged into – you know, AusStereo and Village Roadshow so it was hard work, you know? You were doing 70, 80 hours a week but it was the passion. ‘Cause so many people wanted to get into radio you thought: I must have the dream job. Because people kept saying to you daily: I wish I had a job like yours. But you worked really, really hard to keep those positions.
DOUG: A lot of competition?
DEAN: A lot of competition.
DOUG: (and)Always somebody knocking at the door.
DEAN: Yeah – and then, of course, as the world evolved and changed – I think there’ll always be a need for radio, it’s just on what level it develops.
DOUG: I’m interested to see in your CV here that you were at one stage responsible for station promotions and on-air stunts. That sounds awfully Kyle Sandilands?
DEAN: Yeah. I organised the stunts. I was the stunt guy. I’d throw people and myself out of planes and – you know, it was crazy times. I had a station manager who came to me one morning and said, look, I’ve got a great idea. We’re now going to call you “monkey boy” and we’re going to dress you in a monkey outfit and send you out in the streets everyday to do stunts – I’m like, I can’t believe I’m doing this for a job – but you did what you were told. So it was that kind of stuff.
DOUG: So, you had the name: Monkey Boy. Before Paul McDermott - - -
DEAN: Yes.
[laughs]
DOUG: Except apparently he doesn’t need the suit.
DEAN: But we did some crazy stuff – like, people would do it ‘cause they love the station. We had this thing where you’d wake up, you’d send in a message: I want you guys to come and wake my husband up in the morning ‘cause he’s lazy. So, we would park semitrailers up against their bedroom window and then toot the horns. Or drive Harley Davidsons(sic) into their bedroom while they were asleep - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - or brass bands. It was a crazy time. It was – yeah.
DOUG: It doesn’t really happen to the same extent anymore does it?
DEAN: No.
[laughs]
DEAN: It was a lot more creative back then.
DOUG: I think liability insurance might have something to do with it.
DEAN: Absolutely.
DOUG: That’s right.
[laughs]
DOUG: What’s next?
DEAN: M’mm - - -
DOUG: Where to, now – you’ve done all these different things, you’ve got all these skills and that – God, you even did a stint as programme manager here for a while - - -
DEAN: Did a couple of years here. That was where I had my apprenticeship in diplomacy.
[laughs]
DOUG: I think we better leave that one there.
[laughs]
DOUG: But yes, I know exactly what you mean. Community radio is not the same as commercial radio - - -
DEAN: Yeah. It taught me a good lesson ‘cause I was like a bull in a china shop when I came here and I soon realised that you’re dealing with so many different demographics that you’ve got to try and appease and it was challenging but it was rewarding at the same time. Quite an interesting two years.
DOUG: It’s a difficult job and the trouble with this radio station in a sense is that our raison d'être is we’re a gay and lesbian and all the other rest of the alphabet soup kind of thing. We’re not appealing to a demographic - - -
DEAN: M’mm.
DOUG: - - - and we have a huge range of people to appeal to so not everyone’s going to like everything.
DEAN: I think it’s imperative the station works towards – you know, you’re not going to appease everyone all the time and I think it’s working towards a station which you might not love, exactly, the music. You might not love the show – whatever, but with the success it brings with what you deliver on the station people will learn to embrace that.
DOUG: Yeah and I’m all in favour of widening peoples’ horizons. Giving them something outside their comfort zone from time to time - - -
DEAN: M’mm.
DOUG: - - - so that maybe they learn something. Maybe they learn to appreciate a different kind of music. I hadn’t listened to popular music for quite a few years until I started working at the station and I’ve got back into it through being here, you know? In the beginning, listening to Jarrod doing the morning show – and going, I don’t want to listen to this duff-duff noise kind of thing - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: But I’ve learned to appreciate quite a lot of it, now. I think that happens with listeners, too – at least I don’t get people saying: why aren’t you playing any Shirley Bassey - - -
[laughs]
DOUG: - - - did at one time.
DEAN: Yep.
DOUG: To get back to talking about you instead of me – where to, now – do you think? More parties - - -
DEAN: Look, I have got more parties coming up – I mean, it’s one of those things that look, eventually there’ll be someone else come along and they’ll do something different and the crowd will embrace that product and go that direction – and that’s fine. At the moment I think I’m very blessed. I’ve been doing it for six years now and I think it all comes down to – I tend to know a lot of the people that come to the parties, I get to know them. I’ve never ever looked at this thing as being a huge money maker, how I’ve looked at it is I’ve always wanted to give them a quality product at an affordable price. Eight hours where they can forget about the day-to-day, mundane stuff and be entertained and to me it’s been a good concept. It seems to have worked and I think our Melbourne people – you know, I’ve been to parties all over the world and I see it in other states and whatever, but our Melbourne crowd is a special bunch of people. “A”, they’re very forgiving ‘cause if anyone’s going to stuff something up it’s probably me – but they’re forgiving and “B”, they’re excited. We have lots of people who come to this town and go: wow, what an exceptional bunch of people. Because they’re happy, they’re excited. They’re friendly. They care about each other, they look after each other. It’s an important thing so I’ll keep doing that for as long as they’ll keep having me and we’ll see what happens. But lots of little projects on the side that I’ve developed over the last couple of months and I suppose, I’ll probably focus a bit more on those things. I’m one of those people, I need to do 20 things at a time to - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - just function. So it’s all good.
DOUG: What about radio because a lot of exciting things are happening in radio - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DEAN: Broadcast radio is one thing, that’s moving into the digital era although whether that’s a good idea or not is another question. We’re also getting the growth of things like the Internet radio. The whole radio marketplace is fragmenting - - -
DEAN: M’mm.
DOUG: - - - in the same way as the print marketplace has done.
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: Do you see any opportunities in that?
DEAN: Yeah, I do. Radio’s one of those things and I think that if you’re in it as you are Doug and it becomes a little bit a part of you and it’s very hard to let it go. When I step out of it, I end up stepping back in it. In some way, shape or form and I think that’s just I’ve done it since I was 19 and I love it. It’s a fantastic, really important part of our community and I will remain in it in some way, shape or form. The Internet thing’s a very interesting – there’s a lot happening with Internet radio so that will develop and I’ll see where it takes me.
DOUG: I’m glad it brought you here today.
DEAN: [laughs]
DOUG: Thank you.
DEAN: Thank you for having me on. I’m not nervous any more - - -
[laughs]
DOUG: Your mum can relax, you haven’t given away any dirty secrets.
DEAN: Fantastic.
DOUG: Dean Murphy, thanks very much for joining us today.
DEAN: Thanks.
DOUG: Now – m’mm, this one last track is one I particularly love - - -
[laughs]
DOUG: - - - but I do have to warn anybody who is - - -
DEAN: M’mm, m’mm.
DOUG: - - - listening that it does contain the “F” word. More than once. So if you object to the “F” word you’ll have to tune back in about five-and-half minutes time because it’s also quite a long track, it’s called: I Just Want To “F”n(sic) Dance. It’s sung by Shauna Jensen – why - - -
DEAN: Well, I had a [indistinct] party last year and we’d organised this show with Shauna Jensen and she does a great version of this and we had dancers and her coming in. What happened was the dancers had rehearsed for two weeks, doing this number. When they got there that day the whole stage had been redesigned so they didn’t know where they were going - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: Shauna Jensen’s plane was late so she was only going to get there five minutes before she had to go on. No rehearsal and I’m thinking to myself this is going to be a complete disaster but when she broke-in to it this woman has such an amazing voice that the crowd erupted. It was fantastic. Anyone who was there would remember it. It was one of those heart racing, I-don’t-think-this-thing’s-go ing-to-come-off. It actually worked.
DOUG: Thanks for your time today, Dean.
DEAN: Thank you. I appreciate it.
DOUG: Thanks for giving me the opportunity to play this. It’s from Jerry Springer the Opera, strangely enough. As I say, if you don’t like the “F” word turn off for about five minutes. This is Shauna Jensen with - - -
[music]
TRANSCRIPT ENDS.
DEAN: Hi, Doug.
DOUG: Hello there. You’ve been on the mikes here quite a few times - - -
DEAN: Once or twice.
DOUG: That was the Black Eyed Peas, “I got a feeling” what made you pick that one?
DEAN: M’mm, I thought the track when it first came out it was the real pinnacle point in American music. They’d been in a very dark hole as far as music goes and when I heard that particular track – especially from the Black Eyed Peas, it was like it turned the corner and everything became a little more uplifting and inspirational and their music, themselves – the Black Eyed Peas, completely changed directions. I also saw it on a – m’mm, there was an Oprah Winfrey flash mob done in Chicago – and if you haven’t seen it - - -
DOUG: I have, yeah.
DEAN: It’s amazing, 20,000 people doing this routine which caught Oprah completely off-guard, which I thought was brilliant - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - and I decided to do my own flash mob to that song at one of the parties, which turned into a complete disaster ‘cause I had them all in ski boots. Not only could they not dance but they couldn’t walk.
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: So, it was – yeah, it brought back lots of memories. That one [laughs]
DOUG: Well, music is obviously one of your great loves?
DEAN: Love it.
DOUG: Absolutely one of your great loves, you’ve been a DJ on this station. You’ve actually been part time manager on this station - - -
DEAN: M’mm, m’mm.
DOUG: - - - taking care of the music side - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: Of things, for quite a while at one stage and of course everyone knows you for the parties you’ve done - - -
DEAN: Those parties.
DOUG: How did you get into the party business?
DEAN: Well – the parties – kind of, I was working at a radio station, working at FoxFM at the time and I’d only been out for a couple of years. It was about ’99, I went to my first party - - -
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm?
DEAN: - - - Red Raw and I liked it but the minute I walked in – ‘cause I’d been in Events and I’d run events with a radio station for a long time – the minute I walked in, I went: I love it. ‘I could change that’, ‘I’d do that’ and it all went from there - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - and I thought well, if the opportunity ever arose I would - - -
DEAN: Yes.
DEAN: - - - see how it goes and in 2004, I got offered the opportunity to be involved in a particular party and I only thought it was going to be for that one party - - -
[laughs]
DEAN: Six years later here we are - - -
[laughs]
DEAN: - - - yeah it was an interesting process. But I do love them, I like the concept of being able to – you know, entertain people. Because of the music side of things I think that’s what’s kept me in it for long ‘cause the music is always evolving and I like finding new talent and new DJs and new sounds. Getting excited about: okay, I’m going to introduce this new sound to this group of people. Yeah, it’s good.
DOUG: In other words you’re still bloody enthusiastic about it - - -
DEAN: Ah - - -
DOUG: - - - and that always helps when you got a - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: - - - job to do, if you really love it?
DEAN: There’s(sic) a lot of ups and downs, obviously. With everything you do – in that, kind of – it’s an entertainment. Its - - -
DOUG: Lots of back-stage drama?
DEAN: Lots of backstage dramas.
[laughs]
DEAN: I’ve – there’s many, many stories of things that haven’t gone quite right and you laugh about it later on ‘cause no-one’s aware of what’s actually happened so - - -
DOUG: Well, we have shows like that here this programme sometimes. I refer to them as: swan shows - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: - - - because as far as the listener is concerned we’re floating along nicely - - -
DEAN: Absolutely.
DOUG: They don’t see that we’re paddling away like fury [laughs]
DEAN: Yep, yep.
DOUG: In order to try and keep the whole thing afloat; m’mm, there’s a lot to put together when you’re putting a party together I mean, it’s not – just, you know – a DJ throwing some tracks on.
DEAN: Yeah – well, its - - -
DOUG: ‘Cause you’ve got your lights, you’ve got - - -
DEAN: - - - correct.
DOUG: (and)All the other things you might do?
DEAN: Yeah, each party takes about – I reckon, about two-and-a-half months to set up. Because you’ve got your line-ups to do, your talent to find. Your entertainers to find, DJs and this is where a lot of people have failed in the past because they tend to go: we’ll run a party – ‘we’ll grab this DJ’ – we’ll grab that one, we’ll grab that one, we’ll grab that one – ‘we’ll just throw them into a room and see what happens’. That’s a cocktail for disaster. I’ve worked out over the years there’s a flow of music and the flow of music also means you’ve got to have the DJ in the right spot. The day has to have a flow in itself, it’s got to take you on certain journeys and you’ve got to spend time researching each DJ to find out exactly what levels of energy they play, what sound they’ve got – what they – yeah, it’s quite a process.
DOUG: You try and devise a shape - - -
DEAN: Yes.
DOUG: - - - for the event.
DEAN: Yeah, yeah.
DOUG: Describe what sort of shape that might be – I mean, do you hit for example high-energy upbeat stuff right at the beginning or - - -
DEAN: We – I used to – we used to find in parties way back in the piece they had a philosophy of warming people up - - -
DOUG: M’mm.
DEAN: - - - now I go: they’re warmed up, they know what they’re there for. They want to dance and so realistically, I’d get the boys to come out of the gates pretty strong and then what happens is because they’re at a certain level the next DJ has to perform a little bit more. He has to give a little bit more and then that one will push the next guy a little bit more - - -
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm.
DEAN: So, you’re trying to – I suppose, create – an energy level which keeps growing on itself during the day so hopefully by the end of the party they are on a high and excited about the – there’s never been, in six years there’s never been a party which I feel has got to a point where its filtered out dramatically during the day ‘cause the music hasn’t been right. We’ve always finished on a high. We’ve always finished on a packed house.
DOUG: Right. How important are the lights, the light shows and things that you put on ‘cause they’ve gotten awfully elaborate now - - -
DEAN: Yeah, they have. They have – m’mm, I think it was about ’99 that trance music came into play and that’s when lasers - - -
DOUG: All those flickering little lasers - - -
DEAN: - - - yeah, all the lasers and - - -
DOUG: Before that it was all – like, mirror balls and whirling spotlights.
DEAN: - - - absolutely. Absolutely, yeah-yeah-yeah - - -
DOUG: Perhaps a dry-ice machine - - -
DEAN: [laughs]
DOUG: - - - if you were lucky?
[laughs]
DEAN: The lights are important but – you know, like most of my events there’s always a power failure somewhere along the lines - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - we had a party – m’mm, it just goes back to proving that really, music is the key point of the day. Because we had a party at a venue in South Yarra and I was sitting with a mate of mine. He goes: oh, what a brilliant day. This was the after-party - - -
DOUG: M’mm?
DEAN: He said: what a brilliant day, nothing’s gone wrong. The minute he said it the lights and sound went out - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - and I went: okay, that’s not too good. We went to find out what the problem was and the DJ said to me, look, it’s either sound or lights – what do you want?
DOUG: M’mm.
DEAN: You know? (and)I said: we’ll probably need the sound - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: So, we had about 600 people dancing in the dark - - -
DOUG: Yeah?
DEAN: - - - like, apart from a couple of “EXIT” lights in the building - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: But dancing in the dark for another five hours. Which told me as long as the music’s right - - -
DOUG: The rest is just decoration.
DEAN: - - - you could do it in a caravan and they’d still dance.
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: So - - -
DOUG: Why have the parties gotten so elaborate, do you think?
DEAN: - - - m’mm; I think people expect more, I think – realistically, they’ve seen it all. Especially with the Internet and being able to download – you know, You Tube any party around the world - - -
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm.
DEAN: Or scene – they do expect more – I mean, our biggest problem in Melbourne is we don’t have the population to sustain it. You have a massive party in a massive venue – the ALSO foundation did a great job of doing that in the early days with the dock parties. I hear stories they’re $300,000 productions they used to put on they would only pay off the party at 12 midnight when the last person came through the door.
DOUG: Yeah. Yeah.
DEAN: That kind of stuff scares me. It is a costly exercise to do those big – and we don’t have the population in Melbourne to sustain it.
DOUG: A lot of people think the dance-party culture has died away quite a bit from what it was?
DEAN: It’s changed.
DOUG: Is it more intimate now than it used to be?
DEAN: M’mm, I think - - -
DOUG: Huge parties in Sydney don’t seem to go so well anymore?
DEAN: - - - people have got a little sick-and-tired of putting their money – you know, they’ve become costly, too – like, $150 tickets.
DOUG: Yeah.
DEAN: If I’m charging $150, I want to give people a result.
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm.
DEAN: I just think people are being let down time and time again as far as the big productions. Things like Toy Box in Sydney I think do a fantastic production and for $150 you get a wow factor. It’s incredible.
DOUG: Obviously, my panel operator here – Ben – has been to quite a few of these - - -
DEAN: Yeah, I’ve seen him there.
DOUG: - - - and knows quite a lot about it ‘cause he’s not talking and he’s laughing - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: - - - going: oh yeah, I remember that [laughs] we shall talk later Ben.
DEAN: It has evolved, it’s changed. The boutique parties, we started doing smaller size – about 1500 people, I think people enjoyed – it’s a little more intimate. I have a lot of people say to me they get nervous around those big parties, anyway. It’s too big – like, there’s(sic) too many people. It’s just horses for courses, I suppose.
DOUG: I suppose it is – and of course, venues? I mean how well supplied is Melbourne for venues because - - -
DEAN: Well - - -
DOUG: You broke out of your usual, standard venues?
DEAN: - - - yeah.
DOUG: [indistinct] going down King Street - - -
DEAN: Well – yeah, we did.
DOUG: - - - [laughs] - - -
DEAN: That was a challenge. Trying to get people into the city. They’re really hesitant about actually doing it and especially because we took one to – m’mm, the Men’s Gallery - - -
DOUG: Yes.
DEAN: - - - in the city.
[laughs]
DEAN: Which was – m’mm, which they went: what? ‘We’re going to a female strip joint in the middle of the city near King Street are you crazy’ and it paid off. They loved it. You’ve got to open peoples’ eyes that there are some beautiful venues in Melbourne. We’re very lucky that we have some great venues and with the Rogue parties in the last two years I haven’t exhausted all of them yet but we’ve certainly moved it around to a lot.
DOUG: I want to get away from the music stuff, go back in time a little bit to where this all began, whereabouts were you born?
DEAN: I was born in Melbourne.
DOUG: You are a Melbourne - - -
DEAN: A Melbourne boy.
DOUG: - - - boy?
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: Whereabouts in Melbourne were you born?
DEAN: I was born in Noble Park actually but we moved to Ballarat and I spent the first four years up there and we moved back and I lived in bay-side Beaumaris for a lot of years.
DOUG: So, pretty much of a city boy?
DEAN: Yeah – yeah, I moved away for a couple of years. When I got into radio I did two years in Bendigo and then I did another two years up in Cairns.
DOUG: Well, you have to.
DEAN: You have to [laughs] well you did in those days, anyway.
DOUG: You still have to - - -
[laughs]
DOUG: If you want a career in radio you’ve got to go everywhere and do every shift - - -
DEAN: Absolutely. I mean, it was amazing though because - - -
DOUG: Small world.
DEAN: - - - yeah. You think back and I was in Cairns when I was – m’mm, 21. It was before Internet and it was before mobile ‘phones and you were so isolated. Even Cairns felt like it was a million miles away because you had a landline and you had two radio stations. One TV station and the radio station was it. It was – like, you were a little celebrity in a little town. Because that’s what they listen to, that’s what they did.
DOUG: What was your childhood like, did you have a happy childhood?
DEAN: I had a fantastic childhood. I was always a bit of a ratbag, I suppose – I was never not in trouble but I had a great - - -
DOUG: Were you always into sport?
DEAN: Yeah, I was always into sport actually. I took-up springboard diving at 12.
DOUG: That helps a lot in Australia doesn’t it - - -
DEAN: What was that?
DEAN: If you’re into sport and you’re good at sport that really helps a lot.
DEAN: Oh yeah. It gets you out of a lot of – especially, I noticed when I was at school it was – like, ‘I can’t do that double math class, I’ve got to go off and train’ – and they’re like: go you elite athlete, go - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: I played roller hockey and I was given the choice out of doing roller hockey or springboard diving. So, I went – I should’ve known I was gay, then – I chose springboard diving - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - it was - - -
DOUG: I don’t know, I think you’d be quite good at roller derby - - -
[laughs]
DEAN: Thanks.
DOUG: I think you’re probably safer doing springboard diving?
DEAN: Yeah, yes.
DOUG: You’ve been diving since you were 12 obviously, that’s another of your passions?
DEAN: Love it.
DOUG: Because you’re still diving - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: - - - competing in Masters events - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: - - - and Gay Games.
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: You’re also coaching?
DEAN: Yeah, been coaching for the last ten years and on a really broad spectrum of coaching, too. I didn’t want to lock myself in to just kids. Kids can be challenging and a little frustrating at times. But I took on the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre adult programme about eight years ago; so, teaching adults how to dive. It’s rewarding. If you see an adult who may be in their 30s or 40s who have never done a summersault before – just the sheer joy on their face, when they get it right – is fantastic. It’s great. But I’ve got a whole bunch of other – m’mm, I take some really – I get schools ringing me up to take their roughest children, that they have at the school - - -
DOUG: M’mm.
DEAN: For a boot camp diving clinic.
DOUG: [laughs] A boot camp – those two ideas don’t really match very well?
DEAN: Yeah – well, it’s a day that they invest in the kids to do something challenging - - -
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm.
DEAN: - - - and they come into the aquatic centre and they say: this is the roughest bunch of kids we’ve had, ever - - -
DOUG: M’mm.
DEAN: - - - and I take them aside and there’s a bit of that attitude at the start. But it’s such a sport that if you don’t listen to what the coach is saying you’re going to hurt yourself [laughs] so within the first ten minutes, I’ve got them eating out of the palm of my hand. It’s a great way to see these ratbag kids focus for a day and the come out so inspired. It’s great.
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: I love it.
[laughs]
DOUG: You’re obviously an inspiring teach because if you can get them into shape - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: - - - in one day and get them fired up – you know, it must be something to do with you?
DEAN: M’mm - - -
DOUG: Do you like teaching other people?
DEAN: - - - yeah. I’ve always enjoyed helping people reach a target or a goal.
DOUG: ‘Cause the one thing about you whenever I meet you, whenever we talk you’re always going 90 miles an hour - - -
DEAN: [laughs]
DOUG: - - - and you’re always unless there’s been a big party the night before - - -
DEAN: [laughs] slow.
DOUG: [laughs] (and)You’re firing up – your ideas, up - - -
DEAN: M’mm.
DOUG: - - - and you’re full of enthusiasm.
DEAN: I like to see people – I love it whether it’s a sport or through work or through the parties or whatever it is – look, I spend half the time with DJs giving them little motivational speeches before they start to play - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - and they get so wound-up and excited and I just – like, I like to bring the best out of people.
DOUG: What is it about diving that’s so attractive, though – I mean, you know – you climb up on a board. You jump onto the water. You get out, again and you do it again.
DEAN: Yep and again and again and again and - - -
DOUG: What’s so fascinating?
DEAN: It’s an adrenaline rush that you can’t get from anything else.
DOUG: Well, you could. You could throw yourself off a building.
DEAN: Well – yeah, correct [laughs]
DOUG: I presume when you’re on the really high board that’s how it feels?
DEAN: Yeah. That’s how it does feel, actually. It’s one of those things that you – you start your approach along the board and when you hit the water – it takes about five seconds - - -
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm?
DEAN: - - - and in that time, in that four or five seconds you have not only landed on the end of the board, let the board take you way up in the air but you’ve completed the trick and then landed perfectly in the water. In five seconds. The rush – the little rushes you get through that is incredible.
DOUG: Do you get one of those time dilation affects when you’re doing it, does five seconds seem incredibly long?
DEAN: Seems like forever. Yeah, they actually do – some feel – like, it’s – m’mm, especially if you’re learning dives. The mental process that you go through getting into something which is quite challenging and hard is so draining. It’s really, really draining. But it’s a thrill. It’s a graceful sport, too.
DOUG: You’ve got this intense focus that you have to have in order to do all the bits of the trick that you have to do?
DEAN: Yeah. Yep, ‘cause you’re working every muscle in your body, when you’re into the dive - - -
DOUG: But at the same time you’ve got this adrenaline rush going on?
DEAN: - - - yep.
DOUG: That’s the contrast that’s in there that obviously fires you up, I think by the sounds of it?
DEAN: You’ve got to look like you’re calm and you know what you’re doing at the same time your heart’s going a million miles an hour ‘cause you’re trying to get this incredible trick off - - -
DOUG: I get that, yeah. But you also get a kick out of the rush of actually doing it - - -
DEAN: - - - yeah.
DOUG: So, it’s almost like you’re in two minds at the same time?
DEAN: Absolutely.
DOUG: You’ve got one thing over here you’re working on - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: - - - you’re keeping the emotions over there.
DEAN: You’re very much in a – m’mm, in a state.
DOUG: In the zone.
DEAN: Yeah, you are. It’s like a meditation state while you do it.
DOUG: That I can understand, I can relate to that. I’m a writer when not broadcasting and when you’re writing an intricate piece of work and you’re concentrating on it time disappears.
DEAN: M’mm.
DOUG: Obviously, it takes a lot longer to write a piece of music than it does to dive into a body of water - - -
[laughs]
DOUG: - - - it’s the same type of principal.
DEAN: Absolutely.
DOUG: When you’re completely focussed and bringing all your skills to bear on something, time ceases to matter.
DEAN: Yep.
DOUG: Then when you’ve completed it you do get the rush.
DEAN: Absolutely.
DOUG: Then you go and do it again - - -
DEAN: (and)Again and again.
[laughs]
DEAN: You can never really - - -
DOUG: You can never get it perfect.
DEAN: - - - no and this is the thing I tell people all the time when they - - -
DOUG: Unless you’re Matthew - - -
DEAN: - - - well, he is a freak but he’s brilliant. He’s got such an awareness of where he is – like, no-one else I’ve ever come across. He’s a great ambassador. If you knew his background – and he’s someone you should get on the show because quite frankly - - -
DOUG: I’ve been trying but it interferes with his schedule.
DEAN: - - - yeah.
DOUG: He’s up in Sydney all the time.
DEAN: Yeah, he is a busy boy. But he’s had a hard background. He’s come through and he’s an amazing kid.
DOUG: Well, we know what sort of listeners we’ve got; Dean, do you wear those tight little bathers when you dive?
DEAN: [laughs]
DOUG: Says John. Yes, he does - - -
DEAN: I whack on my budgie smugglers from time-to-time.
DOUG: Well, you did the last time I saw. When I saw the photographs - - -
DEAN: [laughs] It was the Gay Games.
DOUG: - - - in Chicago, was it?
DEAN: Yeah. Ah, no – it would’ve been the Sydney one, actually.
DOUG: I do remember the pictures and yes, they were budgie smugglers so you can keep your imagination working overtime there, John.
DEAN: [laughs]
DOUG: He also did a naked broadcast here at Joy, once. As I seem to remember - - -
DEAN: Oh, God. That still keeps cropping up.
DOUG: - - - and that photos still around somewhere, yeah.
DEAN: Terrible stuff.
DOUG: I think it’s still on the poster out here in the foyer isn’t it, where he said he would strip naked if enough people ‘phone in - - -
DEAN: Yep.
DOUG: - - - for our radiothon at the time.
DEAN: Anything to get that membership drive happening.
[laughs]
DOUG: If you’re looking for somebody shy you don’t look for Dean, all right?
DEAN: [laughs]
DOUG: I think we’ve established that one. The dancing, that’s another physical activity, the diving – how does that play into your work with the AFL?
DEAN: M’mm, that came about – I needed a mental challenge and for some reason, I don’t even know how it happened now – I ended up doing a diploma in hypnotherapy - - -
DOUG: M’mm.
DEAN: - - - and it was an intense couple of years and I came out the tail end of it. I knew I always loved sports people but from a young age I knew a lot of sports people, they get blocks. They lose their focus. They can’t overcome hurdles and barriers and – whatever, having done it through diving I realised there was a marketplace there to hone in on.
DOUG: You work on things like motivation?
DEAN: Visualisation, motivation, goal setting. Getting them to be able to – you know, especially with AFL footy players what we fail to remember is they’re just young guys who kick a pig skin around and all of a sudden they’re thrown in amongst – you know, they’ve got a lot of money. Fame. Fortune – blah-blah-blah – and then, they get a block.
DOUG: M’mm.
DEAN: How do you get over that? So, I found a way to be able to teach them how to get past those barriers and hurdles.
DOUG: They’re taken out of everything, aren’t they; they’re taken out of normal life, they’re basically stuck in a goldfish bowl where they do nothing but play footy?
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: (and)Go out and get drunk - - -
DEAN: Yep.
DOUG: - - - [laughs] apparently there isn’t much else for them to do in a sense - - -
DEAN: No.
DOUG: They’re not required to have a job outside of football.
DEAN: I think there’s a lot of – m’mm, there’s so much pressure on these young minds. When they do get the blocks there’s not really anyone there to help them overcome it. It’s – like, ‘come on, get out there and kick harder’ – well, that’s not really going to get the mental aspect of the game into perspective.
DOUG: When you talk about a “block” what do you mean by “block”; we’ve heard about people for example, who keep missing the goal?
DEAN: M’mm.
DOUG: They keep missing the goal post or they - - -
DEAN: Well, it’s - - -
DOUG: - - - they can’t get their kicking accurate. Is that what you would call a block?
DEAN: Yes. They’re the blocks; the first guy I ever worked with and he doesn’t mind me using his name, was Paul Mecurio and he was at a point where he was desperate. Because they were going to get rid of him if he didn’t perform - - -
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm.
DEAN: - - - and my simple words to him were: what seems to be your problem? (and)He didn’t know what I did, we were just talking. I’d met him through a function and he said: I’ve got a really big problem when they kick the ball to me and I miss the ball I won’t go for the ball again. I go well, that’s a pretty big problem then - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - isn’t it, being a football player?
DOUG: Yes.
DEAN: So he was not looking good. It didn’t look like he was going to get drafted in and what I did is I worked with him for 12-months and at the end of that 12-months he won his club’s Best and Fairest. Now, how can you - - -
DOUG: M’mm.
DEAN: To me, that was a clear example of someone who’d overcome the mental aspect of the game. They faced those small challenges and that’s what I did through the skills that I’d learnt.
DOUG: Are you still involved with coaching with AFL and - - -
DEAN: I work with – the hardest thing with trying to fit everything in it got to a point where – yeah, I was doing a lot of individual players from a lot of different clubs and I got to a point where I’d done, really, five years of it I went: either I’m going to take it – m’mm, I’d like to actually do one club - - -
DOUG: M’mm, m’mm.
DEAN: - - - and see whether that makes a difference, with one club. Rather than just individual players so that’s a work in progress.
DOUG: Eddie, if you’re listening?
DEAN: [laughs]
DOUG: He’s looking for a job.
DEAN: Absolutely.
DOUG: Yet another string to your bow and you have rather a lot of them, is you’ve worked professionally in radio - - -
DEAN: M’mm.
DOUG: - - - as a DJ. Take us through your career with that.
DEAN: I started at Fox - - -
DOUG: FoxFM.
DEAN: - - - FM - - -
DOUG: (and)TripleM, we’ve got here.
DEAN: I was at Fox when I was – m’mm, I think I was just 19. I did a commercial radio course at Swinburne and I’d won the copywriting award which I’d put together the night before they had to be handed in. I wrote some ads about my dog, Sparky. For some reason I won this copywriting award and it happened the graduation night was at FoxFM and the copywriter saw I’d won the copywriting award – mind you, I’d only written two ads about my dog and he said: you’ve won the copywriting award, I’m going away for six weeks would you like to fill-in? It was – like, the best leeway into - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: But at that stage, he was on a typewriter. There was no – he didn’t have a PC or whatever - - -
DOUG: M’mm.
DEAN: I didn’t know how to type so what I did when I got the job is I found this girl in the office and said listen, I can write the ads but can you type and I’ll pay you 150-bucks a week – right, I just needed that job to work and – m’mm, made it through the six weeks. I don’t know how I made it through the six weeks and then at the end of that a job was offered in Promotions and that was when the Black Thunder-time happened with the radio station. It was huge - - -
DOUG: Black Thunder?
DEAN: - - - well, the Black Thunder(s) were – like, a – the promotional manager might have been drunk I don’t know. But went out and blew the budget in one day, he bought six cars, a chopper, a boat and painted them all black and called them all the Black Thunder Crew and had 12-people driving these cars. We’d drive around the streets and throw chips and drinks and free stuff, we gave away millions of dollars worth of free stuff. It was just ridiculous - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: We were cowboys, you know? We would drive up median strips and there were police officers waving at us ‘cause it was so popular. It was one of those really weird jobs that you felt very lucky to have. It was a good in for radio. I wanted to get on air. I used to listen to – m’mm, John Peters and the Top 8 at 8 on TripleM and EON FM and all that, it was something I always wanted to do. I moved to Bendigo, I did some time up there – went to Cairns, I didn’t even know where Cairns was. I just took the job and fled.
DOUG: How old would you be when you went to Cairns?
DEAN: I was 21, 22. When I was up there.
DOUG: In those days that was a very big move, wasn’t it?
DEAN: Huge.
DOUG: It didn’t have the same level of communications that we have now – there was no Internet, no mobiles, no - - -
DEAN: No.
DOUG: - - - and of course Cairns wasn’t particularly developed in those days was it?
DEAN: No, it was the mud flats and a pub. A couple of pubs.
DOUG: A lot of cane farms and - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: - - - that was about it?
DEAN: We used to laugh, we used to say anyone who wants to escape anything ends up in Cairns – you know?
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: It was quite backward. I’ve just spent some time up there, actually. It’s a lot more developed now, it’s quite a pretty place.
DOUG: Boy, is it ever.
DEAN: Yeah – and it was a good learning curve to be in a radio station that far away and really, just - - -
DOUG: So, this must have been a smallish radio station ‘cause Cairns is only a smallish place isn’t it?
DEAN: It was – m’mm, I think Cairns was a population of 100,000 at the time. So it’s not that huge a marketplace, it’s considered to be a provincial station and – m’mm, but it’s different. The country radio stations, they rely on that information that’s being broadcast especially in those days there wasn’t any Internet. It was the hub of information for the town so when there were hurricanes coming through I remember being there for only two weeks and the station manager rang me up and said, okay, the hurricane’s coming – you’re going to be on air, you’ll have to give the hurricane warnings and I thought – like, don’t I get evacuated? What – I’ve got to sit in a radio station - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - while everyone else gets evacuated, what’s going on; yeah, it was an interesting time.
DOUG: It’s Queensland - - -
DEAN: ‘I don’t want to be here, I want to run’.
[laughs]
DEAN: I came back here, I was very lucky to get offered a job back at Fox and I started doing late nights and panelling all the shows, Take 40 Australia. All that kind of stuff, I did weekends at TripleM ‘cause TripleM and Fox had merged into – you know, AusStereo and Village Roadshow so it was hard work, you know? You were doing 70, 80 hours a week but it was the passion. ‘Cause so many people wanted to get into radio you thought: I must have the dream job. Because people kept saying to you daily: I wish I had a job like yours. But you worked really, really hard to keep those positions.
DOUG: A lot of competition?
DEAN: A lot of competition.
DOUG: (and)Always somebody knocking at the door.
DEAN: Yeah – and then, of course, as the world evolved and changed – I think there’ll always be a need for radio, it’s just on what level it develops.
DOUG: I’m interested to see in your CV here that you were at one stage responsible for station promotions and on-air stunts. That sounds awfully Kyle Sandilands?
DEAN: Yeah. I organised the stunts. I was the stunt guy. I’d throw people and myself out of planes and – you know, it was crazy times. I had a station manager who came to me one morning and said, look, I’ve got a great idea. We’re now going to call you “monkey boy” and we’re going to dress you in a monkey outfit and send you out in the streets everyday to do stunts – I’m like, I can’t believe I’m doing this for a job – but you did what you were told. So it was that kind of stuff.
DOUG: So, you had the name: Monkey Boy. Before Paul McDermott - - -
DEAN: Yes.
[laughs]
DOUG: Except apparently he doesn’t need the suit.
DEAN: But we did some crazy stuff – like, people would do it ‘cause they love the station. We had this thing where you’d wake up, you’d send in a message: I want you guys to come and wake my husband up in the morning ‘cause he’s lazy. So, we would park semitrailers up against their bedroom window and then toot the horns. Or drive Harley Davidsons(sic) into their bedroom while they were asleep - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - or brass bands. It was a crazy time. It was – yeah.
DOUG: It doesn’t really happen to the same extent anymore does it?
DEAN: No.
[laughs]
DEAN: It was a lot more creative back then.
DOUG: I think liability insurance might have something to do with it.
DEAN: Absolutely.
DOUG: That’s right.
[laughs]
DOUG: What’s next?
DEAN: M’mm - - -
DOUG: Where to, now – you’ve done all these different things, you’ve got all these skills and that – God, you even did a stint as programme manager here for a while - - -
DEAN: Did a couple of years here. That was where I had my apprenticeship in diplomacy.
[laughs]
DOUG: I think we better leave that one there.
[laughs]
DOUG: But yes, I know exactly what you mean. Community radio is not the same as commercial radio - - -
DEAN: Yeah. It taught me a good lesson ‘cause I was like a bull in a china shop when I came here and I soon realised that you’re dealing with so many different demographics that you’ve got to try and appease and it was challenging but it was rewarding at the same time. Quite an interesting two years.
DOUG: It’s a difficult job and the trouble with this radio station in a sense is that our raison d'être is we’re a gay and lesbian and all the other rest of the alphabet soup kind of thing. We’re not appealing to a demographic - - -
DEAN: M’mm.
DOUG: - - - and we have a huge range of people to appeal to so not everyone’s going to like everything.
DEAN: I think it’s imperative the station works towards – you know, you’re not going to appease everyone all the time and I think it’s working towards a station which you might not love, exactly, the music. You might not love the show – whatever, but with the success it brings with what you deliver on the station people will learn to embrace that.
DOUG: Yeah and I’m all in favour of widening peoples’ horizons. Giving them something outside their comfort zone from time to time - - -
DEAN: M’mm.
DOUG: - - - so that maybe they learn something. Maybe they learn to appreciate a different kind of music. I hadn’t listened to popular music for quite a few years until I started working at the station and I’ve got back into it through being here, you know? In the beginning, listening to Jarrod doing the morning show – and going, I don’t want to listen to this duff-duff noise kind of thing - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: But I’ve learned to appreciate quite a lot of it, now. I think that happens with listeners, too – at least I don’t get people saying: why aren’t you playing any Shirley Bassey - - -
[laughs]
DOUG: - - - did at one time.
DEAN: Yep.
DOUG: To get back to talking about you instead of me – where to, now – do you think? More parties - - -
DEAN: Look, I have got more parties coming up – I mean, it’s one of those things that look, eventually there’ll be someone else come along and they’ll do something different and the crowd will embrace that product and go that direction – and that’s fine. At the moment I think I’m very blessed. I’ve been doing it for six years now and I think it all comes down to – I tend to know a lot of the people that come to the parties, I get to know them. I’ve never ever looked at this thing as being a huge money maker, how I’ve looked at it is I’ve always wanted to give them a quality product at an affordable price. Eight hours where they can forget about the day-to-day, mundane stuff and be entertained and to me it’s been a good concept. It seems to have worked and I think our Melbourne people – you know, I’ve been to parties all over the world and I see it in other states and whatever, but our Melbourne crowd is a special bunch of people. “A”, they’re very forgiving ‘cause if anyone’s going to stuff something up it’s probably me – but they’re forgiving and “B”, they’re excited. We have lots of people who come to this town and go: wow, what an exceptional bunch of people. Because they’re happy, they’re excited. They’re friendly. They care about each other, they look after each other. It’s an important thing so I’ll keep doing that for as long as they’ll keep having me and we’ll see what happens. But lots of little projects on the side that I’ve developed over the last couple of months and I suppose, I’ll probably focus a bit more on those things. I’m one of those people, I need to do 20 things at a time to - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: - - - just function. So it’s all good.
DOUG: What about radio because a lot of exciting things are happening in radio - - -
DEAN: Yeah.
DEAN: Broadcast radio is one thing, that’s moving into the digital era although whether that’s a good idea or not is another question. We’re also getting the growth of things like the Internet radio. The whole radio marketplace is fragmenting - - -
DEAN: M’mm.
DOUG: - - - in the same way as the print marketplace has done.
DEAN: Yeah.
DOUG: Do you see any opportunities in that?
DEAN: Yeah, I do. Radio’s one of those things and I think that if you’re in it as you are Doug and it becomes a little bit a part of you and it’s very hard to let it go. When I step out of it, I end up stepping back in it. In some way, shape or form and I think that’s just I’ve done it since I was 19 and I love it. It’s a fantastic, really important part of our community and I will remain in it in some way, shape or form. The Internet thing’s a very interesting – there’s a lot happening with Internet radio so that will develop and I’ll see where it takes me.
DOUG: I’m glad it brought you here today.
DEAN: [laughs]
DOUG: Thank you.
DEAN: Thank you for having me on. I’m not nervous any more - - -
[laughs]
DOUG: Your mum can relax, you haven’t given away any dirty secrets.
DEAN: Fantastic.
DOUG: Dean Murphy, thanks very much for joining us today.
DEAN: Thanks.
DOUG: Now – m’mm, this one last track is one I particularly love - - -
[laughs]
DOUG: - - - but I do have to warn anybody who is - - -
DEAN: M’mm, m’mm.
DOUG: - - - listening that it does contain the “F” word. More than once. So if you object to the “F” word you’ll have to tune back in about five-and-half minutes time because it’s also quite a long track, it’s called: I Just Want To “F”n(sic) Dance. It’s sung by Shauna Jensen – why - - -
DEAN: Well, I had a [indistinct] party last year and we’d organised this show with Shauna Jensen and she does a great version of this and we had dancers and her coming in. What happened was the dancers had rehearsed for two weeks, doing this number. When they got there that day the whole stage had been redesigned so they didn’t know where they were going - - -
DOUG: [laughs]
DEAN: Shauna Jensen’s plane was late so she was only going to get there five minutes before she had to go on. No rehearsal and I’m thinking to myself this is going to be a complete disaster but when she broke-in to it this woman has such an amazing voice that the crowd erupted. It was fantastic. Anyone who was there would remember it. It was one of those heart racing, I-don’t-think-this-thing’s-go ing-to-come-off. It actually worked.
DOUG: Thanks for your time today, Dean.
DEAN: Thank you. I appreciate it.
DOUG: Thanks for giving me the opportunity to play this. It’s from Jerry Springer the Opera, strangely enough. As I say, if you don’t like the “F” word turn off for about five minutes. This is Shauna Jensen with - - -
[music]
TRANSCRIPT ENDS.
