Out of the Box

Jake Duczynski is a proud Gomeroi man and storyteller. His job as an animator, writer, director and cofounder of Studio Gilay is about reimagining the way stories look and feel. He speaks on the different places he calls home, direction, and what it means to tell stories that have been around since the beginning of time. This episode was edited by Sam Dover. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Sarhys Page is a fitness expert, personal trainer, and performer at heart. But her path to that career has taken a bunch of twists and turns. It involves an Australian Idol audition, a move to New York City, and time spent “floating.” CONTENT WARNING: This episode of Out of the Box contains discussions on alcohol addiction. If this brings anything to the surface for you, you can call Lifeline on 1...

Reg Mombassa has been making art for almost six decades. He was a founding member of Australian rock group Mental as Anything, and he designed a lot of the artwork featured across the Mambo brand. By the year 2000, his art had become so iconically Australian through Mambo that it was all over the Olympic opening ceremony. He speaks on his enduring creative output, his upcoming gigs (across several...

Hau  Lātūkefu doesn’t just talk about what hip hop looks like in Australia; he’s a part of the story. He’s just announced the end of an epic 14-year stint as the host of a national hip hop show. He's also an artist, mentor, record label boss, and now an author - his memoir ‘King' (co-authored by Christopher Riley) just hit shelves. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly Hawkins is a game designer at Wargaming and a guest speaker at Powerhouse Late: Gaming. They speak on where their love for games comes from, what it means to pursue goals later in life, the complex relationship between gaming, gender, and access, and their recovery from perfectionism.  This episode was produced by Ella Stewart and edited by Sam Dover. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Andrew Hull is a writer, artist, poet and musician from Bourke in Far West NSW. He's also Mia's dad. He speaks on the turning points in his life, and the different ways he has grown into his identity over time. Andrew's story is deeply rooted in his home on the Darling river, the Barkaa, and his creativity expands through many tributaries and pursuits.  This episode was produced and edited on Nyem...

Tom Pitts is a Melbourne-based writer, teacher, sound designer and musician. A man of many creative talents, his debut novel ‘Electric and Mad and Brave’ was inspired by two songs he wrote 14 years ago. He speaks on a life of creativity, his passion for teaching, and his encounters with mental illness. CONTENT WARNING: Suicide references. If this episode brings anything to the surface for you, you...

Storytelling is the heart Macario De Souza. Film, music, family and community are his limbs. You might know him as the guy behind Kid Mac, and he directed the documentary ‘Bra Boys’ among many others. He speaks on the place he grew up, how he fell in with Rusell Crowe, and his new coming-of-age film ‘6 Festivals’ which hits cinemas. This epsiode was produced by Tash Noore and edited by Sam Dover S...

Darren Lesaguis is the co-host of Race Matters on FBi Radio as well as the station’s newly appointed program director. He's also the person Mia shares an office with, so as she gets to know the person she spends eight hours a day sitting next to, you'll get to know the person who makes your radio. Among many other things, Darren speaks on his enduring passion for the craft of radio, advocacy, defi...

Celeste Mountjoy is the creator of Filthy Ratbag - an online alter ego known for colourful grungy art that features a rotating cast of characters including rat human hybrid babes in bikinis, shit-talking, cigarette smoking cats, and sarcastic seagulls. They hold a distorted mirror to us that feels like a hilarious punch in the guts - it’s profoundly honest, dark, and humble. This year, Celeste tea...

Artist Luke Sciberras makes paintings about the places he visits - not of them. He speaks on his first survey exhibition, the way artists interact with the world, solitude, and his love for Bob Dylan.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tasman Keith is a Gumbaynggirr man and rapper from Bowraville who now calls Sydney home. He sat down with Mia ahead of his FBi SMACS Fest performance to talk through a life that’s seen the highest highs and lowest lows, often all at once. He speaks on his enduring optimism, a life spent making music, love, loss, and learning. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lauren Brincat is an artist who works with multiple mediums including sculpture installations, moving image, and performance. She speaks on her love of collaboration, the nuances that inform her art making, the joy of constantly learning, and the Egyptian mural she grew up looking att. Lauren's piece 'Tutti Presto fff' was commissioned by the Sydney Opera House for Vivid Sydney 2022.  See omn...

Kate Scardifield has a research driven and experimental studio practice traversing textiles, sculpture, installation and video. Across her artistic practice, her research, and in this episode of Out of the Box, she looks at materials through various states of transformation: exploring different types of encounters with materials and different forms of material knowledge.   See omnystudio...

Elouise Eftos is an actor, singer, dancer and Australia’s first attractive comedian. She joins Mia to discuss a life built on a love of performing, her very eclectic record collection, and what it means to unwittingly spark feminist debate via her comedy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Romy Vager is the frontwoman of Narrm-based post-punk outfit RVG. She speaks on the music she's made, loved, and been inspired by, the songs that have soundtracked the big moments in her life, and what it means to have made songs that soundtrack big moments for others.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

José Alkon is a storyteller. As the owner of a Peruvian ‘taberna’ in Marrickville and as a career cinematographer, José’s stories are colourful and full of life and they traverse the globe. In this episode, speaks on the migrant experience, his passion for telling stories, the coming together of family, an ayahuasca trip and subsequent wedding, his restaur...

Artist and diplomat Fred Smith speaks on traversing the nature strip between his career paths. Fred’s songs reflect the world he has seen in what, so far, has been a messy and interesting life. He joined Mia to talk through a childhood spent "all over the shop" and the way he now dedicates his time to the people around him.  This episode was produced by Tash Noore. See omnystu...

Jisu Im is a full-time digital and multi-platform artist. In this interview and across their artistic practice, Jisu looks at self-love, self-acceptance, and heartbreak through a colourful and cute lense.  This episode was produced by Emma Higgins Editing was done by Sam Dover See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Artist, writer, journalist, mum, and disability advocate Eliza Hull speaks on the roles each of those titles play in her life and how they interact. Eliza’s new book, ‘We’ve Got This’, looks at the journeys of twenty-five parents who identify as Deaf, disabled or chronically ill as they discuss the highs and lows of raising children. This episode was produced...

Director, actor and producer Lily Balatincz speaks on the way the arts can reflect society back to us. She sat down with Mia ahead of her directing debut, ‘bad machine’, which looks at the human impact of the robodebt crisis. She talked through all the moments in her life that brought her to 'bad machine'; starting with her grandparents' journey as refugees and the home they made in Ba...

Independent artist and creative producer Maeve Marsden is a master storyteller. She speaks on her life in the arts, the necessary messiness of her 20s, queer stories and the way they’re shared, how to fist fruit, and her epic love story. Maeve sat down with Mia ahead of her appearance at All About Women at the Sydney Opera House.  This episode was produced by Rebecca Merr...

Sophie Hardcastle is an author, artist, screenwriter and scholar. Their name lives on the cover of the critically acclaimed ‘ Running Like China: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Madness ’ , and ‘ Breathing Under Water ’, and most recently, ‘ Below Deck '. They’re also the co-creator, co-writer and co-director of the online series ‘ Cloudy River &rsq...

Hellen Rose has made a few cameos on Out of the Box before - both as a character in someone else’s stories, and the singer of a track chosen by a previous guest. She is a performance artist, lead singer of Soul Crime, and co-producer of Gittoes Productions. We paid a bit of lip service to Hellen last year when we interviewed her husband and long time collaborator Dr George Gittoes, but she h...

Peter Day is a South West Sydney artist who's worked professionally for more 45 years. He specialises in both fine art and site-specific community engaged public art. He sat down with Mia to run through his earliest memories as a creative kid winning prizes and competitions, navigating his practice with a visual impairment, managing Kirk Gallery - a crash pad for musos, his part in the fruition of...