Q&A with Andrew Green, DJ Walkie Talkie
Meet our February guest blogger. We chat to Andrew Green aka Walkie Talkie about his style, DJ:ing, writing and design aspirations. Having returned back to Sydney last year from a stint in Stockholm, Sweden, we also expect to get injected with some of his Scandinavian influences and memories.
Click the Play button below and enjoy one of his DJ mixes which includes a tracklist of artists such as The Hives, Empire of the Sun and The Presets, just to mention a few!
Name: Andrew Green
Nick names: Friends = Greeny or Walkie Talkie, my pseudonym for DJ:ing, writing and designing.
Profession: DJ and Marketing Consultant
Location: Surry Hills, Australia
Passion: Progression and achievement in whatever I do.
How I got my break:
I sent a MySpace message to play at Purple Sneakers and BANG!
My 3 top tips for success:
Be a genuine person, karma goes two ways.
Eat. Your brain works so much better and you make the right decisions.
Don’t over-plan or you will just procrastinate. Start doing stuff and learn as you go.
My style in a sentence:
Clean lines, new, simple, solid form – I like Nordic designs.
Travel destination and tips:
My heart lies in Stockholm, Sweden. Be sure to hang out in Södermalm for all the best stores, clubs and cool people. It is nice to sit at Mosebackes pub that is about 300 years old. Have a beer while looking over the city and listening to local acts such as Lykke Li.
I bet you didn’t know I can:
Sew, cook and clean. Maybe I was a 1930’s housewife in a previous life.
I get my inspirations from:
Other people that are making their way in what they want to do. The latest person to inspire me is Mark Ronson. I am always interested to learn how much a privileged background such as his contributes to or detracts from gaining success.
My latest project is about:
Combining DJing, Marketing Consultancy and writing into a full-time career that allows me to work from almost anywhere in the world.
My last purchase: A wok because I love cooking.
My current favourite mecho item:
The Casio Databank Retro Calculator Watch because a friend and I are looking to set up a watch company and these guys are good inspiration.
Pssstt…..One time………
In my second week living in Stockholm, I went with some new friends to see MSTRKRFT play. Alcohol is really expensive in clubs there ($20 for a gin and tonic) so we drank before hand in a park. I was not yet experienced in drinking the Swedish way called “Förfest” or pre-party and so once I got into the club things went pair shaped. I saw one song, removed myself from the club and then blank.
A few hours later I woke up under some bushes in a park behind a bench with my crotch vibrating wildly. I must have hidden there so nobody could see me, and I figured that the vibrating was my phone which I must have stashed so nobody could steal it. When I checked my phone I had 22 missed calls from my friends and text messages like “We are at an after party with MSTRKRFT, where are you?” I was CRUSHED.
mecho team invites to you to continue the conversation with Andrew Green below, feel free to poke him with your comments and questions! Make it fun! Post comments with your own free personal Gravatar
NOTE: ARCHIVE ONLY from FEB-09. You may leave a comment but please note Andrew is no longer actively responding to any questions post 28 Feb-09.
Thanks for your support! Sign up for your FREE mecho e-newsletter and add us on:
Discover More Stylish features below:
READ MORE
MORE
GUEST BLOGGER
30 comments
30 Comments Add your own
1.
victor santana | February 2nd, 2009 at 10:35 am
cheers ears for putting the mix up, saved my monday morning!
2.
Kaz | February 2nd, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Hi Andrew, I like your profile shot. Who dressed you up and took the photos? //Kaz//
3.
Steve Rack | February 2nd, 2009 at 4:16 pm
I like your individual style, and your tracks are really fresh.
Like you, I got noticed on MySpace. Do you get a lot of gigs via MySpace, and does it still play an important role within your career?
4.
Andrew | February 3rd, 2009 at 8:31 am
Hey Victor, glad you liked the mix. With this mix I tried to show the sorts of music that you might hear me play in a club, I think its so much more fun to cut across genres and styles.
If you in Sydney this coming weekend I will be playing at Playground Weekender festival. Primal Scream, The Streets, Jose Gonzales, Cold War Kids and Crystal Castles amongst others are playing too.
5.
Andrew | February 3rd, 2009 at 8:46 am
Hi Kaz,
cheers for the props on the photo.
Alvin from Sydney menswear (and soon to be womens wear come winter) label Saint Augustine Academy fitted me out with threads, Marco at LA Eyeworks got me the optical frames and Zach and Kane from the French shoe company Schmoove (Springcourts sister company) made my feet comfy.
Maja Baska did the photos. She somehow manages to get really good photos out of really average people (like me).
Check out these…
http://www.saintaugustineacademy.com.au/
http://www.left.com.au/pub/p_product.php?range_id=23
http://www.laeyeworks.com/
6.
Andrew | February 3rd, 2009 at 8:56 am
Hi Steve,
MySpace is good to get an online presence. However its popularity and thus the exposure you get has changed in Australia over the last two years. It seems to be a younger audience that use it now.
I still post info about gigs, mixes and new music but not as frequently as I used to, but I still have people offer me gigs through my page from time to time.
Facebook has become the best way of promoting gigs/club nights for sure. Try using Last.fm its a real music lovers website/network.
What was your MySpace experience?
7.
Kaz | February 3rd, 2009 at 3:17 pm
What an entourage! Did you find them or they found you?? Pass on my props to all of them! Actually thought you were wearing Swedish first as I read that you lived there but also the Stockholm fashion photos was in similar type of style. So are you a designer too or what was it i read that?
8.
Julian James | February 3rd, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Hi Andrew… natty threads and natty tunes too… I finally got round to finishing some work and sending it off whilst listening to your mix! Nice… ^_^
9.
brinky | February 4th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
ok slap me if tis dumb but i wonder if djs need permission 2 mix other ppls music, do u have 2 pay royalty fee or do u ever get paid 4 using music as u make them look cool..? btw, my sis goin 2 playgrounder, will tell her 2 watch out 4 u!
10.
Andrew | February 4th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Hi Brinky,
no its actually a really good question.
Technically my mixtape is illegal. Just like watching a video on a long bus trip through the inhouse entertainment system is illegal too.
But there is no real policing of it.
Early last year a whole bunch of music organisations in Australia (the boards consist of big record company CEOs) introduced a bunch of new laws including a DJ license!!!
There was a lot of crap going on; it was going to cost DJs a lot, it had loopholes everywhere, there were about 4 agencies overlapping there responsibilities…
basically I have not heard a thing about it since mid last year.
But, I do believe that artists need to be compensated somehow as DJs use their music.
and your send question…
Record companies and bands often send you music to play in clubs. It helps ‘break’ the song before it gets onto radio. That is the the positive part that DJs play in the music cycle. But I have not been offered money to play peoples music but Im sure it happens to superstar DJs.
Tell your sis to come say hi and make a request!
11.
Andrew | February 4th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Im glad you found some extra productivity while listening to my mix. Another one will be dropping in two weeks.
12.
Andrew | February 4th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Hi Kaz,
when I like something I try to go after it, so thats what happened with all the hook ups. They were all really good people to work with too and Im really happy to do anything I can to help other people in small businesses.
I used to do some freelance design for a snowboarding outerwear company in Australia just after I finished studying fashion, but my love for it faded.
So now my focus is on DJing and marketing, but im investigating getting into watchmaking.
And one of my goals for 2009 was not to buy any new T-shirts, but to make them. I hate seeing someone else wearing my “favourite shirt”.
13.
Carol and Jeff Green | February 4th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
About those photos by Maja Baska – what makes you think you are average. We think you are a really good looking young bloke
Bessie and Jeff
14.
Andrew | February 5th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Ahahaha,
nothing like having your biggest fans reading your stuff.
15.
Maxie | February 5th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Best gig you have been at? Dream gig you want to play at?
Think I will be joining that fanclub too!
16.
OztroBoy | February 6th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
OMG i can’t get that empire of the sun song out of my head now, my office mates tellin me to turn up.
AwEsom mix Andrew! starts @ 6:14 guys, listen now
17.
Andrew | February 9th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Hey Maxie,
I just got back from playing at Playground Weekender Festival out on The Hawkesberry River. My gig was not so great as I had bands sound checking over my set, but the festival was amazing.
As a group (Purple Sneakers DJs) we just played at The Big Day Out in Sydney and we nailed out first set, It was worth rehearsing untill 4am the night before.
The best individual gig I have played was in December at Karova Lounge in Ballarat. After playing for more than 3 hours there was still a full club at 4am that they had to kick out. Its an awesome venue and people down there really know how to party.
And at we played as a group at Splendor in The Grass in 2007 and also at the official afterparty. We played Bloc Partys song Banquet and wondered why evryone went so nuts, then we looked up and saw Kelli (the lead singer of Bloc Party) crowd surfing infront of us to his own song! that was a spin out.
18.
Andrew | February 9th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Hi Oztro Boy,
its really good to get feedback about the mix and Im glad you liked it. I thought Id change the Empire of The Sun track a little bit by chopping and looping parts of it and blending Outkast over the top.
Jump onto my MySpace http://www.myspace.com/walkietalkiedj or join my page on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=30598581757&ref=ts or get reading my blog whatsupbywalkietalkie.blogspot.com so in the next 2 weeks when I release my new mix you can get listening to it and drop it onto your mp3 player.
19.
Mischa | February 11th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
How and why did you get into marketing if you studied Fashion?!? Also what did you do in Sweden? Id love to go there!
20.
Andrew | February 13th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Hey Mischa,
while studying fashion I learnt what the difference between a good designer and a good design student was. I was the latter.
Being able to understand marking criteria allowed me to get great marks but I felt there were many more talented designers than me. And the marketing subject at fashion school was what I excelled at best, so I went in that direction.
In Sweden, the first time there I was studying in a city called Uppsala that was about 1 1hour north of Stockholm. Lots of partying, loads of travel and huge amounts of money was spent on shopping. At the end of my studies there I picked up a job as a Marketing Consultant for a small PR company call Tactiq.
Three months after I returned to Australia Tactic flew me back to Sweden to do a 6 week project for them in the middle of the Swedish summertime.
Go to Sweden! The people are great, the fashion is sharp and the country in Summertime is the most fun I have ever had.
21.
Dee | February 15th, 2009 at 9:51 am
i went to playground too!! it was fab! not sure if spotted you but would have been tooo shy anyways to come and say hi… hope you didnt had to dj at the rainy good vibes yday? or mayb call it bad vibes as friends rated it 3 out of 10 on facebook.. so happee i didnt go! heard there are some very good festivals during summer in sweden, did you go or played at any wehn you lived there?
22.
Mischa | February 15th, 2009 at 11:34 am
That makes sense, Andrew. I always wanted to get into Fashion but scared of the competition and trouble making a living out of it if you are not good enough. Went the safe way and did Business but sometimes wonder what if I had tried… At least you did!
Sounds like you are enjoying marketing and you must be good at it, not bad being flown back to Sweden for a project! It sounds like a wonderful place and thanks for the tip, its on the travel list for sure.
23.
Steve Rack | February 16th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Hi Andrew. Thanks for your response. I have a Facebook now too. I have to agree with you that Facebook is the new MySpace.
Anyway, in answer to your question (BTW sorry for such a delay in my response), and to cut a long story short, I started a daily character blog on MySpace. I got positive reactions from indie bands and magazines, and before I knew it, I was on an art assignment back stage at Glasto ‘08 for an art mag. Things progressed from there. Hey, if ever you need some art, and you like my style, just give me a shout.
Keep up the great tunes.
Steve
24.
Andrew | February 16th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Hey Mischa,
if you are happy doing what you are doing, then stay with it.
But if there is something burning inside of you to get into fashion, DO IT!
Also, there are a lot of very interesting areas in the world of fashion apart from being a designer such as stylists, brand managers, events coordinators. So consider getting into one of these areas.
Something I have learnt from being involved in creative industries like fashion, is that often, creative people lack business sense. So if you have a grounding in business already maybe you could blend the two perfectly.
Good Luck!
25.
Andrew | February 16th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Hey Dee,
playgrounder was awesome! You might of seen me on the fancy dress saturday, I had some weird technicolour dream coat (it was actually a womans business suit once!) on.
No I was not at Good Vibes, but I did manage to see Chromeo do a private DJ set on the rooftop of the Ivy last night, which was pretty cool.
As for festivals in Scandinavia, Roskilde in Denmark is by far the best. Its up there with Coachella, Fuji Rock and Glastonbury.
In Sweden, Hultsfred and Way Out West are two of the better ones. Their festival season is packed tightly into a two month block over summer because its the only time of the year that weather is suitable.
Unfortunately I was busy with work so I didnt make it to any last summer.
26.
Dee | February 18th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
oooh a private set with chromeo on top of ivy sounds unreal!! last time i saw them was standing in middle of martins place on festival first night last year.
yeah have some swedish friends who told me about hultsfred and roskilde. heard it can get quite messy!!
im now trying to win some of those FMF tix as im broke from all the partying. (=
27.
Kevin | February 18th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
I’m with Steve – keep it up man
28.
Mischa | February 22nd, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Did you have a nice weekend? Thanks for the tips and inspiration! It’s a bit scary right now with job cuts everywhere… Guess just need to gather some courage and just DO IT!
29.
mecho team | February 22nd, 2009 at 6:31 pm
The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis’. One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger – but recognise the opportunity…
30.
OztroBoy | February 25th, 2009 at 10:27 am
Did anyone catch the oscars on the box?
how bootie lushish was Beyonce and Hugh Jackman, also diggin’ the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack
Leave a Comment
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed