Five Goalkicking Australian Creatives Give Advice to Their 21-Year-Old Self

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Giving two cents to your younger, wide-eyed, keen-for-life-lessons self is a luxury only those with Time Turners or Deloreans can afford. So the next best thing is asking those (a little) older and (a lot) wiser for their mad tips on how to be a bonafide boss.

From directing one of Australia's best festivals to producing next-level electronica, from shooting Arcade Fire to handpicking and delivering the best music in Australia and the world right to your eardrums, these five Aussie folks have already kicked major goals in their respective creative industries. So we tugged their ears, made 'em give up the goods and lay some sweet advice on us.

Disclaimer: This editor knows these five humans and is lucky to, hence why they dished out such excellent advice.

Image: Tim Da Rin.

CLARE DOWNES, SECRET GARDEN FESTIVAL DIRECTOR

Some people plod on through this little ol' life of ours settling for mundane thrills and spills. But folks like Clare Downes, festival director for NSW's Secret Garden Festival, are different. They've managed to find some unfathomable way to create a career out of unpretentious, unbridled, balls-to-the-wall fun. Founding Secret Garden and running it for eight glorious years on her family's property just outside Sydney, Clare's successfully created a made-by-mates-for-mates event that gets bigger — but not a skerrick less genuine — every year.

Did you go to uni/TAFE? If you did, what did you study?

I did. I went to uni and studied communications journalism.

What's the most random job you've had?

I helped organise an elephant polo tournament in Sri Lanka.

What are your top three tunes for getting shit done?

I can't listen to music when I really, really need to focus. I put on my noise cancelling headphones and don't come up for air for hours.

If you weren't doing what you're doing now, what'd be your alter ego job? Unicorn wrangler counts.

Ha. I would love to advise on sustainable tourism, particularly in Asia. I might still do that ya know? I have many more years of living to go I hope.

What advice would you give your 21-year-old-self?

You're here for a good time, not a long time. So don't let fear drive any decision. Grit and kindness goes a long way in the workforce. So don't worry so much if you're not the top of the class. Don't feel like you have to wear heels, just 'cause everyone else is.

RICH LUCANO, PHONDUPE

Bit of a night owl with a love for crisp, atmospheric, hip hop-infused, Nicholas Jaar-meets-TV on the Radio-like electronica? You're in good company with Rich Lucano. NYC and Sydney-based, Rich is one half of Phondupe with Nathan Chan. The pair produce pretty damn unpindownable beats — check out the duo's Greenhouse EP and The Ecstasy Of single series to know what we're talking about.

What's the most random job you've had?

One time... I was hired to dress up in a penguin costume and cruise around the city in a hummer with four fellow penguins, cranking hip hop and drawing attention by any means possible.

What are your top three tunes for getting shit done?

If you weren't doing what you're doing now, what'd be your alter ego job? 

I'd be a pizza chef that yelled at anyone who asked for a chicken topping.

What advice would you give your 21-year-old-self?

- Quit your band and pick up a drum machine
- Learn how to DJ asap.
- If you have an empty wallet and a bunch of ticket stubs, you're doing the right thing.
- Listen to as much international radio as you can.
- This fluoro phase will be over soon, don't worry.
- Please stop wearing Rabens. Your poor feet.
- Get a photo of you shaking Kanye's hand. No one will ever believe that happened.
- Buy some bitcoins.
- Eat more pizza.
- You don't know shit but everything's going to be great.

Image: FBi Radio.

STEPHEN GOODHEW, FBi RADIO MUSIC DIRECTOR

Looking for new music? How about the best new tunes out there? How about the best new Australian music? Stephen Goodhew knows his shit, ask him for tips. Go on. FBi Radio's insanely knowledgable music director steers the beloved Sydney radio station and its listeners toward damn good tunes every day — 50 percent Australian music, half of that coming from Sydney. Epic job. You can listen to Stephen present 'The Playlist' every week.

Did you go to uni/TAFE? If you did, what did you study?

Yeah, I went to uni, but it was done pretty half-assed. I did a three year degree over six years, just doing one or two subjects a semester. The reason being was so that I could focus on extracurricular activities (i.e my band), which was great, but also meant that I came away feeling pretty 'meh' about the whole uni experience.

I studied a Bachelor of Media at Macquarie University, but here's the thing; you don't actually need a degree to do a lot of jobs in media. Don't get me wrong, it certainly helps to have on your resume, but most people I know who land jobs do so based on their work experience. I would definitely recommend doing as many internships/volunteer positions as you can while you're studying, even if it means your degree takes a little longer.

What are your top three tunes for getting shit done?

Deafheaven — 'Dream House': Straight up, I challenge you to listen to this song and not feel compelled to run up a mountain or swim Bass Strait. If you're looking for something of a productivity sprint, this is the song.

Steve Reich — 'Music for 18 Musicians': This is the track for the medium pace long-haul. It has this wonderful hypnotic quality about it that I find helps me focus, while it's constant momentum keeps me pushing forward. The fact that it's 61 minutes in length also helps set something of a time-goal as well.

Todd Terje — 'Delorean Dynamite': Whenever this song plays all I can think is that I'm creating a real life '80s style montage of inspiration and by god I better not mess it up. Great motivator. A+.

What's the most random job you've had?

I've never done anything super random like helping rhinos breed for the sake of conservation, but I did used to work in a tea store for a number of years, which was a slightly weird segue into alternative radio, but there you go.

If you weren't doing what you're doing now, what'd be your alter ego job? 

I'm fascinated by people and their motivations. Chances are if we've ever had a conversation that's lasted longer than five minutes, I've probably tried to work out your Myers-Briggs personality type. So with that in mind, I'd probably say, psychologist. I guess that's probably not quite as exciting as I'd like it to sound, but it sure beats a hard day in the field helping endangered herbivores procreate.

What advice would you give your 21-year-old-self?

People are generally more worried about what you think of them than the other way around. Act with a quiet confidence, don't be afraid to put yourself out there and you'll be amazed at the opportunities that come your way.

BRIDIE CONNELLAN, UNIVERSAL MUSIC MARKETING DIRECTOR

If you've listened to Kendrick Lamar, Dr Dre, The Weeknd, Lorde, Disclosure, Jarryd James or The Preatures, chances are Bridie's had a hand in your Spotify playlist. Universal Music's Marketing Director switched course from journalism and writing for Rolling Stone, kicking goals for Sydney's TITLE store as Creative Director before moving to Universal and invading Sydney with Disclosure face paste-ups citywide.

Did you go to uni/TAFE? If you did, what did you study?

The brain the brain the centre of the chain. I studied a Bachelor of Arts (Media & Communications) at the University Of Sydney — biggest bunch of badasses all trying to out-do each other on cultural capital and debating Bourdieu's relevance. Occasionally we learnt things about 'the media' but mostly we drank wine and stayed in the media lab until 4am wrestling with Final Cut Pro.

But seriously it was the realest. Four huge years of digging into the theoretical side make everything I do now have so much more cultural relevance to me, and I made some of the best friends of my life there. Go study kids.

What are your top three tunes for getting shit done?

R.L. Grime — 'Scylla': 'Cause you feel heaps good saving the world.

Kanye West — 'Black Skinhead': I keep it 300, like the Romans.

Gang of Youth — 'Magnolia': Play it LOUD, and imagine your mates cheering you on.

What's the most random job you've had?

I was Khloe Kardashian's 'Talent Escort' for the MTV Music Awards. Yeah I'm not gonna explain that further.

If you weren't doing what you're doing now, what'd be your alter ego job? 

I'm a sucker for existential theory and questioning the shit out of everything so I'd be a white-haired monochrome-wardrobed philosophy academic probably halfway through my next book on the flaws of Descartes which will probably remain unfinished. Because #being.

What advice would you give your 21-year-old-self?

Stop wearing that Franz Ferdinand t-shirt, they're not very good.

Image: Hazal Alkic.

YAYA STEMPLER, PHOTOGRAPHER AND FBi RADIO PRESENTER

If you've seen an impossibly epic photograph of [insert musician here] and [insert Australian music event here], it's likely Yaya Stempler snapped it. The Israel-raised, Sydney-based photographer shoots some of Australia's best music photography — she's responsible for making the likes of Blur, Arcade Fire, D'Angelo, Tame Impala, Childish Gambino, deadmau5, Phoenix and more look damn good. Keen to chat about the tunes as well as shoot them, Yaya's also a presenter on Sydney's FBi Radio.

Did you go to uni/TAFE? If you did, what did you study?

I studied screen media and broadcasting at St Leonard's TAFE and a fine art degree majoring in photomedia at COFA.

What are your top three tunes for getting shit done?

David Bowie — 'Suffragette City'

Santigold — 'L.E.S Artistes'

Clams Casino — 'Treetop'

What's the most random job you've had?

I was a fire juggler once in Mexico.

If you weren't doing what you're doing now, what'd be your alter ego job? 

Definitely an orangutan whisperer.

What advice would you give your 21-year-old-self?

Don't doubt your abilities, trust your instincts, think before you speak and drink lots of water.

Top image: Tim Da Rin.