Stuart, I grew up reading your Dolly reviews as a teen and was always amused by your witticisms and exhortations that we should listen to cooler music (it was probably you who first got me into the Hoodoo Gurus). Since the 70s, you’ve written for a wide range of publications, including your Roadrunner mag at Adelaide Uni, Rave Magazine, Rolling Stone, and the Sydney Morning Herald. Your gigs as a publicist included work with such luminaries as The Cramps and The Clash and you’ve also worn the hat of band manager. Do you recall the early days fondly, and have your own personal musical tastes changed much since then?

Roadrunner was after I’d left Flinders Uni and not connected with it. I had edited Empire Times which was the Flinders Uni mag.
 
Of course I recall them fondly! What wasn’t to like? Looking back on four decades of writing about music I have cause to reflect on just how lucky I’ve been. OK, I can string a sentence together but I’ve also found myself in the right place and the right time. I also grew up in the last great age for music journalism – lots of wonderful publications to write for, good editors who cared about words and ideas, and the freedom to stretch out and – heaven forbid – be critical and not beholden to the pressures of record companies and their advertising spends. I don’t think my musical tastes have really changed all that much – I used to say that there was nothing wrong with loving Hank Williams and ABBA – at the same time. That’s still how I feel. I just look for music that moves me and I don’t really care where it comes from.  I listen to a crazy amount of new music – but also still listen to most of the music I grew up with. My love of English, Scottish and Irish folk music endures. I like Supertramp and ELO now more than I did then, and I’m not sure I still feel as passionately about Grand Funk Railroad  and Uriah Heep. I still worship the likes of Dylan, Springsteen, Presley and Sinatra.
 
Your biography of the legendary Michael Gudinski, ‘Gudinski: The Godfather of Australian Rock ‘n’ Roll’, is set for release at the end of this month. When did you first start thinking about writing this book and what’s the research and writing process been like?

After my book The Promoters was published in 2003 Michael told me how much he liked it. To date he’s bought 170 copies of it. He signs it and gives it to people. It was then that I started thinking about a book just on him. So I tried to convince Michael about a book for over a decade – and he says he’s turned down dozens of offers and proposals to have one written by or about him. I realized about 18 months ago that he was probably never going to agree to having one written so my publisher, Matthew Kelly, and I decided we’d just start writing one and see what happened. Michael then spent at least a year hoping that I, and the book project, would just disappear, but, eventually, he realized that wasn’t going to happen so – somewhat reluctantly I must say – he agreed to a few interview sessions and gave his blessing to people in his world talking to me. I was very clear that I didn’t want to write a history of Mushroom Records or Frontier Touring Company – it is a book about Michael and his world. I read pretty much everything I could find about him – and was surprised (and then not given his attention span) that he’s sat for very few long form interviews in his career. Some parts of his life, Skyhooks and Split Enz, for example, are already very well documented. Then I started talking to people and filling in the gaps. Everyone – and I mean EVERYONE – has a Michael story. I had to work out which ones were true, and then if and how they related to my story. The actual order then seemed to find itself – but at last count I had gone through no less than 15 versions of the manuscript. I can almost recite the whole book now!
 
 
What have been Michael Gudinski’s most profound contributions to the Australian musical landscape, from your perspective, and how has he influenced you personally?

There’s many of them. Forming Mushroom Records in the early 1970s is clearly one of the main ones. His obsessive devotion to and support for Australian musicians is key. His intensity, passion and almost religious zeal for local music is what makes him stand out. He really is the most significant figure in the Australian music industry over the past 50 years.  His influence on me – well, he’s caused me to spend a lot of money on records he’s released and concerts he’s promoted. When I was managing Paul Kelly in the 1980s he taught me an enormous amount about how the Australian and international music business works. He constantly reminds me that one of the great luxuries we have in our lines of work is that we can be totally ourselves. I don’t and never have owned a suit and tie. I suspect Michael might be the same!
 
I know you’ve known Michael for many years. How did he respond when he first heard that you were going to write this biography? Did he have any reservations and does he make for an easy interview subject?

As I mentioned earlier he was initially extremely reluctant, and I sense that he’s still far from comfortable. This isn’t an authorised book but he did have the opportunity to correct factual errors – of which I’m pleased to say he found very few. When his ’fact’ correcting quickly reached the level of telling me that the green Jaguar he bought in the early 1970s was second-hand and not new, I realised I was pretty much on the mark with the bigger stuff. He’s a tough interview subject as he doesn’t really have the attention span to focus on any one subject for more than a couple of minutes. An hour with Gudinski can seriously traverse 100 different subjects – so then you have to decipher the wordage! Can’t say it wasn’t – for the most part – a lot of fun though!
 
You put your first indie label, Green Records, together back in the early 80s. Your current label, Laughing Outlaw Records has been in existence since 1999 and features a solid stable of young Aussie artists. How has the local music scene evolved over the years and what keeps things fresh and exciting for you?

The music caper seems to change daily – particularly with the emergence of new technology. The major change I see is that artists are now their own retailers at shows as record shops are largely a thing of the past. And I believe that music for the most part – like it or not – will continue to be predominantly free, which presents an entirely different landscape for everyone. I say to artists that we’re no longer in the music business because there isn’t one – we’re in the merchandise business. So music is something you create and give away to hopefully persuade people to pay to come to live shows and buy T shirts and other merchandise. As for me – if I don’t wake up and during the course of the day, hear something chill-inducingly-brilliant, I’ve had a bad day – that can be new or old music. And how bad is my day – I spend them talking to artists, listening to music, talking about it on the radio and writing about it. Tough!
 
I know it would be difficult to distil your decades of live gigs down to a handful of favourites; but, off the top of your head, what have been three standout live music shows that you’ve seen and why?
 
There are of course thousands but as you asked, off the top of my head . . .

• Bruce Springsteen& The E Street Band – any place any time. I’ve been seeing Bruce since 1981 and I don’t believe the world will ever see a greater live performer. He’s probably better now than at any stage in his career.
• Bob Dylan – State Theatre and Opera House 2014. I’m the only Australian to interview Dylan twice and I’ve seen him a lot over the years. This last tour he was singing better than ever, looked positively happy and both shows I saw were completely moving.
• First Aid Kit – Sydney Opera House 2013 (I think). Two sisters from Sweden. I expecting them to be great but had no idea just HOW good. That’s what makes for a transcendent live music experience. I was just shaking my head at how sublime their performance was and I realised why Patti Smith and Paul Simon had been reduced to tears watching First Aid Kit perform their songs.

I could go on with this one!

Buy GUDINSKI now!

 

BIO

Stuart Coupe (born 1956) has worked as a journalist, author, editor, manager, record label director, radio presenter, publicist and tour promoter.

After growing up in Launceston, Tasmania he attended Flinders University in Adelaide (1976 – 78) where he became editor of the university magazine, Empire Times, and founded the music magazine Roadrunner. In late 1978 he was poached by Rock Australia Magazine (RAM) and moved to Sydney. After 18 months at RAM he became the music writer for the Sun Herald for the next decade as well as freelancing for countless publications ranging from the National Times to Dolly. Stuart is the only Australian to interview Bob Dylan twice and has conducted thousands of conversations with musicians from around the globe. He estimates that he has had in excess of six million words published over the years.

Stuart also managed the Hoodoo Gurus, and then Paul Kelly through the period when Kelly recorded the quartet of albums Post, Gossip, Under The Sun and So Much Water, So Close To Home. Over the years he has continued to manage artists such as X, Perry Keyes, LJ Hill, Starky and The Devoted Few.

As a tour promoter Stuart was responsible for Australian tours by musicians Guy Clark, Lucinda Williams, Chris Whitley, Ted Hawkins, Link Wray, Dick Dale, Harry Dean Stanton, Dave Alvin, Kinky Friedman, Chris Smither, Rosanne Cash, Mary-Chapin Carpenter and others. He also promoted events and tours with authors James Ellroy, Ed McBain, Lawrence Block, Elmore Leonard and PJ O’Rourke. He used those experiences as the basis for the successful book The Promoters (2003) which was recently reissued. That is one of ten books that Stuart has written, co-written or edited.

After a stint co-presenting the album show on 2MMM in the 1980s, Stuart has spent the past thirteen years presenting a weekly show on FBi radio in Sydney. He also presents a show entitled Dirt Music on radio 2SER and during 2013 filled in for Lucky Oceans on Radio National. He is also a frequent commentator on radio, TV and in print media on matters relating to music and popular culture.

Stuart has frequently worked as a publicist, starting with The Clash, The Cramps and other international artists. He is a founder and director of Laughing Outlaw Records which began in 1999 and has done the bulk of the publicity for the more than 180 releases from the label. Laughing Outlaw releases music from predominantly new and emerging Australian artists working in a wide range of styles from jazz to folk, Americana, punk rock, bluegrass, vaudeville, singer/songwriter and psychedelia. Stuart is also responsible for all contract negotiations and marketing for artists on the label.

For 17 years Stuart was the crime fiction book reviewer of the Sydney Morning Herald. He also founded and edited Mean Streets magazine and co-edited three crime fiction anthologies. In 2005 at the annual Ned Kelly Awards he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the crime fiction genre.

Stuart has attended the SXSW music industry conference in Austin, Texas most years since 2001. In 2012 and 2013 he presented panels on the Australian music industry. He has been a speaker at the WAMI Conference in Perth, Music Business Adelaide, and Big Sound in Brisbane. He has also been a panellist at various Sydney Writers’ Festivals.

Stuart is married and has four adult children. He likes talking about Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and the Sydney Swans, not necessarily in that order.

 

It’s probably the writer in me talking when I say that I’m a sucker for interesting narrative choices and meaningful characterisation, and Sense8 delivers these things in veritable bucket loads. The 12-episode first season takes advantage of its Netflix-supported platform to deliver a visceral, complex, and intelligent experience that I devoured in one sitting.

The show follows the individual stories of eight ‘sensates’ from eight cities with very different life experiences and abilities; these eight characters form a ‘cluster’ who become psychically attuned to tap into one another’s thoughts, senses, and memories as the season progresses. The empathy these characters develop in their deep understanding of one another is extended to the audience, as we feel elated at their successes and devastated by their failures.

Each member of the cluster is able to ‘visit’ the others or ‘share’ one another’s bodies. A sensate that possesses useful skills often takes over another to help them when emotions are running high, particularly in life-threatening situations. The sensates possess a variety of skills—martial arts, weapons knowledge, driving, computer hacking, and chemistry among them—and there is always an audience air-punch moment when you work out who was needed to assist in a particular scene or when things play out as you expected (often with some added awesomeness that you hadn’t even considered). The action sequences in the second half of the season are even more impressive as the sensates start to rack up combo moves, with four or five sensates taking over for different parts of a master plan so that everything runs perfectly.

Air-punching isn’t the only emotional reaction Sense8 provoked in me.  I was incredibly angry for Nomi—a hacktivist and transwoman—when her mother disrespected her and her use of preferred pronouns, was gutted by the sad events composing DJ Riley’s history, and cried tears of joy for Mexican actor Lito’s personal journey. Sense8 prioritises the characterisation of individuals over the season plot arc and, while this makes for some clumsy exposition in places, it shines the spotlight sharply on the shared experiences of these eight totally different yet fundamentally human characters.

Being on Netflix, rather than mainstream television, allows Sense8 to accurately, shamelessly—and sometimes quite graphically—depict the human experience, connecting to the show’s central premise of human connection and empathy.

Sense8 refuses to shy away from topics and images that are generally considered taboo: sexuality and gender diversity, racial diversity, religion, sexual and non-sexual nudity (including incredibly symbolic scenes of babies crowning) and graphic violence. When criminal safe-cracker Wolfgang accidentally visits conservative chemist Kala while he was swimming naked at a bathhouse, his stark, non-sexual nudity reminded me of just how ‘human’ this show is. The openness with which Sense8 includes and explores the primal, natural aspects of the human experience reinforces its attempt to induce empathy.

The empathy fostered by Sense8 also makes it perfect for exploring diversity, and the show certainly makes use of this platform. Of the eight main characters, two—Lito and Nomi—are sexually attracted to their own gender and are in loving, dynamic relationships with fantastic secondary characters. Some viewers have considered these queer characters stereotypical or believe that Sense8 spends too much time focusing on their sexuality rather than other aspects of their characters, but I disagree; while the characters are used as vehicles to explore queer issues—including the journey from shame to pride, reaching self-acceptance, overcoming bullying and oppression, and the impact sexuality can have on families or careers—queer relationships are not given more attention than those relationships that are more commonly seen in the media. I assume that most criticisms about the amount of queer representation and discussion in Sense8 are founded in perception bias, with audiences not used to being exposed to such diversity.

Not only does the show seek to expose audiences to varied sexualities and genders, but it also provides an employment opportunity for gender-diverse actors and actresses to fill these roles. Jamie Clayton, who portrays Nomi, is a transwoman, and her own experiences give Nomi’s story incredible weight and significance.

These behind-the-scenes choices continue to impress. Actors hired for the cast aren’t all from Hollywood, with many having successful careers in Korea or India or Africa, where their characters live. Everything is shot on location—explaining Sense8’s high budget—and extras are sourced domestically, which further contributes to the feeling of authentic diversity that the show produces.

Though a mix of cultures is represented, the characters don’t seem token. For example, there are a wide variety of Indian characters in the show, some religious, some not, some living in India, others having moved elsewhere at a young age, some always in traditional dress, others not, some in arranged marriages, others pursuing love marriages. Kala’s storyline focuses on the difficulty of making decisions for love while navigating family pressures.

There are many other points where the diversity of characters is explored, but also where their underlying similarities are emphasised: each of the eight sensates in the cluster are strong, but in different ways; they have very different families, but most have lost a parent or parental figure; and they experience strange psychic phenomena, but react differently based on their cultural context and personality. It’s been suggested that this diversity might be off-putting for some critics, but for many viewers (myself included) it’s inspiring.

Even with the occasional confusing or neglected plot point, the first season of Sense8 is incredibly intelligent and gives me high hopes for future seasons. There is extensive use of symbolism to add to the already important characterisation of the sensates and secondary characters. In particular, the childbirth scene mentioned earlier depicts each sensate’s first breath: Wolfgang’s water birth reflects his time in the bathhouse, Lito’s birth in front of a television is indicative of his acting career, and Nomi’s c-section places further symbolic distance between her and her mother. The many settings in the show are symbols too, with Woflgang’s Berlin a dark, rainy depiction that reflects how he sees his life, sitting in stark contrast to the bright and colourful San Francisco where Nomi lives. The cuts between characters feeling similar emotions in slums and expensive apartments, prisons and art galleries, further emphasises the external differences but inner similarities of the sensates, and all people.

Sense8 is a slow burn, with some ambiguity in the first few episodes to reflect the confusion of the sensates, and this could be a turn-off for some, but with shows like Game of Thrones (the ultimate slow burn!) at the pinnacle of popularity, many will be able to excuse this. The intelligence of the show encourages the audience to think, rather than simply consume, and to theorise about what might happen next.

I can’t stop thinking about the links between Kala working for a company that creates pharmaceuticals; Korean businesswoman Sun and her father’s involvement in the pharmaceutical industry; African bus-driver Capheus and his desire to buy pharmaceuticals to help his mother live with AIDS; and the impact drugs have had on Riley’s storyline. Surely lines will be drawn between these similarities in the next season’s plot arc?

Sense8 is laced with so many tiny, intricate details that I’m sure there are many more interesting connections that I’m yet to notice and explore. While I’m waiting with bated breath to hear if Netflix will renew the show for season two, I know I won’t be able to resist re-watching these twelve episodes in search of more.

The science fiction in Orphan Black has been highly praised for its realistic depictions of genetic engineering, human cloning, and the ethics behind it all. However, this is not the only true or relevant aspect of the show. Its large cast of female characters are at the heart of the story and this is primarily what makes the series so believable and real. Without the intrusion of dominant male characters to define who they are, these women are portrayed as multidimensional, fully realized individuals who can think and act for themselves–much like women outside your television screen.

Those who have not watched the show and experienced what these women are made of, may, from the outside, see some cliches: Sarah is a punk rock con artist; Alison is a suburban, straight-laced soccer mom; Cosima is a nerdy PhD student; and Helena is a trained murderer with a dark past. Although these stereotypes presumably encapsulate their personalities, there is much more to them than what’s on the surface. And despite them being clones and coming from the same genome, in no way are they exact replicas of each other, unlike the cookie cutter versions of women seen on many other television shows today.

Sarah Manning is the main protagonist and within the first few minutes of her airtime, we see a criminal who’s made a handful of poor choices. However, she is much more than that. She’s a mother, a sister, and part of a bigger and controversial issue that surrounds her and her sister clones. We come to learn that her intentions are not all bad as she will fight tirelessly for her own, and her clone sisters’, freedom and individuality. She could have very easily been put into a box as the punk character constantly doing the wrong thing, needing to be saved. But Sarah doesn’t need anyone to save her because she is fully capable of saving herself. Tatiana Maslany plays the parts of all the clones in the show and because they are all vastly different characters, we constantly see the breadth of Maslany’s talent.

Orphan Black is a show that seeks to portray empowered women and is a genuine celebration of diversity. Although the clones are unalike and come from different backgrounds, they support each other, love each other, and want the best for each other. This can not always be said for other televisions shows that pit woman against woman in meaningless antagonisms, which only reinforce the stereotype that women are overly dramatic. No…in Orphan Black we find a family that works together for their collective happiness.

The men in this show are less fully realised: Paul is a secretive man easily distracted by sex; Art is a typical cop; Vic is an abusive drug dealer. They are mostly antagonists, created to get in Sarah and the clones’ way. The only man in the series who is consistently smart, strong, and worth anything is Felix Dawkins (played by Jordan Gavaris), Sarah’s adopted brother. Felix could have easily been written as “the gay comic relief”, but instead was able to transcend the labels and become something more. He’s an integral part of the show, and his sexuality (like Cosima’s) is just seen as another piece of who he is and not a defining characteristic to focus on for either comedic or dramatic purposes.

There’s been some discussion that perhaps Orphan Black goes too far in its poor treatment of male characters. Many believe they are one dimensional in order to make the female characters stronger and more important. And while it does seem like they do spend the majority of their time as set dressing and background filler, that may be less because they are being marginalised and more because they simply aren’t the main focus of the show.

Sarah, her sister-clones, and their stories are what makes this series worth watching. They move the story forward without any man or tragic event to help them develop. Though the fourth season will not be here until next year, you can catch previous episodes on Netflix, DirecTV, and Comcast Xfinity. That way, you won’t have to miss your favourite clones breaking down walls and destroying stereotypes. Although Orphan Black isn’t as well known and watched as Game of Thrones or Orange is the New Black, it is just as worthwhile.