Words With: 6Music's Jane Gazzo

When it comes to live music, Antipodean presenter Jane Gazoo’s your girl, so it’s not surprising that she has been given the enviable job of delving into the BBC’s live concert archives for her BBC 6 Music show, ‘Dream Ticket’. Gigwise tries not to get too jealous…

G: So, ‘Dream Ticket’. Expand.

J: If anyone does a concert or a live session at the BBC with Steve Lamacq or John Peel for example, like Jimi Hendrix or Siouxsie Sioux, well, I’ve got access to all those archives! There’s a featured album nightly, we use it as a template and find live tracks in the archives. We also have a headline set for half an hour on a band or artist, and we also play new music. We get a lot of demos sent to us.

G: With this overwhelming sea of material to choose from, where do you start?

J: We encourage interactivity with the listeners; they’re their archives as well, if you know what I mean. We ask them to think of three artists they would like to see on a bill together, it doesn’t matter how weird it might be! Listeners can also suggest things they might have heard on Radio 1 in the 1980’s, for example.

G: It seems that the interactive aspect is creating quite a musical community!

J: Yes! We played a recording of the Rolling Stones at Leeds University in ’71, and it was amazing how many people contacted us about it. I mentioned that a listener in Sweden had emailed to say that he was there and had written up a whole account, and we had about 10 people calling in saying, ‘Send me the link!’

G:I hear another listener who emailed was Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Holly Johnson?

J: We were going to play a Frankie session with John Peel, from before they were famous. Johnson emailed saying, ‘Madam, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t talk over the start!’ I said, ‘My God! Don’t you own a copy of your own session?’ We ended up taping it and sending it to him! It’s things like that that make you  think about the power of radio.

G: You have such boundless enthusiasm for the medium that has taken you to the top, both in Australia and now here, but what first spurred you on to a life of radio and music journalism?

J: I was about fourteen, most people were listening to Debbie Gibson and boy bands, but there was a radio station in Melbourne called RRR, the only one at the time playing The Smiths, The Cure, people like that. I didn’t even know where I could find these records, but I found a whole world through this station. I rang one of the DJs and said, ‘I love what you’re doing, can I come and see how you do it and get closer to the music?’ I ended up making coffee and answering phones for them…that’s how I started!

G: So you then worked for Triple J, the Australian equivalent of Radio 1 at the tender age of 19, and even worked as a correspondent for Q magazine. What eventually gave you itchy feet?

J: Not many British bands came to Australia, and I felt isolated because I’d get NME and read all about these amazing bands playing every night in London, but it’d take six months for them to come and visit! I had such a passion for British music, so I came over in ’99.

G: And your favourite place to experience live British music?

J: I love North London! The Dublin Castle in Camden, it’s really exciting to see unsigned bands there, and there’s a tiny acoustic venue called the Enterprise in Kentish Town, it’s like being in someone’s front room! Candles, comfy chairs… I also frequent the Buffalo Bar in Islington and The Union Chapel is amazing for new music.

You may hear some of Jane’s new finds alongside those classic BBC sessions on BBC 6 Music (digital radio), Monday –Thursday, 10pm-1am. But if she’s inspired you to hotfoot it to the music venues of Camden Town, just make sure you’re home in time to catch ‘Jane Gazzo’s Dream Ticket’.