Hi Calum. You’re known far and wide for your role in making the annual Castlemaine Jazz Festival a reality. How did that come about?
I was managing the old Castlemaine Gaol and then the jazz committee approached us about using the venue and so my involvement with the jazz festival started through the old gaol being a venue. I joined the committee and then they asked me to be the chair. So here I am.
So are you currently president of the festival committee?
Actually we just had our AGM and I’ve just stepped down. I’m still a committee member. I’m now the treasurer and we’ve got a new president who is actually Lyndal McClure – my mother (laughs).
The McClures obviously appreciate their jazz! Are you a family of jazz buffs?
I’m probably the big jazz fan. I’m a saxophone player, but mum loves the big bands and the dancing.
Ah, a sax player. Do you play with any particular group at the moment?
I played at school and while I was at uni a little bit, but then work – I’m an audio technician – sort of took over…
OK. Can you tell us a bit about what your work entails?
I work for the City of Greater Bendigo in Bendigo venues and events. So I’m the fulltime audio technician for Ulumbarra and the Capital.
That would be pretty exciting. So you probably get to see some pretty amazing shows?
Yes… Over the last fortnight we’ve just had Bangarra Dance, the illusionist, Spellbound, a big rock n roll night and a play which was a really beautiful story of a Chinese boy coming from Adelaide to Ballarat during the goldrush.
Great fringe benefits.
Sometimes you can sit and enjoy the show. Other times you run around. IT’s all part of the job.
Interesting line of work… but you are actually live here in Castlemaine don’t you?
Yes. Born and bred.
Have you ever lived anywhere else?
I lived in Melbourne, did some time studying, and then I lived in Belfast in the UK for seven years and worked for an audio company in Belfast, and then travelled and did work in Scotland and England.
Great. What was that like. I’m assuming it was great?
It was. Belfast is sort of similar to Geelong. It’s not a London but it’s a big enough town, and because it’s so close to England you still get the big touring bands and rock bands. I worked for a company that supplied audio into two or three major venues.
OK, any other community involvements in this part of the world?
Well I assist Rotary quite a bit with the audio for the Rotary truck show. I do audio for the carols every year, and help out wherever I can…
Any other particular interests keeping you busy Calum?
Yes I’m an avid motorbike rider… adventure (trail) bike riding, so that’s my little hobby on the side.
Sounds like a good way to get out and about. OK, any philosophies by which you like to lead life?
When I was young I was part of the Rotary Youth Exchange program and their mantra is that ‘it’s not better, it’s not worse, it’s just different’ and I think that’s something that’s stuck with me a long time, especially when you’re going to live in different cultures.
Nice one! Three dream dinner guests?
I suppose it would be Tom Waits, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane.
Pet Peeves?
(Laughs) Where do you start? I suppose if my wife was here she’d probably rattle off a giant list.. I can’t think of one off the top of my head.
Musical genre of choice?
I clearly have a big interest in jazz but because of my job I enjoy lots of different genres. Folk, bluegrass, and stuff like that as well… The big band stuff is probably one of my favourite. Stuff like Maynard Ferguson or some of the really modern big bands during the ’80s and ’90s that did amazing stuff….
Thanks for mentioning. What are you reading at the moment?
I’m not a big reader. I’m more of podcast guy. So I do a lot of listening to podcasts. My favourite one is Radio Lab which is an American science podcast…
Just finally then Calum, what do you enjoy most about the place you call home?
I suppose it’s the uniqueness of the cultures in Castlemaine. I love the fact that you’ve still got your sort of older traditional people who come from the farming and blue collar backgrounds, then you’ve got the arts community, the hot rodders and the culture that comes out of the trucking companies … all these different amazing cultures and we all seem to be able to get along most of the time.