When Apple Music first approached Amy Shark to host her own radio show, she was apprehensive.
As one of Australia’s proudest pop exports, Amy Shark is familiar with performing to sold out stadium crowds (thanks to acts like Coldplay), and sitting in the judging chair on Australian Idol, but when it came to interviewing her peers on the streaming giant, she was hesitant.
“Just the thought of interviewing someone was scary,” she tells Rolling Stone AU/NZ, “because I just don’t see myself as an interviewer.
“I’m also just so involved now with my own album that I’ve just tried to not have heaps of stuff on,” she says before adding: “Then at the end of it, I was so happy I did it.”
Amy Shark’s ‘Feeding Time Radio’ on Apple Music is at once an insight into the music that formed her — acts like Silverchair, John Farnham and AC/DC litter her show playlists — and a taste of the local artists who have recently caught her attention: Jada Weazel, Adam Newling, Pania and Teenage Joans all get a spin.
“I wanted to include what was popping at the moment so it forced me to look at the new crop of bands and artists,” she says.
“I’m really proud of the artists and the bands and the music that comes out of this country,” Amy adds. “It’s an easy sell. I don’t feel like I’m having to push it up a hill. It’s a good patriotic feeling.”
As for the “scary” part — where Amy Shark interviews acts like Peach PRC, Teenage Dads and G Flip — the multi-award winner and Rolling Stone cover star swiftly decided she’d do it her own way.
“I didn’t have to go away and do research for days on the artists or the album,” she says. “That’s not the show I wanted. I wanted it to be like two musicians just catching up you know, just having a really honest conversation.”
From diving into Tkay Maidza’s inception story as a career artist, to Peach PRC opening up about her time as a stripper in Adelaide, Amy Shark has one superpower that most journalists lack: she ‘speaks artist’.
“I think it’s way more disarming for them to answer my questions than it is a journalist asking them,” she notes. “I’m not professional. It comes out very casual.”
Amy Shark and Tkay Maidza on Feeding Time Radio
Amy did one have master music journalist on her team however.
Apple Music’s global creative director and co-head of Artist Relations, Zane Lowe, has interviewed Amy Shark at almost every stage of her career. From her spot as Australia’s first Apple Up Next artist in 2017, to the release of her latest single “Can I Shower At Yours?”, Lowe has been unwittingly sharing his tips on how to conduct memorable interviews for over six years.
“I never see him referring to notes or his laptop or anything,” says Amy. “He just goes with his gut and is really in the conversation.”
Zane Lowe even guested on Amy’s Feeding Time Radio and gave her some sage advice before the show launched:
“He said just be in it. Just go where the artist wants to go because that’s the best chat you can get,” says Amy.
“It’s kind of like playing a show, you have a rough guideline of where you want the show to go; some points you want to hit. But if it gets all fucked up along the way it doesn’t really matter. Just go with it.”
Apple Music’s Zane Lowe with Amy Shark
Feeding Time Radio with Amy Shark went out with a bang this week with recent ARIA Award winner G Flip rounding out its first season.
However, this might not be the last time we hear from Zane Lowe’s new radio host protégé.
“I think it’s a really good platform for a bunch of artists,” Amy says. “I don’t know if it’s the plan to have a few more Australian artists host shows. But of course, if I get asked, I would love to do it again.”
