Kelvin Confidential

Mick Harvey, renowned Australian musician and record producer, discusses his musical journey, including his early influences, the formation of the Birthday Party, and his transition to the Bad Seeds. He highlights his work on 10 solo albums and numerous soundtracks. Harvey reflects on the challenges of composing for film, the impact of technology, and his recent honour as a Chevalier in France. He also touches on his current projects, including collaborations with Amanda Acevedo and the Melbourne-based band Bleak Squad.

In this episode of Kelvin Confidential, host James Hewison sits down with acclaimed writer, director, producer, and showrunner Tony Ayres for a wide-ranging conversation about identity, storytelling, creative ambition, and the changing shape of the Australian screen industry.Episode HighlightsTony traces the origins of his creative life back to a childhood marked by migration, instability, and poverty. Arriving in Australia at the age of three with his mother and sister, he reflects on how storytelling became both refuge and survival mechanism, an imaginative response to uncertainty that would eventually become the foundation of his career.From philosophy and literature to art school, the path was anything but straightforward. Tony speaks candidly about his early studies, his mixed experience at the Victorian College of the Arts, and the pivotal affirmation he received at AFTRS that helped crystallise his belief that he could, in fact, be a writer. It was a small moment with life-changing consequences.Identity and authorship form a powerful thread throughout the conversation. Tony reflects on how being both a gay man and a person of Chinese heritage shaped his early work, while also discussing the tensions of being categorised within the industry. His insights are thoughtful, nuanced, and deeply personal revealing the complexities of writing from lived experience without being confined by it.The conversation also turns to the business of storytelling. Tony revisits the founding of Matchbox Pictures, the collaborative vision behind it, and its extraordinary rise to become one of Australia’s most significant production companies. He then explains why, after a decade and the company’s acquisition by NBCUniversal, he chose to step away and return to a more personal, writer-led creative life through Tony Ayres Productions.Looking outward, Tony offers a sharp and generous perspective on the Australian film and television sector: the pressures on local production, the role of international investment, and the need to build a sustainable screen culture that supports both established voices and emerging talent. He also reflects on the inseparability of art and politics, and, in a lighter turn, shares his long-held dream of creating a comic-book television series.A thoughtful, generous, and deeply engaging conversation about how stories are made and how they, in turn, make us.

In this opening episode, host James Hewison sits down with composer and guzheng virtuoso Mindy Meng Wang for an intimate conversation about bridging cultures, genres, and personal experiences through music.Episode HighlightsMindy traces her artistic roots to childhood in Lanzhou, where the guzheng became both structured discipline and creative doorway. She discusses the early pressure to conform to classical expectations, and how relocating to the UK and Australia allowed her to reimagine the instrument as a platform for experimentation and cross-cultural storytelling.Tradition meets innovation: Mindy reveals how she unlearned rigidities to rediscover emotional truth in her playing. Collaborations with electronic musicians, jazz ensembles, and experimental producers became catalysts for reinvention—expressing Chinese musical heritage without being confined by it.The personal journey: From creative burnout and touring demands to motherhood, grief, and isolation, Mindy shares how life's transitions have shaped her sound. She explores the vulnerability required to blend cultures authentically and the guzheng's power to hold complex emotions that words cannot capture.Cultural responsibility: Mindy reflects on representing tradition while pushing boundaries, her hope to broaden audiences' understanding of contemporary Asian art, and the evolving landscape for migrant artists in Australia.A rich, lyrical conversation—part biography, part cultural meditation, part creative diary—offering insight into Mindy Meng Wang's artistic journey and the emotional terrain behind her unique sound.