Music
Q&A
Brian Nankervis fills us in on all things Rockwiz
The RockWiz legend gets us excited for this year's RocKwiz's Really Really Good Friday at Arts Centre Melbourne.
We sit down with Rockwiz host and fan favourite Brian Nankervis to have a chinwag about this year’s Good Friday event. The critically acclaimed comic, writer and producer tells us why he’s looking forward to being back in front of a live audience.
So without further adieu, here’s our Q&A with the man himself.
Explain Rockwiz to anyone who’s been living under a rock.
Firstly, get out from under that rock! I know times are tough and the world is a crazy place, but living under a rock will not help. RocKwiz began on SBS in 2005 and we are still rocking! We have filmed around 188 episodes in the Gershwin Room at St Kilda’s Esplanade Hotel, recorded episodes at Bluesfest in Byron Bay, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, the Enmore in Sydney and at The Palais Theatre in Melbourne. We’ve done national tours, regional tours, benefit shows, secret shows.
Essentially the RocKwiz show involves contestants from the audience who are selected (by a series of quiz questions) before the show and musicians who perform their own songs or their favourite songs. The musicians and contestants sit at two panels behind buzzers and answer music trivia questions. The band, the Legendary RocKwiz Orkestra, play riffs which the contestants identify, provide all the between segment music ‘stings’ … and of course back the musicians when they first come out and when they close the show with a duet. Scores are held up on coloured cardboard by one of Australia’s most experienced roadies, Dugald (aka The Housewives Choice) and the show is expertly hosted by the Queen Of The Quiz, the Hostess With The Mostest, Julia Zemiro. I write, produce, keep scores and co host the show. It’s my dream job.
How does the show and panel dynamic change with a live audience?
A live audience inspires us all. Rock and roll has always thrived in a live setting and you can feel the excitement levels rise when the room fills. RocKwiz audiences have always been passionate, enthusiastic and incredibly knowledgeable … each week we pick four contestants from the audience and we are constantly amazed at the depth of people’s knowledge. We often say that our contestants have spent their lives preparing for the show … and once they hit the stage they are raring to go and put all that knowledge to good use!
Do you have a favourite segment of the show?
Julia and I both enjoy Million Dollar Riff, where the band plays a little snippet of a song and the teams have to guess the title of the song and the artist. I love the pace and excitement of The Furious Five as we are hurtling towards the end and of course, like everyone, I look forward to the closing duet.
The Arts Centre event is now an annual affair, what do you think makes it such a good option for Good Friday?
These days it’s reasonably easy to find entertainment options on a Good Friday … particularly with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival kicking into gear. But there are still venues and activities that shut down. Once upon a time the streets were deserted and there was nothing open. That was actually the inspiration for the show. One night at Byron Bay after an Easter show at Bluesfest, we were all sitting around remembering Good Fridays of our childhoods and we realised that many of us had similar experiences … you’d go to church (on a Friday!) you had to be quiet, no friends were allowed over, everything was shut and there was a strange atmosphere of sadness. It was also Autumn, so the long hot days of summer were fading from memory. We thought why don’t we put on a show and discuss those memories, theme the questions around the idea of easter, religion, eggs, bunnies and notions of ‘good’. Let’s have a Good Friday show … in fact let’s have a Really Really Good Friday show! We also decided to add a couple of comedians to the line up which has worked really well. It’s important for us to keep changing, to keep tweaking the format of the show so we (and our audience) don’t become complacent and predictable.
What can you tell us about this year’s special guests?
The guests this year reflect one of the main aims of RocKwiz, to mix well known, legendary acts with newer performers who our audience might not have seen before. There’s something exciting about discovering an act when that performer is just beginning. So, we have the great Joe Camilleri who I worked with recently at the Riverboats Festival in Echuca. He put on an incredible performance … and when he brought out Vika and Linda Bull to perform some classic Black Sorrows song the crowd exploded. We love Vika and Linda and they will perform out front as well as backing other singers. Paul Dempsey from Something for Kate is one of our favourite RocKwiz guests and when Hayley Mary from The Jezabels came on the show in 2012 she nearly stole the show from Jon Stevens … and delighted the crowd with her ABBA obsession. We predict big things for our last musical guest, Alex The Astronaut, who will perform her much loved and very moving song, ‘Not Worth Hiding’. Add to the mix comedians Bob Franklin and Gillian Cosgriff and you have a recipe for an unforgettable night’s entertainment.
What would be your specialist subject topic in a pub quiz?
Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones from 1968 to 1972, or the role and importance of radio station 3RRR.
And if you could have any musicians (dead or alive) appear on the show, who would it be and why?
I’ve always said that to have Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris close the show would be pretty special!
