Triple J Requestival is pure chaos – in the best possible way

USC, Shea Dawson

Opinion

If you told me a week ago that the best thing for Australian music would be to let the public choose what gets played on the radio, I wouldn’t believe you.

But that’s exactly the idea behind youth radio station Triple J’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Triple J Requestival allows listeners to request whatever songs they want to hear – for better or for worse.

I caught up with DJ and music blogger Sean Tayler to discuss our hopes for the radio festival – and neither of us could have imagined how truly chaotic it would be.

Triple J writer Velvet Winter even acknowledged some of the strangest choices.

“Judging by Requestival submissions and Requestival submissions only – y’all are a stone cold pack of weirdos and we wouldn’t have it any other way,” she said.

In just one hour of listening, I heard an eclectic mix of songs and genres, ranging from upcoming local artists to Disney movie soundtracks.

The classical pianist in me even screamed a little when I heard a Beethoven symphony.

These sorts of bizarre requests may give us a good laugh, but the memes spawning from them are driving traffic to the station at a crazy rate.

Over the past few days, I’ve tuned into Triple J for a good laugh and ended up discovering some phenomenal Aussie music I wouldn’t have found otherwise.

Among the highlights are the calls coming in to explain why a request means to much to people.

Whether tributes, shout outs or just a good old fun story, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed hearing how much music means to so many different people.

Triple J has created an incredibly accessible way for people who may not usually listen to Australian music to dip their toes into the scene, often without even realising.

With live music suspended for the foreseeable future, now is the prime time to support Aussie artists – and this is the perfect way to do it.