8 minute read
Exclusive Interview Maz & Lakey HIT 101.3 FM
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Get up with Maz & Lakey across NSW for Breakfast. The show brings all of NSW the latest community, entertainment, and national and global news while keeping locals feeling great. Join Maz and Lakey’s antics for the ultimate must listen breakfast show. Full of laughs, real talk and a passion for everything across NSW, start your day with Maz & Lakey from 6–9am weekdays.
We are lucky enough Lakey to have you back on our shores after some unplanned delays. How have the nerves been for both of you, anticipating your first show going to air? MAZ – There is always a tiny bit of nervousness when launching a new show, but it’s more a feeling of excitement than anything else. Like first date nerves. This show has a sparkle to it that I am really pumped about exploring and sharing with our audience.
LAKEY – Haha. I think doing a few “Iso–Podcasts” as a soft launch to the show has helped take a lot of nerves away. Pre–recorded audio is nothing compared to the live stuff. So yeah, it’s been a bit of a blessing in disguise being stuck overseas.
You haven’t worked together before though you seem to have a great connection. Do either of you remind each other of someone else you know? MAZ – Lakey reminds me of Rosso back when Merrick & Rosso were on Nova. I was the Assistant Producer on their show for a little while before my debut on MTV. Lakey has a similar tone; fun and engaging and at any given moment could go rogue!
LAKEY – For some reason I keep thinking Maz is Ash London. Then I remember she’s not Ash London. Not that there’s anything wrong with Ash London. It’s just bizarre that I confuse myself and think she’s Ash London. But sometimes I forget to spit out my toothpaste and just end up swallowing it instead so it’s pretty normal for me to forget things like that.
Maz, this is your third Dan to co–host with, are there any similarities between the three Dan’s? Each co–host I have worked with have these three things in common: their first name is Dan, they are male, they work in radio! That’s it! Three people, three completely different personalities, life stories and vibes. I feel very blessed to have worked with good humans for my on–air life and very happy that is continuing into 2022.
Maz, Lakey’s sense of humour seems quite different to Gawndy’s, how are you adjusting to the contrast? As long as I’m laughing my ass off, or cracking someone up, then my morning is made! I have always thought if I am finding something fun to listen to or funny then someone else is too, and that’s the magic of radio and how it connects us.
Lakey, you are swapping late nights for early mornings, are you naturally a night owl? Do you have any measures in place to help you adjust to the early starts? I’m pretty good at adjusting to whatever hours I need to be awake. I’m definitely looking forward to having my 5pm’s back. I’ve got two phones, one that charges by my bed and then another one that goes off three minutes later by the door. That way I have to get up to turn it off. GENIUS!!!
What was each of your initial thoughts when you found out you’d be working together? MAZ – I was so happy because there wasn’t a back–up plan if Lakey said no!
LAKEY – Maz probably doesn’t know this, but before I ever really got into radio I would listen to Maz’s old drive show on the way home from Uni. So, I did think it was pretty cool to be working with her all these years later. She’ll probably feel a little old once she reads this haha!
Lakey, you’ve been working on your own show for the past few years. How are you going to go working with a co–host? You learn a lot doing a solo show but to be honest I was getting pretty over it. Especially with Covid it got a little lonely and boring. I realised that radio had lost a bit of its fun and that half the
joy is working with other people and collaborating with each other’s ideas. There’s a whole team behind the scenes with Maz and I too, so I’m really looking forward to having that team environment again.
What are your interests outside of the studio? Would you naturally be drawn to each other as friends? MAZ – Funnily enough, the more I find out about Lakey, the more I think we might be kindred spirits! I love traveling, snowboarding, I am into health and wellness, I have been sober for seven years and I love radio and listening to Adele, we have all that in common.
LAKEY – I think Maz is a real family gal now, plus she’s living a Mum life!!! I only really see children when I have to go to a shopping mall or catch public transport… but outside of that I think we’re both pretty easy going. So yeah sure, easy going people usually get along with easy going people. I’m still going to approach our friendship with caution though until I know Maz has a whole list of baby sitters she can call upon before me.
Lakey, you’ve commented that is takes about 3 months to settle into a new hosting role. After doing your podcasts with Maz this week while you’ve been in isolation, are you still feeling like it’s going to take that long? Haha maybe not three months but I do think these on–air arrangements have plenty of potential to grow. We really haven’t scratched the surface yet and that’s more of what I meant. It’s good this week, it’ll be great in three months and hopefully it can be legendary in three years. You are blessed to be working together now but if you could pick one person in the world to co–host with, who would it be and why? MAZ – If it were totally up to me, I’d do a solo show, The Maz Compton Mega Show and make it all about me.
LAKEY – Hashtag BLESSED!!! Howard Stern would be pretty cool.
You both have had a stellar hosting career. What made you both want to get into radio? MAZ – I got into radio on the ground level, answering phones in the studio on a Saturday night for free and then driving the Street Team cars at Nova when it first launched in Sydney. There is a certain magic in radio that you can’t get anywhere else, and I guess I fell for its spell and haven’t looked back.
LAKEY – I remember being a teenager obsessed with listening to the people on the radio talk. I would just switch over whenever a song was played so I could listen to more talking. If you’re more interested in listening to some bloke giveaway $1000 with the secret sound rather than listen to a whole Madonna song, it’s probably a good sign that you should give it a crack as a career.
Who did you both idolise and listen to on the radio growing up? MAZ –I grew up listening to Wendy and Mooney on 2Day FM. Wendy Harmer is the best and funniest female voice, at the time I didn’t realise it, but I can absolutely say now, she inspired me in some way to chase my radio dream.
LAKEY – Hamish and Andy were the big ones for me. The creativity and seeming to nail every single talk break was (and still is) amazing.
Lakey, what are you most looking forward to about living on the Central Coast? All the exciting unknowns that come with a fresh start in a brand–new place. Potentially buying a house, potentially making new friends, potentially falling in love. All of that whilst also knowing that nothing in life is guaranteed and I could easily be shown the door one day with a big pile of mortgage debt, have no friends and just be left stroking a cat. But the beaches and the laid back lifestyle should be pretty cool too.
Fitness seems to be priority for you both. What is one piece of health advice you would each give to someone starting out on their fitness journey? MAZ – Don’t follow the health advice in health magazines! The best advice I can offer is to find what you love and just do that. I am right into yoga at the moment, which is a big change from doing high intensity workouts. Yoga is just suiting my stress levels better. I walk heaps, I walk wherever I can and get into nature as much as possible with my little one.
LAKEY – Eat a consistent meal schedule. That way it’s super easy to tweak things to suit your goals. If your diet is all over the shop then it’s very hard to make any progress.
Maz, you’ve previously referenced yourself as being a ‘manifesting machine’, how does Lakey compare to what you’d manifest in a co–host? When I knew I needed a new co–host for 2022, I cut out pictures of Lakey from his Triple M show and stuck them all over my vision board!! Honestly, I knew I wanted to work with someone who was up for a crazy radio adventure, who was keen to create something special and new and would genuinely make me laugh/think I’m hilarious. I think I hit the jackpot with Lakey.
It’s the beginning of a new year and you are embarking on a new adventure. If you could sum up your intention for 2022 into one word, what would it be? MAZ – KIITD (Kick It In The D)
LAKEY – FUN! How cheesey. But I really do “just wanna have fun”. (Cindi Lauper, 1983)
