Y Crazy Mind

Andrew Hetherington is an Australian indie musician, songwriter and producer. One of life’s polymaths, Hetherington straddles these roles with confidence bringing a fierce originality yet still classic sound, forged by the music he grew up with. 80s retro-wave, laced with smooth synths, mellow guitars and achingly beautiful vocals meet the harmony and rhythms of classic pop. We have conducted an interview with him. As an indie musician growing up with 80s retro-wave, laced with smooth synths, mellow guitars and achingly beautiful vocals, what influences your music? I’m heavily influenced by the music I grew up with, which was composed of great rhythms and melodies played by great bands in the 70s & 80s. I think this influence is instinctively reflected in my music and is naturally incorporated from somewhere deeply subconscious. What do you consider in your musical strengths and background that differentiates your music? I’m probably a little bit older than my pee...

As a hair and makeup artist, Zuleikha Stevens’ canvass is the human face. She uses color, shape, and texture to create a stunning work of art. Her work is seen by millions, similar to that of a painter, but has to withstand a variety of conditions while still remaining beautiful. Her work can be seen across televisions, films, red carpets, fashion events, advertising and editorial features across Australia, with an innate talent that makes it seem effortless. Throughout her esteemed career, Stevens has become an industry leader in her country, working on countless prolific shows and events and on Australia’s biggest stars. Her work on the nation’s biggest networks, including MTV and Network 7 has impressed the masses and is vital to many shows’ continued success. Most importantly, for Stevens however, is that she gets to live her dream. “I get to go to work every day excited and loving what I do, getting paid to live my passion. I get to be creative every day, and every da...

Miss Bongo is a premium SMS texting service that is available in France, Australia, and the UK. As the VP of Digital Design, Meredith Stevens is responsible for creating the fun and quirky graphics delivered to users with each text. The collectible graphics entice viewers to use the service multiple times. Miss Bongo Prix also includes a special customized message for each user. Customers are impressed by how much Miss Bongo Avis knows about their lives. This intriguing content comes from a proprietary database. Young users of the service love trading the notes and digital animations and showing them off to their friends. As an Australian native, Meredith Stevens spends time in Bondi Beach, Australia and Santa Monica, California. Stevens is dedicated to pursuing a healthy lifestyle. She enjoys surfing, kayaking, and yoga, as well as landscape photography. She is an accomplished amateur chef who loves to create amazing yet healthy dishes for her family and friends. Meredi...

Caroline Thompson is one of the leading business executives in Australia who has spent a large amount of her career working in various executive positions. Thompson recently embarked on her first entrepreneurial venture of Ask Bongo , an SMS information service based in her home nation of Australia. Her role as the Business Development Manager at Ask Bongo has given the surfing enthusiast the opportunity to play a part in every aspect of the deals and projects the information service has developed since its launch. As a resident of Bondi Beach, Sydney, Caroline Thompson remains a fan of a range of outdoor activities involving both the beach and Ocean. A graduate of the University of New South Wales, Miss Thompson has developed some skills over the course of her short career which have been put to good use through the launch of her information service which includes many marketing and sales areas. How did you get started in the technology industry? I have been a big fan...

SimFresh Operations Manager Larry Simonetta has become an integral part of one of the largest brands in the Australian citrus market. Established in 1991, the brand has grown from working from a single machine to building an empire on the back of the skills and success of the Simonetta family. Simonetta is the latest member of the family to take up a senior position as an executive within the organization and build on the success achieved by earlier generations. Simonetta has embarked on an impressive range of new projects and tweaks to already existing projects created by the brand. Larry Simonetta holds the position of Operations Manager for the main brand and the Simon Etta Group for which he has taken on a range of new projects. SimFresh was established in 1991 by three brothers who had made their way to Australia from Italy in 1956. Despite the company has become one of Australia's premier citrus packing companies, the tight-knit nature of the Simonetta family means the ...

Janet Odani is a singer/songwriter currently based in Coffs Harbour in Australia. As a young girl, she always loved music, wrote her first song at the age of six and she was always keen to be part of school musicals and choirs. Janet Odani recently released her new album, ' Valiant Warrior '. We have conducted an interview with her. Which analogy/analogies did you use to express what you felt about "Valiant Warrior"? My most recent album, ‘Valiant Warrior’ is an inspirational album highlighting the challenges on my journey as a believer in Jesus Christ with a focus on the promises of God for companionship, salvation, victory, and love. The analogy I used is that of a tenacious struggle whilst singing songs and praying for a positive change. How different is this album from your debut 'Transparency'? The songwriting process for ‘Valiant Warrior’ album led me into a lot of soul searching and being real about certain struggles that one can fac...

Born in Durban South Africa, Adam Craemer immigrated to Western Australia with his wife in the early 2000s and emerged as an artist shortly thereafter. His main training and influences come from the graffiti art culture in Cape Town and the UK; living and traveling around Europe and Asia; as well as his parents who are both artists back in his native South Africa. Having a graffiti background has heavily influenced his use of aerosol cans in his work, and his use of them can be seen in almost every piece he creates. We have conducted an interview with him. Artist: Adam Craemer What were the challenges you faced (if any) when crossing over from painting walls on the streets to painting on canvas in a studio? The major challenge for me is scale. Going from larger surface areas to areas less than a third in size, and still trying to maintain the ‘street’ element isn’t particularly easy for me to achieve in some instances. I have had to abandon some techniques, but at the sam...

The ABC (Australian Broadcasting Network, not the US American Broadcast Company) series “Summer Heights High” is one of the most successful comedies in the country’s history. It’s funny in an uncomfortable way, or perhaps uncomfortable in a funny way; regardless, Sally Kingsford is happy about her inclusion in the cast as the overly nice and eager Ashley. The tone of the show presents the life of high schoolers with the ridiculousness, and sometimes self-centred opportunism which they can possess. The storyline resonated with Australian and worldwide viewers. “Summer Heights High” was nominated for four Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, Australia’s most prestigious screen awards (the Australian equivalent to the Academy Awards - winning for Best Television Series and Best Performance in a Television Series), won two Logie awards (for Most Outstanding Comedy Program and Most Popular Actor), and broke Australian DVD records as the biggest selling Australian TV ser...

How do you begin pursuing a career in the entertainment world as a stuntperson? A good source to consult is Ebony De La Haye. She began with a love and passion for athletic water events and has channeled her abilities into both live action entertainment and feature films. For this Australian, it’s about doing what you love and challenging yourself. She has been competing for massive sized audiences almost her entire life. Beginning her skiing career while still in the single digits, she can boast that her skills have taken her to numerous continents and the most exotic of locations to perform for people of all backgrounds. Her lead role as Mantis in the “Jim Pond H2O: Mission Mantis Show” at Holiday Park Germany was an early indicator that she had both the talent and charisma to focus the attention of crowds which numbered in the thousands. The language of action is universal and no matter where Ebony performs in the world, she is well spoken. That’s not to say that she doesn’t have M...

Richard Batka is a Czech born Australian, having lived and worked in 6 countries across 3 continents. He started his career in Management Consulting and working with organisations across a number of industries at the time predominantly banking, tourism and government. In the 90's he moved into industry as the HR Director for a large international hotel followed by HR Director for the premier corporate law firm in Australia. As the IT industry started to grow he moved back to consulting and assist organisations work through their evaluation and selection of ERP systems, ultimately spending 15 years in the industry working in and with both large IT vendors and small start ups. After moving to HK and then Singapore, with his business partners they started Wise Traveller , which has been their passion now for almost 6 years. What made you start "Wise Traveller"? What is your key motivation? The Wise Traveller started as a result of advisory work for a number o...

Stephen Ainley was born in Birmingham U.K. in 1952. He served in the British Airborne in the 1970s before emigrating to Australia. He has written short stories and articles for many years, but recently had his first novel published in the UK. Stephen now resides in Western Australia with wife Jane and Irish terrier O'Malley. We have conducted an interview with him. Where did you write your short stories and articles? What inspires you to publish your first novel in the UK? I moved to Australia in the late 1970's and have written many articles and short stories over the years. Including a series of humorous articles called, Thinking Strange Thoughts. These were published in several magazines and newsletters. For some reason, although I have lived in Australia, for a lot longer than I lived in the UK, most of them seemed to be based on my early years. My first novel, The Dennis Bisskit Adventures is about a young boy growing up in Dudley, in the 1950's and 60...

Society and academia can have all of the nature vs. nurture arguments they like, Lauren Mackellar knows the truth; it’s both and neither. That is to say, the determination of the human spirit supersedes all factors. Mackellar is an admired and envied hairstylist to the stars in Australia who is from a small town that neither embraced or was deeply interested in high fashion or the hair and beauty that walks hand in hand with it in the entertainment/celebrity world. Alexandra (in north-east Victoria, Australia) did have one young tomboy who found herself suddenly obsessed with magazines from a young age though, and was definitely interested in the more “girly” stuff like hair and makeup. When a popular TV series filmed just across the fence of her family’s yard, it planted the seed of interest in film and TV that would set Lauren upon the course to become a hairstylist and working with the actors on these types of productions. Besides giving her a ringside seat to the entertainment wor...

Janet Odani is a singer/songwriter currently based in Sydney in Australia. As a young girl, she always loved music, wrote her first song at the age of six and she was always keen to be part of school musicals and choirs. Over the years, she has developed her own style of music and she still enjoys singing and songwriting. Her debut album, Transparency, is a rich blend of both inspirational songs and love songs. Following release of her single ‘Significant Mistake’ in October 2016, she was featured in American Pride magazine. We have conducted an interview with her about her second album, Mismatched Planets. How different is your second music album 'Mismatched Planets' to your debut album? When I was writing songs for the album Mismatched Planets I realized the focus of most of the songs was on relationships.The songs on this album stem from to a point of indecision at which one can either decide to hold onto a relationship or let go for whatever reason. Majority ...