Maz Compton: Last Drinks 😞

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Speaker 1: Welcome to Behind the Mic with Mike E.
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Speaker 1: Well, hello and welcome again to Behind the Mic with me, Mikey. Remember, you can hear all of my podcasts every Wednesday. Subscribe on Apple and Spotify and you can check out all the videos on my socials, Mikey Radio on Insta and Mikey Show on Facebook. And thank you for your feedback and your support as we keep rolling out episodes every Wednesday. It's time for another one. Here we go. All right, today's guest is Maz Compton. Now, she's a broadcaster, podcast host, and got her big break hosting MTV. Remember when MTV was huge, when they actually played music? She was a VJ, and around the time, MTV was absolutely dominating Australian pay TV. We're going to talk to her about that and a bit about her career in radio as well, the pressure and pace of working in media, which leads us to her podcast, Last Drinks. Yeah, it's about going sober, why she decided to stop drinking, the rise of the sober curious movement. Look, I'm going to be honest. We have a little back and forth about why I should lay off the booze, and it gets a So I hope you're ready for that. Here we go. Mikey catching up with Maz Compton on Behind the Mic. Maz Compton, thank you for joining me.
00:01:56
Speaker 2: Oh, Mikey, what a pleasure.
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Speaker 1: I know, I haven't seen you in ages. Now, I first remember you from the MTV days.
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Speaker 2: Oh, bless.
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Speaker 1: How did you get your big break? Was TV your first big gig?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, so TV was my first big gig. And so I was the kid when I was 15 who wrote in her journal and Dear Diary, I want to host TRL in Australia on MTV dot, dot, dot.
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Speaker 1: Wow.
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Speaker 2: And then it took a lot of like really weird, obscure roads to get there. But basically there was an ad in Who magazine and asking for VJs to send in their VHS applications.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: Which I did. And I think I got down to like the final few for a particular job on MTV at the time. Okay. This would have been 2003. And then I got the call and they're like, hey, you didn't get the job. And I was like, dang you. And then a year went by and I rang back the producer that had called me the year earlier. And I honestly was ringing to say, like, I'll make coffee, I'll photocopy paper, I'll whatever. I just wanted to be in the world of television. And he said when I rang him, he was like, super random, and this is going to sound so creepy, but I'm literally re-watching your audition from last year.
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Speaker 1: And I was like, whatever you're doing in your.
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Speaker 2: Spare time, mate.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: Um, and he said, we'd love you to come back in. There's a job that we think you might be good for. So I went back in, I re-auditioned and then about a month and a half later, they rang and basically just offered me the job to be a VJ. And I, do you know how, this is how naive I was, Maggie. I was like, oh, that's really nice guys. But I actually already have a job. Like I work at a radio station and they were like, yeah, yeah, we know you need to go and resign from your radio job.
00:03:39
Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: Come and work here full time as a VJ. And I said, well, what will I be doing? And they said, and I quote, you were going to launch TRL in Australia.
00:03:46
Speaker 1: Oh, wow. And what were you doing on radio at the time though?
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Speaker 2: I was producing. I was an assistant producer for American Rosso at around that time and like Casanova-ing and like street team coordinating. So just doing a few, as you do in radio, wearing 10 different hats.
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Speaker 1: Yep, we've all done that.
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Speaker 2: And getting paid poorly.
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Speaker 1: So yeah, we've all done that too. Did young Maz always want to work in the media then?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, young Maz, like 15, I was like setting my sights. That's what I want to do. And I remember telling my parents, like I had this epiphany at 15 that I was going to do this job. And I told my mum and dad and my mum was like, that's not a job. I'm like, well, she's like, well, you better find something to fall back on. Yeah.
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Speaker 1: Did you? Did you go and study? You got something to fall back on?
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Speaker 2: Kind of. Like I went, I did like a year of business college.
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Speaker 1: Okay.
00:04:35
Speaker 2: Whatever that means.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: And then I worked in a PR consultancy, like basically making coffees and photocopying paper. That was really.
00:04:42
Speaker 1: Better to do it at a TV station though, wasn't it?
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Speaker 2: Glorified receptionist, really. And that was, so I could always fall back on that if things don't work out.
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Speaker 1: Okay. Well, no, it's, well, I'm not going to say. It's gone on a while, but it has gone on a while. It's gone on a while. As it has for me as well. This is true.
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Speaker 2: And it's never a straightforward road to the top of the mountain or the side corners of the mountain.
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Speaker 1: No, but let's go back to MTV then because, I mean, it was huge, right, at the time. Pay TV, MTV itself, I mean, they're not even playing music anymore, are they? What was it like to work for MTV when it was like that?
00:05:19
Speaker 2: Exactly how you imagine. It was the best. best job in the world. It was so fun. Do you know my only regret is I wish that I had have just realized how amazing it was because at the time I was 24, I'd gotten this job on TV with no television experience. All of a sudden, I'm getting flown around the world. I'm hosting red carpets. I'm wearing designer dresses and all I kept thinking was like, I have no business being here. Imposter syndrome? 100%. Most of the time I was so in my head that I wasn't actually present in a way. And so I have all these really great memories and I did some really amazing stuff, but I feel like I got robbed because of my own insecurities. And now that I'm, you know, a little bit older and I'm a size 10 and I'm fine with it, I I, you know, but that's hindsight, right? Like you can always look back and go, that was what it was. It was the greatest. I saw the world. I interviewed the A-listers. I just got myself into some really funny situations that I probably can't ever talk about again.
00:06:23
Speaker 1: Oh, we can't bring them up here, no?
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Speaker 2: Don't really need to. You can imagine. It was a really, really fun time. And I crammed it into about five years of living. So five years of life at that sort of velocity, I was ready to step off the train. I was ready to move on to something else. And around the time I was thinking– Am I outgrowing the brand in the sense of like I'm growing up a little bit, like do I really need to be doing this? Do I need to start thinking about the future?
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Speaker 1: Well, I remember there's a funny clip on The Simpsons where they have a VJ and they're like, oh, she's turning 30 or something like that, and they quickly just throw her off stage and put another one in there.
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Speaker 2: That was my crisis. It was around the time that I was looking down the barrel of 30 and I felt so old and I was like– can I really keep doing this like youth brand and be getting older and aging out of it? And it started to have a disconnect. And also at the time MTV had really stopped playing music. It was all about reality TV and the hills and that whole sort of thing had kicked off. So it felt like the brand had fragmented from when I was on it. So it felt like a really good time to think about moving on.
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Speaker 1: Okay. And then, now I remember listening to you on the Hot 30 Countdown. Is that, oh, is that not a good memory.
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Speaker 2: To bring up? Oh, what a time.
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Speaker 1: Okay, so the Hot 30 was with Loie, yeah? Yes. Part of our network here, I believe. So let's be careful about Loie. I don't know Loie at all.
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Speaker 2: I do.
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Speaker 1: Okay, well, okay then.
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Speaker 2: We worked together on the Hot 30 for a while.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, how did that come about? Were you still doing MTV?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, so that I, oh gosh, it's hard to put it all together. So I had just gotten the gig at MTV and then I got offered the Hot 30 as like, because you've got to remember back in the day, Mikey, women were only ever allowed to talk about gossip. Yeah.
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Speaker 1: You're the gossip girl.
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Speaker 2: I was invited into Lowy's Hot 30 Countdown, which I appreciate the opportunity for what it was at the time, to read the gossip once or twice an hour. And then I kind of just ended up hanging around and sort of just sort of becoming the co-host.
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Speaker 1: I mean, similar thing with Jackie, I believe, back in the day.
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Speaker 2: Again, because chicks were only ever allowed to do gossip. That's how you weren't allowed to have opinions. You weren't allowed to host entire breaks online.
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Speaker 1: Read and laugh, yeah?
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Speaker 2: Let alone a whole show.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: So that is how it started. I think that's how my love for radio started, to be honest. But I was also working full time. So burning the candle at both ends, I was doing like live TRL shows and that includes like full dress rehearsals with bands and sound checks and all the things and then heading straight across Sydney to Bondi where the studios were at the time. and going up the elevator and doing 7 till 10 on air. So that was a very busy, big season for me. Okay.
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Speaker 1: And then you'd done a little bit of radio before that, but you were behind the scenes. Did you then fall in love with radio or TV was still the first love?
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Speaker 2: I think TV was the first love, but radio is the true love, I think is probably a good way to put it. Because when I came to sort of that end of season with MTV and I was like, oh, man, this is really tiring. You know, what's my 30s going to look like? I went straight to how do I get myself a radio job? Like what do I need to do? So actually in that final year that I worked in radio, I went and did– The mid-dawn shift on Nova 969 in Sydney for no pay.
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Speaker 1: Yeah. We've all done one of them, yeah.
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Speaker 2: Three nights a week whilst I was hosting MTV just to learn how to panel.
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Speaker 1: Right.
00:09:57
Speaker 2: Just to get my flying hours up. And from there- I landed a night's show. And then from there I was able to sort of transition out of MTV straight into– I think it was Maz and Curly on the Nova Recommends 10 or something. Some weird, obscure, random countdown night show. And then I've kind of been in radio ever since.
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Speaker 1: Right. I mean, geez, there wouldn't be a TV job like that anymore at all. I mean, there was Channel V, there was MTV. Yeah. Rage, but they never really had hosts. Yeah. That TV era is kind of gone, isn't it?
00:10:34
Speaker 2: It's totally gone.
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Speaker 1: Yeah. But you were there at the heyday. I know.
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Speaker 2: And I just love that I was. I have just the best memories and the greatest stories. What a privilege, honestly. What a great time.
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Speaker 1: Totally.
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Speaker 2: And the budgets. I was talking the other day with a friend of mine who used to be one of the cameramen and he now is like a fully fledged co-executive producer. And we were reminiscing and we were like, can you believe the budgets that they had? And they like... They sent us to Mexico for like weeks to film TV about being in Mexico.
00:11:10
Speaker 1: It was just nuts.
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Speaker 2: It was so nuts.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's all over, unfortunately, that TV side. Now, then I also remember you had a long partnership with Dan, right? Yes. So Dan and Mads. Do you guys still keep in contact?
00:11:23
Speaker 2: We email. So he lives in Paris.
00:11:25
Speaker 1: I think I heard that, yeah.
00:11:26
Speaker 2: In France, yeah. So he is part French. His dad's French. De Boeuf is his surname. So the whole time, so I worked with Dan for seven years and that whole time all I heard a lot about was his dad lived in France and ran a restaurant. And so I believe a few years ago he moved over there and he's there permanently now. So yeah, we email occasionally. He's not in radio. He's in advertising and copy.
00:11:54
Speaker 1: So a bit.
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Speaker 2: Obscure, I guess, but he's a brilliant writer. So that does make sense.
00:12:01
Speaker 1: And what about those times working with him? You guys, you did a lot, right? Oh my God.
00:12:05
Speaker 2: Again, like- how do I get to do all the dream jobs? But the thing was, I was thinking about this on the way here, actually, when I first started working with Dan, it was a bit of a random pairing. So he was working with his friend Matt in Perth doing a night show and I was in Sydney and they kind of nationalized things as they do. And they sort of just like chucked us together. And when we first started doing, we did late nights together.
00:12:29
Speaker 1: So it was like, Yeah, 10 p.m. onwards.
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Speaker 2: Like really silly, you know, like probably 90% of the phone topics we did then you could never do now because they were just way too edgy. Yeah. But I do remember clicking with Matt straight out of the gates and thinking like, who's this Dan guy like he's a real oddball and then the following year we went to Adelaide and got our first breakfast show with Nova and that was the year that Dan and I really clicked and one of the great things about our chemistry was like we actually just fascinated each other by living the way that we lived so it would be little things like I couldn't understand why he didn't have a driver's license at 24 years old and he'd be like why would I need a driver's license I just get a cab or get the bus and I only ever live in the city. I'm like, oh, yeah, like, wow, you know, like just bend my brain stuff. But none of it was forced. It was all very, very organic and very natural. So our chemistry built. It was years in the making before we sort of had like a national platform or a Sydney breakfast show. And by that stage, we really had hit our stride as far as knowing what our show stood for, the value of it, and each what we would bring to the table and how to like work around those chemistry bits.
00:13:51
Speaker 1: What was the hardest part of all of that era?
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Speaker 2: Nothing. It was just, I'm so lucky. I had the dream team, dream jobs and great opportunities. Like the hardest part was like, oh, do we say yes to another promotion? Because everyone thinks we're awesome. Okay. You know what I mean? It was like, oh, pack up my little apartment again and move interstate because they want to pay us more money to do the same show in a different time slot. So I'm very, very lucky. It was very much, I feel like it was a very sharp incline and And then we got to this point where we got offered the Sydney Breakfast Show.
00:14:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's a hard gig.
00:14:26
Speaker 2: It's a hard gig. And to be completely honest with you, and Dave Cameron will have a conniption hearing this, but I wanted to say no. Because we'd just done a year on Drive and it was the best, the absolute best year of my life as far as ticking boxes and kicking goals in radio careers go. It was amazing. And I didn't want to give it up. I was like, I want to do Drive forever. Drive is the best I get to sleep in.
00:14:52
Speaker 1: I haven't done Drive. It looks like a fun shift.
00:14:54
Speaker 2: It was so fun. And we just had this epic team of misfits around us and we were– traveling heaps and interviewing people and doing wild we did the wildest content it was nuts and I felt like anytime we came up with an insane idea we just had this group of people around us that were like okay let's go let's let's throw it against the wall and see what sticks And I didn't want that to change because I knew you can't do a drive show in breakfast. You just can't. It's a different day part, people in a different head space. And I just knew it was going to take the shine off the Dan and Maz magic. But then at the end of the day, when you get offered a contract or nothing- You take the contract.
00:15:35
Speaker 1: I know. We've all been there. We've all been there, right? But, yeah, you want to learn a lot.
00:15:39
Speaker 2: Absolutely. So the hardest part of that whole scenario was saying yes to Sydney Breakfast, knowing it was going to be a really, really hard slog. And then, you know, we kind of got disqualified after 10 months in the job because everything changed and it was not in our control anymore.
00:15:55
Speaker 1: What did you do after that? Did you take time out of media for a while?
00:15:58
Speaker 2: I had a nervous breakdown, firstly and foremostly. Complete identity crisis.
00:16:03
Speaker 1: Yeah. And is that because, I mean, similar to me, I've been in radio since I was in my early 20s.
00:16:08
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:16:09
Speaker 1: Is that because that's all you'd ever done, TV or radio, and then you're not doing it for a while? Is that what it was?
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Speaker 2: It was more a question of who am I if I'm not on radio, right? Yeah. So that was like I'd gotten to this point without realizing that my entire identity, value, and self-worth was all wrapped up in what I did for a job. And I didn't know how to separate the two. And so when our job got taken away from us, which I think is probably the right phrasing on how it went down. So it wasn't my choice. It's not like we'd made a mistake and that was the consequence. It was just someone's decision.
00:16:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, but it never is. I mean, I can't really think of many people, even politicians I've looked at it, um, That have retired or, well, there's a few, obviously.
00:17:00
Speaker 2: To spend time with their family.
00:17:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, which is always bullshit, isn't it? Yeah. But let's take it to radio and podcasting, which you and I are both in. Most people are walked. Yes. Right? Even people that are at the top of their game or they've been on for a number of years or whatever.
00:17:14
Speaker 2: It's true.
00:17:15
Speaker 1: Most people don't get to pick when they go, do they?
00:17:18
Speaker 2: Not at all. But when that happened, it was a bit of a blessing because I did get some time out that I never really had since I was a young kid.
00:17:29
Speaker 1: No, you were a baby, yeah.
00:17:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, like I was 20-whatever when I walked into a radio studio and was like, I'll answer the phones for free. And then so it gave me time to breathe and read and think and, you know, soul search and I did all of that stuff and I went to therapy and I worked out, I am not my job and that blew my mind. So then I was able to kind of rebuild as a whole person that just does this for a living and is really good at what she does and then I get to still be a whole person. So that's been the blessing out of all of it even though it was really hard and I feel for anyone that's been through it, especially in a public situation like ours was when people– are writing unfair comments in newspapers and it's getting printed and it's your self-worth that you're reading about. That was really tricky for me and I felt really humiliated. And so that was hard to accept and overcome. But I did eventually, you know, over a bit of time, I really, I wrestled at first, but then I was like, okay, well, you just got to accept this and then onwards ever upwards. And then we did a hard pivot and I bought a gym.
00:18:40
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
00:18:41
Speaker 2: Right.
00:18:42
Speaker 1: I think I remember hearing about that. Okay. Yeah. So you turned into, I mean, are you a qualified PT? Kind of.
00:18:50
Speaker 2: That's what all my clients thought.
00:18:51
Speaker 1: Have you still got the gym?
00:18:52
Speaker 2: No.
00:18:52
Speaker 1: You sold it?
00:18:53
Speaker 2: We cashed them in. So we got on the F45 train pretty early.
00:18:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, right.
00:18:58
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:18:59
Speaker 1: So you bought it as a franchise? Correct, yeah.
00:19:01
Speaker 2: Okay. And it did great.
00:19:03
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:19:03
Speaker 2: It went really well. And so then I was a business owner and, yeah, like I did my Cert IV and I was coaching a whole different world.
00:19:12
Speaker 1: Yeah. But I do remember– But you got sucked back into radio, Mads. I did.
00:19:18
Speaker 2: But there was this great moment, Mikey, where we were building the gym from scratch. Like my husband, now husband, boyfriend at the time. Who does that, by the way? Like we just started dating. I'm like, let's buy a business together.
00:19:30
Speaker 1: You're still together.
00:19:31
Speaker 2: We're still together. The gym is no longer.
00:19:33
Speaker 1: Could have been the other way. Could have.
00:19:36
Speaker 2: I think we made the right choice. Get rid of the gym. But there was this moment where... Like I was painting a toilet basically. I was in a toilet and it was a gross toilet because we'd rented this old place. We had to make it nice for our clients. And I'm in there painting this stinky toilet that's not ventilated. And I just had this moment and I was like, A year ago, I was on a red carpet interviewing Channing Tatum and Joe Manganiello.
00:20:06
Speaker 1: What has my life turned into? What is this? It keeps you down to earth though, doesn't it? Grounded. Really grounded.
00:20:12
Speaker 2: And then the business was a success. We're really lucky. We did really well. We found an awesome community of people. And then I think I realized that that's so important in life is having a great community around you to do whatever it is that you're going to do next. And We found those people and we were with them for nearly eight years, which was unreal.
00:20:28
Speaker 1: Okay. And then how did you get sucked back into radio? So you're working on radio on the Central Coast. Yeah. Okay.
00:20:33
Speaker 2: This is a fun story. So I had decided that I wanted to have a baby. That took a little bit longer than what I thought it was going to take. A, because I had to find someone to have one with who was willing to have one with me. And then Glenn enters the chat, boyfriend at the time. And then, yeah, it was a bit of a journey. We finally fell pregnant and then we were like, well, we should buy a house. And we looked at house prices in Sydney and we went, well, we're moving to the Central Coast.
00:20:56
Speaker 1: Right.
00:20:57
Speaker 2: So we actually moved to the coast and we were still managing our gym in Avalon on the Northern Beaches. And then we had opened a second studio in Charmhaven on the Central Coast. So it made sense for us to sort of be- equidistant between the two. And my big grand plan was to just have a baby and be a stay-at-home mum.
00:21:14
Speaker 1: For the rest of my life. Yeah, and have your gyms. Yeah, yeah.
00:21:16
Speaker 2: And then like, you know, just employ people to run them for you. And that was sort of the business model that we had. So I had a little Henry in 2019, somewhere around there, yeah, 2019. And then I remember I got a random phone call from an old boss from Sydney. And he said, hey– Heard a really weird rumour, do you live on the Central Coast now? Yes, I do. I'm just hanging at home with my kid who's like one and a bit. And he said, there's a mat leave position up for six months. Do you want to do it? And I was like, absolutely not because radio broke my heart and I don't ever want to get, I just know, like it's a no, I'm sorry. And then I like thought about it and I was like, oh, no, no. I'm going to teach my son to say yes and to embrace the opportunities that come his way and to grab life by the horns. And I'm like, what example am I setting right now if I'm too scared to face up to something that hurt me? And so I rang him back and I was like, hi, Jase, it's me. Okay, fine, I'll do the filling. So I went in and I, you know, did that for six months and I actually have not left the building since then.
00:22:30
Speaker 1: Funny how that happens isn't it we get sucked back in don't we so I.
00:22:33
Speaker 2: Did I got like slowly pulled back in and it's just worked out really well but I'm really glad I said no initially because it gave me time it just gave me like a 24 hour minute to breathe and go actually no like how do you want to attack this part of your life do you do you want to sink back and do you want to be scared because you might get hurt again or are you going to be brave and courageous and you know and and chase it down kind of thing. And I thought when I'm telling my son about how I got back in radio, because at the time I was thinking it was going to be for six months. I was like, so when I tell him I got back in for six months, it's because mummy was brave and mum was courageous and I want you to do the same. Like that's where it came from. And then that just has worked out really well.
00:23:18
Speaker 1: Good. And, you know, after you've gone through, shit in the media when you get back in you tend to enjoy it more i think i'm having the best time yeah yeah now let's talk about last drinks okay yes so podcast book i believe has come out as well.
00:23:33
Speaker 2: Yes okay um i'm gonna.
00:23:35
Speaker 1: Read the quote here what have i said last drinks is a deep dive for the sober curious that invites you to enjoy a more balanced and fulfilling lifestyle Maz Compton, celebrated TV personality, radio host and podcaster, and sober since 2015. Let's talk about that. Why did you stop drinking?
00:23:53
Speaker 2: Because I was drinking too much. I was having too many drinks. And it got to this point. So 2014 was that pivotal year where I was on National Drive that I was telling you about.
00:24:03
Speaker 1: So you could go home and get pissed and not have to wake up early. Correct.
00:24:06
Speaker 2: Yeah. And so I was on billboards, getting paid tons of money, flying interstate every two weeks, interviewing everybody that was famous, like living the dream, but definitely drinking a lot and not thinking about why I was doing that. It just become a thing where every weekend there was something in the calendar where I would have to drink alcohol.
00:24:27
Speaker 1: And, you know, working in the media, especially back in your 20s, you would have been drinking a lot of parties and stuff like that.
00:24:33
Speaker 2: Absolutely. You walk in a door and everything's free and they top up your champagne and you don't think about it.
00:24:38
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:24:38
Speaker 2: And you do that for like a decade and it just becomes a part of who you are and how you get around in the world.
00:24:44
Speaker 1: Yeah. So how much are we talking? Were you drinking? Oh, like hate.
00:24:49
Speaker 2: Like every day. Drinking alcohol every day, for sure.
00:24:51
Speaker 1: Wine?
00:24:53
Speaker 2: Wine, Sauvignon Blanc would have probably been the preference.
00:24:57
Speaker 1: Could you go a bottle a night, just you?
00:24:58
Speaker 2: Beer chasers, yeah, 100%, absolutely, yeah. And then when you're out at events, you know, there might be some cocktail that they want you to drink. and so you're just having cocktails all night and most of it all free, which didn't help. So, yeah, drinking heaps to the point where I started thinking like, ooh, I don't want to get messy in public so I might just stay home a little bit more. So I'd started actually become a bit more of a recluse because I didn't want, I didn't trust myself at that point.
00:25:28
Speaker 1: What were you like drunk?
00:25:29
Speaker 2: Well, I was super fun but I was like, I was teetering on an edge where I'm like, this could get not fun. really quickly.
00:25:37
Speaker 1: Did you have any blackout moments or any?
00:25:40
Speaker 2: Heaps of blackout moments. So moments where I would get home safely, thank goodness, but wake up in the morning and be like, oh, Did I get a cab? I don't actually.
00:25:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, you really don't remember.
00:25:54
Speaker 2: I really don't remember, but I'm safe.
00:25:56
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:25:57
Speaker 2: So like lucky me, right? So that was going on for that year definitely. And I had my whole kind of social group was just this great group of massive extroverts who just all loved partying. So no one was calling each other out. Do you know what I mean? It was like, well, everyone, we're all in this together.
00:26:16
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:26:17
Speaker 2: And then I remember thinking it was a friend of mine having a birthday and I thought, oh God, I wish I could go to her party and not drink. And then I was like, that's a weird thought. Like, why can't I go to her party and not drink? And then it was that sort of when the sober curiosity thing happened because they're like, can you go to a party and not drink? I wonder what that's like. There's no way I could do that. I would actually die. Like there's no way I could be social and sober. Are you kidding me? That's an insane thought. That's where it started.
00:26:47
Speaker 1: Gotcha. Okay. Was there a moment, do you remember, or that was the moment? Did you go to that party sober?
00:26:56
Speaker 2: No, I went to that party and got wasted. Okay. Because there's no way I could have gone and not. No. There's no way. There's just wasn't, it was not anything I could comprehend.
00:27:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, I get that.
00:27:08
Speaker 2: Do you know what I mean?
00:27:08
Speaker 1: Well, no, I grew up and it's cultural as well. All my mates are big drinkers. I remember when you get your P's or your 18 and you're designated driver. I reckon I did it like twice and you went, well, this is awful. Like why am I driving people around and they're all drunk? So I wouldn't do that. Okay. So that party you still went, what was the moment where you went, no, I'm not drinking anymore? Yeah.
00:27:32
Speaker 2: So this is, yeah, it's a bit of a hectic story, but so I had a manager at the time, Mark Byrne, and he had a heart attack and passed away very, very suddenly in September of that year. And I spiraled because I had no coping tools on how to deal with sad things. So I coping with the loss of him. And this was two months before the breakfast radio show contract came up. So you can imagine I've spent my whole adult life trying to get a breakfast radio show. I feel really conflicted about getting it. My manager suddenly dies and then two months later I get the contract. It was just, it was all too much. And I just wanted to like check out a little bit mentally. And I realized at the time I just, I had no way of coping with anything in my life other than to just drink alcohol, to just get through it. That was the moment I called Beyond Blue. I had a wonderful conversation with a lovely lady.
00:28:29
Speaker 1: Were you drunk when you called them?
00:28:31
Speaker 2: Oh, that's a great question. Probably.
00:28:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, whatever though. But you did call. Yeah.
00:28:37
Speaker 2: I remember calling them. So I wasn't that drunk. I don't remember what I said. But she gave me some really great advice. I just really poured my heart out to her. I was like, I'm lost. I'm lonely. I keep drinking. I don't know what to do. I don't think I'm an alcoholic, but I don't, I'm definitely not sober. And then I remember Googling alcoholic. Am I one question mark?
00:28:57
Speaker 1: Oh, wow.
00:28:58
Speaker 2: And then I read the manifesto for AA and I was like, nah, That's not me. And I don't know what I am then because it didn't resonate.
00:29:06
Speaker 1: But did you have to drink every day at that point?
00:29:09
Speaker 2: I didn't have to drink every day.
00:29:10
Speaker 1: No, but would you? Yeah, mostly. Yeah, okay. But that's not– well, there's different definitions of an alcoholic. I mean, you're the expert. You tell me. Exactly.
00:29:18
Speaker 2: And that was the thing. When I read that definition in the context of the AA manifesto, I didn't feel like I was powerless under a disease. I was like, well, I've given up for months at a time. I've done dry July.
00:29:33
Speaker 1: Oh, you've done all that.
00:29:34
Speaker 2: I've had moments where I can not, you know, but like for some reason I can't not not right now. especially when I'm sad and when I'm feeling alone or when there's a crisis in my life. So what is that? Dependency? Yeah, I guess, like alcohol dependency maybe. The way that I describe it is that it was my multi-tool for coping. If you want to put that as the definition. So there was one way that I had learnt how to cope online with a good day, a bad day, a sad day, a celebration, a commiseration, and it was to drink alcohol. And that, I think, is most adults.
00:30:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, as you're saying it, I'm like, yeah, me, me, me, me, me.
00:30:15
Speaker 2: You go to a party. It's a celebration. We drink. You go to a funeral. It's really sad. Yeah. You drink. You get together with a new person. You go out drinking together on your dates. They dump you. And then all of a sudden you're heartbroken and you're sad. So you get together with your mates and you drink. And then you hate them. And then you drunk text them. And then it all just, right?
00:30:32
Speaker 1: It all goes around alcohol.
00:30:35
Speaker 2: So at this point I realized everything in my calendar involved me drinking. So I needed to make some sort of change. what could I change? And the change was take alcohol out of the equation. That's how I landed on let's do a month without booze, but not with the intention of proving that I didn't have a drinking problem, which I think I'd done in the past. It was about let's do a month without booze and see what that version of Maz looks like.
00:31:02
Speaker 1: Okay. And that month then kept going?
00:31:05
Speaker 2: It's been nearly 12 years.
00:31:07
Speaker 1: What surprised you the most after going sober?
00:31:10
Speaker 2: It was day 22. I mean, okay, there's a thousand things I could list off, to be honest. But I think the critical thing in my story was at about day 22, like Jan 22 of that month, and I just was doing a month. I was like, just do a month. Get through a month. Like January, it's a good month. I was starting a new job. Like get through one month.
00:31:32
Speaker 1: Feel fresh.
00:31:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, right? Like feel fresh. Like dry out. You'll be fine. Day 22, I woke up and I write about this in the book and it was like, it was a full matrix moment where I woke up and I was like, did I take the red pill? Because everything felt clear for the first time, probably in my adult life. My whole brain felt different. My eyesight was clearer. The birds were chirping a bit louder. Like everything just clicked and I realized, I'm like, oh my God, I've been running at 65% capacity my entire adult life. And I had no idea. And I think today I'm at about 68% and it feels so good. So what happens when we get to like 90% capacity, when we're not feeling tired and dull and hungover and puffy and exhausted from drinking all the time? Like I just had a real epiphany on it. And that was probably the moment that I was like, let's just keep going and see how this works out. And the compound benefits are so incredible that I've never had a drink since that moment.
00:32:39
Speaker 1: What is the hardest part though?
00:32:41
Speaker 2: The hardest part was accepting that you're probably going to lose some friends.
00:32:45
Speaker 1: Yeah. Did friendships change?
00:32:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, they changed and they dropped off the radar. And some of them, most of them, the ones that were kind of toxic just fizzled out. And so the accepting that, that can be really hard because I had built a really solid group of hard drinking friends and I don't.
00:33:02
Speaker 1: Really hang out with them anymore.
00:33:04
Speaker 2: And so it was knowing that I was going to lose that but also then what can we create in its wake? So that was confronting and a bit sad and I think there's a lot of grief involved when you give up something. you know, something that was part of my life for so long. And I was always so fun to be around when I was drunk. So I was like, am I going to be fun anymore? Like are people going to want to hang out with me anymore? Like who am I without this thing, you know?
00:33:35
Speaker 1: And what about socially? Like you'd go to a party, you're used to having a drink in your hand. Now it wouldn't even matter, right? But was that awkward? Super awkward.
00:33:42
Speaker 2: I felt such a nana. I remember so my little hack for that is the first– I mean, I don't go out to events anymore, Mikey. I'm at home with a hot water bottle and a crossword.
00:33:53
Speaker 1: But now you could go to an event and it wouldn't even bother you.
00:33:57
Speaker 2: Yeah. But the hack is, and this is more probably for the ladies, but I remember the first sort of like party I went to during that time was a housewarming party late afternoon. And I was like, oh, when the sun goes down, I'll go home because that's when everyone starts doing shots. They actually brought the shots out at like 4 p.m. But anyway, but I remember like not wanting, I just didn't know what to do with my hands because you're so used to having a cold drink. And so what I decided to do for me, I was like, oh, just take a clutch bag and I would hold my purse in my hand. So I just didn't feel like I needed to have a drink or so somebody couldn't put a beer in my hand or whatever. So having something to hold on to sort of helped me feel less like weird and awkward.
00:34:37
Speaker 1: And this is before all the non-alcoholic wines and beers and stuff came out. So, yeah, I've heard of people doing like pregnant women will do, you know, like a vodka soda water, but it's just soda water. Yeah, there's no. So you're holding something.
00:34:50
Speaker 2: Yes, just so you've got, yeah, in a nice, in a wine glass or a cocktail glass. So you feel included in the social environment. celebration, but you're not actually consuming the alcohol.
00:35:00
Speaker 1: It's a bit like, were you ever a smoker?
00:35:02
Speaker 2: Yes, back in the day.
00:35:03
Speaker 1: It's hard to know what to do with your hands.
00:35:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that was the double whammy for me too. The clutch purse really, really helped me out there for sure.
00:35:11
Speaker 1: Did people treat you differently?
00:35:13
Speaker 2: Yes. Initially, people were really mean to me.
00:35:17
Speaker 1: Well, like giving you shit? 100%.
00:35:18
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:35:20
Speaker 1: Or did they not believe you? I might as well get back on it.
00:35:22
Speaker 2: There was a bit of that too. There was a comment from someone that was like, well, I'll hang out with you when you're back on the goon bags or whatever, whatever the comment was, which was really hard. But then also, yeah, that's fine too because those people, again, not in my world anymore. And I think one thing that I will say is, If you do stop drinking because it's not working for you anymore, like it's actually nobody else's business. And what you do when you empower yourself to make a choice, and to me it was a health choice. I'm like if I don't get this under control, my life is not going to go well. I'm going to be very unhealthy. I'm probably going to get sick or I might be in some terrible accident because I'm not in control of what's going on. And it's my responsibility to like regain control of my life. So if you make a conscious decision to empower yourself and stop drinking and someone gives you shit about that, it's because you've held up a mirror to them and they cannot deal with what they're looking at in the mirror. It's not even about you. And that's what I've learnt after 12 years nearly now of having this conversation because that is one thing that people, it stops people from, wanting to explore their sobriety because they're like, what's everyone going to think? What are they going to say? It's like, don't let it bother you.
00:36:43
Speaker 1: Well, and they might think they have a problem and you're making them look at that and they don't want to look at it. You're not making them, but they feel like it by looking at what you're doing.
00:36:51
Speaker 2: Absolutely, absolutely, yeah.
00:36:53
Speaker 1: Does your partner drink?
00:36:54
Speaker 2: No. So probably like 10 months into my little sobriety stint, we very quickly realized that I was probably never going to drink again because it was going so well. And I looked fabulous. And he was not a big drinker at all, but he was like, you know what? I guess I'm done. Because he's like, the only person I want to have a glass of wine with is you. You're not going to drink again. And he hasn't had a drink since either.
00:37:18
Speaker 1: Are there any times that you miss it?
00:37:20
Speaker 2: No. No. Honestly, no.
00:37:21
Speaker 1: In the beginning you may have?
00:37:24
Speaker 2: No, because I think the way, I think it was my approach that made it really manageable. So the approach was explore who you are without alcohol. So I was so busy like doing new things with my time and I managed to re kind of reconstruct my social life. So I used to always go out for drinks or catch up with wine, catch up, sorry, with the girls for wines in the afternoon. I started doing like beach walks and breakfast and no one's ordering Coronas at eight in the morning. That's weird, right?
00:37:54
Speaker 1: You get a Bloody Mary though.
00:37:56
Speaker 2: You could. So I just sort of like made my socialising out and about in the morning. So I was so busy going to yoga retreats and learning how to stand up paddleboard and like getting out the leg warmers and the roller skates that I didn't miss it because I was so sober I could just do fun stuff with all of that extra time. And the biggest thing that was terrifying was like probably– probably two months in, I just was like, I have so much time on my hands. Like, what do we do? So I went through the cupboards and I watched Marie Kondo and I minimized and I just have done so much cool stuff with all of that time that there wasn't really room to miss it because you end up filling the time with much more fruitful things to do.
00:38:47
Speaker 1: I get what you mean about the early morning thing because I only in the last two or three years have started doing early morning swims on the weekend. I was doing early morning swims until I came here again. But anyway, who complains about that? No, I was swimming every morning, right? Monday to- Yeah, great. And then now I'm doing these hours I'm not, but I still do Saturday, Sunday. And I have been out before and it's getting to like 9 or 10 o'clock and I'm pulling back on the amount I'm drinking. We'll touch on my drinking in a moment actually. I'd love to walk you through it.
00:39:17
Speaker 2: I'd love to walk you through it.
00:39:19
Speaker 1: But I do get your point. Like I look around at 7 or 8 a.m. when I'm down the beach and I'm enjoying my swim. No one's getting pissed. Like I said, you could get a Bloody Mary after, but you're enjoying that and it doesn't involve alcohol. There are other things you can do that don't involve alcohol.
00:39:34
Speaker 2: Plenty of other things.
00:39:36
Speaker 1: And we will. I've got it here. We'll talk about my drinking. I don't have a problem. Hey.
00:39:40
Speaker 2: Mikey, it's okay if you do, mate. I did too. It's okay.
00:39:43
Speaker 1: No, but I don't. But we'll touch on it.
00:39:46
Speaker 2: I'm very defensive.
00:39:47
Speaker 1: I don't have a problem.
00:39:49
Speaker 2: No.
00:39:49
Speaker 1: Hey, tell us. You obviously did it and you feel better and you really enjoy it. You decided to then, well, you've got a book now, but podcast before that. It was something you wanted to talk about and create some media around it. Why?
00:40:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, because I got inundated with people going like, how do I do this? I was overwhelmed by the amount of women in particular who were at the time probably like, oh, actually a big age range, but I'd say probably 30s, 40s and 50s, reaching out just going, I drink every day too and I have no idea how to stop and I'm scared it's going to ruin my marriage and I want to be a better parent and I don't know how to do it sober. And so many people feeling so many scary feelings about it. And so I just realized there's a need for open conversation that's not judgmental and that is not shame-fueled. And so that's why I thought, okay, Let's have some conversations. And the more you hear other people's stories, the more you can see your story in them. And then that makes everything manageable and okay. And if someone else can do it in a similar situation, then maybe you can too. So the idea for Last Drinks really started with thinking back to my journey, the start of my sobriety and what, in my opinion, are the best years of my life. ended, started with my last drink. So like that's a real line in the sand moment. Like January 1, 2015, Sober Maz enters the chat. And so I thought if we can start every conversation with that line in the sand, tell me about your last drink. That's where I started the conversation. So we talk about the last drink. and some things that have happened since. And then we talk about the last drink and how we got to that point. And everyone's story was vastly different. There was no cut and paste, everyone gets to sobriety the same way at all. Everyone's story was so unique, so individual. And so I just wanted to create a platform where people could listen to those stories and get great advice as well. Because I think different people that I spoke to over the podcast had different different advice on what to and what not to do if you are sober curious or how to go about stopping. And especially if you're in a relationship, what that might look like and in a workplace, what that might look like. So it was just sort of like a fact finding mission on helping as many people as possible figure out for themselves how to do it.
00:42:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then the book, obviously, an extension of that.
00:42:23
Speaker 2: And then the book was, yeah, it was an extension and I was able to sort of pepper some of those really beautiful stories throughout the book and sort of explain more of my journey as well, which was fun.
00:42:32
Speaker 1: Now, I wanted to put it to you. A few things. Okay, a few things. Well, two things.
00:42:38
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:42:39
Speaker 1: What about moderation? Hear me out.
00:42:41
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:42:43
Speaker 1: Very similar to you, I was a big, well... I was a big drinker, but I grew up socially. All my mates drank. We all know what it was like. You grew up in the burbs. Then I'm in media as well. Everyone's drinking. And talking about the beach thing, I reckon two, three, four years ago, I've pulled back.
00:43:01
Speaker 2: Yeah. Right?
00:43:01
Speaker 1: So I'll go out and have, well, actually, let's say it's Saturday night and I want to watch the footy.
00:43:07
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:43:08
Speaker 1: Two mid-strength beers. So I'll go the mid now.
00:43:11
Speaker 2: Nice.
00:43:12
Speaker 1: Have a glass of wine. Go to bed. Great.
00:43:14
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:43:15
Speaker 1: Why did we not look at moderation? Could you not? For me?
00:43:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, some people can't moderate.
00:43:21
Speaker 1: Yeah. Could you, do you think? No. No, okay.
00:43:23
Speaker 2: Because I'm an all or nothing person.
00:43:24
Speaker 1: Right.
00:43:25
Speaker 2: I'm like, I'm zero to hero.
00:43:26
Speaker 1: So I can do that, right? I've noticed I've been out with the boys and we end up back at someone's house or whatever and they're still going and they're not just drinking. I think we know what they're doing, right? And I'm like, yeah, no, I want to go and do the swim tomorrow. So I can go and have five mid-strength beers, right? Whereas they're just, it's now midnight, they're hammered and they're still going. So I realized I could do that. However- I can't not drink. Why do you think you can't not drink? Well, no, no, no. I mean, I could, I'm sure. Yeah. But it does get to about 5 p.m. most days and I'd like to have a beer. Okay. Yeah, and I said that on the radio show the other week and they were like, oh, that's a problem.
00:44:00
Speaker 2: You're not alone. No, but like- That is so many everyday Australians.
00:44:04
Speaker 1: I know, right? But it will probably be one beer and a glass of wine with dinner. Yeah. Right? And I feel like my justification for it is I enjoy it. It would be good to have alcohol-free days, and I used to do that. Three or four days, nothing. But I enjoy it. I'm unwinding. I'm having a mid-strength beer and a wine. What the hell is the problem? But not doing it? Yeah, possible. But something I'm not willing to do, does that make sense?
00:44:28
Speaker 2: It totally makes sense. And by the way, it's your life.
00:44:32
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
00:44:32
Speaker 2: So if you want to have a mid-strength beer and a wine every night of the week, Knock yourself out there.
00:44:35
Speaker 1: I know, right?
00:44:36
Speaker 2: No one's here to judge you.
00:44:37
Speaker 1: And wouldn't it be worse if I was having 10 beers? Then you're in a problem. But I think it's habitual. There's a big habitual thing there, right? It's like, oh, it's 5 p.m. Yeah. Especially on the weekend. There might be a footy game on in the Arvo or whatever. The news will come on at 6. I'll have that dinner with the wine. It's all like this habit-forming stuff that you do. Yeah.
00:44:57
Speaker 2: So I think that that's a really– normal behavior in society. I wish it wasn't, but it is.
00:45:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:45:04
Speaker 2: So I'm going to say a couple of things on that. So firstly, getting to 5 p.m. every day and needing a beer is the definition of alcohol dependency.
00:45:15
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:45:16
Speaker 2: So even though in your brain you might be like, but I'm not having 10.
00:45:20
Speaker 1: No, I still need that one.
00:45:21
Speaker 2: You can't have zero.
00:45:22
Speaker 1: I tried the zero alcohol ones for a while. Right.
00:45:27
Speaker 2: How did that go?
00:45:27
Speaker 1: I could do it. I just stopped. I think what happened was we had one of those big survey breaks. Yeah. You know, the end of the year one. Yes. And then I had some shit go down there and I was like, well, you know, it's holidays. I'm just going to have a beer every night. Yeah. And then I kept on telling myself, oh, when it gets back to February and you go back to work, you'll go and get the zeros again. And I just never did.
00:45:48
Speaker 2: Yeah. So that's not me.
00:45:51
Speaker 1: No, it's fair.
00:45:52
Speaker 2: I'm not judging you at all.
00:45:53
Speaker 1: Yep.
00:45:55
Speaker 2: But I would say that that is the definition of alcohol dependency, right?
00:46:01
Speaker 1: If it's 5 p.m., you need a beer, that's alcohol.
00:46:03
Speaker 2: 5 p.m., you need a beer, you have the beer, that's dependency.
00:46:06
Speaker 1: Like my parents' friends, these Americans, they always have cocktail hour, right? Right. The guy's got to have a whiskey at whatever time it.
00:46:12
Speaker 2: Is, right?
00:46:12
Speaker 1: Same thing. But I judge him because it's harder liquor, I suppose.
00:46:15
Speaker 2: Well, it's easier to judge other people, right? I mean, who wants to look in the mirror and deal with their own problems?
00:46:21
Speaker 1: But that is literally dependency.
00:46:23
Speaker 2: So that's just like take that on board and do with it what you will. The other thing that I was going to say is if we can flip the script a little bit here. So when we're talking about, and I've done a fair bit of research on this, so I'm not a full expert, but I feel like I know what I'm talking about.
00:46:39
Speaker 1: So alcohol.
00:46:41
Speaker 2: is a carcinogen in humans.
00:46:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it's a poison.
00:46:45
Speaker 2: So A1 carcinogen, which means by definition it can cause cancer, up to 11 types of cancer in any human being.
00:46:56
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:46:57
Speaker 2: So let's just like put habituation and a tough working week on hold for a sec and just talk about health. From a health perspective, If I sat two glasses in front of you, one was sparkling water with a twist of lemon and the other was a beer, and I told you one of these drinks will give you cancer more than likely and one won't, what drink are you going to have?
00:47:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, well.
00:47:23
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:47:24
Speaker 1: Yeah. Okay. Maybe still the beer, but yeah. I would hope not.
00:47:27
Speaker 2: I would hope that you would put your health on a higher priority level than that.
00:47:31
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:47:32
Speaker 2: And so when it really, really comes down to like the basis of it, alcohol is a poison and it has caused so much damage. It takes years. hundreds of thousands of lives off this planet unnecessarily. It is the root cause of a lot of domestic violence in the homes of people that listen to your radio show every morning. And there's nothing good that can come of it. Now, I'm not saying that everyone that has a drink at 5pm every day is a perpetrator. I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying this substance should not be allowed to be sold willy-nilly in shops and shop fronts. And it shouldn't be advertised because it is Absolutely.
00:48:14
Speaker 1: So it's on par with tobacco?
00:48:16
Speaker 2: Absolutely. It is rubbish for us and it is a zero benefit. Now, I know there's going to be people going, but it makes me feel good. There are other things that can actually activate the endorphins in your brain circuitry to make you feel good.
00:48:31
Speaker 1: Heroin? No, no, no.
00:48:33
Speaker 2: I don't know. I've never tried it and I wouldn't recommend it. But do you know what I'm saying? Again, yes, there's that five o'clock habit and it's not bad because I'm not hurting anyone, but you are. You're hurting yourself.
00:48:47
Speaker 1: I did hear a doctor or someone said they asked medical advice from a doctor, what would you do to live a long life? He said never drink.
00:48:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, never drink.
00:48:54
Speaker 1: I know. So at the very least, at the very least, what I could do is cut out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
00:49:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, or like go, like.
00:49:03
Speaker 1: But I love my beer at five, but you know, I get your point.
00:49:05
Speaker 2: I know you do. I know you do. And I get it. And that's, I think, half the issue is that we've been brought up in society with no other options.
00:49:12
Speaker 1: Yeah. Do you know what I mean?
00:49:13
Speaker 2: And I found it interesting too that you said, not that I'm psychoanalyzing you, but you did say that you had a bit of a tough time at the end of life. year. And so you just like- Whenever that year was, but yes. Oh, well, let's just drink alcohol then. So that's become a coping tool for like tough times.
00:49:27
Speaker 1: Yeah. Totally. Totally.
00:49:29
Speaker 2: There are other ways to cope with tough times than drinking alcohol. I know some people can moderate and good on you. I just wasn't one of those people that could moderate.
00:49:38
Speaker 1: No.
00:49:39
Speaker 2: Now that I've done the research on what it does to your brain, your neurotransmitters, your gut health, your digestion, and the fact that it could cause 11 types of cancer in your body, I 100% would say zero alcohol is probably the best bet In anyone's life, whether you can moderate or not, because it's such a poison.
00:49:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I get you. I'm happy with my moderation. I think if I could cut out the 5 p.m., the 5 p.m. just crept up. But I am happier that, like, when I look at when I go drinking with some of my mates, they're drinking like west to late in.
00:50:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know.
00:50:13
Speaker 1: And I can't do, I don't want to.
00:50:15
Speaker 2: But I think the other, the danger with that is like, so if someone else is, if Sally from Accounts is off her face and I'm less drunk, that doesn't mean that it's still a good situation for you. Do you know what I mean?
00:50:26
Speaker 1: I do, yeah.
00:50:27
Speaker 2: So like, That's the reverse comparison that's really damaging for us when we're like, well, I'm not that bad, so then surely I must be fine. Not necessarily.
00:50:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, even me saying, well, it's a mid-strength beer at 5 p.m., but compare myself to someone who doesn't drink at 5 p.m. every day instead.
00:50:44
Speaker 2: Do you reckon you could, if I gave you the challenge, do you reckon you could do a month?
00:50:49
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, hang on. Hold on. Sorry, is it a month of no drinking?
00:50:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, a month of zero alcohol.
00:50:55
Speaker 1: No.
00:50:57
Speaker 2: Why do you think you can't do that? Don't you want to know what that feels like?
00:51:02
Speaker 1: Well, I feel because I get why you did it.
00:51:06
Speaker 2: What are you scared of? Because I was scared of so many things. What are you scared of?
00:51:13
Speaker 1: I actually really enjoy having a couple of beers and a wine and I just don't want to deprive myself of that, right? And I get if it was... problematic but i like i'm a full moderate drinker that enjoys a couple of beers and wines and i'm like why would i stop that i think it'd be good to wind it back doing it every night sure um and obviously the weekend's going to be like two beers and two wines whereas a monday might be a beer a beer and a wine yeah sure might even be more on the weekend but not not like it used to be but um Yeah, but I get what you're saying, Maz. It would be good that I could do that. The fact that I'm not willing to is a problem on its own.
00:51:51
Speaker 2: No, it's not a problem because, like I said, it's your life and this is zero judgment space. Like at the end of the day, like it is your path.
00:51:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we all make decisions on what we're willing to compromise on.
00:52:02
Speaker 2: 100%. But I will just leave you with one thing.
00:52:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay.
00:52:04
Speaker 2: Because I feel like I've been very preachy.
00:52:06
Speaker 1: That's okay.
00:52:08
Speaker 2: But one thing, one of the things that I love the most about not drinking.
00:52:12
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:52:13
Speaker 2: Is that I never have to do mental gymnastics like you just did. Like, oh, it's two and then a one and a one and a two, but it's a Friday, so it could be a three and then a one and then a four. And a four is too much. And if we take away two, but it's mixed strength, so it's a half. Because my answer is always and forever will be zero. And it's so easy.
00:52:29
Speaker 1: Right. You just know you don't drink. You don't have to do it.
00:52:31
Speaker 2: It's how many drinks are you having this weekend, Maz? It's zero.
00:52:35
Speaker 1: Oh, okay. Yeah, that's a great point to leave it on. But we have the mic E3. We're going to do three quick questions.
00:52:40
Speaker 2: Please, let's go.
00:52:41
Speaker 1: Favourite podcast of yours? Oh, that I've done?
00:52:44
Speaker 2: Oh, that you're like listening to.
00:52:45
Speaker 1: Last week's show.
00:52:46
Speaker 2: At the moment, Good Hang with Amy Poehler. I'm obsessed. She's fantastic. And I was on to her before she won a Golden Globe for it, by the way.
00:52:53
Speaker 1: You spotted her.
00:52:53
Speaker 2: I listened to the very first episode.
00:52:56
Speaker 1: First concert you ever went to?
00:52:58
Speaker 2: MC Hammer at the Sydney Entertainment Centre with my uncle, my dad and my cousin Bethany.
00:53:06
Speaker 1: But he only had one hit from memory. Correct. Can't touch it.
00:53:09
Speaker 2: But he still toured it.
00:53:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, right.
00:53:11
Speaker 2: And then I think shortly after it was Janet Jackson. But yeah, it was definitely MC Hammer was the first concert.
00:53:17
Speaker 1: Now, these go well with the wine. Kilpatrick oysters or natural oysters? Kilpatrick. Right. So that means you don't really like oysters or you want them smothered in stuff.
00:53:25
Speaker 2: I just really like bacon.
00:53:27
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:53:27
Speaker 2: That's what that is. I love oysters, but I love bacon more.
00:53:30
Speaker 1: They do go well on there.
00:53:32
Speaker 2: Put the two together and that's a winning combination.
00:53:34
Speaker 1: Well, Maz Compton, great to talk to you and I'll have a think about the drinking thing. Okay.
00:53:39
Speaker 2: Will you get back to me?
00:53:40
Speaker 1: I'll let you know. Okay. Thank you so much. I'm still going to have that 5 p.m. beer, aren't I? There we go. That was Mads Compton on Behind the Mic. I hope you enjoyed it. What a great person and really interesting story. And good on her for following the no drinking thing. Okay. Next week, Mitch Turi. So he's a broadcaster, podcast host, media personality. He found fame at a really young age, getting a big break in Australian radio. And then... He had a setback, which obviously we will talk about. This happens to all of us. What did he do with that, though? Because he is now blowing up. He's got his own podcast, his own media brand. What was that like for a bit of a setback, and what is he doing with it? He's a great guy. Can't wait to chat to Mitch Turi next week on Behind the Mic. Remember, subscribe, Apple and Spotify. Check out my socials as well, MikeyRadio on Insta. and Mikey's show on Facebook. And I will see you next week for another episode of Behind the Mic. Thank you for.
00:54:45
Speaker 2: Listening to Behind the Mic with Mikey. Make sure you follow on your favorite podcast platform and please leave a review, which helps others find the show.
00:54:55
Speaker 1: Join Mikey next time when he sits down with Australia's top podcast hosts and audio creators.