A local broadcaster has hit pause on their weekly show for a while and took the time to chat with Star Mail journalist TANYA STEELE about her impact on the airwaves, the Yarra Ranges community and beyond.
Jules Vines put in nearly 15 years of regular broadcasting on 3MDR 97.1 on the show ‘Classically Saturday’ and is taking a little break to focus on other projects.
“I have loved my radio space, I’m really proud of it. It’s been fun,” she said.
“The people, the community, the musicians, the authors, the community groups, and everybody who’s been a supporter or subscriber or a listener, I love them.”
The long-running radio show has allowed Jules to connect with her community while sharing all the things she loves, from music, theatre, environmental sustainability and more.
A key to her success over the years, Jules said, is that she will talk to anyone.
“I just love people – I think my natural space is to talk to them,” she said.
“I’ve always been like that,” she said.
Jules came to 3MDR when she decided she wanted to explore sound engineering and push her music skills further.
Already an accomplished musician and music teacher with interests in everything from the environment to poetry, Jules said that the show wasn’t ever a dream that she had.
“I didn’t expect to be doing radio presenting for 15 years,” she said.
Beginning by doing a segment with a friend who was already broadcasting and tuning in to her local station more and more, Jules volunteered in a few different segments and was eventually offered the chance to take over a regular spot on Saturday morning – Classically Saturday.
“I didn’t really even know what community radio could do back then,” she said.
At first, staying true to its name, Classically Saturday kept to its previous broadcaster’s style, but Jules began to infuse her ideas into the show, which evolved with her.
Growing the format organically, Jules said she developed a ‘Hey, Hey, it’s Saturday’ style feel to her mornings, inspired by the style of ABC’s RN presenter Ian McNamara.
With some self-described ‘quirky’ segments, a bit of classical and some live sessions to boot, the show often featured local music teachers and kids playing.
“I did play classical music. I would do long places, and then I loved theatre music, so I would do theatre plays,” Jules said.
From the War of Worlds play to poetry and grassroots community stories, Classically Saturday’s audience grew across Australia and worldwide, with listeners from England to America.
“One of my interviews was with an American guy. He was growing gum trees, and he talked about how he managed to grow gum trees in some sub-winter temperatures,” Jules said.
Jules pulled in many local musicians over the years to play live music and was always happy to follow any lead for a story or interview
“It sparks my enthusiasm for life, talking to people, it’s really fun, and I get to do it on air,” said Jules.
“I think Tracy Roberts was one of my first key guests – I just thought she was amazing, so I was delighted when she was happy to pop on the radio,” she said.
A highlight came during Covid, in the form of an interview with Murray Tregonning, the sound engineer from ‘Hey, Hey, It’s Saturday’, which then led to a surprise call from John Blackman, the well-known voice-over talent from the same show.
“At the end of the show, John Blackman rang up, and he said, ‘That man could talk under wet cement.’” Jules said.
Jules said she thought the caller was another 3MDR presenter, John Weeks, playing a bit of a joke.
“It wasn’t John Weeks, it was actually really John Blackman,” said Jules, who then went on to interview the trickster in her next show.
From Derek Steele, to the Whitlams, Dirt Girl, Greg Champion and Dean Sevenson and more, Jules has interviewed a bevvy of Aussie talent.
As a broadcaster, she said that Australia’s got so many good, wonderful music spaces to celebrate.
“I wanted to capture those stories, because those people have been really successful in the Australian music scene, but they haven’t really been celebrated enough,” she said.
Sometimes nerves played a part, especially when connecting with talents she particularly admired, and Jules said she has always tried to improve her show.
“You just look at it as a performance, as a musician, and you find you’re just doing your gig live on air for those two hours,” she said.
“I actually always listened back to my show to improve it the next week, or figure out how to get rid of little sounds.”
Over the airwaves live, Jules said she’d like to thank her music partner, Greg Hunt, a musician as well, who often helped with live recordings and helped with tech support behind the scenes.
“He has often led me to bands to interview,” she said.
Jules said she was also very proud of the fundraising efforts she has done with 3MDR, which included supporting everything from land care to CFA to the helmeted honey eaters.
“I’ve done not only music for them, but I’ve had them on regular as regular guests, because, you know, they’re small organisations run by volunteers, making sure people know about them – this is important,” she said.
The show has been a commitment, made possible in collaboration with regular support from other presenters and family, Jules said she wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.
Showing up every Saturday morning and staying dedicated to the commitments for such a long-running show, Jules points to love and connection as a driver, which she said is becoming more important than ever.
“It’s a love of storytelling, other people’s stories, and then meeting people and that collaborative story that really shines a light on things that I think don’t get celebrated on mainstream,” she said.
“That is the heart and soul of a community radio station.”
