For the Record with Hayley West

Picture:  Hayley West (Photo by Penny Ryan Photography)

Show: Dead Air, Mondays 10-11am

Whenever I move to a new town or travel, I find the local radio station. I instantly fell in love with MainFM when I tuned into Julian Williams’ show ‘Parallel Islands’. Since that moment in 2016 I’ve been a subscriber, have volunteered at various events and fundraisers, and became a presenter.

I like to introduce myself as an artist, librarian & death literacy advocate; I describe what I do as a socially engaged art practice. Since relinquishing my studio/gallery/death shop ‘The Departure’ at the Mill, I was scratching my head about how best to disseminate information and share knowledge about all things death and dying in a fun and meaningful way. And so DEAD AIR became my current project, filling that hole nicely.

DEAD AIR – talking about death won’t kill you. First show – Monday 1 November 2021. The act of talking about death and dying on a regular, weekly basis to a radio audience, can help to demystify and normalise the discussion. As a death literacy advocate, my prime motivation is to increase the awareness of death, to make the most of life.

I live for challenges! However, it took me a year or so to make the commitment to presenting on MainFM. Even though I’d been interviewed and been a guest co-presenter a few times, I was very nervous, live broadcasting can be quite confronting. ShaneFM (of ‘An Hour of Power’ fame, and now co-hosting ‘Sunday Roast’ with Rich McLeish) encouraged me to try it, he sat patiently with me for the first 7 shows, I couldn’t have done it without him. I’ve had some wonderful interactions with people through the text line during my show, and after the upload on social media and being stopped in the supermarket or on the street. Having also co-hosted Death Cafes in Castlemaine for a number of years, I believe our community has become more proactive in asking questions and making more informed choices about end-of-life care. I love that the knowledge gained and information shared on DEAD AIR is continually spreading into new communities as new people continue to tune in.

Martin John Lee and co-presenter Wally Gunn present ‘Still Life with Pansy’ directly after DEAD AIR. I love our handover time, Martin is extremely witty, he makes me laugh extra loud into the microphone if that’s even possible ha! As a fellow talk show presenter, I admire how thorough their research is, they have an amazing talent for dissecting artworks, on the radio no less. They are also both amazing artists, I respect them greatly.

To me, the phrase ‘Community Radio’ means, quite simply, connection.

There are a few special moments I remember! Being a finalist for a CBAA award was pretty special, I also discovered during the process that DEAD AIR is the only live radio show in Australia with a death theme. I’ve had the privilege of overseeing the scoreboard for the Main Game every year since its inception, it’s my favourite day of the year! I enjoyed delivering the names of new subscribers to presenters on air during Radiothon last year, on roller skates. Also, convincing my Deathie hero Caitlin Doughty to record a DEAD AIR sting for me, I still get goosebumps when I hear it.

I have the most interaction with people on my @the.departure Instagram page, I already had a good following for The Departure so didn’t set up a separate account. DEAD AIR is a current project for my art practice known as The Departure – so makes sense to me, but maybe not to others. I also find the ‘Friends of MainFM’ Facebook page a great place to post for interaction.

YODO!