A Beer with … Mickey Randall

 

 

 

 

 

A beer with … Mickey Randall

 

Short Bio:

 

 

Married to Claire. Two teenaged boys. English teacher. Travel, with Milan my favourite city, but there’s nowhere I’ve not happily been. Except Luton. I also own an English soccer club. Well, a friend bought me a farewell gift of four shares (yes, four!) in the North London-based Wealdstone Football Club, which plays only about four divisions below the Premier League!

 

The title seems more apt than usual; where does the love of visiting pubs come from? Conversation is at the heart of my love for visiting pubs. Whether with one person or a dozen, I find the exchange of ideas and stories invigorating. As an extrovert, being around people energises me. Pubs are fascinating places, offering rich experiences architecturally, historically, socially, geographically, and demographically. They are sensory havens and serve as transitional spaces—from work to home, week to weekend, and application to relaxation.

 

How did you get Shostakovich into a review about the Port Admiral Pub? Beyond conversations, the soundtrack in a pub is always fascinating. As an ABC Classic FM listener, Shostakovich seems to be on high rotation whenever I’m in the car. He’s a poster boy and the Jimmy Barnes of Russian composers (Tchaikovsky’s the John Farnham). Entering the Port Admiral pub, punk music was playing in the bar and it isolated me where once it would’ve engaged me. It made me subsequently consider how my musical diet’s changing. In writing the title for that story I also hoped the (stereotypical) dissonance between Shostakovich and a Port Adelaide pub would make some readers curious and they might care to discover the link. I enjoy connecting the seemingly unrelated in my writing and reckon this is part of the brief.

 

 

 

You combine a love of exercise with a love of beer. Does this hark back to your days as a student? If so, what was your actual line of study? When I was a uni student I played footy, golf, cricket and a little squash. I took up running in my mid-twenties when I moved to Kimba but have stepped up recently knowing that being active is increasingly vital. Like writing, it’s part of my wellness regime. Early in 2022, Claire challenged me to run every day and I couldn’t offer a reason why not, so I’ve only missed a handful since. We’ve a whiteboard on our fridge and I update my running streak on this to keep me motivated and I’m currently at 418 days straight. Last year, I ran the 6k in the City Bay Fun Run and won my age. However, I later discovered I’d been beaten by three 71-year-olds! Although I studied English teaching at uni I’ve probably learnt more about it on the job.

 

Where did you spend your formative years? I hope I’m still in them! I grew up in Kapunda, a small town about an hour north of Adelaide, around fifteen minutes from the Barossa. Although like many people it was only when I moved away in my early twenties that I started to realise how great it’d been for me. It was mostly safe and fun and encouraging. I played sport, did stuff with friends. My first job was cleaning up in a butchers after school. Offal, blood and the stink of slaughter for $2 an hour! I still see many people from Kapunda and love going home.

 

How did you become interested in writing? Mum and Dad had plenty of books at home and every month the State Library sent up a parcel of books and cassettes on the train. Reading Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven and then graduating to the Famous Five was momentous. I also read and reread Fantastic Voyage by Isaac Asimov annually for about a decade because I found the idea of it utterly compelling and was immersed in the world he created. It’s not always obvious but I don’t think you can be a writer if you’re not first a reader. Various primary and high teachers encouraged my writing by reading some to the class. One of my oldest friends, Chris still talks about a line he remembers from a story I wrote in Year 3 which was, ‘and then the cops rolled in like oranges.’

 

Why do you write? Writing meets several needs. It’s a diary, it’s a wellness strategy, it’s a method for showing my gratitude for the people and opportunities I have, and it’s a challenge. I strive to manipulate language to capture my experiences and engage my audience.

 

Where do you write, and how often do you write? I think and plan while running before dawn when I’m at my best. After dark I wind down like a clock and can barely speak in sentences beyond 8pm! I mostly write at home in my nook near the back window and sometimes I sit on our veranda. If I get the chance I write at the Broadway Kiosk, overlooking the beach at Glenelg South. Most days I’m working on something. Ideally, I’m writing at 5.30am when it’s quiet and everyone else is asleep.

 

A broad scope of topics come up in your articles; what have been your passions in life? People, film, reading, sport, travel, theatre, wine, conversation and art are central to who I am so I write about these. I also love music but find writing on it hugely difficult. Community, communication, and connection are significant for me. I’m especially interested in everyday places like pubs and footy ovals and the beach and the deeper meanings we can excavate from these and so for me writing is like an archaeological dig. I like starting a piece, hopeful that as I write I’ll learnt a few things about the topic and myself.

 

Which writers do you like? Tim Winton for characterisation and dialogue, Annie Proulx for inventive, arresting language, Scott Fitzgerald for elegance. Alain de Botton for his seemingly effortless, fluid sentences. Richard Ford for (Frank Bascombe’s) narrative voice: I’m happily resigned to rereading The Sportswriter series ad infinitum. I loved Martin Flanagan in The Age, (the late) Victor Lewis-Smith’s restaurant reviews in The Guardian and Philip White’s wine column in The Advertiser. On the Footy Almanac there’s an extensive and evolving stable of terrific authors and when I see a new story from a favourite I get excited.

 

What is the writing process for you? Most of what I write is recount – of a pub visit or a day at the cricket or somewhere we’ve visited – so I make notes and then enlarge these into sentences. I then attempt to make these artful. Sometimes, if I’m especially deep in my thinking, a story will wake me around three in the morning and I immediately begin to write in my head. I’ve learnt it’s best to surrender to it and get up and bang away at my laptop and when it’s been exorcised, go back to bed. Three quarters of the time I invest in a piece is post-draft: editing, revision and crafting. Scrutinising words.

 

When is the Mickey Randall anthology coming out? Very kind, Barry! I’m hugely grateful to the Almanac and JTH for giving me a platform and a highly encouraging and sympathetic audience. So my pieces are there for anyone to read. I’ve said to Harmsy and others, often at lunches, that as an English teacher and now a curriculum writer, writing for and reading the Almanac has given me the best professional learning of my career. Reading and studying what others have shared and trying to incorporate some of their skills is a constant challenge, inspiration and joy. Having a national and international audience and community that’s passionate and thoughtful and supportive is magnificent.

 

What is the theme of your writing? Life is endlessly rich and compelling and stories surround us. I strive to find and share these stories.

 

What is the backdrop to your writing (e.g. silence, a particular style of music, the general hubbub of the house, café etc)? I love music but can’t write seriously with it playing. I can shut out noise and voices pretty well but prefer the predawn silence.

 

What did you learn from Triple J apart from the joy of HG and Roy? That there’s a galaxy of music, ideas and comedy beyond mainstream media and when Triple J began locally I was instantly obsessed. Being a twentysomething and hearing Helen and Mikey and then Wil and Adam saying daring, provocative and funny things expanded my world. I liked the danger and excitement of it. I remember The Sandman once saying, ‘I’ve often wondered what it’d be like to be a woman’ to which Mikey instantly replied, ‘Come here.’

 

What advice would you give to one Test player, John Watkins? Enjoy having played one Test more than most of us and also that your unlikely 83-run partnership with Bob Massie helped Australia to a narrow win.

 

 

 

Footy Budget type questions

 

Nickname? Mickey.

 

What social media are you on? Facebook and the platform formerly known as Twitter.

 

Favourite food? Schnitzel with pepper sauce. Just keep the schnitzel off the chips! Why is this so hard?

 

Favourite drink? A long neck of Coopers Sparkling Ale at 5pm Sunday on our veranda with Let It Bleed playing, after a productive afternoon and with Monday a public holiday.

 

Favourite sound? Waves crashing at Port Elliot in early September when I’m staying right by Knights Beach on my annual writing retreat.

 

Best Pub? Are you allowed to make such a call? The Broadway in Glenelg South, on a Friday, around 4.27pm when I walk in and I’ve got a fortnight off. Although it’s not the closest pub to home, it’s my local because I like the tone, setting and beer garden.

 

What is the last book you read? Just reread Be Mine by Richard Ford, the final in The Sportswriter series. A novel of gallows humour, tremendous empathy, and familial despair, all masterfully realised.

 

Favourite piece of memorabilia in a cereal packet (e.g. sports card, kingly critter etc.) Nothing much ever really grabbed me but I’ve enjoyed Coco Pops too much over the years. They’re evil beyond measure and probably emblematic of all that’s wrong in late-capitalism.

 

What song do you currently have on repeat? It’s an old song now, from the early 90s, ‘Nightswimming’ by REM. An all-time favourite band, mostly known for their jangly guitars, this has a gorgeous, circular piano motif. It’s also about nostalgia which interests me much more than is probably healthy. This song pops into my life quite regularly and then slips away quietly for a while.

 

Who is your best writing teammate (the best person to bounce ideas off) Before I start I often talk to Claire about what I’m thinking of writing and then send her a draft. She’s supportive but also tells me about bits she doesn’t like or require work. This is hard to do and even though the advice is sometimes difficult to hear, she’s brave enough to say what’s to be said. Importantly, we did year 12 together at Kapunda High and she outscored me in English (and every other subject) so I take her views seriously!

 

What type of pet do you have? (and name) None at the moment. For years we’d two dogs that were bought for my boys, Alex and Max, who loved them so much they allowed me, almost exclusively, to feed them, walk them and of the 25,000 poos they did on my lawn over a decade, I had to pick up all but seven.

 

One word to describe your life at the moment? Fulfilling.

 

What is your Desert Island book? Independence Day by Richard Ford.

 

Who would you invite to your party of six dinner party and why? Paul McCartney for his enthusiasm: he still loves The Beatles more than anyone. Paul Keating for his wit and worldly insight. Judith Wright for her compassion. Ian Chappell because I love his thinking on cricket. Virginia Woolf as she transformed the novel. My wife Claire because she’s been the most compelling person I’ve known since we met at thirteen. And we could extensively debrief the dinner party over the following weeks!

 

Thanks very much Barry!

 

 

You can read more from Barry Nicholls Here.

 

 

Barry Nicholls is a former A-grade district cricketer who has written about the sport for three decades. He also broadcasted on ABC Radio for nearly 20 years. Barry has written nine books, including You Only Get One Innings: Family, Mates and the Wisdom of Cricket and For Those Who Wait: The Barry Jarman Story and The Pocket History of the Ashes. He has also contributed to Inside Sport, Wisden Cricketers’ Almanac Australia and other publications.

 

Barry preparing for an interstate cricket carnival in 1975.

 

 

 

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