Whatever Turns You On

Paul Dempsey

One of Melbourne's inherent charms lies in the fact that it not only lays legitimate claim to being the sporting capital of the southern hemisphere – many would argue the world – but it's also the country's leading light when it comes to all things musical.

With that in mind it's no surprise that the Presentation Night franchise that kicked off last year – which pairs champion footballers of yesteryear with leading musicians to explore the nexus of these two pursuits – gained such immediate traction. As with ventures like the Community Cup you only need to scratch the surface of this city's psyche to realise that there's a strong overlap between football and music in our collective hearts and minds, and the next pairing to delve into this fascinating premise will be Geelong premiership captain-turned-media personality Cameron Ling and lanky Something For Kate frontman – and proud St Kilda devotee – Paul Dempsey.

“I'm a little bit nervous to be honest,” Dempsey smiles. “I don't get nervous about playing shows – and I love footy – but I'm not one of those people who has an encyclopedic knowledge of every game from the last two decades. I went to the first couple [of Presentation Nights] and saw Paul Kelly and Tim Rogers talking to Bob Murphy and Matthew Richardson, and it's amazing how those guys can remember specific games and plays and scores.”

Luckily the unofficial Mayor of Geelong has similar reservations about leaving his sporting comfort zone, so as long as the topic of the 2009 Grand Final is avoided the two protagonists should be on a level playing field.

“I'm looking forward to it, although I'm a touch hesitant because I'm by no means a music expert at all, but I enjoy my music and I've loved it over the years,” Ling tells. “I grew up in Geelong and there was always a whole range of music around, but to honest I was well and truly brainwashed by Dad – happily brainwashed as it turns out – so [from a young age] I was very much into '50s, '60s and a bit of '70s music. Dad's influence was very much The Beatles and The Beach Boys, Buddy Holly and those types. I love Creedence Clearwater Revival, Simon & Garfunkel, Peter, Paul & Mary – that sort of thing. For a period there my brother and I loved AC/DC – I still do love them really – so it was a bit of a different music upbringing – and one that I copped a bit of grief from the boys at the footy club for because they had every different musical tastes to me – but one that I'm very thankful for.

“Mainly for me it's always been 'if I like it I like it'. There was never one set genre of music, if I like a particular song or it made me feel good or brought back particular memories then that's enough for me. I have a lot of happy memories involving music.”

Both Ling and Dempsey agree that there is a massive crossover between the two pursuits, even if they seem completely disparate on the surface.

“I hate to generalise but it seems like there's two kinds of people – some are just mad sports fans and don't really care much for artistic pursuits, and vice versa where people are into music or some discipline of art and think that sport is stupid,” Dempsey reflects. “Obviously nether of these is true – it's alright to appreciate both.

“I think they both provide a different kind of outlet for people. I'm sure thousands of anthropologists have written about how sport is the modern outlet for warfare and how it's a release of physical energy akin to going into battle – there's all that obvious stuff – and at the same time music and art are an outlet for the less tangible things, the soul-searching and imagination-based side of things. But it's all important, and I think that a lot of people in modern life want a bit of both – they want to be taken somewhere else with art, and they also want to let off some tension and let off some steam at a sporting event.”

“I think with both of them at their absolute core, they're fun and they're enjoyable,” Ling concurs. “People only go along to the footy and watch the footy and play footy and talk about the footy or go to concerts and play instruments and play music because it's something they enjoy. They're both massive businesses and big, big industries, but we should never lose sight of the fact that first and foremost they're fun and people love them – that's why they're great things, and that's hopefully what Paul and I will get across on the night. They're both great pastimes and both great fun.”