Veteran Music Journo Bernard Zuel To Depart Fairfax Media At Month's End

Long-serving music journalist Bernard Zuel will depart Fairfax Media mastheads The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald at the end of the month after just over a quarter of a century of service.

The venerated wordsmith broke the news on social media this afternoon, telling his considerable, dedicated fan base, "After what'll be 25yrs+36 days (but who's counting!) I'll finish at SMH/Age June 30."

"It's been the best time, best job, best people. Onwards."

Of course, leaving an employer after a stint as formidable as Zuel's is a bittersweet occasion at the best of times; even more so when it's a company for whom the employee in question feels a genuine, lifelong affinity. Nonetheless, he says, he felt it was a natural time to move on to another chapter in his storied career.

"I've loved being at Fairfax, the place I wanted to work at since I was 10 or 11, and being able to write about arts generally and music in particular for more than 20 years there was easily the best job I will ever have," he told The Music. "I retain the love for the job and the paper but the changing emphasis and interest in arts at Fairfax offered a different future to what I saw myself involved in.

"I felt the chance to see if there were things to do, online, in print, on screen, might be best tried now. Also I have had a sign saying 'will write for food' for years and it's about time I pulled it out, with the begging bowl."

It didn't take long for readers, artists and peers alike to start the outpouring of emotion to farewell one of the country's most respected and trusted voices when it comes to music in this country.

Among those saying farewell to Zuel from his post were the likes of Julia Zemiro, Myf Warhurst, The Chaser's Dom Knight, the Bluesfest Touring team, The Basics, Benjamin Law and Senator Murray Watt, as well as fellow journos such as Melissa Hoyer, Neil McMahon, Anna Vidot, Rachel Olding, Katherine Murphy and many more.

Zuel joined Fairfax in 1992 and, as well as being made its senior music writer and reviewer in 2013, also covered varied topics including education, roads and local politics.

He has been on the judging panel for the annual Australian Music Prize since its founding more than a decade ago, was a first-time inclusion on the AMID Power 50 in 2016, and says that he "still buys more music than is sensible".

Over the years, he has interviewed and reviewed more creative talent than one could reasonably recount here, though — even with more than two decades at Fairfax behind him — there are particular moments that still stand out for the seasoned scribe.

"So many, of course," he said. Martin Scorsese and Susan Sarandon were two of the four people I set out to interview when I began my career and getting to speak with them was incredible. Elvis Costello was another of those four and several of my interviews with him remain personal favourites as fan-boy moments if nothing else — though there was always plenty else.

"Thom Yorke, Nick Cave, Polly Jean Harvey, discovering Laura Marling as her first album arrived and continuing those fascinating conversations, George Martin, Hal David and Burt Bacharach."

And, now, whatever may come, fans of Zuel's inimitably insightful writing can rest assured that he's not really going anywhere; the sting of his departure somewhat tempered by his assertion that he will continue "rabbiting on" at his website, "whatever else happens" ("They'll have to prise the keyboard from my cold dead hand," he quipped on Twitter), as well as nurturing a few other pursuits. 

"There are a few things I've got in mind beyond writing for whomever is interested (see earlier 'will write for food') and some of them may even earn me a few dollars, though I'm going to be glad to give them all a try," he told The Music. "I will be teaching again at Macleay College. And if someone wants to pick up The Right Note — the best music panel/review/performance show around — for a broadcast channel of some sort, come talk to us. We're ready."