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Features · 24 April 2023

Granite Island Discs: Joe Hay

The General Manager of UNESCO City of Music, Joe Hay, loves Beastie Boys, Iggy Pop and Jimi Hendrix.

By The Note Staff

Joe Hay posing next to a South Australian Music Awards banner on a red carpet with gig posters and a throne in the background for a SAM Awards photo.
Joe Hay - photo by Joe Hay

What five songs would you take to a desert island?

1. Beastie Boys – ‘Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun’

2. Iggy Pop – ‘Lust for Life’

3. Sonic Youth – ‘Dirty Boots’

4. Jimi Hendrix – ‘Manic Depression’

5. The Pogues – ‘Sick Bed of Cuchulainn’

I can’t believe I don’t get to add anything by Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Anthrax, or We Care A Lot’ by Faith No More... No second wave punk or Ska, or hardcore, no dance, The B-52s, The KLF, Morcheeba, De La Soul, Brit Pop or Drum ‘n’ Bass...

If you could only pick one, what would it be?

I hate you! Manic Depression by Jimi Hendrix. There’s magic in the backline.

What’s your favourite album?

Paul’s Boutique by Beastie Boys – mix of genres and styles, geek-level creativity, and it reimagined what hip hop could be.

What’s your favourite song by an SA artist/band?

Anything by Exploding White Mice.

Favourite music-related memory?

1993 Big Day Out at Adelaide Uni – all the bands I had only ever heard on tape played. It was 46 degrees, Sonic Youth made them turn on the hoses, I left Mudhoney to see Exploding White Mice and Iggy Pop got on stage with The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy.

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