Granite Island Discs: Rachel Whitford
Artist manager at 27 Music fills us in on her favourite songs and why she loves Blink-182’s Enema of the State.
Image supplied
What five songs would you take to a desert island?
1. Elton John – ‘Sad Songs (Say So Much)’
This song was my first favourite song. I was seven when I became absolutely obsessed with Elton John.
2. My Chemical Romance – ‘Thank You For The Venom’
Enter the year six emo phase! My Chemical Romance was the first band I was truly OBSESSED with.
3. Dear Seattle – ‘Momentarily’
Dear Seattle was the band that set my life/career in stone. They were the first ever band I managed and ‘Momentarily’ was the first ever release I helped put out.
4. Blink-182 – ‘After Midnight’
Blink-182 have been a band that I have loved since I was four years old. I’ve followed them around the world and worked on some of their shows, but I’ve picked this song because our friend Aston performed this song acoustically for mine and Seb’s first dance at our wedding!
5. Four Year Strong – ‘Talking Myself In Circles’
Four Year Strong have been with me through so many different chapters of my life. This is one of their songs I will never ever skip.
If you could only pick one, what would it be?
Oooooooh shit! This sucks! Hahaha! If I could only pick one, it would have to be ‘After Midnight’ by Blink-182 – it just has such a beautiful and special memory attached to it.
What’s your favourite album?
If I had to pick one (and that is incredibly mean), I would say Enema Of The State by Blink-182. Every song on that album is incredible and the album cover features my favourite Tax Evading Baddie that I got tattooed on my right wrist! Hahaha!
What’s your favourite song by an SA artist or band?
Okay, so I know this probably isn’t allowed, but I can’t just pick one! ‘Season 5 (Break My Fall)’ by TOWNS. TOWNS were the first SA band I ever managed. If it wasn’t for them, I would never have met my husband and moved to SA to have the opportunity to get to meet and manage the careers of many more SA bands!
‘Lovely’ by Pinkish Blu. This is the first song/project I ever worked on with my now husband. I’ll never forget how silent my entire office was when I showed them the music video for this song for the first time – and then demanded that we play it again!
‘Sweet And Slow’ by Teenage Joans. Every song Teenage Joans releases is a hit! But this song in particular is just freakin amazing! It scratches every itch and ticks every box in the “certified banger” checklist!
Favourite music-related memory?
This is another very hard question to answer! I would say my favourite memory was the day I went to see my first ever concert. In 2007, I got to see My Chemical Romance play the Sydney Entertainment Centre. I got the day off school, spend it with my best friend and got to see my favourite band of all time on their ‘The Black Parade’ tour. The ticket cost $63.10 (I’ll never forget handing that 10c coin over to my best friend’s mum), the date was 30/11/07 (I remember because it became part of my family computer’s password), and I still remember the setlist order. I filmed the entire thing on my family’s digital camera and you can hear absolutely nothing but me singing and you can see absolutely nothing because I jumped up and down the entire time – and because it was filmed on a 2005 digital camera….
