Richard Kingsmill | |
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| Education | Macquarie University |
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Richard Kingsmill is an Australianradio announcer andmusic journalist. He worked forABC radio stationtriple j from 1988 until his redundancy in December 2023, and was the station's longest-serving presenter. From 2017 he was group music director of triple j,triple j Unearthed,Double J,ABC Country, andABC Local Radio.
Richard Kingsmill studiedmass communications atMacquarie University in the early 1980s. After working atcommunity radio stations inLismore, Kingsmill moved to Sydney to find a job, and did some training at educational radio station2SER while studying at university.[1] 2SER was run jointly by Macquarie University and theUniversity of Technology Sydney.[2]
While at 2SER in 1988, Kingsmill made a four-part series on theAustralian music industry calledMoney, Not Harmony.[3]
His career at the ABC started in 1988 as a producer for triple j.[4] He presented on-air for the first time in 1990.[5]
He introduced and hosted the showsThe J Files[1] (8 years[6]) and theAustralian Music Show (10 years[6]), and was co-founder of triple j Unearthed in 1995,[4][6] a fact of which he is very proud, in particular "being able to uncover the likes ofMissy Higgins,Grinspoon,G Flip, andGenesis Owusu".[7]
Kingsmill began hosting triple j's new releases show on Sunday evenings, named for the current year, in 1996. This show continues as of 2023 as one of the highest-rating shows.[6][8][9]
In 1998, Kingsmill hosted an Australian music-themed program onRage, for Australian Music Week.[10] In 2009, he presented the triple jHottest 100 of All Time onRage withZan Rowe.[11]
In 2003, Kingsmill was promoted to the position of music director[4] after the retirement ofArnold Frolows, who had been in the position since the inception of Double Jay (as triple j was then known) in 1975.[12]
From 2004 until 2019, he curated the annual "One Night Stand" live concerts in remote or regional towns.[6]
In 2009, Kingsmill was the initiator and curator ofBefore Too Long: Triple J's Tribute to Paul Kelly.[6] The show ran over two nights at theForum Theatre inMelbourne in November, with various artists performing tracks byPaul Kelly.[13] The concert was recorded for a 3× CD[14] and a 2x DVD of the same name released in February 2010.[15]
In 2011, Kingsmill createdStraight To You: triple j’s Tribute To Nick Cave.[6]
In January 2012, he took a break for six months to travel overseas, with Nick Findlay stepping in as acting music director.[5]
In 2015, Kingsmill selected the artists for the live concert "Beat The Drum: Celebrating 40 Years of triple j" The soundtrack once again took out an ARIA.[6]
In 2016, he startedThe Funhouse on Double J, which in 2023 celebrated its 350th show and is one of the station's most loved programs.[6]
Over the years, he hosted hundreds of interviews with well-known musicians, includingDavid Bowie,Radiohead,Björk,Nick Cave,Daft Punk,Flume,Gotye,Lana Del Rey, andKendrick Lamar.[6] In 1998, a remarkable interview withTori Amos went to air live on the J Files.[16][17]
In 2017, Kingsmill became group music director, coordinating the team of music directors for four stations on the ABC national network: triple j, triple j Unearthed, Double J and ABC Local Radio.[18] He also oversaw music content at ABC Country,[19][1] and in 2023 another station, triple j's Hottest, was added.[4][7]
In December 2023, he announced his departure from the ABC, having been made redundant as part of a restructuring of the triple j network.[20][21][19] During his time at triple j, Kingsmill managed to double the amount of airtime given to Australian artists, from 30 percent to 60 percent.[7] The station's audience increased from 980,000 in 2006[4] to 3 million in 2022.[22]
Kingsmill was triple j's longest-serving presenter.[5]Ben Eltham wrote in a 2015 article inMeanjin that Kingsmill's musical preferences (mainly inhip hop,indie rock, andpop music) influenced what was played on triple j, and that he has shaped its identity.[27] Eltham later (2023) wrote of him as a "kingmaker", who had the power to make a musician's career, and artists ignored by him resented this. Eltham commented that this type of power has now passed to platforms such asSpotify andTikTok rather than individuals, playlists are determined byAI, and major labels dominate the industry.[22]
The longevity and present format of the TV programRage was inspired by Kingsmill's radio show in which he hosted artists who would talk about music that they liked. An ABC staff member took this idea to management in 1998, afterRage had been running without any presenter for three years.[28]
Kingsmill appeared in the 1998Radiohead documentaryMeeting People Is Easy.[29][30]
In 2019, theNational Film and Sound Archive of Australia published excerpts of Kingsmill's 2SER radio series,Money, Not Harmony. Archivist Liz Guiffre wrote: "Kingsmill would go on to become an extremely important part of the industry he so carefully documented here".[3]
Kingsmill's older brother,Mark Kingsmill, was the drummer in the Australian rock bandHoodoo Gurus.[31]