Between Two Beers Podcast: Mikey Havoc: The journey of a creative genius

Mikey Havoc was one of the biggest stars in New Zealand entertainment for nearly two decades across music, radio and television.

He started out as a singer in the rock band Push Push – a band named Group of the Year at the 1992 New Zealand Music Awards following their smash hit Trippin’ – before going on to pump up the volume as a dance DJ and the long-standing voice of alternative radio station bFM, where he made some of the most creative radio of the era.

Mikey is also a familiar face on TV, with his former show Havoc which led to the infamous Havoc and Newsboy Sell Out Tour, where the dynamic duo of Mikey and Jeremy Wells took the country by storm and upset the whole of Gore. The juggernaut continued with another two Sell Out Tours and a series of shows including Havoc’s Luxury Suites and Conference Facilities and a remake of the Kiwi classic Top Town.

His life, career and story is remarkable – and in two hours we only just scratched the surface. But there’s some real nuggets of gold in here, some top stories from the glory days and some raw moments of reflection.

Show notes | Episode 99 | Mikey Havoc

2:02 Shaggy Sheepdog: Ol’ Havo takes us behind the scenes of The Masked Singer

12.10 Back to the start: four kids start a band called Push Push

16:38 Trippin’ and the rise to fame

22:10 Push Push push pause

26:14 Havoc hones his creative skills on bFM

35:38 Linking up with Jeremy Wells and the start of the TV journey

45:00 Faces of delight, or if you’re in the islands, Kumface

49:23 Gore

1:00:40 Life at the height of popularity and reflections on the TV career

1:11:21 Working with Jeremy Wells

1:17:10 Using his platform to speak to real issues

1:23:47 Havoc’s thoughts on his late father and his takes on fatherhood

1:37:18 What’s next for Mikey?

1:45:49 Last words from Steven, Seamus and Mikey

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