You might have heard the voices of Canberrans Sally Coleman and Erica Mallett, either over the airwaves on Triple J or as rap duo Coda Conduct. Sally and Erica took over the reins of Triple J’s Breakfast show in January this year, after a stint hosting Weekend Arvos.
1 How have you found taking over the reins of Triple J Breakfast and the transition from Weekend Arvos?
E: Oh maaaaaan, what a ride. So far it has been a whirlwind of huge guests and huge laughs. Going from part-time on weekends to full-time during the week feels like I somehow have more time. Something to do with having a social life again because now I’m free to see friends on the weekend! They’re all rediscovering their friend named Erica.
S: Getting to know the audience has been especially fun. We’ve been getting heaps of messages on the text line and socials saying nice things and getting involved in the conversations. My body is definitely confused about what is happening. I’m not sure you ever get used to 4am starts, just more OK with the idea of them.
2 What goes into preparing each Triple J Breakfast show?
E: You gotta mine every aspect of your life for content! You also have to be very across news and current affairs.
S: And it’s really a team effort. We have a very organised producer, a boss who airchecks us often, and an office full of interesting and hilarious people to bounce ideas off.
3 What led you both towards a career in radio, is this something you envisioned? What led you both towards a career in music?
S: Music led us both to radio. It started as us just mucking around on community radio playing people songs we loved. We always grew up listening to a lot of it [music]. I was obsessed about learning lyrics to my favourite songs.
E: Yeah, it started so organically. Never could have guessed! I think I always knew I would do something creative/communicative but radio never crossed my mind. I think it was meeting each other and finding out we had a secret shared interest in making music that made us confident enough to try [a career in music] out.
4 What can we expect from Coda Conduct this year?
E: We’re definitely working on new music. We’ll be getting into the studio during the week some days, after we finish up at Triple J. Long days!
S: Not sure exactly what it’ll look like yet, but we’re ready to work hard to keep the music up, alongside radio.
5 What’s your go-to thing to do when you come back to Canberra?
E: Hang with my fam!
S: Raid the fridge!
