Annnnnd, we're back after a bit of a hiatus to feature one of our favorite producers.
Radio -- the sound-rich story telling variety that we showcase here -- needs Kyla Brettle. But for now, it must share the multi-tasking Ms. Brettle with her young son and her students in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University in Melbourne, where she teaches radio and convergent media production "with a little bit of TV thrown in on the side."
Let's hope this new mom can "have it all," so we can hear more outstanding work like 000-Ambulance (part of a series titled Emergency). To our mind Kyla's magnum opus, it's a spellbinding piece that puts you in the middle of an Australian version of a 9-1-1 call center. Keep reading and discover the massive effort of recording so many sources and an editing slog through miles of tape.
The first time our ears perked up at Kyla's work was in 2002, when she won Best New Artist at the Third Coast Festival for Affairs of the Mind. Here she follows a private investigator shadowing a two-timing husband. It includes a real chase scene worthy of a TV crime thriller.
Kyla's sound design skills come to the fore in The Trouble With Rick. Proving radio can be impressionistic, it's like an embed in the skull of a man whose life is turned upside down.
We recently had the chance to catch up with Kyla on her work and her life.
You started out producing documentary films, then veered off into radio. What caused you to make the switch?
Kyla: I started producing radio because I found a story that had to be made in sound… at the time I was in my 20s - a struggling documentary filmmaker making ends meet by writing articles for the weekend papers. I was interviewing for a particularly shonky advice piece called, ‘I think my partner is having an affair, how can I tell?’ when I came across Steve Murray; a private detective who specializes in marital surveillance. I was spellbound – Steve’s eloquence, humor, perception and self-delusion was utterly compelling – he was everything a dramaturge would want in a character. I knew I would make something with him at the center…
A documentary film? Access would be difficult in vision, Steve wouldn’t want his face on national TV and neither would his clients - getting good shots of him under cover would be impossible. Also, Steve was a great talker and storyteller - film is hungry for action and isn’t the best medium for words.
A newspaper or magazine feature? This would be possible but a bit of a waste of someone so vibrant in the flesh – Steve would shine in time-based media, in print, he would come across as a caricature….
And then I thought – radio? In sound I wouldn’t have privacy issues and I’d be able to let Steve’s stories run free – but more than that sound would privilege how Steve sees the world (rather than how the world sees Steve) and it is the perfect medium for a tale of secrets and lies and standing on shifting sands … And so that’s how I fell into working with sound.
In 2002, you won the Best New Artist award at the Third Coast Festival with “Affairs of the Mind.” Later work like “The Trouble with Rick” suggest your approach and technique have evolved over the decade. True?
