It's 4.30am in New York's trendy SoHo district and, in an apartment above Milady's local Irish bar, Brad Blanks, radio presenter and celebrity interviewer, is woken by his iPhone alarm. It's time for Hamish & Andy's 196cm New York correspondent to launch himself into another day in the city that throbs to its own heartbeat. “I don't muck around once I'm up,” Blanks says, joining me at a table at The Spotted Pig, a West Village bar. “It's a case of going through the formalities then throwing myself into a cab and heading uptown into work, reading the morning headlines off my iPhone as I go”.
While we hear him regularly on Fox FM in Melbourne, 'work' is at 95.5 WPLJ, the station where duo Scott Shannon and Todd Pettengill's Scott and Todd In The Morning is a New York institution. For years Blanks's first task each day was to put his unique spin on the three biggest stories of the day in the entertainment world for a syndicated daily report. But this report is currently on hiatus, and the station have increased the focus on his celebrity interviews and man-on-the-street stuff. Now when the show starts at 6am each morning, he is raring to unleash his latest killer one-on-one. Blanks is one who wakes with the birds, and yet, enviably, work remains a labour of love.
He's always been an early starter, even back when he was a high school student in Cobram, north of Shepparton on the Murray River.
“Growing up I always thought I would be an actor; first thing most mornings I'd re-enact scenes from famous movies. That was probably a weird choice considering I grew up a football-and-cricket-mad teenager.
“It took some time to realise that even though I loved playing my sport, I was much better in front of a crowd. The yearly Cobram High play was a highlight,” he says with a wistful smile.
He turns his attention to a passing waitress and orders cheeseburgers for both of us in an high-pitched, booming voice.
“Like many kids, we had a childhood that seemed to revolve around television, radio and movies. The special ingredient for me was having a mother who always pushed me and my sister to always think big.”
Part of this 'big thinking' was to get some money behind him first. After completing a Bachelor of Commerce at La Trobe University, he spent three years in London working in its burgeoning financial sector. During this time he used the city as a base while occasionally taking time out to strap a bag to his back and exploring Europe – an experience that helped shape him, introducing him to many different cultures and new friends.
While working during the day he often wrote at night, with grand plans for the next great Aussie sitcom.
“For five years, during university and in my early years of employment, I wrote the scripts and what I called the show bible. Then when I pitched it to a prominent production company they told me my idea was too much like fruit salad. That was when I learnt how TV people talk.”
So Blanks continued wedging his size-13 foot in the industry's closing doors, until he was offered the smallest slither of an opportunity.
“I was given a few minutes' assignment for WPLJ during the Sydney Olympics in 2000. My break-out interview was with a guy dressed up as koala, raising money for the Wilderness Koala organisation. They went crazy for it.”
But it almost didn't happen.
“I had no radio report for that day. The day before I had been calling in live from the Heineken House and the guys warned me it didn't go down so well. So naturally I wanted to top that but was struggling. Then I walked out of a pub near Sydney Uni late that day and saw the Wilderness Koala. I went straight over and interviewed him. The guy's name was Colin; he saved my bacon.”
The sound clip shows Blanks a little nervous but full of Aussie charm – and the first signs of an endless ability to think on his feet. Among questions to Colin was one querying how koalas went to the toilet, given the absence of holes in his suit. When Colin's answer induced a Alf Stewart-esque 'crikey', that was that – the station's producers were hooked.
Blanks says: “Fourteen years on from Crocodile Dundee, and Aussie idiom wins the Yanks over again,” Blanks says.
Blanks spent a further six months living in Sydney, 'doing bits and pieces' for WPLJ, when he realised, at 26 and in his prime, he needed to be closer to the action. New York beckoned.
After touching down at JFK and immersing himself in Manhattan's vibe, he coupled lessons learnt from earlier rejections with a sharp knowledge of American politics to convince WPLJ's producers they needed an Aussie as a regular on their morning program. He's been there ever since.In the 8am hour, Blanks has his own segment, comprising of vox-pop audio recorded on Manhattan's streets the day before. The results, at least for the many Aussie ex-pat listeners living in New York, are often hilarious.
“The Australian sense of humour is definitely different to Americans',” he says. “You can't be too dry, which has been a problem when I've said things I thought deserved some sort of laugh and it didn't happen,” he says.
That said, Blanks's inimitable style – a strong Aussie accent heightened by boundless, wide-eyed enthusiasm – has won him plenty of fans. Indeed, even in this city of faceless people, no less than three people have said hello since we sat down. No wonder he feels at home.
Does he ever get homesick?
“I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss a meat pie and beer at the footy with mates; as diverse as New York – and the USA – is, it can't fill the void of those simple Aussie things. But there hasn't been an option for homesickness. I made the choice to come here to learn something and have a crack. There is nothing more pleasing than creating your own idea and hustling hard enough to pull it off”.
Hustling is something that has become the norm. When the morning show finishes at 10am he will be busy contacting publicists for phone interviews with their famous clients, “assuring them that his interviewing style won't make them look stupid”.
Blanks's willingness to succeed is obvious when trawling through his website's interview collection; even with no formal training as a reporter, he more than holds his own in a media scrum.
Many of entertainment's shining lights, including Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, and, in particular, Ricky Gervais, have warmed to him.
“Over the years I have had a lot of fun with Ricky. For some reason he finds my head weird and at times very topical,” Blanks says. “I reckon in the celeb world you've just got to have fun with them and they'll have fun back. So many people are trying to take advantage of them or roll them.”
Always keen to broaden his network, he snaps up opportunities here and there, often linking him back to Australia. He briefly appeared on Channel 7's coverage of the Beijing games.
Then there's the Hamish & Andy gig, which is a direct result of Blanks's networking skills.
Hamish was an intern on Fox FM's breakfast show when Blanks befriended him in 2003. In December 2005, when the lads were given the opportunity to present a two-week afternoon show in Melbourne and Sydney, he checked in with them every few days, and became a regular member once Hamish & Andy were offered their own show.
“We were a hit right from the first show, when I crossed from Elton John's Oscar party in Hollywood. I've been checking in every week since,” Blanks says.
While Blanks could already be seen as a dream-fuelled young man who had the courage to chase and attain his goals, he is under no illusions he has made the grade. His long-term ambition is to make documentaries in the style of Clive James or Louis Theroux. “I've always loved shows where someone drops themselves into unknown situations and talks to people trying to learn about them... A week down South, in the bible belt of America, would be interesting, too.”
As our burgers are set down and he starts wolfing his down, Blanks says these plans will have to sit on the back burner for a while, offering an exhausting rundown of an average afternoon. Typically, he will head home for a nap at 1pm. A few hours later he's hustling again, emailing and phoning public figures' management for future segments. At 5pm, he can be seen on the red carpet trying to snare a few minutes with a movie star. After watching the movie, he is on his way home.
And waiting there is the love of his life. With such a hectic lifestyle, some may find it hard to believe that Blanks has time for a partner. But last year, he married English-born Juliette, his girlfriend of six years – a period of time Blanks labels “a decent road test”.
He says: “Anyone in entertainment or media has to have an understanding partner. You start to realise they are more important than the job as time goes by”.
Indeed, Blanks has been forced to reshuffle his priorities again this year after their first child, Harvey, was born – two months prematurely – in July 2009. Although he remained in hospital for sometime afterwards while his lungs strengthened, Blanks is now suitably chuffed that all is otherwise well, and his dialogue turns tongue-in-cheek. “Little Harvey decimated my final two months of freedom.”
He winks at me and turns philosophical. “But Harvey also makes me realise the big picture plans will have to be tackled earlier than later. The trick I think for people is to always be working on the big picture, not just because a baby is born”.
One surmises that Harvey won't stop him gravitating toward that bigger picture – even if his new routine includes rising a few minutes earlier each morning to give his little boy a cuddle.
Post-publishing note:
After 10 long years, Brad has resigned from WPLJ as he chases the next adventure. Even if means becoming Mr Mom and looking after Harvey full-time...
