Based on the award-winning podcast of the same name, lifelong music nerd Zan Rowe, presents Take 5 with Zan Rowe -an interview show using music to delve deep into the lives of her guests. Across five episodes, icons in music and screen will share five songs they love and explore their connection to this curated soundtrack of their lives.
Is it like this? 
The show debuts on Tuesday, September 20 at 8pm.
Join lifelong music fanatic and host Zan Rowe as she brings her popular award-winning Double J radio show and podcast, Take 5 with Zan Rowe to screens, when it premieres Tuesday, 20 September at 8pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.
You can learn a lot about someone from their mixtape. Across five episodes, icons in music and screen join Zan to delve deep into intimate moments in their lives as they share five songs they love and explore their connection to this curated soundtrack of their lives.
From acclaimed actor Guy Pearce exploring the impact of losing his father at a young age, to music icon Keith Urban sharing his unexpected passion for electronic music and the story of finding himself at rock bottom with nothing to lose. And, in a deeply personal conversation, Missy Higgins opens up to Zan in an extraordinary interview you wonât forget. While Australiaâs favourite sports presenter, the charismatic Tony Armstrong shares life lessons and the highs and extreme lows of his AFL career, and finally, the legendary Tori Amos talks about her fight to be heard as a woman in music, the endemic nature of sexual assault and how the fight continues.
Using music as the blueprint to the lives of each guest, expect intimate, revelation fueled conversations that cast the people you know in a whole new light.
As Zan says: âMusic, just like smell or taste, is sensory memory. Weâve all had those experiences where we hear a song and weâre transported back to an exact moment in our life.â
All filtered through the universal language of music, Take 5 with Zan Rowe is where the power of music meets the power of human vulnerability.
For more Take 5 with Zan Rowe listen weekly on Double J and via the podcast in the ABC listen app.
Take 5 with Zan Rowe, screening Tuesdays at 8pm on ABC TV and ABC iview, is part of ABCâs commitment to Arts content and providing a home for the national conversation around visual and performance art, books, films, and music.
Episodes order:
Episode 1: Guy Pearce, Tuesday 20 September, 8pm ABC TV and ABC iview
Episode 2: Keith Urban, Tuesday 27 September, 8pm ABC TV and ABC iview
Episode 3: Missy Higgins, Tuesday 4 October, 8pm ABC TV and ABC iview
Episode 4: Tony Armstrong, Tuesday 11 October, 8pm ABC TV and ABC iview
Episode 5: Tori Amos, Tuesday 18 October, 8pm ABC TV and ABC iview
Production credits:
Take 5 with Zan Rowe is an ABC Production. Created and hosted by Zan Rowe, Executive Producer: Nikita Agzarian, Series Producer: Josh Schmidt, Director/DOP: Aaron Smith, Double J Content Director: Ryan Egan, Head of Music: Meagan Loader, Executive Producer Arts: Kalita Corrigan, Acting Head of Factual and Culture: Richard Huddleston.
Tuesday 20 September 8.00pm
You can learn a lot about someone from their mixtape. Across five episodes, icons in music and screen join Double J host Zan Rowe to delve deep into intimate moments in their lives as they share five songs they love. First up with Zan is Guy Pearce.
Guy is a commanding actor but his first love is music. As well as being a mega fan, Guy is also a recording artist with two albums under his belt. âWriting music and expressing yourself through music thatâs what makes sense to me. Thatâs why I do it.â
In a life thatâs been filled with opportunity as well as professional and personal triumphs and challenges Guy shares his track list of the brilliant and often surprising songs.
In this episode Guy reflects on a time of personal tragedy when at age eight, he lost his father in a plane crash. Guy lets us into this moment through a song by Kate Bush. âItâs always really undone me. It reminds me of what my mother went through when my father went on that flight he never came back from.â
The episode is also filled with hilarious stories: "I was asked by The Village People to go on tour with them in drag as a support act,â to some exclusive Neighbours titbits such as taking this call from the Ramsay St green room: âHey itâs Amanda from Mushroom records can you tell Kylie that Locomotion has gone to number one?â
So, join Guy and Zan and letâs Take Five!
Tuesday 27 September 8.00pm
Join Zan Rowe and Keith Urban for a story of never giving up as well as curiosity and creativity filtered through the playlist of an artist with profoundly eclectic taste.
Keith Urban is a country music mega star and legend of the Nashville scene with a breathtaking number of hits and awards to his name. But the road to success was far from easy for this kid from Caboolture who grew up in Queenslandâs pub rock scene.
In this episode, Keith opens up about a decade of rejection in Nashville and how grit, persistence and being true to himself lit the way in an industry that at times felt hostile to an artist longing to follow his arrow.
Described by his good friend Taylor Swift as âfearlessâ, Keith is anything but predictable. With a career spanning the decades, he opens up about the personal challenges faced along the way: âLots of years of struggle and lots of addiction issues for me.â
Join Zan Rowe and Keith for a story of never giving up as well as curiosity and creativity filtered through the playlist of an artist with profoundly eclectic taste.
Get your notebooks ready, this oneâs a real education.
Production credit: Take 5 with Zan Rowe is an ABC Production. Created and hosted by Zan Rowe, Executive Producer: Nikita Agzarian, Series Producer: Josh Schmidt, Director/DOP: Aaron Smith, Double J Content Director: Ryan Egan, Head of Music: Meagan Loader, Executive Producer Arts: Kalita Corrigan, Acting Head of Factual and Culture: Richard Huddleston.
Tuesday 4 October 8.00pm
In her first media interview since separating from her husband, Missy Higgins opens up to Zan Rowe in an extraordinary interview you wonât forget.
Since the release of her nine-time platinum debut album âThe Sound of Whiteâ in 2005 Australia has been deeply invested in Missy Higgins. We have sung her breakup songs and danced to music about her falling in love.
In her first media interview since separating from her husband, Missy arrives ready to share. Zan says of the interview âIâve interviewed Missy many times over the last 15 years, this was the most open I have ever seen her, itâs an interview that has stayed with me and I was moved that Missy trusted me to share so honestly.â
Missy explores her struggles with mental health, the secrecy of her first same sex relationship and the pressures of fame all through her five songs that celebrate an instrument so connected with her: the piano.
This is an episode about letting go of the expectations of others and breaking free from the confining narratives that we build around our own lives. Itâs an episode about writing new chapters and accepting that weâll never finish the book.
Production credit: Take 5 with Zan Rowe is an ABC Production. Created and hosted by Zan Rowe, Executive Producer: Nikita Agzarian, Series Producer: Josh Schmidt, Director/DOP: Aaron Smith, Double J Content Director: Ryan Egan, Head of Music: Meagan Loader, Executive Producer Arts: Kalita Corrigan, Acting Head of Factual and Culture: Richard Huddleston.
Tuesday 11 October 8.00pm
Tony Armstrong burst onto the Australian media landscape and straight into our hearts. Blending exceptional skill at presenting live television with charisma money just canât buy, itâs no wonder Tony received the Graham Kennedy award for Best New Talent at the Logies this year.But beneath his charming exterior is a story filled with bumps in the road.
In this episode of Take 5 Tony shares the highs of being a professional AFL player: âIt was one of the only times Iâve stopped to smell the roses⌠Iâve just kicked it to Goodsey. Heâs like Aboriginal superman.â
As well as the crushing lows: âPeople start to do revisionist history on your behalf. Theyâre like why did you retire? I didnât retire. I got sacked cause I wasnât good enough. And thatâs fine, but itâs pretty brutal⌠I was gutted. It took me years to get over.â
We see our favourite sports presenter like weâve never seen him before, as he generously shares the lessons life has taught him so far, all through the lens of music: âIt soundtracks everything I do. It makes everything infinitely better or it makes you feel whatever youâre feeling way more. Sometimes when youâre feeling a bit sad itâs ok to lean in I think.â
Production credit: Take 5 with Zan Rowe is an ABC Production. Created and hosted by Zan Rowe, Executive Producer: Nikita Agzarian, Series Producer: Josh Schmidt, Director/DOP: Aaron Smith, Double J Content Director: Ryan Egan, Head of Music: Meagan Loader, Executive Producer Arts: Kalita Corrigan, Acting Head of Factual and Culture: Richard Huddleston.
From The Age Green Guide today
The legendary Tori Amos joins Zan Rowe to talk about her fight to be heard as a woman in music, the endemic nature of sexual assault and how the fight continues.
Powerhouse Tori Amos stormed the pop charts in the 1990s with her unforgettable album Little Earthquakes. Her signature sound redefined the boundaries of the pop genre and paved the way for other artists to follow their own paths.
In this episode of Take 5 with Zan Rowe, Tori opens up about where it all began: being the youngest person ever accepted into a prestigious music school⌠and then being expelled. âI think I said something like âYouâre so stupid.â I started challenging when I was about 8 or 9 and by the time, I was 11 it was just insubordinate.â
The industry hasnât always been a safe space. She has faced plenty of rejection and fierce criticism of her unconventional musical choices. âI had seven years of rejection. Every company rejected me many, many, many times⌠Billboard called me a bimbo. How do you go from child prodigy to bimbo?â
A survivor and activist, Tori speaks candidly about sexual assault and channelling her own experiences into her art: âAs a woman Iâm trying to deal with the emotions that are coming up as the song is coming. Itâs overwhelming. To perform it Iâm allowing the song to inhabit my body, and Iâm just an observer.â
But Tori has faced everything life has thrown at her head on, and she is still selling out tours globally.
This episode of Take 5 is filled with stories of resistance, rebellion and finding oneâs voice. "You find your own style because youâre on your knees and you surrender.â All told through the songs that soundtrack the life of an extraordinary woman.
Production credit: Take 5 with Zan Rowe is an ABC Production. Created and hosted by Zan Rowe, Executive Producer: Nikita Agzarian, Series Producer: Josh Schmidt, Director/DOP: Aaron Smith, Double J Content Director: Ryan Egan, Head of Music: Meagan Loader, Executive Producer Arts: Kalita Corrigan, Acting Head of Factual and Culture: Richard Huddleston.
According to The Guardianâs Amanda Meade in her weekly column:
Armstrong tells Rowe he used to be really self conscious, which is quite the admission for someone who won a Logie for best new TV talent. âBeing a kid who was an only child, also being an Indigenous kid, you already stand out ⌠and youâre always trying to kind of not stand out,â he said. âWhen I was a kid I was always obsessed with making new friends and meeting people because it was just mum and I.â
The Age TV writer Debi Enker has praised the show in her weekly column in Green Guide.
(Zan Rowe) doesnât make the common mistake of inserting herself too insistently or expansively into the mix. Her questions are astute and concise, revealing her knowledge of music and her guest. She unobtrusively guides the discussion and allows the interviewees ample room for reflections and anecdotes. Each episode produces memorable and sometimes moving exchanges.
Take 5 gets the basics right. The decor provides a fitting frame for the conversations: a couple of chairs, a small table, turntables, images of records stacked against the back wall when the interview is shot in a studio. No fussy bells and whistles. The opening credits feature an audio cassette being flipped into an old-style tape recorder with a satisfying clunk.
The show premieres on ABC Australia across Asia-Pacific region this Thursday (November 24) at 9.30pm AEDT with the Guy Pearce episode.
Returning in 2023
You can learn a lot about someone from their mixtape. What if you asked extraordinary people to share 5 songs that made them who they are today? Take 5 with Zan Rowe is back by popular demand for a second series! What began as a segment on Zanâs much loved radio show 15 years ago, evolved into the award-winning podcast and a hit 5-part ABC TV series. Through their song choices each guest takes us deep into the moments that shaped them. The results are intimate, revelation fuelled conversations that cast the people you know in a whole new light⌠In 2023 Letâs Take Five!
An ABC Production. Series Producer Josh Schmidt, Executive Producer Nikita Agzarian, Double J Content Director Ryan Egan, Executive Producer Arts Kalita Corrigan
Take 5 is back on ABC TV and ABC iview, following a premiere season embraced by audiences in 2022, making it the #1 arts/ cultural program for ABC in the last two years.
Season two sees Zan return with her signature warmth, expert knowledge and disarming interview style. The guestlist is huge. Noel Gallagher, Natalie Imbruglia, Jimmy Barnes, Mark Coles Smith, G Flip, and Lin-Manuel Miranda . All sharing their unique record collections and deeply personal stories.
Noel Gallagher reveals his songs of escape, Barnesy celebrates the music that made him, G Flip shares their determination, Mark Coles Smith centers himself with home, and Natalie Imbruglia and Lin-Manuel Miranda have story at their centre, their own and others. As the songs play and conversation flows, we see a different, more vulnerable side to these artists than weâre used to. And hear some wild tales.
Music is memory. Hearing a song can take you back to a place, a feeling, a singular time in your life. It unlocks us and has the power to unite us.
Come along for the Take 5 journey.
âThe second series of Take 5 grew even bigger in heart and revelation. From London, to Melbourne, Brisbane to Sydney, extraordinary people from all walks of life showed their softer side through the songs that made them. As a journalist, I read the energy of every person I interview. And if there is ever a wall upon meeting, it melts quickly away when my guests flip to fan mode about their songs. Seeing Noel Gallagher relive childhood memories from a Manchester council flat, watching Natalie Imbruglia unpack years of tumult, and capturing Lin-Manuel Miranda at a creative crossroads, is a true privilege. Jimmy Barnes and G Flip show the scaffolding of who they are with their song choices, and Mark Coles Smith sits down for one of the first in-depth conversations about his story. Iâve been lucky to be front row at Take 5 for seventeen years, and the deep well of memory and emotion that music can stir up continues to floor me.â
âThe** success of Take 5âs first season confirmed what **Iâve long believed; songs hold our stories and no matter who we are, we all have a deep connection
to music. Iâm so proud and happy that Take 5 is returning to prime time with even more incredible epiphanies from the people we love, sharing the songs that made them.â - Zan Rowe
Tuesday 10 October 8.00pm
Take 5 with Zan Rowe returns with a star-studded second season. Zan is back with her signature warmth, expert knowledge and disarming interview style. Noel Gallagher is Zanâs first guest.
Noel Gallagher still has his trademark confidence âItâs ok If I never write another song, Iâve written some of the best songs of our f%#&ing era.â After 3 decades his songs with Oasis have withstood the test of time, making this statement not just bravado but a fact.
Now all grown up, Noel Gallagher shows a surprising softer side as he sits down with Zan to share his songs of escape. He talks about his early years in Manchester before becoming one of the biggest rock stars of his generation.
âI donât think thereâs anything more soul-destroying than you and your brother and your dad⌠all going to sign on at the unemployment office⌠looking back on it now, itâs like what message does that send? My dadâs got no future, Iâve got no future.â
Luckily for Noel, and for anyone who has ever put their arms around a mateâs shoulders at a pub and sung âBecause maybe, youâre gonna be the one that saved meâ Noelâs future was pretty bloody bright.
Now a father, still making music and touring with his band âThe High Flying Birdsâ, the wild days of the 90âs, trashing hotel rooms and being thrown off planes have passed.
Noel lived fast, but thankfully he is still here to tell the tale. Escape can mean many things, and what an amazing story of escape and success it is.
Episode 2: Natalie Imbruglia
Episode 3: Jimmy Barnes
Episode 4: Mark Coles Smith
Episode 5: G Flip
Episode 6: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Tuesday 17 October 8.00pm
Pop sensation Natalie Imbruglia sits down with Zan Rowe to share five songs that reflect her journey.
From overnight worldwide fame with her hit âTornâ, which took her to superstar status, to mental health struggles and the journey back to herself, Natalie is an empowering force.
Natalie exudes strength and talent; her personality is infectious. She sits down for the interview, ready to share her story through five songs, including a wild night out with her idol Michael Hutchence when she was 17, the deal she made with ex-husband Daniel Johns about writing break-up songs and how being dropped by her label led to a near nervous breakdown.
Amongst the intimate chat, belly laughs, and daggy dancing, this is the story of a woman getting her power back. Listening to her talk there is no mistaking Natalie is in her prime.
Get ready to step-touch to Whitney Houston and swoon over INXS as Natalie shares her incredible life. This is an episode not to be missed.
Tuesday 24 October 8.00pm
Australian rock icon Jimmy Barnes takes us on a journey through the music that built him. This not to be missed conversation reveals the power of music to shape identity.
Australian rock icon Jimmy Barnes sits down with Zan to talk about the music that made him, taking him from a tough childhood, onto the biggest stages in Australia.
He comes to the show armed with 5 songs that he used to build âJimmy Barnesâ. âThatâs what musicians do. You find your own voice through these influencesâ
The songs lead us through his early years, the wild days of Cold Chisel, and ultimately to self-realization and being comfortable in his own skin.
It is one hell of a journey; âI was going through it in an industry that wanted me to be wild, it wanted me to be crazy it wanted me to be reckless. It wanted me to be killing myself. The more I did it the more people liked meâ
âI had to come off stage at some point and when I did, I had to face life.â
Jimmy opens up about aging and having a new understanding of what being a real man is. Itâs a fascinating conversation about finding solace between the dark and the light, as an artist and as a human being.
If you grew up in Australia, itâs pretty much guaranteed at some point youâve been on a dancefloor and sung Kha Sahn as the lights got turned on or found yourself belting out Flame Trees on a solo country drive. Jimmy Barnes is part of the fabric that binds us.
