We chatted with Danny Clayton, TV and Radio Presenter, Host and DJ, to get an inside look at what life is like as a multi-hyphenate talent

It’s week two of Under the Palms and we were very happy to sit down with Danny Clayton, who gave us the low down on what it’s like to juggle the many facets of his dream career. The last time we saw Danny, we were busy working with him at last year’s SXSW Sydney so it was great to find time to catch up.

Explain your job as if you’re talking to a 10-year-old.

I talk – on stage, in studios, on camera and in front of crowds – about news, music, travel and things you should buy.

I talk to interesting people and make them talk about their interesting lives. Other times, I teach interesting people how to talk to people like me.

I also press buttons, which make loud noises that make people wiggle their bodies.

If our partnership was a movie, what would the title be?

It would be a Wes Anderson film called “The Life Creative”.  It’s a film with great indie music, great writing and quirky, creative cinematics. In this film, I’m hoping I’m Bill Murray.

What was your biggest failure/mistake you’ve ever made and how did you turn it into a positive?

I wrote a concept for a television show which I shopped around to some TV executives.  I saw the show (with a different, crappy title) on air a few months later hosted by someone else. The positive? Well, I was positively pissed off.  I’m more careful with IP now.

What’s your most unpopular opinion?

Social media is broken. It started as a way to connect people and now it’s an algorithm-driven machine that rewards outrage, spreads misinformation and makes us all feel slightly worse about ourselves. But hey, at least the memes are good.

What has been your top career highlight?

The Big Day Out music festival in 2011 and a 10-hour live TV broadcast which involved Iggy Pop’s nurse putting a needle in my bum cheek, dancing on stage as a strawberry with PNAU and meeting my music crush, the lead singer of a popular Brazilian band, who I subsequently dated.

I think I was nominated for a Logie that year. What a time!

What would people be surprised to know about you?

I’m finishing a Master’s in Media this year. I’m studying things like media law, misinformation, influence in a digital world, advanced production, business, marketing and ethics. I’m very ready to throw that damn square hat and collect my expensive piece of paper.

Want to know more? Follow Danny on his Instagram.