Between Two Beers podcast: Mikey Havoc on upsetting All Blacks, Push Push, Jeremy Wells and Gore

Mikey Havoc and Newsboy (Jeremy Wells) in 2001. Photo / file.

Mikey Havoc was one of the biggest stars in New Zealand entertainment for nearly two decades across music, radio and television.

He started out as a singer in the rock band Push Push – a band named Group of the Year at the 1992 New Zealand Music Awards following their smash hit Trippin' – before going on to pump up the volume as a dance DJ and the long-standing voice of alternative radio station bFM, where he made some of the most creative radio of the era.

Havoc was also one of the biggest stars on TV in the nineties. His show Havoc became the hit show Havoc and Newsboy's Sell Out Tour, where Havoc and Jeremy Wells took the country by storm and upset the whole of Gore. The juggernaut continued with another two Sell Out Tours and a series of shows including Havoc's Luxury Suites and Conference Facilities and a remake of the Kiwi classic Top Town.

His life, career and story is remarkable – and in two hours we only just scratched the surface. But there's some real nuggets of gold in here, some top stories from the glory days and some raw moments of reflection.

In this episode we talk about his rapid rise through the media ranks, the time an All Black tried to fight him in a pub because he made fun of Gore, why he never used a script, the origins behind cult hits like Kum Fac'e - faces of delight, how he dealt with fame and his relationship with Jeremy Wells, his problems with commercial radio, the death of his father and his new outlook on life with a young son.

Warning: Some language may offend.

That one time an All Black tried to start a bar fight with Mikey Havoc because of…. Gore! @TheACCnz pic.twitter.com/AQ8QzCn6j9

— BetweenTwoBeersPodcast (@BeersBetween) October 8, 2022

Show notes | Episode 99 | Mikey Havoc

2:02: Shaggy Sheepdog: Ol' Havo takes us behind the scenes of The Masked Singer

16:30: Back to the start: four kids start a band called Push Push

20:56: Trippin' and the rise to fame

26:30: Push Push push pause

30:32: Havoc hones his creative skills on bFM

39:50: Linking up with Jeremy Wells and the start of the TV journey

49:11: Faces of delight, or if you're in the islands, Kumface

53:33: Gore

1:05:58: Life at the height of popularity and reflections on the TV career

1:16:33: Working with Jeremy Wells

1:22:24: Using his platform to speak to real issues

1:29:01: Havoc's thoughts on his late father and his takes on fatherhood

1:42:32: What's next for Mikey?

1:51:03: Last words from Steven, Seamus and Mikey

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