triple j have announced the departure of one of its long-serving presenters, The Racket‘s Lochlan Watt, as well as the discontinuation of The Racket itself. “After 23 years of distorting the airwaves, The Racket will come to an end in December 2024 as triple j looks towards the next generation to shape a new home for heavy music on the airwaves for 2025 and beyond,” a statement from the station read. An as-yet-untitled new heavy music show will begin next year, with those interested in applying for the hosting position encouraged to do so via ABC Careers.
Watt, for his part, shared his own lengthy statement on Instagram – paired with photos he had taken over the years with members of Korn, System Of A Down, Slipknot, King Parrot, Mastodon, Slayer, Deafheaven, Gojira, Spiritbox and High Tension. “It has been the highest honour to serve heavy music as one of Australia’s few government-anointed community representatives, and I have loved almost every minute of this job,” Watt wrote.
“My time at triple j opened countless doors for me, and because of The Racket I have since met just about all my heroes, forged countless lifelong friendships, seen corners of the world I never thought blast beats and breakdowns would ever take me to, and been able to turn my passion of sharing the music that means so much to me into a career.”
triple j’s Lochlan Watt: “I could not have asked for a better place to work”
Watt also noted the support he received from both “the community and the station” following his brain cancer diagnosis in 2019, and continuing on with the show through the pandemic. “I could not have asked for a better place to work, and it cannot be overstated how different my life would look if I had never decided to give this whole thing a shot,” he wrote, “and for that I will be forever grateful.”
A veteran musician before beginning work at triple j, fronting bands such as Colossvs and Nuclear Summer as well as touring as a fill-in vocalist for Thy Art Is Murder and Psycroptic, Watt’s most recent musical project R U N released their second EP True Heaviness Is Time back in June. Watt has also taken a role at Australian booking agency Destroy All Lines, working on recent tours for acts such as Health, Undeath, Cave In and The Ocean.
Further Reading
Love Letter To A Record: RUN’s Lochlan Watt On Misery Signals’ ‘Of Malice and the Magnum Heart’
Listen To R U N, The New Project From Triple J’s Lochlan Watt And Mike Deslandes (High Tension)
