Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
Join Cheryl Lee That Radio Chick on Still Rockin' It for news, reviews and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians.
What are they up to at the moment? Let's find out .......
Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
What has Diesel been up to lately? OR Supermarket Speakers, Moon River and Touring By Request
Join Cheryl Lee - That Radio Chick on STILL ROCKIN' IT for news, reviews, music and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians
A carrot for a mic, a song over supermarket speakers, and a stealthy dash down the confectionery aisle—Diesel opens with a grin and then gets real about what it takes to build shows that last.
We dig into why theaters are his sweet spot right now: reliable sound, warm lights, comfortable seats, and the space to let a decades-deep catalog breathe. Long sets aren’t a stunt; they’re how you honor history while making room for surprises, including a few covers that sharpen the edges of the night.
The heart of the conversation is the By Request Tour. Fans pick songs from a curated list and can share the stories behind their choices. Diesel reads those notes slowly, often more than once, and the effect is profound: proof that music isn’t background noise but a lifeline for mental health, memory, and connection. From funny requests aimed at mending a breakup to three-generation tributes, the pile of letters has reshaped how he sees his own work. We also talk about the unexpected star of the request box—Moon River—and why its melancholy glow still cuts through in 2025, alongside staples like Crying Shame and Tip of My Tongue.
There’s plenty of road talk too: desert festivals from Birdsville to Mundi Mundi, the abstract beauty of Australia from 30,000 feet, and the balance of touring with family life, early summer mornings, and a little baking on the side.
Diesel shares recent collaborations, producing credits with artists like Richard Clapton, Vika and Linda, and Imogen Clark, and hints at a new album planned for 2026.
New theater dates run January to April, with a homecoming at the Sydney Opera House—proof that careful craft and genuine connection still fill rooms.
If you love stories about how songs find people—and how people shape songs in return—press play, share it with a friend who needs a lift, and leave a review to help more listeners find the show.
What has Mark Lizotte been up to lately? Let's find out!
Get out when you can, support local music and I'll see you down the front!!
Visit: ThatRadioChick.com.au
Welcome to the Still Rockin' It podcast, where we'll have music, new reviews, and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians and artists. thank you for joining us, Mark.
Mark Lizzote:Thanks for having me.
Cheryl Lee:We've got lots of um exciting things to talk about, but um, I just wanted to talk about your most recent performance in Woolies that I saw on social media.
Mark Lizzote:If you could call it a performance with your carrot microphone, yeah. I mean, look, I'm I'm always in there, especially when I'm touring, because pretty much like just prep my own meals when I'm touring. I've got my survivalist menu. It's pretty easy, you know. Like I eat at weird times of the day. So, you know, even if there was a great restaurant or whatever in some town, I'm like, chances are them being like open at two or three in the afternoon, which is when I sort of have my meal pretty slim. And I just don't have time. So I just sort of look after myself. Yeah. Woolies, Coles, that's that's my that's my um my go-to. So I hear my songs all the time. And now I just happened to be with my sound guy at the time and he was like, Hey, isn't that you? And I'm like, Oh, it is too. Quick, film this.
Cheryl Lee:Isn't it pretty surreal?
Mark Lizzote:It's kind of almost normal, I guess, in some ways for me, but not, you know, somehow it's become normalized. But when I think about it, it's kind of it is surreal. It's like, hang on, that's me coming out of those little speakers up there. Yeah. All I can say, you know, is that I'm really, yeah, I'm I'm I'm I'm proud, I'm chufed, I'm honored, all of those things, and I'm a part of the landscape. You know, hopefully most people when they're pushing their trolleys around don't get the willies when they hear me coming out of the speakers. If anything, I just hope I make their day a bit a little bit nicer. Yeah.
Cheryl Lee:You know, you manage to actually get around the supermarket without having to stop and have too many chats and photos.
Mark Lizzote:Uh look, the other day I got spotted, but I'm really good. I am really good at being stealth. I just am, you know, I've I've gotten really good at being very stealth. Yeah. If someone really wants to pick me out and go, can can I just get a selfie? You know, it's like, yeah, let's do it, you know. Let's do it next to the um confectionary or the in the aisle with a tip too. It's not a big deal.
Cheryl Lee:No, that's very generous of you. I think the last time I saw you was at Mundi Mundi last year. I think I was interviewing Richard Clapton to your soundtrack, and then when we finished, I raced around the front to watch you. Had you done any of those festivals before?
Mark Lizzote:I think I did the Birdsville when it was just starting out. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was either the first or second. And then I didn't didn't do it until the year before when we did Mundy Mundy and Birdsville in the same year. So it was quite quite a shock to see how much it had grown and the infrastructure that they brought in and everything. It's amazing.
Cheryl Lee:It is an amazing event. Did you fly in, fly out, or did you camp, like, flew in.
Mark Lizzote:I actually flew us in and I spoiled everybody and got a plane in and and out. It was just I really wanted to it was great looking out the window at what you know that desert looks like from that altitude. It's incredible. It actually looks like Indigenous art when you're up that high. It's it's really kind of freaky how Indigenous art kind of mirrors what Australia looks like from 30,000 feet, and you know how they got that perspective is is a mystery. It's it's quite, yeah, it's um it's a sight to see, isn't it? Yeah, it really is. It's like no other. I mean, I've flown out over a lot of the world, I have to say, and look down, and and Australia has of such a unique look about a Terra Australis.
Cheryl Lee:You definitely know you're home.
Mark Lizzote:Very much. And as soon as you get like about an hour into any trip, if you're flying inland, it's always like, oh, wow, you know, I can't see any roads anymore. It's just just just patterns, lots of patterns, you know.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, yeah.
Mark Lizzote:I mean, I'm sure there is things down there, but we're a very coast-hugging country. We just dwell on the coast mostly, so yeah. As far as population goes, anyway.
Cheryl Lee:You've been having an exciting time doing your by request tour, which is an amazing concept. It sounds like it was so successful and you've enjoyed it so much. You're reaching the end of this leg of it. You're gonna have a little rest, and then you've just announced 21 new dates for the new year, January to April. Obviously, you're having fun.
Mark Lizzote:I am. It's a really good way to get around the country doing theaters. I'm really, really happy at this point in my career that I've kind of tapped into these type of rooms, especially in the regional areas where you just sort of think, where else would I play in this part of the country? There's always a place to play, but these theaters are just so great because they've they've got everything that I need, you know, as far as the production goes. And yeah, you know that there's gonna be a certain kind of consistency about it. And I I I want that, you know, for my audience. I want to know that they're gonna have great sound, the lighting is gonna look great, they're gonna be comfortable. I can do two sets, do that theater thing with it intermission. And it's just a great opportunity to also have that amount of time on stage, even though it is not gonna lie, it's hard work for me. But it's it's work that I love. It certainly isn't like a quick 45-minute set or something, you know, it's a long show. That's um what I need, you know, with with the amount of albums that I have now, and just to kind of get to all of what I'm doing with people's requests, especially on this tour. I need that amount of space. I totally get why some artists, you know, when they get to a certain point in their career, they their shows get longer and longer because they're just trying to like get to all the material, you know. Look at Bruce Springsteen. I mean, he he does like four-hour gigs, and people think that's crazy. They go like, four hours? Oh my god, it's so long. But go to one of his shows, it doesn't feel like four hours, I can tell you that. And you walk out of there and it you sort of hang on, you can think about a song list as long as you're on of songs that he didn't get to play as well, even after four hours. So it's totally understandable.
Cheryl Lee:Because there's such a huge body of work
Mark Lizzote:I like doing a few covers of other people's work as well, so that tends to make my set code longer.
Cheryl Lee:Basically, the concept of this for those that aren't aware is that all the fans get to choose the set list on their way in.
Mark Lizzote:It's it's shaped by the people that take the time. I would say a lot of people just buy the ticket and they're like too busy or they're not interested, and that's totally fine. They don't have to, it's no compulsory or anything. But if you if you buy the ticket, you'll get directed to this playlist where you can listen to a bunch of songs, and then you fill in this very simple survey questionnaire, and it's like, which song do you want? If you want to give a reason why, or some anecdote, that's proven to be really, really great kind of material for me to work with. Also very insightful, you know. I have to say, like I've heard people's accounts of what a song has done for their lives or whatever before. It's not like I'm completely like new to that, but somehow when I see it in writing and I can read over it and really savor what they've written. And sometimes I read it three or four times, just reading it over and just like, wow, that's really profound. You know, like three generations, for instance, you know, yeah, people that have taken that time and it I can feel that it really means something. You know, it's like when someone writes a letter and it's like they're just spilling their heart onto the page, and it's really beautiful and it's humbling. It also makes me think, you know, it gives me some value to what I do. And sometimes I have to say, I just feel like, yeah, I I question it sometimes about my vocation. It's like, is this, you know, like when I see people working like in the in the emergency room. My mother is actually a nurse, and she did she did that as well as a bunch of other different types of nursing. But yeah, people that work in like first on the scene people or firefighters, or you know, those people that are like, you know, essential workers. And it's it's easy to kind of like think, oh, a mus musician, you know, like not essential. But you know, I reading these comments like makes me feel like, wow, I music is really I mean, I know this. I I do know that music is is really therapeutic and essential for people, for their mental health, at least on the very, very basic level. So yeah, it's it's it's just an affirmation of that for me. It's really, really great.
Cheryl Lee:What a great opportunity. Like you say, you know that you know the importance of art and music in our lives, but like you say, to actually have that written down, not a lot of artists get that opportunity. So that is a great experience.
Mark Lizzote:Well, I mean, it's kind of inviting in them, opening up the door and inviting people in to say, what has this music done for you? You know, kind of thing on the night, you know, like with the shout-outs, and I might even talk about the the anecdote, you know, about that person without too much, you know, detail if it's very sensitive. I I try to respect people. And yeah, but I I feel like if they've taken the time to write something about something, it's they're okay with talking about it, you know, they put it out there. So and it's it's nice, you know. I think it's most of the themes are really universal. Anyone can relate to something that someone else has has felt. They're like, okay, yeah, relate to that, even though that song didn't do that to me, but I can, you know, relate to it. So it's ranges from uh it's pretty funny. Some of them are really funny. One man was like, I've got tickets to the show, but since then I've broken up with my girlfriend and she's coming to the show. Can you play this song? Hopefully, it'll make us get back together again. And I'm like, not sure I have those powers.
Cheryl Lee:No pressure. Oh, that's gold. I feel like it's pretty brave. You've got a very large catalogue of music, and I know how hard every artist rehearses. And I think you could be asked to play anything, especially when I saw that you were also doing covers, but it's specific covers, like I couldn't ask you to do Metallica who've just been here. Nothing else matters.
Mark Lizzote:That'll be in another tour where just give me like three minutes to there's an artist that's actually been doing it. I think it's um Ray, she's been doing that on stage. She's amazing from the UK, and she she sort of whips it up. She gets like asked, like, sing that song, and she'd be like, hang on, and she's got the iPad out there, and just sort of like, Okay, give me a second. All right, and then does it, you know. I think that's you know, fair enough. You want to like at least sort of if you're vaguely familiar with it, you need to just kind of like have a quick brush up, you know.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, jeepers.
Mark Lizzote:I mean, there's a lot of songs that I have muscle memory for, probably that I could just peel off at least a like a stanza of, you know, but it's always lyrics, like when it comes down to it, whenever we've gone camping or having a party, and you know, let's belt out a bunch of songs, it's always someone needs to get the lyrics because you know the joke is you can remember the first verse, but you can never remember the second verse.
Cheryl Lee:Have you had any real big surprises? What's the biggest surprise that's come out of the request?
Mark Lizzote:I think that the amount of requests for Moon River is really surprising. I threw it in there because I love the song and I'm I've had to play it sadly actually for a for a few funerals in my family, and I actually was quoted in my I guess that would have been like 13 or 14 in my very, very first interview with a newspaper. And the the interview was a you know, standard kind of interview, and then at the end of the interview there was a little questionnaire like, you know, what's your favorite food? What's your favorite song? What's your favorite this and that? And I said Moon River, and I remember I remember my parents and my contemporaries at the time going, Really? You like that song? They thought I was gonna pick like a rock song or something, you know. Yeah, no, I like that. I love that song. Kind of an odd thing for me to say at that time. I think I remember hearing it as a as a child. That song was kind of omnipresent growing up, you know. Whether it's it was Saturday afternoon matinee movies that were on TV or just the radio, probably AM, AM radio. And that melody just always sent me off somewhere. It was just such a a dreamy melody and lyrics, you know. If I was asked whose version, it was like, I don't know. I mean, there's so many different versions. Do it. Is it the Andy Williams version? Is it the Frank Sinatra version? I actually love the Frank Ocean version, is the one that I really love because it's very kind of like it's almost like abstract, but you still get the song. It's just one of those songs. It's it's such a beautiful set of chords and it evokes like melancholy, I think is something that I kind of lean into.
Cheryl Lee:It's nostalgic. It obviously touched your heart.
Mark Lizzote:Yeah, you know, and the other song I remember from a kid growing up was Alfie, you know, that song. But I think it's Petula Clark. Another just beautiful killer melody. I think Burt Bacharach might have written that one. Yeah, I just love those kind of melodies that just kind of go here and there and then sort of have those little twists and tones and a melancholy and sort of bright but dark at the same time. That's how I describe them. So yeah, it's really surprising. It's like, wow, a lot of people love that song. But I guess not surprising because I I think a music historian will would say, like, well, it was the most popular song for blah blah blah blah blah, and it's been recorded a hundred thousand times and blah blah blah. Okay, okay. It is one of the most popular songs of all.
Cheryl Lee:It's a classic.
Mark Lizzote:Yeah, okay, you know.
Cheryl Lee:All right.
Mark Lizzote:I just don't expect in 2025 that people still be, you know.
Cheryl Lee:Interesting. I'm sure there's actually probably even more than one, but if you you got probably a couple that are asked for every single show without question.
Mark Lizzote:My God, you know, it's always crying shame, tip of my tongue. Those two are like two of many. I guess I'm lucky I don't have just two singles. But they're definitely ones that are, yeah, you know, I I get it. You're gonna hear those songs, so don't come to the show and start yelling that out like two songs in, please. Because I'm going to play them. It's like going to someone's house and walking in and going, Where's dessert? It's like we haven't had dinner yet, you know.
Cheryl Lee:Patience.
Mark Lizzote:Yeah, just chill.
Cheryl Lee:You're having a little bit of a break over the Christmas New Year. Are you having a break or is there any like new music maybe happening?
Mark Lizzote:Yeah, well, you know, that's usually what I do. Um I have a really hard time disengaging completely from music. I don't think I ever have actually, to be honest. Even when I'm on holidays, I just keep dabbling away. But I'm lucky I don't have a job where I have to like really say, I am not gonna look at my work for like three weeks, you know. I need a holiday. My work is my my passion, it's my hobby, it's your life. Yeah, so but yes, you know, I do kind of uh clear my head a little bit, of course, you know. I tend to uh listen to a lot of other people's music. I I dig into my music fan side of me, you know, like that's what I've I've always been. So as a kid, I just love to listen to other people's music. So it's good, you know, like just getting into get into other things, you know, reading, watching movies, stuff I've always loved, basically. Maybe a little bit of a little bit of baking here and there. I love I do love baking.
Cheryl Lee:And spending some time with the family, I guess.
Mark Lizzote:Oh, absolutely.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah.
Mark Lizzote:It's all about that, friends and family, and I just love the weather going into the summer until it becomes like fully blown in summer, and then it's like quite humid, but even that, you gotta just embrace it. I find that the early the early part of the day is always the nicest. This typical Sydney humidity really like becomes quite oppressive. Like just I just get up early and make the most of the first part of the day because that's that that's usually a really nice part.
Cheryl Lee:We better talk about these tour dates. You start on Friday, the 30th of Jan in Tassie, and you go everywhere, man. You are in our beautiful town on the 21st of March at the Dunstan Playhouse at the Adelaide Festival Center, and you finish up at the end of April in the Sydney Opera House.
Mark Lizzote:Normally, yeah, it's a nice way to finish. Come home, slide back into home base. Yeah, knowing that the Dunstan is what it is, because you think, oh, we're gonna have a good night there. You know, the room is just great, the production's great. I know people like going there. It's not easy to always get the night that you want or the booking, it's it's so hard to get bookings in that venue because everyone's trying to book it at the same time. It's like a lot of theaters in this country. But excited about that, excited about Alice Springs, which is just before then, because I haven't been to Alice Springs for 20 something years.
Cheryl Lee:Wow.
Mark Lizzote:Yeah, it really is that long. Crazy. It's nuts. Again, at Araluen Theatre looks beautiful on spec, so excited about that one.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah. You can get tickets at dieselmusic.com. The month after you finish, it's the big 6-0. I had my 6-0 earlier this year. Any plans for a big celebration?
Mark Lizzote:You know what? I have never planned birthdays, so who knows? But yeah, I'm not as bad as some people that I know that literally just disappear. I'm really like sort of like uh low key. Every day is a birthday, basically. Every day that you're here on this planet is a birthday.
Cheryl Lee:Every day above ground's a good day.
Mark Lizzote:Oh my god, absolutely.
Cheryl Lee:In 2018, you celebrated 30 years in the industry with the release of the 30-track compilation album 30 the greatest hits. Well, a couple of years we'll be knocking on 40. So what's planned for that?
Mark Lizzote:I don't know. Again, I don't not big on planning, so yeah, I don't know. Some kind of retrospective, I'm sure. I hope.
Cheryl Lee:You got time.
Mark Lizzote:I do, you know. That's no guarantees, as they say. So yeah, I I look at that like this how far ahead of me at a time. You know, that's about all I can deal with. You know, that seems to work for me. So I do have another record in the in the pipe, though, as I say.
Cheryl Lee:Is that a scoop? Did they hear it first here?
Mark Lizzote:I haven't said too much about it, but 2026 is the is my hope. So because that'll be technically three, well, almost three years. It'll be like two and a half years, probably technically, because I've released bootleg melancholy kind of towards the end of 2023. So so but yeah, 20 something months is definitely enough time for another record, I think.
Cheryl Lee:Then you'll have to tour that.
Mark Lizzote:No doubt.
Cheryl Lee:Excellent. I don't think I've asked you this question previously in the last two times we spoke. You've done a few collaborations in your time. Is there anybody like dead or alive that you really would have liked to or would like to collaborate with?
Mark Lizzote:I'd love to collaborate with Thelma Plum. I'm just totally enamored by her songwriting.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah.
Mark Lizzote:Just everything that she puts out and just gets better and better. I think her recordings, she's on an amazing, amazing trajectory.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah.
Mark Lizzote:But I'm really lucky, like this year, I I've gotten to collaborate with a few artists that I didn't see coming, which was great. Like three percent. I collaborated with with um three percent in March, I think it was, or April. And then uh after that, Melinda Schneider, who I've known for a while, she's she's a beautiful human. She got me in on on track that she wanted me to do a duet on, so I've dueted with her on a song. So that's been a real bonus. I love dueting, especially with with a voice like Melinda's.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, exactly.
Mark Lizzote:It was really nice hearing our voices together. And and and I you know busted some guitar out, of course.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, of course. I was just wondering how the children were going, because is Lily still singing?
Mark Lizzote:Yeah, Lily's still doing music. Jesse's doing his photography.
Cheryl Lee:Photography, yeah. So the very arty farty like dad. Yeah.
Mark Lizzote:The arts and farts, yeah. Yeah, I mean, look, doesn't always happen, but the apples haven't fallen too far in the in this family. So it's it's great because my wife has worked in in photography as producing for years, so she has knowledge and skills in that department. And yeah, we're all quite creative, and it's a beautiful thing to when you can sort of share stuff with your with your kids, and vice versa. Um, you know, I learned so much from them.
Cheryl Lee:Well, I've clearly inherited the uh family DNA.
Mark Lizzote:Yeah, exactly.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah.
Mark Lizzote:I always think that, you know, you can't take credit for your kids. If they're they're they're their own people, you know. They're just yeah, they're definitely version 2.0 though, you know what I mean? They're better versions of us.
Cheryl Lee:And you're very proud of them, obviously.
Mark Lizzote:Yeah, yeah. It's the best work I've done, that's what I say.
Cheryl Lee:It's our most important job, right?
Mark Lizzote:Oh, totally. My favorite job.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, that's right. Talking about producing, I don't know if I knew this before, but you actually have produced for Richard Clapton and Vika and Linda and any others?
Mark Lizzote:Yeah, Imogen Clark. When I'm put on the spot, it's I can never think of the others I'll work with, but I have yeah, produced a lot for a lot of artists.
Cheryl Lee:You got lots of feathers in your cap.
Mark Lizzote:Yeah, look, it's you know, I love doing that sort of work. I get to kind of yeah, exercise different muscles that I don't get to use when doing my own stuff, you know.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah. I know you're extremely busy at the moment. I'm sure my time is up. I really appreciate you spending some time in the Zoom room with me. No worries. I'm looking forward to seeing you in March, down the front at the Festival Theatre.
Mark Lizzote:We'll be straight from Alice Springs.
Cheryl Lee:Very cool. Well, all the best with the tour. I'll see you midway through.
Mark Lizzote:Beautiful. Thank you so much.
Cheryl Lee:Thank you, Mark. Both now have a great day.
Mark Lizzote:You too. You are listening to Still Rockin' It, the podcast with Cheryl Lee.
Cheryl Lee:We're going to leave you with Diesel's favourite version of Moon River. Here it is by Frank Ocean. You're with Cheryl Lee, that radio chick. Thank you so much for joining me on the Still Rocking It podcast. Hope to catch you again next time. Get out when you can, support Aussie music, and I'll see you down the front.