Music has been my constant companion through every age and stage of life. It's given me a safe space to explore raw emotion, to expand and express myself.

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I was lucky to grow up with older sisters and parents who were all into music. Mum loved her musicals and my sisters were into pop, introducing me to Neil Diamond, David Bowie, Skyhooks, Meatloaf and Billy Joel.

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Through breakups, music has always been there. I remember having The Cranberries' first album on repeat, weeping and weeping through each song, letting every emotion run through me—grief, sadness, anger, melancholy, betrayal, despair.

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There was a fine art to creating the perfect mixtape. Like so many of us in the 80s, I spent hours taping songs off the radio, trying to avoid the announcer's voice as they spoke over the intros. I've also got heaps of mixtapes that friends made me over the years, and I've kept them all.

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I like to say I had a well-spent misspent youth, pouring all my time and money into gigs and festivals. I've even created a spreadsheet of every band I've seen and kept every ticket.

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Before a party, friends would come over with all their CDs and we'd spend whole afternoons in share houses, drinking beers and creating the ultimate party tapes. Lots of grunge—Cannonball and Cool Thing was played at every party.

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Most weekends were spent seeing bands at Melbourne's legendary venues—The Espy, The Punters Club, The Evelyn.

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By the late 90s, I was living in an awesome share house with decks in the living room and a couple of DJ housemates. Every night I'd get home from work and there'd be tunes playing. So many great nights like the Desert Island Dinner Party where everyone brought 5 of their all-time favourite songs, and the infamous Xena and Hercules party.

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I did a music management course and managed a band, Grape Knee-High, got a demo produced, handed it around town, and scored a few gigs. It was fun, but I'm a much better punter.

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Today, music is woven into everything I do. I love painting to music and spend lots of time creating playlists (the new mixtapes) at all of my events and exhibitions. Some of my artworks are even named after lyrics, like House Is Full of Plants from Australian Crawl.

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Curating a playlist is a skill—putting songs together to take you on a musical journey. My taste is wide and eclectic, spanning decades.

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There are thousands more stories of my life that revolve around music, but I'll let my playlists do the talking. Give them a listen.