Kingsmill the kingmaker: Triple J veteran who shaped Australia’s music tastes for decades departs ABC

Richard Kingsmill, who is departing as music director at Triple J. He was one of the architects of Triple J Unearthed in 1995. Photograph: ABC

I’ll never forget the first time Richard Kingsmill played my band.

It was a Sunday night – of course it was a Sunday night – and I happened to be driving home from a friend’s house. Suddenly there he was in my car speakers, talking about my band, playing our song.