Lauren Istvandity Interview
Lauren Istvandity works at the University of the Sunshine Coast, focusing her research on the subject of music, memory, and heritage. More recently, she’s the co-author of a new book in the 33 1/3 series on the album Unit, by Brisbane rock band Regurgitator.
How did you get to where you are today, professionally?
Study, study, study. I took the nerd’s route to music academia. I did my undergraduate degree in music (Viola): a classical music degree. Quickly realising I was not quite satisfied with the career outcomes I faced, I made a hectic turn towards academia fairly early on in my studies and I went straight from undergraduate into postgraduate scholarship. Meanwhile I began studying jazz voice with well-known vocalists in Brisbane, QLD. At the same time as completing my PhD I was learning how to gig and manage my own music practice as a sole trader—this was invaluable, not only to keeping the balance in my life between play and study but also for keeping in touch with the medium that kept driving my academic fantasies of being paid to do music research.
After my PhD I leapt from contract to contract as a research assistant before landing a more permanent role. Despite the high stakes game of wondering if you will have a job in six months’ time, the great thing about this period was getting to know lots about other people’s research, their processes and networks. Currently, I’m starting to get some balance back between teaching, research, and performance after the whirlwind of Covid-induced lock-downs.