Like Chrissie Amphlett or Bon Scott, Melbourne community radio station Triple R FM is a bit of a legend. And like all the best legends, they just get better with age. This year, the broadcaster turns 40 (yep, they’re officially middle-aged), and to mark the occasion, they asked local lass (and frankie friend) Billie Justice Thomson to whip up an extra-special Radiothon illustration. We had a chat to the lady herself about what went into making the iconic artwork.

How did you first connect with Triple R? Even before I moved to Melbourne, almost six years ago, I was listening to Triple R online in Adelaide. I couldn’t believe one station could play such an incredible mix of diverse and interesting music. I remember wishing I could go to all the gigs presenters talked about and hearing songs I loved and looking up the track lists. It’s such a privilege to have access to that kind of wealth of musical knowledge and to be exposed to new and rare and strange music.

What was your brief for creating the Radiothon artwork? So this year’s theme was “A Jewel In The Junk Heap”, which is a great place to start. This line brought a lot of imagery to mind straight away. Annaliese and the Triple R gang gave me lots of creative freedom. We had a starting point and I went away and did some sketches and we worked with the graphic designers from there.

Which medium did you use and why? Because of the number of individual illustrations that went in to make up the whole poster, I opted for good old-fashioned ink drawings. I work from my sketchbook and scan and muck around with colours in Photoshop and Illustrator.

What challenges did you face? At one point we had a bit of an email communication breakdown. I have a new theory that when talking in visual terms, back and forth, it can get a bit confusing and things can be misinterpreted. This is very easy to avoid by picking up the phone and talking to a human. Not typing – talking! Annaliese and I love talking on the phone now.

What inspired the final artwork? I didn’t want to draw any ol’ junk heap – I wanted the kind of junk heap that you might find after a massive Triple R party. I wanted it to be relevant to the city and how much fun we like to have. Melburnians are good at having a party. I also wanted the jewel to be a big shiny Triple R ruby.

What makes Triple R such a special radio station? Knowing that at any point in time, day or night, anywhere in the world, you can tune in and listen to people who genuinely give a shit about the music they’re broadcasting, the stories they’re telling and the knowledge they’re sharing. That’s pretty magical, really.

This year’s Radiothon has already kicked off, and wraps up on Sunday August 28th. To find out more (including the full array of goodies up for grabs), head over to the Triple R website.