“Words can give life to our emotions and the narrative of those feelings is easier to intercept.”
Name: Joanna Jane Youle
Born: 1977
Place of birth: Chertsey, Surrey, UK
Do: Audio Creative (see more at https://joyoule.co.uk)
What on earth is a Reset Rebel?
Someone who has rebelled in this lifetime dramatically to reset the narrative of their story and the stories of those around them.
What do you admire most about your reset rebels?
Their belief in themselves to change and in turn transform the lives of those in close proximity. I truly admire each and every one of their “decisive moments”–a phrase Henri Cartier Bresson coined and always sticks in my memory from studying the History of Photography at University–because each of them hit that RESET button at one point and was led there by some kind of catalyst that brought about that change. Not everyone gets that moment in life and usually, the ones that end up in Ibiza had something happen to them that catapulted them out of “normal” life and made them move here. Those people for me are some of life’s heroes, the ones not willing to sit back and be told how it should be.
How do you articulate Ibiza through sound on your podcast?
One hundred percent through nature. I created The Reset Rebel podcast to reset the perception of this island and show another side to Ibiza. Three years ago when we launched, there was not a single speech-based podcast on the island, only DJ shows & mixes. I wanted to get out there so people really feel they are with me on whatever adventure I am on. So whether I am recording on a hike at Experimental Beach with the rustle of pebbles underfoot, or chatting to someone on a hot day with the cicadas layering the background sounds, I try to paint a picture in the listener’s mind, which my old London editor used to call the “theatre of radio.” The imagination ignites when a person listens but can’t physically see something, so it’s my job to take them there mentally. Everyone who has been to Ibiza has a place they can recall through the smells of the salt-encrusted fish platters, the rustle of the pines overhead, the juicy figs weighing down the branches, or the carobs swaying gently in the breeze.
What do you think the voice communicates that pictures cannot?
Depth of character. You can’t always capture someone’s essence in an image; I think many come close, but through the richness of sound and someone’s tone, vocabulary, their way of phrasing, the way they laugh, their injection of humour, level of humility & compassion – their nature is revealed. It’s the ancient but subtle art of weaving and crafting a story and everyone has their own way of finding a way to tell theirs, which is what makes us all unique. Words can also give life to our emotions and the narrative of those feelings, I think, is easier to intercept.
The moment I realized I needed absolutely nothing to be happy was quite immense after ten years in the big smoke working like a lunatic on non-stop deadlines.
What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said about your voice?
They find it very soothing.
Who is your greatest influence?
Kate Adie was my hero from around the age of six. I was so sure I wanted to be a war correspondent back then. I was fascinated by her fearlessness and style of reporting from the frontline without a flinch at the carnage unfolding around her and that guided my whole journey on the path to where I am now. In my early twenties, I worked for CNN and made news reports at their HQ in Atlanta for an environment show called Earth Matters, and then I spent some time working in their London Bureau, with my eye on the prize of getting into their foreign affairs news team. I gave up after 18 months as I was shoehorned onto the business news team and I hated it. I fought hard to take the next rung up the ladder but realized I couldn’t compromise myself further to feed the capitalist system, so left to work in entertainment news for the BBC before moving to radio and back to hardcore London reporting and news reading. But Kate has remained my idol and I like the work of Orla Guerin too. Always out and about, always ready for action, always curious and armed with a recorder, standing firm in the face of adversity. That’s what I wanted to be and I’m still trying!
What piece of work equipment could you not live without?
My Sony PCM M10 recorder.
What’s in your junk drawer?
Batteries. Bits of microphones. Old photos and letters. I am like the Womble of Wimbledon. A proper pro-hoarder.
What’s your favorite Ibiza pick-me-up?
A Cortado.
What’s the most profound experience you’ve ever had?
It was during a ten-day fast after I moved from London. I just realized how unbelievably, deliriously, incomprehensibly happy I was with absolutely nothing anchoring me, nothing grounding me inside, and just feeling so light and so free. I felt like I might just waft off into another dimension. The moment I realized I needed absolutely nothing to be happy was quite immense after ten years in the big smoke working like a lunatic on non-stop deadlines.
What’s a piece of advice you’d give someone moving to Ibiza?
Stop expecting, start listening, and slow the fuck down.
Have you ever read a book that had a big effect on your life?
Shantaram. For me, Prabu was there just to give and just to be that shining beacon of light in the story, without any questions asked and not wanting or needing anything back in return. Just love. That story is so complex on so many levels and so very beautiful. I am in love with India. Completely. The simplicity and happiness coming from having and needing nothing apart from love was a revelation to me.
What are three words people don’t normally associate with Ibiza?
Nourishing. Nurturing. Lazy.
