F1 star Daniel Ricciardo talks music and owning venues: ‘There’s more room for this going forward’

Daniel Ricciardo maybe isn’t your ordinary music fan. But strip away his profile and wealth and the fact he races cars at more than 300kph for a living, he really is just like every music fan.

The 30-year-old Perth native is Australia’s sole driver in the Formula One competition, the pinnacle in motor racing where speed meets engineering.

Now competing for the Renault F1 Team in this, his 10th year in the sport, Ricciardo has an obsession with music that extends well-beyond a Spotify account.

The motor sports star recently invested in a music venue in London with Ben Lovett, keyboardist from Mumford & Sons, a band whose members he calls friends.

The new complex, Goods Ways opened in early March in Kings Cross, and features Lafayette, a space that hosts live music and club nights.

Being a live venue owner is “kind of surreal,” he admits. “It’s certainly a passion of mine, even if for the simple fact that I can go to the venue whenever I want and hear the music. It’ll have simple perks,” Ricciardo says with a laugh.

“I certainly get a kick out of it. Especially up and coming artists. One place I love racing is Austin, that’s because there are small bars everywhere with small artists performing. Artists none of us have ever heard of before, hearing them and getting excited that they may be the next big thing, that’s really cool. I get a kick out of that.”

Lovett also operates the 350-capacity venue Omeara, also in London, through his company The Venue Group. Ricciardo admits he can see a time when he expands his own portfolio of live music interests. “I’d say there’s more room for this going forward.”

And might he add venues in his homeland? “Yeah, in a perfect world. Absolutely,” he enthuses. “It’s really cool to have other interest and avenues outside of racing for me. It’s nice to be able to switch off as well.”

Daniel Ricciardo

Obviously, it’s not a perfect world right now. Normal life is on pause right now as the Coronavirus forces everyone on the planet to stay indoors. Ricciardo, like the rest of us, has extra time on his hands and nowhere to go.

The Renault ace and star of the Netflix series Formula 1: Drive to Survive is plugged into tunes now more than ever. A Beats Ambassador, he’s gorging on tunes by Garrett Merk, Emerson Leif, G Flip, and three-times APRA Awards nominated Teskey Brothers. He’s playing DRAMA “non-stop.”

“I’ve also got a bedtime playlist, something that’s chilled out,” he explains. “I’ve got the workout playlist, a roadtrip playlist. It depends which part of the world I’m in, that can vary with the music I play. I feel I’ve got most things covered.”

Before COVID-19 ruined our year, Ricciardo was a regular gig-goer. In recent months, he saw Odesza at Red Rocks, CAAMP at The Observatory in Santa Ana Cali and Hiss Golden Messenger at The Basement in Nashville, a venue that was smashed when tornadoes ripped through the area on March 3.

“I’ve got such a passion for music and it’s a big part of my life, and yet I never picked up an instrument,” Ricciardo says. “I don’t have any musical DNA inside me, but at least from a listening point of view I’ve got a lot of passion.”

For more, read Ricciardo’s exclusive interview with Rolling Stone Australia.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.