KENNY KOALA: It’s great to have a coffee and a chat with Jens Hudson from Riviera Upholstery this week. Ever had coffee with a koala Jens?
JENS HUDSON: Good morning, Kenny, it’s a first for me.
KK: How do you like your coffee, Jens?
JH: Black.
KK: How long have you been at Riviera Upholstery?
JH: 32 years.
KK: How long have you been upholstering?
JH: I started my apprenticeship in Germany 42 years ago, specialising in antiques.
KK: What do you mean by antiques?
JH: We used to specialise in old castle type furniture, 1600s and 1700s. Doing all the work by hand, nails and coconut fibre seats and springs.
KK: How did you end up in Australia?
JH: I came out to work for Moran of Melbourne in 1981 and worked for them for five years. They found out I was an upholster when I holidayed here the previous year.
KK: Moran of Melbourne is high end furniture, Bob Yeates is the only person I know with Moran furniture. Certainly, had a good name back in the day. Obviously quickly fell in love with Australia, what did you do after that?
JH: Started my own business in Moorabbin, Euro Style Furniture. I remember I got a job early on doing the Her Majesty’s Theatre, before the production, Cats first came to Australia. It was huge, all seating was velvet, had 14 people working on the job.
KK: When did you move to Bairnsdale?
JH: 1991, was going to work for a bloke called Jones, but he had a change of heart, so I started Riviera Upholstery. Steve and Erica McDonald were very good to me, helped me out immensely.
KK: What sort of stuff do you upholster?
JH: Mainly furniture, cars, caravans, motorbikes and boats, that sort of thing.
KK: What is your speciality?
JH: I love doing the complicated and tricky stuff. Old furniture, the really old stuff. We did the Omeo and Bairnsdale Courthouses in all leather, was an interesting job, not sure why they needed it like that.
KK: Need to look after the criminal element. Where do you source leather from Jens?
JH: It all comes from overseas. Places like New Zealand, Italy, Brazil and Scotland.
KK: So, there is plenty of work for an upholster?
JH: Certainly, you can’t get apprentices, we are a dying breed. The work is too hard and kids of today can find an easier apprenticeship to complete.
KK: Tough on the body?
JH: Seriously hard on the hands, the constant standing up and plenty of dust don’t make it attractive to the youngsters of today.
KK: What is the most bizarre thing you have upholstered?
JH: Good question, did a huge couch once, I mean massive, could get lost sitting on it. Stripped it back, couldn’t find a bench big enough to put it on, had to do it on the floor. I did an inside fit out on a boat for the people that own the Chadstone Shopping Centre, it was a massive job, took three months, money was no objective.
KK: What are the most popular colours when people are reupholstering?
JH: It was plain for years, now people are keen on patterned fabric which is hard to source.
KK: Are you a project man?
JH: Love a good project, even get the odd one completed.
KK: What style of furniture do you have in your home?
JH: 90 per cent of the furniture in my home I have built myself and have a couple of couches from Moran.
KK: You like to get around the markets, what do you sell?
JH: Our project items, cushions, foot stools and my partner Maureen makes very impressive leather handbags.
KK: The markets would be a good source for picking up jobs.
JH: For sure.
KK: What are you working on at present?
JH: Just finished a chair that was manufactured in the 1880s, I suspect it was the third time it had been reupholstered. Have an old Jacobean lounge suite on the table at present and we are always doing cushions. Plenty to keep us busy.
KK: Definitely not as old as the stuff you worked on in Germany.
JH: Yes, I do miss working on the 16th century stuff.
KK: Does upholstery differ much from Germany to Australia?
JH: Much more traditional in Germany, a bit more slap dash over here.
KK: What do you do when you are not working?
JH: Bike riding, golf and renovating the house. All very social.
KK: I believe you took a break from upholstering and went travelling for a while, not too long ago?
JH: We ended up in Alice Springs, we stayed there for nine years, came back four years ago. Started off as a holiday and ended up working at Pine Gap, money was too good to rush back to Bairnsdale, but Alice Springs changed as a place and we decided to return home. It was good to have a break from the trade and it was better than working seven days a week, like I was here.
KK: Let’s finish off with some fast question and answers. Favourite food?
JH: Pasta bake.
KK: What’s your speciality dish?
JH: Butter chicken.
KK: Does pineapple belong on a pizza?
JH: No
KK: Go to pizza?
JH: The lot.
KK: Roast dinner of choice?
JH: Lamb.
KK: Favourite TV Show?
JH: Grand Designs.
KK: What about your favourite movie?
JH: Love Actually.
KK: Hugh Grant was in that.
JH: Correct.
KK: Who would play you in a movie?
JH: One of the Hemsworth’s.
KK: Sounds good Jens. Favourite holiday destination?
JH: Spain
KK: If you could catch up with three people, either present or past, from any walk of life, who would you choose?
JH: Richard Branson, Albert Einstein and John F Kennedy.
KK: Jens Hudson it has been an absolute pleasure.
JH: Thank you.
