Heath Piper has called it Playback Interviews, a space where he can collect stories of how Grandpa George survived the Kokoda Trail in World War II or how Aunty Sofia migrated from Sicily in the '70s to the Fairy Meadow migrant hostel.

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It's stories like these the Scarborough resident is preserving for family members to hear again and again.

The DJ-turned-school teacher said he finally has found his calling to add value to society.

"This is the first genuine thing I've put out in the world, that I feel like I'm good at, and that it's actually helping families," he told the Mercury.

"Soup kitchens are just not me but this is my way I can do something nice for the world."

Piper is commissioned by family members to interview someone - be it a mum or dad, or and elderly loved one living their final years. It costs around $1500.

He spends time with them, asking the right questions to share their most cherished stories, then turns it into an audio file for the family.

"I think at 40 I've lived a lot ... but when you get to 90, these are the people that you really should be asking advice from because they've lived through so many days," Piper said.

"What I can bring to the family discussion is a new way for the elderly people to tell the family that they love them."

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He said he asks his interviewee's all sorts of questions, like do they think about death or why a family member was adopted out.

Mostly it's "life affirming stuff" that subsequently comes out, he said, with many moving moments too that have brought him to tears.

Like the devout Catholic woman who revealed the moment she lost her faith, when her young child went to check on dad only to find he had died.

"Often I can't help it and I tear up but ... there's something there that is quite magical in the experience."

In a past life Piper was a radio host and worked in Sydney, Adelaide and the Central Coast before turning to teaching.

Now, he says, he's found the best job he could ever ask for.

For more information, visit: https://playbackinterviews.com.au/

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