On The Radio
Ever since I was a child, both Music and Radio have been and continue to be strong interests of mine. They both have provided me with hours of entertainment and still continue to do so.
There are 2 vital elements that a radio presenter must have to keep me engaged.
Firstly, if a radio presenter can bring knowledge about the music that he/she plays, that will keep me tuned in, and bring me back as a regular listener. Two broadcasters had this ability for me, Tony Fenton and Tommy Vance. Sadly both of them are no longer with us.
Secondly, if you’re having a bad day, and a presenter can make you forget your troubles for a few hours at least, by enabling you to feel good. This will attract me to come back regularly so much so, that I consider them a friend. I have built up this rapport with many broadcasters over the years.
A radio show can either lock you in so much, that you drop what you are doing and give it your full attention, or you can be doing absolutely anything at a given time and have it on in the background. Radio has in fact, done all of the above for me, and I often thought that I’d love to give it a go.
The radio bug remained with me constantly, and about 5 years ago now, 2 well respected broadcasters, Brian Hartgen and Jonathan Mosen produced a guide to internet broadcasting, which detailed the equipment a broadcaster would need to present their own show, on the internet. This grabbed my attention immediately for 2 reasons.
Firstly, I could present my own show from my own home, using my own equipment that I could set up in a way I liked that would become familiar to me. When I was younger, I sent demo tapes to various local stations, but owing to the fact that I don’t see, the equipment they had as well as their conceptions limited me from getting the gig.
Secondly, I felt I had something to give a listener to keep them entertained, and the platform of the internet, meant that anyone from anywhere in the world could listen.
I began to build up what I needed, and ask questions that would give me enough knowledge to get started. On the 17th March 2012, St Patricks Day, I broadcast my first show. For the day that was in it, I played 2 hours of Irish Music and chatted generally about what people from all parts of the world did to celebrate this wonderful day. The show was then called Wake up To the Weekend, and was carried by Mint Fm. This station has ceased broadcasting, but I have fond memories of this day 4 years ago, when I broadcast my own show for the first time.
Like all things, growth and change is necessary to keep going. The show changed its name to welcome to the Weekend, which was broadcast on Team FM, each and every Friday at 7 PM in Dublin Town, on the East Coast of Ireland. Team FM is a station I will never forget. Driven by 2 people, Brian and Lulu, who brought innovation and a high standard of broadcasting to the airwaves, it was an honour to be part of this wonderful project.
Sadly, Team FM had to close, but Brian and I continued to work together. We created the Bell, to carry Welcome to the Weekend and Brian’s popular show The Music Machine. Very quickly we were contacted by a lady from Northern Ireland who had a drive and passion to broadcast. She is affectionately known as Anne with an E, who broadcast a show called The Zone, directly after my show every Friday night, and still continues to do so.
Welcome to the Weekend would go through changing times again in the last year. Unfortunately, the Bell would stop Calling Clearly across the Miles, and I was greeted with open arms, when I asked to broadcast on the Mosen Channel, run and owned by Jonathan Mosen. Using this as its home, the show was syndicated to a number of stations for a short period of time.
When Jonathan approached me in the summer of last year, and told me of his plans to bring back Mushroom FM, I was excited. Their approach to social media, their brand of broadcasting (home of the Fun Guys” as well as their use of Jam jingles attracted me. In fact, I was so excited by the latter, that I purchased Jam Jingles of my own for my show.
If you’d like to follow the dream, and make it a reality like I did, why not check out Broadcast It, The Definitive Guide to Station Playlist and Jaws, produced by Brian and Jonathan from:
http://mosen.org/broadcast-it-the-definitive-guide-to-stationplaylist-st....
While the show has gone through change in the last 4 years, the one thing that has remained is the group of loyal listeners who tune in each week to hear me. Without you, there would be no point in me doing what I do, so to you all who have heard me since I’ve been on air, I sincerely thank you.
I always believe everything goes full circle. It gave me great pleasure today to be a part of the St Patricks Day Party, playing Irish tunes for 2 hours, while having fun with my listeners, on a station I’m proud to be associated with. Long live Mushroom FM, and thanks to everyone who has helped me on and off air to continue to do what I love best.