What better way to spend my summer break than behind the mic at Phoenix FM!
Nearing the end of my two weeks here at Phoenix, I can well and truly say I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute, and for those of you who have yet to experience radio from behind the mic, here’s a glimpse of what you’ve been missing.
After just an hour in the studio the lovely Michelle Ward handed me a pair of headphones and positioned me in front of a mic, which for someone with no background in radio was daunting to say the least. For the next 3 hours I was live on Michelle Ward’s Eat My Brunch show. Talk about throwing me in at the deep end Michelle!
The beauty of being in the studio 7 hours a day was that I could work with numerous presenters, all of which had different styles and shows. Every day from 3pm I worked with Keith Rogers who assigned me the task of selecting the retro charts. If you’d have asked me who Talk Talk were prior to Keith’s shows I’d have thought you were referring to the TV and Broadband provider, so Keith’s shows have certainly educated me about music before the likes of Drake and Ariana Grande.
Throughout my first week I also had the pleasure of working with the one and only Scott Ross, from his humorous stories to his quoted T-shirts there was never a dull moment with Scott in the studio. Just two days into my first week Scott tasked me with preparing a list of interview questions for his guest Stuart Carr. The Essex born singer-songwriter didn’t perform any live tracks but during my second week I was fortunate enough to see: Falling under, Infrared Penguin and Holloway Road perform live on Michelle’s Eat My Brunch.
Without a doubt the highlight of my time here at Phoenix has been meeting and working with such welcoming people. From day one the presenters made me feel at home which eased my nerves and enabled me to focus on and more importantly enjoy the job in hand.
I would highly recommend Phoenix FM to anyone interested in a future in radio, or any aspect of the media for that matter. The skills and knowledge I have gained during the last two weeks will almost certainly prove beneficial to me, not only in the short term as I finish my Journalism degree, but in the long term when job seeking. I cannot thank Chairman Paul Golder along with all the Phoenix FM presenters enough for this fantastic opportunity, it has been an absolute pleasure.