BEHIND THE SCENES: RADIO COURSE (FUNDED BY MAES)

Funded by MAES, our Radio Course marks the closing of our projects for 2023. Over the past two weeks, our participants have been exploring presenting, script writing, the technical aspects of radio and more, all in contribution towards their own radio show to be debuted on Reform Radio.

We caught up with two of our attendees, Violet & Helena, to hear about their antics on the programme and where they’re heading next.

Please can you introduce your name, pronouns, and what you enjoy doing in your free time.

H: I’m Helena, my pronouns are she/her. I’m currently in the process of applying for lots of jobs and I DJ disco and house music in my bedroom. One day, I hope to start playing some live DJ sets.

V: Hey, I’m Violet, my pronouns are she/her, and in my free time I do video editing for YouTubers and I livestream on Twitch – anything to keep me being creative.

Describe yourself in 3 words.

H: Personable, energetic and exquisite.

V: I’d say creative, soft-spoken and kind-hearted.

Did you have much experience in radio or presenting before? If so, what’s your favourite thing about it?

H: I presented my own monthly show on a radio station through lockdown that I recorded from home. Also, I am part of a DJ collective and I sometimes get my mixes played on Bloop London. My favourite thing about radio is how broad it is, but I have also loved learning the technical ropes of radio throughout the course too.

V: I didn’t have that much experience in radio specifically, but I have been acting since I was younger, which I think is really transferable to presenting. Since partaking in the radio course, I have loved how you can turn any topic into a show and when you bring your ideas into Reform, your ideas are always met with seriousness.

What prompted you to get involved with the Radio Course?

H: I have always loved radio and I adore Annie Mac. I was really curious to see how radio operates and keen to view the landscape of jobs within it.

V: Every weekend, we used to travel an hour and a half to visit my family after I moved to Halifax and the entire journey we would listen to the radio. I would fall asleep to it and discover music through it; sometimes I think I forget how much it means to me. I was ready to apply this passion through my time on the course.

Throughout the project, you’ve been working on your own radio shows, what have inspired your direction with these and can you tell us about the themes of your shows?

H: My group’s show is about DJing and how to break into the industry. I am always looking for guidance on the internet on how to start gigging and getting out there so we thought we’d shape a show around this struggle and hopefully help others with it too.

V: The topic of our show is ‘transitions’. When people hear the term ‘transition’, they tend to think of gender transition. However, there are three of us in my team and all of us have unique experiences of transitional periods in our lives. For me, I experienced it in relation to my gender, another one of us had a baby which changed her life a lot, and the other member of my group had a big career change. So we wanted to address this vast theme in our piece.

Let’s throw it back to your first day at Reform versus now, tell me a bit about your first impressions/feelings/emotions in comparison to how you feel now. What has changed? 

H: The biggest development I’ve noticed is how our friendships have flourished as a group over the project. I’ve loved the teamwork aspect of the course as it’s really allowed us to get to know each other and we all get along so well.

V: On the first day of the course, I was in my own head and couldn’t even speak out loud to the group. However, I have come out of my shell so much and really pushed myself to chat to everybody and get to know them. I feel sad that the course is nearly over now after growing in confidence with everybody and making some great friends with people I would never usually meet.

What will you take from the Radio Course moving forward & what are your plans from here onwards? 

H: It’s given me such a boost of confidence and motivation to enjoy the creative scene in Manchester more. It’s also confirmed how much I want to work in a creative role.

V: I agree with Helena; my confidence has grown huge amounts. Also, I can’t wait to take the knowledge I have gained through the course with me in terms of sound set-ups and exploring the Reaper software. My dream job of sound-editing or voice acting no longer feels like a dream; it feels so much more reachable now.

If you could have any guest on your own radio show, who would it be?

H: I think it would have to be Annie Mac. I would love to be her mate and it would be so cool to flip the dynamic of her being a presenter, to her being a guest on a show.

V: I have two people I’d love to interview on a show. The first one would be Matthew Mercer, who is a big voice actor. It would be nice to chat to him about his journey from being a nerdy kid that played video games, to being one of the biggest video game voice actors. The second one would be my partner’s mother. She is such a lovely person and has been through so much in her life, both good and bad. It would be great to sit down with her and let her story be told.

Find out more about our Radio Course here and explore our future projects here. If you like the look of any of them, drop our lovely Engagement team an email at projects@reformradio.co.uk.