As your on my blog, chances are you are interested in one of the following:
- Radio
- Absolute Radio
- illiterate Radio enthusiasts
So here is a little bit about me, what I'm about and why I created this blog.
Well my name is Colin. I am currently 19 and I live in sunny ol' Dorset and have done so my whole life. Literally, until a few months ago I had slept in the same room my whole life. Sad eh? Well I have been lucky to have my whole life packed into Dorset, which in my opinion makes me the smart one, as I'm the one saving on the dosh, and Dorset is an awesome place to live.
So how did I get into "Radio"? What was the fascination? just why? Well it started back when I was the young innocent age of 13. I had a paper round... which I hated. Literally getting up at 7 each morning is never fun for a 13 year old. I was always the last one to pick up the papers in the morning... needless to say Harry the shop owner wasn't my biggest fan. Anyway whilst doing my paper round I listened to the radio. My mum bought me my first MP3 player which had a built in FM receiver.
This is where my interest started. I listened to the 2CR FM (Bournemouth Local Commercial) Breakfast show with Mr Graham Mack and Ritchie Firth. I was hooked. I can't say why, but I became obsessed with radio. This led to me researching radio, wanting to learn more about the industry and how it is run.
After about a year of listening to 2CR, my mum arranged something special for me. She secretly told my dad about a 2CR Open day. This meant I would be able to look round the station I love... Awesome times for me :D
Problem was, I was a timid child, shy and quiet. This meant instead of being excited I was nervous. It was scary for me. This is a place I worshipped, and my idol, Graham Mack would be there. When we got there people were being shown round in groups by one of the presenters... and guess who we got... MR MACK.
Me being my shy self kept quiet. The tour was amazing though for someone like me, and only enhanced my interest in the industry. At the end of the tour Graham asked our group if anyone was interested in radio. Obviously, being a timid creature, I kept quiet. However that isn't my dads way, and persisted on raising his hand and basically shouting, "MY SON IS" and pointing at me.
Graham came over and said, "In a few years send me a demo and I'll let you know what I think" What a legend and truly nice guy. Anyway, the tour enhanced my interest so I began to write letters left write and centre to radio stations in the south. I asked for any advice, or a simply studio tour. Some replied politely declining, but more often than not, stations allowed me a day tour or job shadowing.
I had tours of : 2CR FM, Wave 105, Kestrel Fm & Original 106. Most local stations were more than willing to let me have a look around, perhaps due to how young I was.
My big break came in 2006.
After searching the net, I came across an interesting concept... Community Radio. Basically, they are stations that are run by volunteers, and are for local communities. A brilliant idea, as local commercial radio has been in decline in recent years due to companies wanting to save money by rationalisation shows. But what makes these stations so unique is that they encourage radio enthusiasts to come and make radio shows for them. They train you up and then let you have a show, no matter what your previous experience is.
So I discovered that a community station was starting in Bournemouth called Hope FM. After speaking to their station manager via E-mail, he invited me to a couple of meetings. I discovered that Hope was predominately a Christian station but with a community feel. I am not a religious person in any sense, but despite this they were more than happy to train me and give me a show.
I was introduced to a mixing desk for the first time in my life... and I loved it. The studio was extremely high tech for a community station and had a odd homely feel to it. I was trained up on the program Enco DAD and taught about show clocks. I was given a weekly show on Wednesday from 4-5pm which i did straight after school each week.
It was amazing and I loved every show. I gathered the content myself in school lunch breaks. This show lasted a year, until I was unable to get to the studio anymore, due to my sister getting a new job (She was my taxi every Wednesday)
I gained work experience at Forest FM a year months later, which is a well run friendly community station, but has so many volunteers that it is difficult to make an impression. Instead I recorded shows to be played out on Friday nights. This was enjoyable, and I did this on and off for about a year.
I also had a day job shadowing Ritchie Firth at 2CR, which was my first real in sight into how a professional broadcaster prepares for a show.
Since then I have gain more experience through my media based college course, and now my Radio Production course at Bournemouth University. At the university I take part in the college and Uni stations, which both use Myriad playout system. I present a typical magazine show with a co-host and friend, and I co- present a sports show (Which won the award for best talk show at the Uni awards last year... I'm just saying)
SO that is pretty much up to date. Now I am at Absolute... But what do I want to achieve during my experience there?
Well that is a tough question to answer. The reason being that I just want to learn about every aspect. Literally, I am like an over excited puppy. But if I was to be specific, I would say I want to see how a show is created from a producer point of view. I have had experience on the mic, but little behind it, and it would be brilliant to watch a producer as they create content.
(So If your reading Gaz or Gregg... Cough)
And for the future... On my course, it is pretty much beaten into us that we all want to get to the BBC, that the BBC is the only way forward... Well no. Not in my opinion. Yes the BBC is vastly important when it comes to Radio in the UK, by my heart will always be with Commercial radio. Local commercial radio, in my opinion, has lost its way of late, with stations cutting spending left right and centre... My aim? I want to make local commercial great again. Bring the listener in with exciting and fresh content, not just a playlist of songs. This is why absolute is so important to my learning's of the industry.
Well that's me... Any questions, or want to follow me,
Twitter: ColinjByrne
Colin
Me being my shy self kept quiet. The tour was amazing though for someone like me, and only enhanced my interest in the industry. At the end of the tour Graham asked our group if anyone was interested in radio. Obviously, being a timid creature, I kept quiet. However that isn't my dads way, and persisted on raising his hand and basically shouting, "MY SON IS" and pointing at me.
Graham came over and said, "In a few years send me a demo and I'll let you know what I think" What a legend and truly nice guy. Anyway, the tour enhanced my interest so I began to write letters left write and centre to radio stations in the south. I asked for any advice, or a simply studio tour. Some replied politely declining, but more often than not, stations allowed me a day tour or job shadowing.
I had tours of : 2CR FM, Wave 105, Kestrel Fm & Original 106. Most local stations were more than willing to let me have a look around, perhaps due to how young I was.
My big break came in 2006.
After searching the net, I came across an interesting concept... Community Radio. Basically, they are stations that are run by volunteers, and are for local communities. A brilliant idea, as local commercial radio has been in decline in recent years due to companies wanting to save money by rationalisation shows. But what makes these stations so unique is that they encourage radio enthusiasts to come and make radio shows for them. They train you up and then let you have a show, no matter what your previous experience is.
So I discovered that a community station was starting in Bournemouth called Hope FM. After speaking to their station manager via E-mail, he invited me to a couple of meetings. I discovered that Hope was predominately a Christian station but with a community feel. I am not a religious person in any sense, but despite this they were more than happy to train me and give me a show.
I was introduced to a mixing desk for the first time in my life... and I loved it. The studio was extremely high tech for a community station and had a odd homely feel to it. I was trained up on the program Enco DAD and taught about show clocks. I was given a weekly show on Wednesday from 4-5pm which i did straight after school each week.
It was amazing and I loved every show. I gathered the content myself in school lunch breaks. This show lasted a year, until I was unable to get to the studio anymore, due to my sister getting a new job (She was my taxi every Wednesday)
I gained work experience at Forest FM a year months later, which is a well run friendly community station, but has so many volunteers that it is difficult to make an impression. Instead I recorded shows to be played out on Friday nights. This was enjoyable, and I did this on and off for about a year.
I also had a day job shadowing Ritchie Firth at 2CR, which was my first real in sight into how a professional broadcaster prepares for a show.
Since then I have gain more experience through my media based college course, and now my Radio Production course at Bournemouth University. At the university I take part in the college and Uni stations, which both use Myriad playout system. I present a typical magazine show with a co-host and friend, and I co- present a sports show (Which won the award for best talk show at the Uni awards last year... I'm just saying)
SO that is pretty much up to date. Now I am at Absolute... But what do I want to achieve during my experience there?
Well that is a tough question to answer. The reason being that I just want to learn about every aspect. Literally, I am like an over excited puppy. But if I was to be specific, I would say I want to see how a show is created from a producer point of view. I have had experience on the mic, but little behind it, and it would be brilliant to watch a producer as they create content.
(So If your reading Gaz or Gregg... Cough)
And for the future... On my course, it is pretty much beaten into us that we all want to get to the BBC, that the BBC is the only way forward... Well no. Not in my opinion. Yes the BBC is vastly important when it comes to Radio in the UK, by my heart will always be with Commercial radio. Local commercial radio, in my opinion, has lost its way of late, with stations cutting spending left right and centre... My aim? I want to make local commercial great again. Bring the listener in with exciting and fresh content, not just a playlist of songs. This is why absolute is so important to my learning's of the industry.
Well that's me... Any questions, or want to follow me,
Twitter: ColinjByrne
Colin
(This is a picture for the Bournemouth Uni Radio website. The Panda is our mascot. I'm the greasy one on the left who needs to find a better belt)
