I bloody love community radio! I joined mainFM as a member in late 2022. I’d only been living in town a few months then and was stoked to discover the eclectic good-vibing gem that is mainFM!
I was listening to Deep House Chewton at a dinner party one night when I mentioned that I had a secret dream to become a radio host. My friends all seemed to know a host or two in town and were very encouraging for me to get in touch with the station – seed planted.
A few weeks later I collected a mainFM tshirt and coyly mentioned to Alex and Steph that I might be keen to host a show. They were so welcoming, kind and encouraging. I had training wheels on very soon after!
My past lives have been broad including work in the theater production, campaigning and community organising, soul selling in the Parliamentary bubble and research and activism in the climate space. My heart really lies with community building and nurturing though. Hosting Ramjet Radio is part of my latest life iteration, which includes more variation, spaciousness, balance and overall joy.
Ramjet Radio – eclectic tunes, excellent vibes and a dash of the ridiculous. It’s been on air for just on a year this Feb. Heading in ‘sarvo for the 40th show (already!). Hosting RR, is actually the best part of my week! The journey of building the flow and putting all the pieces together is such a beaut creative outlet. I’ve always found exploring new music, reading about artists (and people in general) really fascinating. It’s great that I get to curate this hobby for listening-ears other than my own.
As a newbie, I’ve learned that the community around here is deeply interconnected and also very creative – many fingers in many pies. I love this. I came for the nature and general and stayed for the community vibe.
On a personal level, hosting has been good for me to lean more into self compassion and letting go of the idea of the perfect show. The little slip-ups just add to the humanness of being live to air.
What do I admire about fellow presenter4s and shows? This is a tricky question – every host brings their unique sass and flair! Special shout out to the JOJ guys – when I first heard there was a Jamaican music show on mainFM, I thought “holy shit, we have landed in the right place, this is a very good sign!”
I dig the way Alex and Alex co-host with kindness and curiosity. Their morning show is fun, informative and creative and of course, Dead Fest is dead set one of the best things on the wireless!
Oh and the legendary Jen Moore has expanded my listening ears in various directions!
I reckon the epitome of a good community is a solid community radio station. Diverse, local voices spreading thoughtful info and interesting musical choices.
As far as memorable moments go, I had a blast co-hosting JOJ with Edd & ReRe for RadioFest and I really dig bringing live musicians and dj’s into the studio to create a fun and festive vibe! I had local muso Jo Huff in for Radio Fest last year and local dj/producer Cephalopod played a live dj set showcasing his tunes not so long ago. Looking forward to more of that.
My show has a Mixcloud and an Instagram page. I regularly post new shows up to both and the local Feature Doggo of the Week gets a special insta post/story. The RR instagram page is slowly building and I’m always on the hunt for ideas to get the show out to a wider audience. Tagging mainFM in stories is good for a cross share.
My parting words…Don’t take yourself too seriously 🙂
Love your energy, Rosie! It’s great to have you on the mainFM team!