CAST  |  SOUNDTRACK  |  STILLS  |  WRITING  |  ON AIR

RANDOM  |  GUESTBOOK  |  LINKS  |  EXTRAS

because life is just one big movie

Other than simply listening to the black box in the corner of my room, my first real experience of radio came when I was 16 - work experience with BBC Dorset FM, based in Dorchester.  For five days I saw everything there was to this ridiculously small station, ending with a gruelling 12-hour Friday where I met the then British Prime Minister John Major.  Following this stint, I knew radio was for me, and every weekend afterwards I'd be in the Dorset FM office helping out on the Saturday morning show in an unpaid role.

Sadly, this didn't last too long, as the BBC decided that Dorset FM was to be snapped up by one of their bigger stations, Radio Solent.  Although I enjoyed my brief two days experience up at their much more elaborate studios in Southampton, I laid low on the radio scene for about a year, concentrating on my 'A' Levels and getting good grades (well, that didn't work, did it?).

When I came away to university in Southampton, being a radio DJ was still my dream career, and I saw my new location as a great opportunity for me.  Within my first month in the city, I had contacted Radio Solent for a possible further work experience placement.

They said no.

Rather miffed by this, I turned to my only alternative - the news that someone was intending on starting a new student radio station within the Institute.  That someone was Giacomo, a short half-Scottish, half-Italian bloke hailing from East Sussex.  Trust me, he's not as bad as he sounds.  In fact, I owe a lot to Giacomo, because it was him he gave me my first real taste of music radio with SIN (Southampton Institute Network, in case you thought it may be blasphemous).

To this day I still can't recall saying I wanted to help out with the looking after of the record library. Nevertheless, I agreed after Giacomo approached me about it. "It means lots of free CDs," he said. I was sold.

On top of my new position of responsibility, I was also keen to get on the air, and after persuading my mates Matthew, Martin, Matt and Heather to help me out, we were granted the weekend morning slot on SIN's first RSL broadcast.

Those were the days... clean-shaven, longer hair, the ability to look gormless at every opportunity...		Martin, and the object that saw him through three hours with me every Saturday and Sunday

9:00am, Saturday February 28th 1998 witnessed the birth of the Weekend Morning Crew.  Of course, the first show was riddled with mistakes here and there, but student radio is all about gaining experience, and exactly how many of our student audience were likely to be awake on a Saturday morning?

Highlights from the 8 shows we did were pesky phone calls from Matt's dad, Heather's awful jokes, including a 'Joke Megamix' created by myself, Matthew's campaign to prove us, The Daily Star, and the world WRONG (which he didn't), and 'I Won't Revise' - Burgess & Allen's marvellous cover-version of the disco classic 'I Will Survive'.

Matt and Martin get on with some work, whilst Heather offers her contribution		Who wouldn't want to listen with such a jazzy poster as ours?

Regular features of the show included The Time Capsule (5 classic hits back-to-back), The Love Bit (3 undisturbed romantic tunes), the Traffic & Travel reports (they weren't normal traffic & travel reports, oh no), and the daily Virgin giveaway, where we'd give away cinema tickets (what else would it be?) in a poor movie-related competition.

The 28-day broadcast was a great success for all concerned, and rumours about making SIN a permanent feature within the Institute started spreading.  Plans for obtaining a 5-year low-powered AM licence were made, and things looked very rosy.  In the meantime, I carried on with my Head of Music duties whilst Giacomo handed over the role of Station Manager to a fellow Media & Culture student, Mark.

Yes, we're tired.  Students, saturday and 8:15 am are not supposed to be repeated in the same sentence.

Although Matthew and I can both count to five, neither have noticed that Heather has been replaced by a cardboard cut-out

Unfortunately, SIN has yet to produce any further broadcasts from the Institute.  It's not that there wasn't a lack of trying from all of us, it's just a case of mountain after mountain after mountain of problems that weren't our fault.  I've now finished my degree, and although I feel disappointed that we didn't get another shot at a broadcast, I know that we've laid the foundations for what can be a tremendous student radio station.  Now it's up to the next wave of committed students to get SIN back on the air, something I'm sure that they can do.  I hope so, at least.

There we all are - the SIN FM Weekend Morning Crew.  Just look at how messy THEIR side of the desk is.