Today is #WorldRadioDay!

Radio has moulded my life. From taping the top 40 from a very young age, to producing & broadcasting shows myself for the past decade. In times of grief & loneliness, radio has seen me through. In these times, radio has been more important than ever.

For #WorldRadioDay I wanna thank everyone that's given me a chance to broadcast over the years.

To the late DJ Kim who was the first to ever ask me to do a guest mix on Eagle FM in Bristol.

Thanks to @sohoradio @ITCHFM @ResonanceFM @Balamii & @NTSlive for the opportunities.

Thanks to @mistajam who gave me my first break in radio, airing my mix on national BBC @1Xtra in 2006.

Thanks to @OfficialHuey & @Tom_Whalley for inviting me to play on @BBC6Music several times past few years.

#WorldRadioDay

At college in the early/mid 90s I did work experience at 210 FM in Reading (later swallowed into the Heart franchise). It deterred me for a long while. Seeing how commercial radio was playlisted entirely by a computer algorithm. But that's only one aspect of radio.

A HUGE chunk of my record collection is comprised of radio discoveries.

Late night as a kid, headphones on, scrolling the FM dial. It was an escape for me back then, and it still is now. Though these days I'm more likely to checking the DAB or the internet.

I always dreamed of having a large enough aerial to pick up stations from across the globe, not just the few FM stations I could pick up in the area I grew up in.

Technology has made that possible now.

The late TY put me onto this brilliant website. http://radio.garden 

Radio doesn't just entertain with music. It provides drama, comedy, current affairs. It can provide voices to the voiceless, and it can offer a sense of community and inclusion more than any other media imo. Good presenters can make you feel like you're part of the same village.

A good radio DJ is able to assess the mood of their listeners and their environment. They can empathise & they can ease your state of mind, regardless of what's happening in the wider world. Doing that is a lot harder than you may think. Massive respect to all those that can.

I've written long lists of DJs, shows & stations I check for before; y'all know who you are.

But from entrepreneurs like Kiss FM / @misoulradio founder @Gordon_Mac, to legends like @maryannehobbs & @gillespeterson I have a LOT of heroes out in radio world.

To everyone that's ever invited me to do a guest spot myself over the years, thank you.

To everyone that spends hours & days crafting & collating for an hour or two of radio that 10 people may listen to, you make those tens of people's lives a little brighter. Keep it moving.

Radio is pretty different to how Christian Slater in Pump Up The Volume portrayed it in my teens. But the world has now got to the stage where ANYONE can broadcast, if they want to. Shock jock contrarians aside, that's no bad thing imho at all. Everyone has something to offer.

So, if you're a listener, keep listening.

Fire off those requests.
Shout out your mates.
Send some signal.

To everyone that LOVES radio like I do..

Stay tuned.
Turn it up.
Keep it locked.

#WorldRadioDay #WorldRadioDay2021