Talking about me

It’s weird being a radio presenter. People think that because of what you do, that you love talking about yourself. Not true for me.

I absolutely LOVE talking to other people. Talking to musicians and guests on my show is what really makes interesting radio. The audience don’t really want to hear me wanging on about myself for three hours a day. But it turns out that some people kinda do want to find out about me. Well, sort of…

Alex Wilson from the podcast Who’s Flying The Plane asked to interview me for an episode to find out about me, how I got into radio, what BBC Upload is about and why I love my job. This is what happened.

Future generations

When I was at school, I loved the idea of becoming a presenter. I used to host the school concerts with my mate Lauren. We’d link in between acts on the stage from choirs, bands, drama productions… You name it, we linked between it. We LOVED it.

Our teachers were incredibly supportive back then and as I moved on and carried on presenting I got so much help and guidance from people working in the media and music industry that I’ll forever be grateful for.

That advice stood me in incredible stead for paving out a career working in radio. As a travel reporter, producer, social media journalist and even now as a presenter I’ve had so many people take me under their metaphorical wing to teach me all sorts of skills and a whole bunch of life lessons. Sometimes it’s proper coaching, sometimes it’s just a helpful word of the wise, but all of it has helped shape me in someway.

So, in turn, I think it’s important that I help others who ask me for help. I still find it bizarre (and incredibly humbling) that people ask me for advice. After training most of the BBC local radio social media producers a couple of years ago I was sent this from one of those I’d trained showing me the addition they’d made to their social media desk...

“What would Bristol do?” 

We were leading the way and people wanted to be like us. THAT IS COOL! 

I was asked earlier this month to talk to eager media and music students from Telford College about how I “got in” at the BBC and how I worked to get into radio presenting.

Talking to students at Telford College

I was asked to speak about all the different jobs I’d done, the various roles there are available at the BBC and the ins and outs of how to get radio play on the BBC.

Passing on my experience and knowledge of my career so far is the least I can do. I can’t count the number of people who have helped me progress in my career. Something I’ve always appreciated. The least I can do is help others in return.

Do me a favour. Help someone this week. Give someone the time to grab a coffee with you. Take the time to allow them to pick your brains. You might not feel like you’re the best placed to offer that person the advice you need, but the chances are you’ll give them that little confidence boost they need to feel like they can take the next step. Trust me.

Getting nerdy about jingles

BBC Upload - Station imaging

Listen... I can't help it. I’m a radio nerd. I know that. But indulge me a little by listening to me and BBC Radio Bristol's station sound producer Tom Ryan talk all things jingles, imaging, voice overs and generally getting excited about nerdy radio stuff!

When we launched the programme in October 2018, we wanted a fresh sound with bold imaging and a voice over to match. Well, listen to the package and let us know what you think!

We talk about the concept stage, how we wanted it to sound, what we wanted to get across with the imaging as well as the style and feel of the programme. From picking a composer, a voice over artist and the elements we needed included to match the personality of the show and the station, while still sounding new a vibrant for younger audience.

Find out more about our jingle composer Dave Connolly here:
molecularsound.com

Find out more about our voice over artist Natalie Cooper here:
nataliecooper.co.uk

Listen to BBC Upload here:
bbc.co.uk/upload or via BBC Sounds app

Adam starts new show on BBC Radio Bristol

I’ve been busy busy busy over the last few months launching a brand new show on BBC Radio Bristol. The evening show airs weekdays between 7-10pm and it’s called BBC Upload with Adam Crowther.

BBC Upload has a strong and vibrant personality - the visual identity was created by graphic designer James Mobbs.

The show champions new talent in the BBC Radio Bristol area - from writers, poets, musicians, bloggers, vloggers, podcasters and comedians. Anyone can upload their audio to be played on the show via the website bbc.co.uk/upload and they could get their creations featured on the radio.

Targeting a young audience with a modern playlist, vibrant station sound/jingles, voiceover that reflects the youthful energy of the programme as well as pacy and fun presentation, I hope that audiences of BBC Radio Bristol love the new format.

Listen to the show weekdays:

🕖 7pm
📻 94.9, 104.6, 103.6fm/DAB
💻 bbc.co.uk/radiobristol
📲 Download the BBC Sounds app from your app store