In November last year, I decided to become a DJ, I’ve never had any radio experience before but I thought it might be fun to learn the skills. I signed up for an intensive 8 session course at Ipswich Community Radio with the Station Manager Nick Kabay and 6 other students. During our training, we were asked to decide what kind of show we wanted. Nick told us he would do his best to find us a slot in the schedule.

I wanted to host a talk show but with a difference. I came up with the name The Preloved Chica Time Capsule Show. It ties in with my Preloved Chica YouTube Channel all about second-hand clothes.

Nick liked my concept and offered me a slot on Wednesdays from 1.00 pm to 2.00 pm. It works like this, every week I invite a guess to share the music that's important to them, very much like the long-running BBC’s Desert Island Discs show. My guests talk about the 4 pieces of music they’ve chosen to go into the ICR Time Capsule. Sometimes we’ll talk about other objects they’d like to put in the time capsule but mostly we talk about the music. I started in January 2018 and now have 38 shows on Mixcloud for people to listen to again.

I’ve had fabulous guests including the Ipswich MP Sandy Martin, the current Mayor Of Ipswich, Jayne Riley but by far my most popular show was on the 29/2/18, the first year anniversary of Steve’s death.

I invited my 3 sons to share the music their dad had introduced them to. It was a moving tribute and has had the most replays on ICR. One of my sons flew in from Baku to be with me live in the studio, another son who lives in Japan recorded a voice clip along with his musical choices. It was such a moving tribute to their wonderful dad.

Here’s the replay link in case you’d like to listen. Somehow I managed to keep my voice strong and steady throughout the whole show.

https://www.mixcloud.com/ICRfm/28-02-18-the-pre-loved-chica-time-capsule-show/

The technical side of broadcasting has become easier with practice over the last 10 months but there’s so much to think about, the musical sound levels, the guest microphone levels and keeping your own microphone off when the music is playing. It’s like tapping your head and drawing circles on your stomach.

Now that the technical side is more automatic, I’m enjoying the chat with my guests. Their musical choices have been so exciting, their life stories too and my guests never seem to be nervous when talking about music.

I want to keep going for at least a year, it brings me so much joy and I love connecting with people. You can usually see me broadcasting live on Facebook too.

Will I run out of guests? I doubt that, as new people are coming into my life all the time.

Give it a Try

Is there a new skill you could focus on learning, something to get your teeth stuck into? I'd love to know what new skill you'd like to learn.

#MyPrelovedLife : 20/11/18