You may remember that back in October The British Council and Folded Wing partnered with the Student Radio Association (SRA) and gave six student stations the chance to produce and present a special SRA version of The Selector on their own university stations. Following the model of the show that Goldierocks presents every week, the students were encouraged to be creative with the format and take the opportunity to make the show their own. Catch up with what they got up to on their training day here.
We’re now at the end of the students' six month tenure, and they’ve all put together an edited version of their best show to be entered into a competition. The winner will be announced at the SRA conference in Newcastle on Tuesday and the prize is certainly not to be sniffed at: a trip to Mexico City to visit The Selector's sister station Ibero 90.9 FM, courtesy of the British Council!
The British Council's Phil Catchpole says: “This initiative has been a fantastic experience. Thanks to Folded Wing and the Student Radio Association we have been able to provide tremendous in depth radio production and presenting skills training to some of the most exciting, up and coming British talent. Being able to use The Selector to do this has been a great way of connecting with young people in the UK and providing opportunities both here and abroad.”
We wish all the entrants the very best of luck and for the blog this week we’ve asked them to pick out their radio highlight from presenting the show over the past six months. Here’s their picks.
Louis Chadwick, Shock Radio (University of Salford)
"One of the many best bits from the past 6 months has been the special show from the Night & Day Café in Manchester. As a heritage indie venue that saw early gigs from the likes of Elbow and Oasis, there was a huge rally of support when the news broke that they were fighting a nuisance notice. It felt pretty awesome presenting this SRA Selector show and spending a night speaking to all sorts of local musicians; playing ridiculous games; and hearing some magnificent acoustic sessions, all in a bid to shine a light on what a smashing Manchester venue it is. It was definitely one of the highlight shows!"
Jack Saunders, Fly FM (Nottingham Trent University)
"My favourite moment from the SRA Selector was receiving a present before my interview with Superfood. It wasn’t any old present it was completely random but so funny! Great band and great music!"
Mike Walmsley, Forge Radio (University of Sheffield)
"Avida Dollars were the first band we had in the studio and they went beyond all expectations of what we hoped to achieve in terms of putting artists live on air. They were witty, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and evidently a little overly excitable shall we say, to be playing Sheffield venue The Harley's 10th Birthday bash. The interview culminated in lead singer Joseph obliging to spit a freestyle rap based on how the university paper had previously, much to their disdain, written them up as 'nu-metal'. He was also angry he wasn't mentioned in Kendrick Lamar's notorious 'Control' verse. It was fantastic and ultimately relieving to see how relaxed they were. Importantly, it became a stepping stone to getting a load of other acts in, allowing Forge's SRA Selector to become a who's who of Sheffield's tight-knit scene."
Lauren Rosewarne, RaW 1251AM (University of Warwick)
"I’ve had some brilliant artists in session during my six months of presenting SRA Selector, so it was incredibly difficult to pinpoint my favourite moment between them all. Ola Szmidt, originally from Poland but now living in Leicester, absolutely blew me away in her session. She is a vocalist, guitarist, and flautist who uses a loop station to create complex sounds. She also improvises a lot! For her third song, she gave me the choice of what instruments she would use and made up a song right there, on the spot. I was amazed. It was one of the many moments that made me realise how much I love presenting this show!"
You can also check out the four finalists' work in the highlights reel below:
