Nerve FM

Written for Nerve Magazine
20th April 2009

Two weeks. Thirty DJs. Two-hundred-and-fifteen shows.
Nerve FM was unleashed on Bournemouth’s airwaves during March by BBC Radio 6’s Phil Juipitus, who gave us an interview about Glastonbury, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and the Bournemouth Subway Appreciation group.
The fortnight was kicked off by the Jess and Jonny Breakfast show on March 16th. The early starts were hard at first, but from the lively way the presenters sounded you would never have known. Jess claims the reason for this was Red Bull and Coco-Pops.
“At times I found it hard when being careful what you say, but I think me and Jonny were a great pairing and hopefully gave off a good breakfast show vibe,” she told me,” I had such an amazing team to work with who made me laugh, especially on the last day when I was attacked with cameras!
“Also, it's something that I can add to my CV and made me think differently about what I want to do in the future - radio one if I'm lucky!”
The FM featured a range of shows for nearly every taste in music. Abi Brydon’s new and unsigned bands was characterised by her enthusiasm for the genre, as was Dave Curtis’ hip-hop broadcasts. Another presenter, Dave Ruddock, themed each of his shows around a word and played a range of songs from different genres.
For those of you who found themselves bombarded with hundreds of ‘Boycott Costa Coffee’ emails last term, you may have been interested in Chris Jones’ interview with vice-chancellor, Paul Curran, who gave the uni’s side of the story.
Jason Hawkins, SUBU’s Media Services Manager, said, “I would say that this year ranks as pretty much one of the best – for consistency as well as involvement. It’s about providing a platform for involvement regardless of what course you’re on.
“But, it’s also about taking a bunch of students in October who have never been in a studio, training them up and, after two weeks, turning them into competent presenters.”
I went to meet drive-time’s Sophie Moir and Dan Shojaie as they did their last show.
“The Dan vs. Sophie Marshmallow Challenge was really funny,” Dan told me, “Sophie managed to get all thirteen marshmallows in her mouth – she’s like a weird sort of hamster or something! We had the news team in doing a commentary. It was really funny – I couldn’t speak, Sophie couldn’t speak!”
Sophie said, “it’s gone well for us. I also do the news, so it’s been great to see both sides. And Jason’s just a pro at it, he’s taught us loads.”