This month's interview
is with Steve Conway who was on board the Ross Revenge when
it went aground onto the Goodwin Sands. He has been back
on the station for some time now and presents a weekly show
on Monday afternoons from 6pm to 9pm.
Where and when were you
born?- Dublin, Ireland, in 1964 – I’m the same age as
The Lady herself.
Where do you live now?
- I’m now back home in Dublin after 16 years living in the
UK (or on a ship just off it!)
What is your favourite part
of the Country? - I loved many places in the UK while I
lived there. London has so much to offer, and Surbiton,
where I was based, was a lovely place. I also adore the
Romney Marsh and the old town of Rye in East Sussex, as
well as the bleak and forbidding Dungeness area a few miles
away.
How did you get into radio?
-That’s a very long story – in fact I wrote a book about
it (Shiprocked) – but briefly I got involved in a land based
rock station in London, and from there moved to Caroline.
When did you first join
Caroline? - Tuesday 24th February 1987. The day is still
etched on my memory. We were still at the old location in
the Knock Deep at that time, and we moved to the Falls Head
later that year.
What was it like to be
doing shows for Caroline again?- Amazing. I’ve left
and come back to Caroline many times over the years, and
it is always like coming home.
How did you feel when
you returned to the Ross Revenge recently?- Energised.
There is something that happens when you put a whole bunch
of people on a ship together with a radio transmitter –
a kind of magic. Although all the doorways and corridors
seemed smaller than I remembered, the ship must have shrunk,
because I couldn’t possibly have got bigger . .
What other radio stations
have you been involved with? - I’ve just finished 11
very happy years presenting on Phantom 105.2, an alternative
rock station in Dublin. I was with them in their pirate
days, and stayed with Phantom when it got a full commercial
licence back in 2006. A truly great station, and it’s opened
my mind to a whole lot of new music over the years. I’m
also a presenter on Radio Seagull in The Netherlands. Over
the years I’ve been on other stations for shorter periods,
including ABC in Dublin and Susy Radio in Surrey.
What are your earliest
memories of Caroline? - My brother used to listen in
the 70s, so I grew up with Mi Amigo and Susi Waffles commercials!
What's your favourite
station other than Caroline? - Excluding ones I work
on myself (I would be biased) I’ll have to nominate BBC
Radio 4 – the quality of the current affairs and documentaries
there is worth the licence fee on its own.
Who is the most famous
person that you have met? - Hmmm. Well I’ve sold Hula-Hoops
to Joan Armatrading (she came into a garage in Surbiton
I was working at), accidently swore in front of Pope John
Paul II (best leave that one undiscussed), Cyndi Lauper’s
sock once brushed past my face (she took them off and threw
them into the audience at a gig) and I was waved at once
by Margaret Thatcher.
Who do you particularly
remember in your offshore days?- Nigel Harris, he was
a star and one of the nicest people you could be around.
Neil Gates, who stood on the bridge with me on the Goodwin
Sands both of us thinking we were about to die. There were
so many others too, can’t name them all.
What about the relationship
with your Dutch shipmates? - I was great having the
Dutch on board – they brought a welcome touch of internationalism
to what was otherwise a very quiet existence.
What is the best and worst
thing about radio today? - The sheer quantity of radio
today is wonderful, and the opportunities for getting involved
are much more plentiful than in the old days. As for the
worst, the increasing fad of giving shows to celebrities
with no radio background.
How much music freedom
do you have on Caroline? - Complete freedom within the
general ethos of the station, which is how it should be.
It’s an album station, all of the last 5 decades have to
be given airtime, but within those guidelines, the choice
is my own. I work hard to ensure I’m not repeating myself
in my music choices, and to get hold of interesting new
releases for the shows.
What's the most embarrassing
or funny thing that's happened to you? - For that you’ll
have to wait for my second book – due out February 2012.
Who would you like to
get stuck with on a desert Island?- Myself. I very much
enjoy my own company and would be quite happy to be shipwrecked
on my own, provide I had a radio with longwave and perhaps
a few books. If I had to have another person on the island,
it would be Neil Gates – practical, a great cook, and someone
I would trust with my life.
What's the most important
thing that you learnt about radio?- That’s a classified
secret – and part of the content of my new book,due out
next year. There is actually a chapter called “The Greatest
Lesson” and it does involve Caroline . .
What was the first record
you bought?- Forever Autumn from the war of the Worlds
album in 1978.
What are your favourite
bands and who is your hero? -New Model Army, Greenday,
Alan Parsons Project, Frank Turner, Heart.
Have you got any stories
about the ghosts on the Ross Revenge? - I did have an
incident on board, which could be interpreted as involving
the Ross Revenge ghost. I wrote a short story about it,
“Old Haunts” which is published in an anthology of new Irish
writing – “Census – Vol 1” available from www.severtowers.ie
What are your plans for
the future? - I’d like to live to be 1,000, but if I
reached 100 I’d consider myself pretty lucky. I plan to
stay in radio until there isn’t a breath left in my body
to speak with.
Thank you Steve for
an interesting interview.
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