A whirlwind, hundred-mile-an-hour stop at the Radio Reverb studio in Brighton to chat with the inimitable Pete Jones. This man is a force of nature and was born to be on the radio – no, that doesn’t mean he’s ugly. His enthusiasm just cannot be dampened. He welcomes you to the studio effusively (especially if you bring cake) then slides back to his spot at the desk, flicks a switch and is in full presenter mode, doing several jobs at once. Pete is a champion of local original music, be it heavy metal, rock, pop or gentle folky stuff like ours – music is sent to him from all over the place so he’ll occasionally play something from a Liverpool band, but generally it’s all East / West Sussex music.
We get set up at the 2 mics on the opposite side of the desk ready to play our first number, The Return Of The Bloodied Crow, the new single that we’ve entered into the pFite competition. After a few songs and various intros (we’ve done one) Pete chats to us about the song and the competition and honey and vegans and our songwriting and the lottery project and all sorts of stuff. Then we play. Some listeners message in, there’s a bit more chat and we play two more songs then pack up and say goodbye. It’s always great going in to see Pete, he’s a tonic.
Reverb Towers (the studio) is in the Old Market in Brighton so a short walk from Brighton Station downhill with a pleasant diversion through the north laines. We met up with our friend, Alex the photographer and stopped on the way back to the station for chips and chat. Easy train back to Polegate.
Doing live shows on radio is great for promoting new singles and for talking about venues, gigs and projects. You develop a relationship with the presenters who often have other useful connections so is good for networking; you get heard by a new audience and potentially a much wider audience when the show is available for on demand streaming; all radio play is good when it comes to PPL/PRS; you have a good hook for social media posts, promoting the fact that you’re going to be on the show then later sharing the recording of the show; you have a chance to mention local gigs and events to attract new audience to shows; you feel like a rock star.
