Hello there! This is something of a pleasant surprise for me, because I never imagined that I would be in this position. When I wrote my last edition of my Behind SouthWaves blog in 2017, I never thought that I would be back doing what I do a year later.
There has been a huge sense of optimism since my arrival in the FMG office this week. I have attended many meetings with the team, and we have laid a set of future SouthWaves Radio plans…more about that later.
Last Sunday, I got the opportunity to see Chichester City Ladies face Liverpool Ladies in the Women’s FA Cup, which was played at Oaklands Park. The crowd was the biggest attendance I had ever seen at the club, and they were nothing short of amazing at getting the team riled up. The atmosphere was filled with chants, cheering and the odd gasp! Regardless of the result, it should be regarded as a victory in the eyes of the city.
The amount of pre-match promotion was outstanding, it really generated a buzz. I did my bit by interviewing Chi City striker Cherele Khassall, which was insightful. Given the public response to my interview, I look forward to continuing a working relationship with Chichester City Ladies in the near future.
Aside from local sport, I also dabbled in a bit of the arts earlier in the week. It is my intention to interview incoming acts to local theatres and venues, and it certainly started with a bang! I had a lovely interview with Will Chandler, who is a Cliff Richard tribute act. He is playing at the Regis Centre in Bognor Regis on the 28th February, in aid of Give4Beth. Being something of a Cliff fan myself, this is probably the closest I shall ever get to an interview with him!
You can listen to the interview with Will (Cliff As If):
Elsewhere, I also had the fortune of interviewing members of the University Of Chichester Brass Band; who had just come third in the Unibrass competition. Having graduated from the university in 2012, it’s always interesting to go back and visit the campus. I met with conductor Emma Button and two members of the band, who were very generous in allowing me to interview them and take photographs.
Lastly, I guess it is about the time that I should put my cards on the table about SouthWaves Radio. There are lots of ideas in the pipeline, but only a select few have been confirmed.
We are planning to relaunch SouthWaves Radio as an online station and start a podcast service featuring interviews that they may have missed on the air. All of this will be integrated into a brand new mobile app! A release date is not confirmed yet, but it will be very soon! I, for one, am excited at what is to come.
If you’re holding an event, running a charity or have a story you want to share, let me know via Jamie@SouthWavesRadio.uk, and we’ll look into coming down and conducting an interview!
