Kerry-Anne Allerston
I’ve been a radio presenter for just over 14 years and I love it. It’s still such a great platform in my opinion and I’m hoping it keeps going for a very long time. I remember going into the SABC as a young teenager a million years ago because my boyfriend’s band at the time was being featured on Barney Simon’s Night Zoo.
While the boys were setting up their gear, I went on a little mission through the maze of passageways and I remember thinking that this was all so cool and super exciting. People were still smoking in the studios back then and it was all very rock ’n’ roll. A few years later, when I got into artist management and started putting shows on here and there, I became friends with some pretty amazing DJs who were doing live stuff on the weekends.
Catherine Grenfell even put out a CD and did a whole bunch of cool things too, but by then I was attending as a friend, which felt pretty surreal after being there just a few years earlier as a teenage band girlfriend and a bit of an outsider. I never imagined that years later I’d end up on air myself, doing the same kind of thing these legends were doing way back when. Martin Bester, Matt Flax and Danny Painter as well as a few other great DJs are still getting bands on their shows and are still shining lights on local talent. Community stations like 919 and VOW and many others are behind our superstars in a big way too. Whoever you’re listening to and however you’re listening don’t forget to tune in, drop a little thank you now and then and don’t forget to request local.
