We had a chat with radio presenter Will Reynolds to find out all about his show on Flash FM Oxford.
How long have you been presenting for?
Since I was 14 so, 4 years. I first started when a scary sixth former asked me to do a show on the school radio station. That was when I contracted the Radio bug. That show was so much fun because it was only broadcast across the school campus which meant that I was always bumping into listeners in the lunch queue or something and would end up having a massive chat about the show and the awkward, innuendo filled interviews with the headmaster.
Then I decided that radio is what I wanted to do with my life so I approached my local internet station, Radio Blackfrog. They gave me a show and, over the next two years I worked my way up Blackfrog. Then, by pure luck, Flash FM in Oxford tuned in and asked me to do a show for them. Unbelievably, they still seem to be happy for me to continue doing so!
What’s your favourite part of the job?
Definitely the interaction. I love being able to sit in a room and chat with loads of people that I have never met before, joke with them and hopefully make them smile even when Anita Krapp from Oxford messages in and asks me where the nearest loo is.
What makes your show unique?
I think the fact that it’s broadcast across the world is its most unique feature. It means that we can get listeners from America and Germany all listening at the same time, running with the same humour and enjoying the same music. For example when we got hooked on the clip of Meghan Trainor saying ‘Yas Queen’ we asked the listeners to send us recordings of them saying ‘Yas Queen’ in their sassiest tone. We got everyone from Grace VanderWaal in New York to a group of men in Berlin.
@willumfanbase @FlashfmOxford #slay pic.twitter.com/wUbgj4iH5X
— Grace VanderWaal (@GraceVanderWaal) July 15, 2016
How can people tune in and listen to your show?
We are only on the internet at the moment so head over to flashfmoxford.co.uk on a Sunday evening at 5pm GMT. You will find [me] and Producer Flora on the end of the line. My Snapchat turns into a behind the scenes webcam (willreynoldsjc) and my Twitter, @willreynoldsjc becomes a chat forum.
What was your experience at BBC Radio with Chris Evans like? And what happened?
Surreal. My dream is to present a national BBC Radio show. So to go in and watch the biggest one in Europe happen in front of me was surreal. The main thing that I took from going in was that anyone can achieve anything they want to if they want it bad enough. Everyone there, whether a producer or a celebrity guest set out to ultimately reach that level. When in conversation with them you realise that they are human and it’s not until you walk outside and the street is full of photographers and people waiting to meet them that you fully realise their success.
Chris Evans was so nice and supportive. He came out of the studio, shook my hand, asked me what I was learning and answered my questions. The producers were very calm considering they were putting a show together for 10 million people to listen to. It was invaluable to watch their techniques and methods for radio production in action. I was unbelievably lucky to get that opportunity and I hope that one day I can be part of a team like that.
What’s it like to have people make fan accounts for you?
It’s amazing to think that people appreciate what I do enough to make a Twitter profile for it. My supporters are fantastic at what they do and I will always have time for them. It’s great fun replying to their tweets, snapchats etc. Although some of the pictures that surface in my notifications make me cringe. Such as a montage of my nose and five chins.
Anything else you would like to add?
I love looking forward to the future and can’t wait for it to happen, an interview with Lettice Rowbotham can’t come any quicker!
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