As part of Hackney Council’s Mapping the Change project, Ignite Creative are teaching 20 aspiring journalists to make professional podcasts. This week, as an assistant on the project I accompanied some of the group to Kiss FM to get some tips& inspiration!
Firstly we met Verity Geere, who is the co-host with Neil Fox on Magic FM’s Breakfast show, and who gave us some great advice about how to get the most out of interviews. We then went into Magic’s live Breakfast show and met Gary Vincent. He said he’d been in radio for 35 years, but he didn’t look that old! He showed us the studio and after a quick scramble to switch off mobile phones, he let us watch him do a live travel update and announce a competition winner on air – to 2 million people!
Then we met Clara who presents the Saturday morning show for Kiss FM. She told us all about how to prepare for interviews by doing research on the person and not trying to blag it! Meanwhile, we could hear Verity presenting the news on the radio being played in the chill out area…
After this, we met two of the producers; Matt and Simon. 
This was a practical exercise which the students weren’t expecting! We split up into groups and went into their recording booths and each did a line from a promo for Kiss in Ibiza. This was interrupted slightly by the arrival of American actor, Channing Tatum, in the studio, which got everyone very excited. Matt and Simon then put our voices into a finished piece using an editing programme called Ableton. We listened back to it and all agreed that it sounded amazing, especially after some special effects were added. What do you think?
Lastly, we met Justin Wilkes who presents the live breakfast show on Kiss. We got to go into the studio whilst he was presenting and he showed us how they schedule in adverts and all the screens a
nd faders they use.
We even got a Kiss FM mug and tube pass holder to take home… A great morning had by all – thanks Kiss FM!
For action shots full of energy and excitement, 
From Hyde Park, head up to Oxford Street and check out 
Some of the best places to take photos are on the main shopping streets such as Oxford Street, which becomes an attraction in itself during the festive period. Spectacular images of colour and light illuminate the street, whilst some impressive decorations on the sides of the department stores are great to photograph too. If you’re not fazed by pavements heaving with jostling hoards of impatient shoppers, then you can get some joyful shots around here and on Regent Street.
First, to ‘
I am a veggie and I eat meat
I was watching Veggie Vision TV the other day, firstly (being a content producer) to check out their content and secondly (being a vegetarian), to check out what interests other veggies about their chosen culinary path. But there was also a third and more ulterior motive – barbeques. Sunny London days make me want to be outside tunes on, the crew round, drinks flowing and bar-b roaring. So what do vegetarians cook on a smokey summer grill?
Vegetarianism may now almost be part of the norm but I still get meat eaters asking me “what do you eat?”. It’s a question that always surprises me. I never think to myself, “I want to eat, I don’t eat meat, oh no what shall I eat?”. Maybe I should just send a link to this Macca D track en masse to everyone I know.
But when it came to the bbq I needed ideas.. Sure enough I came across an article titled “BBQ’s Do Not Need to Mean Meat!”. The recipe uses a product I have just discovered – Fry’s…
It was with real intrigue that I tried Fry’s vegetarian food for the first time just a few weeks ago. Fry’s essentially create alternatives for animal based products. Missing your steaks? Never fear Fry’s makes pepper non-steak style pies are here. Do you get nostalgic for grandmas’s cottage pie? Fry’s hearty cottage pie uses veggie mince and is stuffed full of vegetables plus onion gravy to boot. The range is pretty vast and I made it my mission to try as much of it as I could. Hot dogs, nuggets, burgers, sausage rolls, it was almost like going back in time and quite strange I must admit because most of the products taste just like the real thing – or at least what I remember they tasted like.
But why would you want to taste meat when you don’t eat meat anymore? Well, that’s the exactly point. This isn’t meat, therefore all I was doing as adding a whole load of new and amazing flavours to my dining repertoire.
As KD Lang once said, “If you knew how meat was made, you’d probably lose your lunch.” Fry’s food is free of meat, fish, eggs, dairy, hydrogenated fat, cholesterol, GM, artificial colours and preservatives – there’s no chance of not knowing what you’re getting.
Sent a text and got the playlists sorted. Now I just need the weather to hold up and I’ll be chucking some veggie shrimps on the barbeque.