Behind The Scenes: In Focus Radio (Funded by ESF & Skills For Growth)

Our In Focus: Radio recently wrapped up in late February. During this course, participants learned about audio production, presenting, music sequencing, research and interview skills, recording, editing & sound design, industry advice and knowledge on BBC systems. 

We caught up with Nadya, one of the participants on the course to see how they got on.

Please introduce yourself/name/pronouns?

My name is Nadya Vella, my pronouns are she/her. 

Please can you tell us a little bit about yourself? What are your interests? What are your hobbies?

I’m a Canadian DJ based in Manchester. My hobbies obviously include music and fashion too. Yeah, to be honest, outside of my day job I am working on lots of different things to do with music and otherwise I am a simple girl. 

What interests you about radio and audio in general?

Well, something that interests me about it is that on a global scale you are connecting to people and things you know very little about, but can enjoy at the same time. I love the elements of music, which also feels universal as you don’t necessarily need to speak the same language to understand. I enjoy the intricacies of radio, you may have one person talking but a whole team of people are there producing it. So with this course, it was really nice to kind of see that unfold for me and grasp all the different elements involved. 

What’s your favourite aspect about radio/audio? 

Yeah, I guess it’s that idea of connection and of course the platforms. I think with the kind of radio stations like Reform, for me, and even like the BBC, I do really love that aspect of freedom and self-expression that you can have with showcasing things that touch you, or you think is fire. It’s really nice to be able to just put yourself out there in a way that is safe and you are able to share things that are important to you. 

When and how did you realise that you wanted to be involved with radio/audio?

When I was Year 8, in school in Canada we had optional classes. I took TV & Radio, because I thought it sounded easy and interesting. It focused on video editing, how to run a radio show and about its structures. It was a light overview of a full production. Me and my friends then kickstarted our junior high radio show. So its all kind of continued on since then. I got deeper into my craft with age and time, especially my DJing and as I put more time into it, radio became an obvious route.

What have you gained from this course? 

What systems the BBC use, how things are correlated between people working and making sure they get paid for tracks and audio. I enjoyed learning about the Reaper software. I noticed that having a relationship with your producer can really elevate your radio shows.

What’s your biggest aspiration for creating or working in audio/radio?

I would love to do a BBC 1 Residency and I know there have been Canadians that have done it, but I’d love to show up for East Africa as well and to be a representative on a platform like the BBC would be amazing. 

Where do you see yourself after this is all finished?

On a beach! Also I do hope my radio show becomes tighter, maybe with new connections I have made through this course, new opportunities may arise and I am hopeful that they will. I would like to collaborate with these same like minded individuals to push ourselves to the forefront of what a good radio show looks like.