FEATURE:
Station to Station
PHOTO CREDIT: Georgie Rogers
Part Seventeen: Georgie Rogers (Soho Radio, BBC Radio 6 Music)
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I have a lot of respect…
PHOTO CREDIT: Georgie Rogers
for the amazing Georgie Rogers. Make sure you follow her on Instagram. I included her BBC Radio 6 music colleague, Chris Hawkins, in this feature last time. Rogers occasionally presents the music news on Shaun Keaveny’s weekday afternoon show (Matt Everitt is the regular music new presenter). She appeared a couple of weeks ago. I hope that she gets more time on the station. I have written about Rogers before. I am not going to cover too much of the same ground regarding what I wrote before. I feel that Rogers will get a regular slot on BBC Radio 6 Music in some form in years to come. She is also a champion of great new music on Soho Radio. I would suggest that you listen to her shows as she is a fantastic D.J., broadcaster and interviewer. Before bringing in an interview Rogers was involved with, it is worth sourcing some biography:
“Georgie Rogers is an experienced radio and TV presenter, music/arts journalist, voiceover artist and DJ.
A passionate and credible tastemaker and champion of alternative, independent and electronic specialist music, hear her Music Discovery shows monthly on Soho Radio and in the mix twice a month on Foundation FM.
She's also a Music Broadcast Journalist on BBC 6 Music and contributes regularly to BBC Radio 2, BBC 5 Live, BBC News TV, Radio 4, Sky News, with previous presenting experience on Virgin Radio, XFM, Vevo and Apple Music's Beats 1.
In 2019 Georgie co-founded the Super Women platform and production company presenting a number of short docu-films about meeting kickass trailblazers across several fields from motorsports to politics, adventure to tech, mentoring female filmmakers in the process.
Her love of motorcycling has lead to working with reputable brands BMW, Royal Enfield, Malle, Saint, Petrolettes and Mutt, who featured her in Mutt Magazine "Riding Out With Rogers" page 40.
As for DJing, find her on the decks at several London venues and festivals including Glastonbury, Secret Garden Party, Field Day, End of the Road and Meadows in the Mountains in Bulgaria”.
Although she is still fairly early on in her career, she has accomplished so much already. As I said, I would not exclude the possibility that Rogers will get a weekday/weekend show on BBC Radio 6 Music at some point – maybe a Friday night selection of bangers to take us into the weekend? She clearly has a lot of love for the station. The work she does with Soho Radio, whilst similar in some ways, is an opportunity to have her voice and musical choices heard more. Such a wide-ranging and passionate talent, the next few years will see Rogers assume new responsibilities and reach a new audience. There is a lot of love what she is throwing out!
PHOTO CREDIT: Adam P. Mane/@pandco_women
I did say I would get to an interview. P&Co spotlighted Rogers. As ambassador of their Do What You Love, Not What You're Told Campaign, we got to know more about a phenomenal and inspiring talent:
“P&Co: Introduce yourself, who is Georgie Rogers?
Georgie: I'm a broadcaster and music journalist with BBC Radio 6 Music and also a presenter, DJ and voiceover artist, which means collaborating with lots of great creative brands. I get a kick out of discovery. Nothing was more of a thrill than sneaking up to London as a teenager to see a new band or DJ for the first time in Camden or Fabric nightclub. When I started to interview bands at XFM in 2007 and then at 6 Music soon after, it lit the fire and everything up to that point made sense, my life-long fascination with the radio and wonder for music. Building connections with the artists I loved and as my career developed showcasing their work by playing them on the radio quickly turned into my dream job. Fast forward a decade, I guess I'm still about that rush whether it's doing board sports, exploring a new country, riding motorbikes or more recently making short-films.
P&Co: Aside from the DJing, presenting and music journalism, you have also co-created a video series celebrating female 'trailblazers', tell us more!
Georgie: Just over a year ago I started the Super Women platform with a filmmaker friend Alice Smith. I wanted to do a series about trailblazing women because the bike world had opened me up to people like Elspeth Beard, the first British woman to motorcycle around the world, an award-winning architect and author of Lone Rider. I was so inspired by her story and that of several other pioneers in my orbit, not just in music but also motorsports, politics and tech. For us, it was important to give something back through the process. We wanted to make sure we were offering practical filmmaking opportunities to women so we assembled a team, got sponsorship and filmed the first series, which launched in May. It's just about telling great stories, so we are working behind the scenes on developing more docu-film ideas and getting together some training weekends for aspiring female filmmakers while we continue to roll out the rest of the first series.
PHOTO CREDIT: Adam P. Mane/@pandco_women
P&Co: Have you ever faced any challenges as a woman in the radio industry?
Georgie: Of course! It's a given that all women in the creative industries face challenges. Music radio is still imbalanced when you break it down across major UK stations. Things are changing though with Lauren Laverne (BBC 6 Music) and Zoe Ball (BBC Radio 2) doing well on major breakfast shows and their growing listener figures proving that there's a demand for a more gender balanced schedule. However, you only have to look at the running orders on several established music stations and the reality is that out of a possible 8 or 9 slots per day between Monday to Friday - often only two shows are anchored by women! There's no shortage of female broadcasting talent so there's definitely room for improvement when it comes to gender parity.
I think internet radio stations like NTS, Worldwide FM, Rinse and two that I broadcast on Soho Radio and Foundation FM are now playing a key role in showcasing diversity and new talent. I've been fortunate in my career to be nurtured and given opportunities to grow during my time broadcasting on 6 Music, XFM and Virgin Radio, but it's great that these new platforms exist to give the next generation of presenters and DJs the opportunities to be wild horses on the airwaves”.
P&Co: Why do you think it is important to highlight women doing what they love & not what they're told?
Georgie: Growing up, I never really had a feeling that I was limited in any way by my gender. I have two really strong matriarchs in my mum and grandmother (shout out Barbara Jean/Nonnie - she's 94!) to look up to and had a lot of freedom from my parents who weren't overbearing and left me to decide on my career path. Loving it is what has kept me committed to the dream throughout the highs and the lows. I had a pretty savage injury smashing my knee cap into many pieces a few years ago but I was so determined for it not to change my outlook that as soon as I could walk again I said 'yes' to everything and then got my first motorbike. Most people would have told me that was a really terrible idea! A sense of freedom to make my own choices and trust my instincts has infiltrated every part of my life from my work, to riding, travelling and learning new things. People will make snap assumptions and try to put you in a box but that's bad vibes so forget them. Just do what you love and do it as much as you can”.
I am going to wrap up soon. Before then, there is an interview from 2016. This was conducted when Rogers was working for Virgin Radio. I want to include sections from the interview - as she provides useful advice to those who might be thinking of a career in radio/broadcasting:
“In terms of those who want to start a career or be part of the whole radio industry experience including local people as well as students, Georgie says this:-
"Go for it, if you really want to work in radio, show your commitment, try and get as much experience as you can, be a 'sponge' in terms of soaking up everything you can from everyone around you, or people who are working in the industry. A big thing I've noticed is that you should be nice to everybody, because you don't know who will end up being your boss in a few years time".
Reflecting back to her internship and time working at XFM, the producer at the time was the boss at XFM, four years later he gave Georgie her first live open gig, she adds that:-
"Those relationships you hatch along the way are so important, be really nice, be good at your job, get in front of peoples faces but learn the line and know where that line is, so don't be too pushy or too much and just learn the part, if you really want to work in radio you can make it happen... it can be quite a difficult industry to get into and to work your way up... but starting on those local stations, in hospital radio, getting involved with all of that sort of things early on really helps you out and then you want to tap up the bigger and national stations. So it's really important to get as much experience as you can... learn how to edit audio, learn how to make packets, learn how to put shows together and learn the guidelines, OFCOM rules, that kind of thing - this is the sort of thing bigger stations will look for when it comes to internships, people who want to forge a career."
Reflecting back on her student days she kinda of felt that she foreseen herself working for a big station like Virgin Radio due to her knack of being direct, admitting her desire to work for a big station - setting it up as a goal for her, an ambition to go for without stopping for anything. Having been in the industry eight years now, it's safe to say she's achieved a lot - just by sticking to it. With the eight years paying off with her first show on Virgin Radio's relaunch, Georgie admitted she was excited at the prospect as she had her internship there back in 2007, with her first Virgin Radio show allowing her to pick the music for the show, bring in bands, etc the freedom to have that element of creativity that was not available to her during her stint at XFM. She admitted that her "first show was really nerve-racking"... whilst she was talking either an ambulance or police car was blaring out past her, but despite that she admitted the experience was nerve-racking because it was a whole new desk and was completely different from what she was used to, "it's a bit like driving a new car where everything is the other way around to what you are used to", now she's rearing to add new elements to her show including interviews and music.
However she wasn't that nervous with her first show on Virgin Radio given her previous experiences at other radio stations, "sometimes you have to catch yourself before you go on air and think actually there's a lot of people listening, you have to have the attitude of 'I've got this' even if you feel a bit nervous"; seeing as the radio station had it's restart this was what Georgie was most nervous about seeing as it's a new audience and not "a ready-made audience that were all just going to be there", but overriding the nerves was the pressure even though both go hand-in-hand in this case, however Georgie feels she's comfortable with it all even though outsiders would think of her profession as a bizarre one adding "it's a strange thing to do (being a radio DJ) playing records and essentially talking to yourself in a room, but it's hugely fulfilling to play the music that I love", of course being creative is what sparks off new opportunities and new ventures as well as adventures, so for Georgie this has to be her career highlight”.
I will leave it there. One of the most eclectic, dedicated and accomplished broadcasters and D.J.s around, let’s hope that more doors open up for Georgie Rogers – I think that they will! Although the pandemic has restricted what many broadcasters could achieve, Rogers has been keeping pretty busy. One of the finest voices on radio, we will hear her on the airwaves for many years to come! Seek out her work, follow her on social media and check out the work of…
AN amazing talent.