Loudcaster Daily DJ: Ross Hemsworth (The Hammer) on Nailing It! The Hammer Show
The Daily DJ today is talk show host The Hammer (Ross), from Nailing It! The Hammer Show.
Where to listen: http://loudcaster.com/channels/854-nailing-it-the-hammer-show
More info: http://thehammershow.co.uk/
Ross and I first met in August of last year when he was in between radio homes. His website hinted at some pretty interesting (and edgy)talk show topics and I wanted to hear more. We both agreed that it was worth seeing if Loudcaster was a good fit and he's hosted a weekly Friday night show every since. Based in the UK, he's an old pro at asking questions and being comfortable behind the microphone.
Interview:
Tia: First off, why do love radio and how'd you get into it?
Ross:
I got my first break in radio in the late 1970's (God that makes me feel old!) with the BBC. A producer had seen me playing and singing with a 50's rock'n'roll band and asked if I would like to present a pilot show for BBC Radio Medway. I agreed, the pilot got accepted and I was commissioned for my first ever radio series documenting rock'n'roll!
Tia: On your live show, Nailing it!, tell us about the show format.
Ross:
The format for talk show Nailing It! is pretty flexible, in that one week it may be a news based topic such as the street riots of last year, another week we may discuss the sex industry and whether it's time that prostitution is legalised. When the show returns on Wed Jan 18th, I will be dealing with the powerful but emotive subject of suicide and its affects on family, friends and the people who decide that for them, it's the 'easy way out'. The programme features different guests each week and interaction from listeners around the world.
Tia: Is it a goal to have contentious points of view in your guests or does that just happen naturally as people call in?
Ross:
I like contentious, and I do try to put across points that will encourage listeners to voice a view and maybe challenge my point of view. I feel that to make a listener pick up a phone or write and email, they have to feel that their particular perception or point has not yet been made, or that they disagree or agree intensely with a particular statement.
Tia: Your Friday night show Nailing It, which I read is moving to Wednesday's soon, surprises me each week when I catch the topic. Do you try to push boundaries or is that just what's interesting?
Ross:
I do like to push boundaries, but I also like to talk openly and freely about subjects that I feel a lot of people are interested in. Online radio does give more flexibility here, not being governed by the same broadcast rules as FM and AM stations. I also like to challenge myself hosting topics that I may not be that familiar with, but showing that I can talk about almost anything! I think that global audiences need good talk radio, there just isn't enough of it around, and to make a talk show compulsive listening, the subject matter must be strong and make the listener want to state their point and thus interact.
Tia: Interaction seems pretty good on your channel, and I'm guessing that kind of content comes with plenty of production time. What does it take to put together your 1 hour weekly show?
Ross:
To be quite honest, it's usually thrown together in a very short time as it's just me working on my own with no producer or call/email crew, so what comes out the other end usually surprises me lol!
Tia: You mention it from time to time so I have to ask, what's with Law School?
Ross:
Three years ago during a period of illness, I decided to take a break and return to part-time education, following my life-long interest in law. To that end, I am studying for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Law.
Tia: Wow, that's ambitious. Anything particular you'd like to do with your legal education once you have it?
Ross:
Yes - wear the 4-pointed cap down the High Street lol! So many people including an ex wife, said I would never achieve it, so that spurs me on. I have no real plans to practice law, although I would like to give legal advice to those who can't afford solicitors, and who knows, in my later years, I may practice and earn a few quid to supplment my pension!
Tia: Do you see that internet radio might be changing, allowing for people like you, who are and have been in the industry professionally, to earn a living? Or does that seem light years away?
Ross:
Internet Radio IS changing and the business model is 'pay for airtime presenters' supported by advertising when listening figures get to a sensible figure. Back in 2004 when I set up my first online radio station Net Talk Radio, I said "Internet Radio is the future of radio broadcasting. DAB is the Betamax of radio, and satellite will just fly overhead! In the years ahead we will see masses of stations like mine covering a wide range of niche markets and offering the discerning listener a real alternative to FM and AM radio" Now we see online radio on mobile devices, in cars and on Internet radio sets available in shops - the future arrived early :)
Tia: You have your hand in a lot of different cookie jars, what are you really up to?
Ross:
I have always been one to 'dabble' in a few different projects, but my main ambition for 2012 is to be offered a full time job in radio the USA so that I can relocate to America. Ideally I would like to get a night-time or evening talk radio show (bearing in mind I can't earn a living from online radio yet!) but I would probably accept an oldies or a rock show, in fact anything as a way in! I also present a TV talk show on a satellite channel here in the UK called Now THAT'S Weird, chatting to guests about all kinds of strange phenomena. I would love to get a series of that commissioned on a US TV channel
Tia: You've been saying for a while on your website and in your shows you're looking for a move the US, how come and might that happen this year?
Ross:
I think I kind of answered that in an earlier question, but yes, a move to the USA in 2012 is top of my list, but the green card work visa is proving to be an issue as it seems that the immigration people won't issue one until I've been offered a job, and the radio stations won't offer me a job until I have the green card, so catch 22 applies! I think maybe I can be 'sponsored' by an employer, and as broadcaster falls within Category 1 applications, there's a good chance I would be accepted!
Tia: You seem to be pretty good at finding ways to make technology work for you. Skype, direct phone calls, Audioboos (for recorded messages from fans), Loudcaster, newsletters, twitter... Are you constantly searching for new ways to improve your methods
Ross:
I never stop looking at ways I can be at the forefront of technology and am always looking for what I think will b that 'next big thing'! Audioboo was particularly appealing because it could, if managed and promoted correctly, become the audio version of Youtube.
Thank you Ross :)
Ross takes suggestions and comments in chat and would love to hear from you if you want to be a guest on his show.
