I Was Interviewed By … Open Aspect

I am one of the founding members of Harrogate Community Radio and I was interviewed for one of the shows broadcast on the station, Open Aspect. The sow was broadcast on Sunday 4th August 2019 – but it was pre-recorded the Monday before hand. It was a lot of fun to help record. Scroll down to hear it …

The show, Open Aspect takes local stories and presents them to people through radio. Hosted by Karen Thornton, this is the inaugural broadcast. I was quizzed about my passion for radio and really put under pressure. It was an ordeal for both me (being interviewed when I am shy) and for Karen who has never been broadcast before – we got through it okay, though.

Click the ‘Play’ button, above. It was a right laugh. I took a while to polish the audio for Karen and insert the music but it was worth it – this is the first time I have had a spoken interview – it was a bit of an ordeal but something I am happy I did.

What is Open Aspect? At university Karen studied librarianship, and as a librarian her exposure to stories moved from the pages of novels to the lives of people in the community who came into the library. After a few years she retrained, almost by accident, in the world of ‘business change’ which led her into user research. Karen found her passion; a place where it was her job to hear and understand people’s perspectives and stories to help improve the services they used.

Listening to stories of tragedy led Karen to start fundraising for Doctors Without Borders. Stories of tradition, culture and creativity inspire her to dance with her troupe, Houriat. Open Aspect is about people, their perspectives and their passions. Karen says “Stories are powerful” – quite why she wanted to interview a numpty like me I am unsure.

So, what is Harrogate Community Radio? Harrogate Community Radio is a station that started broadcasting on August 1st 2019 – I am the man who helped set it all up alongside Allan & Scooby. It is a community radio station that solely broadcasts online at the moment, although we have plans. For more on the station, visit www.harrogatecommunityradio.online. But, essentially, Harrogate Community Radio is a grass-roots movement to give people in the local community a voice. To give everyone who feels under-represented a voice for change. The original ethos behind the Harrogate Community Radio movement is to unite the separate music scenes in Harrogate and bring about an umbrella for local producers, musicians, hosts and talent.