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Bangalore is the dream destination for radio, says Binoy Joseph, who started his RJ career in the city. He is now back and raring to have another go at it
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LIKE ANY typical 19-year-old Bangalore-bred male, he wished to enter the world of DJing. Luckily for him, he was spotted by the station director of a soon-to-be launched private FM station, who suggested that he could rather become an RJ. This was Binoy Joseph's foray into the world of radio.
Born to parents hailing from Vypeen, a small island off the Kochi coast, Binoy would probably be one of the few youngsters in the country to have experienced and worked in almost all the technical fields of music radio. "I was highly apprehensive about joining a radio station, as I felt it would curb the creativity that DJing would provide. But little did I know that it would expose me to many more technical and scientific challenges of sound and music," says Binoy. He adds: "People have this impression that a radio show is done entirely by the RJ, which is completely wrong. A huge amount of backstage labour goes into every minute of radio programming. Right from selecting the mood and tempo of the song depending on the time of the day and even weather conditions, a technician has to ensure slick programming and fraction-of-a-second accuracy. The RJ is only a vital link between the music and the audience. He or she presents the song and gets feedback from the listeners."
Beginning his career by managing the Radio Indigo station in Bangalore, that plays popular International music, Binoy shifted base to Chennai where he joined Radio Mirchi, and till recently, was producing two shows for the station, one of them being the only one in the country that played international dance music Saturday nights. "Dance music of late has been gaining a lot of popularity in this country. Listeners are finally able to distinguish between trance, house music, hip-hop, and the rest. Dance music is coming out of the discos and reaching out to people across all strata of society. And thanks to heavy backing by Indian DJs and music companies, the party music scene is surely here to stay," says Binoy.
A party animal himself, Binoy plans to release his own album of dance tracks pretty soon. "I have always wanted to produce an album for myself. Whenever I get a little time off, this will be the first thing on my agenda," he says.
Earlier this year, during his stint with Radio Mirchi, Binoy won two awards: the first for a Children's Day promotional that got him the bronze title at the 2004 SPARK Awards, one of South India's leading advertising awards show. This was followed by a medal for the non-film spot at the 29th RAPA awards, held in May. The winning entry was a radio spot on the occasion of Onam. "I and my two friends from the station came up with this crazy idea to have an all-Malayalam show for Onam and air it on a Chennai radio station. Little did we know that we would get an award for it!" he says, laughing. "On a more serious note, it just proves the fact that people involved in the radio scene are getting recognised for their talents and abilities. This is very encouraging for the technicians and producers of radio shows."
Binoy is all set now to come back to Bangalore and join a satellite radio station here — back to where it all began. What exactly will be the nature of his job? "I will be managing the sound for two stations: one that plays 24-hour Bollywood music, and another which will be on air soon. Hopefully, I will get a chance to manage an international dance channel," says Binoy. "My work would involve selecting songs from a huge collection, and categorising them into various sections and deciding what music to play when."
Having come full circle in the radio scene, Binoy dreams of setting up his own radio station one day. "Though it seems a far-fetched dream, I have half a mind to go back to Kerala and serve the radio-craving audience there," he says. And what does he feel about the radio scene in Bangalore? "Oh, Bangalore is a dream destination for radio. This place can easily sustain four to five radio stations even if they all play music. It is only a matter of time before you see that happening. With the new government, we hope private FM stations will be encouraged to set up new stations."
A. VISHNU
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