5FM
resident DJ and music maestro DJ Fresh (born Thato Sikwane) spills his guts on
winning awards, criticism, crying in movies, and of course, music!
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| DJ Fresh (Credit: 5FM) |
Congratulations
with the MTN Radio Award for best commercial afternoon drive show! What does
this award mean for you? It is flattering to get some sort of acknowledgement.
Generally I’m not keen on accolades and awards because it’s all about the
listeners for The Fresh Drive. Being trusted with a radio show is enough of an
award.
How do
you feel about the National Community Radio Forum (NCRF) that cried foul about
the manner in which the event is organised and the NCRF coordinator and CEO of
Jozi FM Mpho Mhlongo who said the event was managed by a "bunch of white
judges" and MTN, and "does not care about black community radio
stations"? I think the guys that submitted award-wining submissions got
awards. Full stop. Maybe they should apply again next year. The awards are
based on certain criteria of standards, not on colour. And if they feel the bar
is set too high they can start their own awards based on mediocrity.
You have
just released the awesome CD Cheese of the Day, will you be releasing anything
else soon and who would you like to work with on future albums? Right now
Euphonik and I are put together a Club Culture CD. It’ll be out in May. When it
comes to collaborations I’m looking more for fresh new vocalists, rather than
any big names.
What is
your favourite Cheese Of The Day song? I was raised on 80s and 90s music, a lot
of which we’ve now decided is cheesy so it’s difficult to pinpoint just one
song.
Can you
remember the first ever song your played as a DJ? I remember it was February
1987 and I was about 13 or 14 but it‘s a blur because I was so nervous and
excited.
What
caused your longest on-air pause? I generally avoid radio pauses but cases that
involve abuse of children can stump me. I get so worked up that I end up having
nothing to say – big, pregnant pause.
How are
the DJ Fresh scholarship students doing? We don’t have as many now as in beginning.
We’ve had to streamline the process and want to restructure. Generally they’re
doing as well as they possibly could. Some of the kids struggle because as much
as the education is taken care of, they still have issues like transport and
food at home. It’s overwhelming because as much as kids want education it’s not
actually their biggest need. It ends up getting emotional sometimes so we’re
trying to restructure to give them more than just an education.
We hear
you are quite movie buff with a large DVD collection. What is your favourite
movie? Scarface is my favourite movie of all time. I recorded it on TV1 in the
80s and I then bought the original on VHS, then bought the DVD, then the
special anniversary edition. I have memorabilia, including money clips and a
fragrance as well as 11 Scarface t-shirts. I immersed myself in it because it’s
about ambition gone wrong. I use it literally as an example of how not to let
ambition cloud your focus.
Have you
ever cried while watching a movie/DVD? Ja. Flip! My tears are never far.
Feel-good movies make me cry/ I probably cried hardest during The Champ which I
saw when I was a kid. I was 10 at the time and cried like a little bitch.
You have
quite a lot of tattoos (we like tattoos!) - does it mean anything special or is
it just designs you like? The tattoos of my kids are because they have meaning
– they’re my kids. The rest are just designs I liked. I had ideas and the
tattoo artist tailor made them. I’m a strong believer in custom-made tattoos.
If they’re not customised they can look like all the others.
WIN! EMI
and The Beat are giving 5 readers the chance to win the The Fresh Drive
presents Cheese of the Day CDs. Just answer this easy question and send your answers with contact details HERE QUESTION: Name the one movie DJ Fresh is
nuts about?
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