About Carl
Tell us about yourself?
I was born in South Shields, Tyne and Wear (I’m a Geordie!) I lived there right up until a couple of years after leaving school. I have also lived in Scotland and Republic of Ireland. I currently live in Northern Ireland with my wife Olga and have a daughter called Anya. I enjoy doing a lot of walking (to clear my head!), swimming occasionally, cycling (not too far!) and love playing 9 Ball Pool. (There you go that's the hobbies part of the bio!)
What achievements are you most proud of?
Making the shortlist 3 times going up against BBC Radio 1 in 2018. I won Bronze at the UK Radio Academy Arias Awards for ‘Best Station Sound’ and was a finalist in the New York Radio Awards and Audio Production Awards for Best Station Sound Producer.
What is your current role?
I am currently Manager of the Production department and Group Head of Station Sound at Q Radio which broadcasts all across Northern Ireland. That means I produce all of the station branding, Identification and station Promos etc along with being in charge of the audio sound.
How did you start working in radio?
I always liked it from a young age and in my last year at high school in the early 90’s my Dad handed a tape of me pretending to do a radio show (Which I had been recording for a couple of years) to the boss of new community radio station Wear FM in Sunderland. I ended up doing some production and got on the air co hosting. At that time I had been volunteering to do one show a week on Hospital Radio South Tyneside.
Where else have you worked?
Well not long after leaving school I did a short spell on Radio Top Shop working in the Metro centre, Gateshead and Glasgow outlets. Then one day while I was live to the stores in Glasgow I got a call from Atlantic 252. I had been a big fan of the station which was soon to be the UK’s biggest commercial station. I got to present the late night show and weekend party shows. At the time I was the youngest presenter on national radio. You can imagine the jokes from others like, ‘When are you doing your exams’ etc! I then got to work for Metro FM, the station I always wanted to be on with some of the presenters I listened to growing up in the North-East. This also meant presenting some shows on sister station TFM in North Yorkshire.
In the late 90’s I moved to Northern Ireland to join the main line up at Cool FM in Northern Ireland. I got to present a few different shows including the Breakfast show which at the time was bigger than all commercial and BBC radio so that was fun! In 2005 I came off full time presenting and took up the full time role of Station Sound Producer for both Cool FM and Downtown Radio.
Favourite Music?
I have been a Beatles / McCartney fan since a kid and love the albums, ‘Revolver’, 'Rubber Soul' and some from ‘Sgt Peppers’ (Not a bad album but Prefer McCartney pre 67!). I'm loving the sound of bands like 1975 and Sam Fender (Not just because of the Geordie connection!), Friendly Fires, Vampire Weekend, Foals, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Florence and the machine, London Grammer, Sigrid... I have a lot of 80s on vinyl. Simple Minds, Phil Collins / Genesis, Stevie Nicks, Howard Jones, Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, Kate Bush, Huey Lewis and the News, Bruce Hornsby and the Range, Talk Talk, Deacon Blue... too many!
Favourite concert?
P.O.D. in Dublin. It was by far the biggest buzz compared to all others. Also seeing Switchfoot rocked. Lead singer Jon Foreman had a presence like Bono from U2! ….. and Simple Minds are still great!
Favourite TV shows / Films?
I always watched the Conan O’Brien show, Tim Allen in Last Man Standing and of course not forgetting back in the day I thought Home Improvement was good. Steve Coogan both in comedy like Saxondale and Alan Partridge and more serious side in Philomena and Stan and Ollie. Stephen Merchant in Hello Ladies and Extras. The new Magnum PI and The Equalizer. Fav films include Back to the Future, Rocky 4, No Retreat No Surrender and Bruce Lee's Way of the Dragon. I've been a fan of Bruce Lee since I was about 11 and practice his martial art 'Jeet Kune do' at Brian Fay Martial Arts in Belfast.
