James Page / Presenter

Music’s great, isn’t it? Ever since I was born I’ve been obsessed with music. (I’ve also been obsessed with Japanese sweets, public information films and penguins, but I haven’t worked out how to put them on the radio yet) Growing up in St Neots, I spent every Saturday afternoon in Woolworths, trying to decide which Top 40 singles to spend my pocket money on (Fun fact: Brilliantly, you can still see Woolworths on Google StreetView if you go back to 2008. No, really)

Then I discovered Barney’s, the record shop on the Market Square. Suddenly, my Saturdays were spent rummaging through the boxes of unsold singles by obscure bands, some I recognised, some I didn’t, and some that just had a cool cover. It was like a whole new world of amazing music – Weird tunes, thrilling tunes, tunes that hit you immediately, tunes that sounded terrible and then, a week later, suddenly clicked and sounded awesome. I loved digging through those boxes, knowing that I might be about to find my new favourite band.

I moved away to college, where I discovered the student radio station. It was a fascinating mix of music and voices and it was open to anyone – Even, it turned out, an idiot with zero experience, no clue how to broadcast and half my songs on cassette. It was a joy to play music on air, and to be surrounded by people who were so passionate about their favourite genres. I learnt so much and, when I returned to St Neots, I decided I wanted to carry on with this radio caper.

I spent the next few years at various radio stations – Hospital stations, community stations, basically anywhere that didn’t mind me turning up and playing music as long as I didn’t break anything. Then one day a friend invited me to Black Cat Radio to lend a hand on his weekend breakfast show, where my duties involved making the coffee and taking calls. After a couple of weeks of trying to drink the aforementioned coffee, he suggested I try presenting a show instead, and so I began standing in when regular DJs were away. It was strangely exciting to be playing music I loved on a radio station where I lived, and it was amazing to start getting messages from listeners (I once had a call from a street party who were using Black Cat Radio as the soundtrack! No pressure then…) Inexplicably, after a few months I was offered two hours on Tuesday nights to play whatever I wanted. At the time of writing, I’m still getting away with it.

Off air I’m either at work, or at home with my wife, three children, a ginger cat and a chihuahua. Basically I come to Black Cat Radio to hide. You can find me on Tuesday nights from 9pm playing alternative classics – Anything noisy, bleepy, fuzzy or wonky – alongside some incredible new music. It’s basically a two-hour rummage through a box of unsold singles. Tune in sometime! You might find your new favourite band…