Enjoy breakfast with a guy who rides the airwaves
Martin Bester is the host of Jacaranda FM’s breakfast show
How long have you been in radio, and how did you get your break?
I got my break at varsity on campus radio, then my first radio job at Algoa FM in Port Elizabeth. I studied at the University of Port Elizabeth (now Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University).
I worked at the beach office in Port Elizabeth and at a holiday resort in Sea Acres, where I headed the entertainment team. It was my responsibility to come up with ideas for the summer holiday beach programme and execute it with my team. We had such fun. We organised games, bands, pageants, you name it. It taught me a huge amount about the industry I’m still in today.
At the holiday resort, before I worked at the beach office, I did everything, from booking people in to entertainment, even working at the main gate, all while staying in a caravan. Even that taught me a number of things, such as don’t get involved in a domestic squabble between a woman and her husband in their caravan, when alcohol and the throwing of raw meat are involved.
You can’t really learn to do this or study to do it well. I think it’s something you are either made for or not. I love performing and I’ve been doing music from before radio, so it’s a performer/entertainer thing, I guess.
What advice do you have for young people wanting to pursue a career in radio?
Give it a try at school or varsity level, see if it’s for you. You’ll know very quickly if you are comfortable or not. The best preparation for life in radio is life itself. You draw on your own life experiences, stories, and share that with your audience. Varsity radio was a lot of fun for me — I loved it. I worked with the coolest people, did the craziest stuff around campus. I was pretty happy giving it a more serious go. In my last year of studies, the regional station, Algoa FM, did auditions for new presenters. I gave it a go, got an offer to do the midnight shift and the rest is history.
What do you find most meaningful about the work you do?
The difference you can make in someone’s life, especially through our feature Jacaranda FM Good Morning Angels. Sometimes, though, it’s just by saying something that someone relates to, or something that inspires them. Just this week we helped to get five lion cubs back to SA from Kiev, in the Ukraine, with the help of a sponsor. In the same week we hooked up six young people with bursaries to the value of R860,000. Also in the same week we hosted the Ndlovu Youth Choir, who just made a name for themselves in the US. It is probably the surprise factor of the show that I love the most.
With my band I also get to see places and meet people I would never have otherwise. I perform my own songs, Afrikaans and English, all over the place with my band. Writing, recording and performing music is a big and important part of my life. I love performing, I love entertaining. How lucky did I get?
What is the best career advice you have received, and who gave it to you?
Nick Grub, from Kagiso Media (my then boss at Algoa) once said to me: “Always be a fan of someone.”
I love that because it will always keep you grounded and humble.