Rock with Economides
THE ROCKIT SCIENTIST IS A WALKING ENCYCLOPEDIA ON MUSIC
His Rock Fest programme is currently blasting the airwaves with Mix93.8fm.
Rock music has always been Leon Economides’ passion. He is known to the music world as The Rock It Scientist.
A life broker by trade, Economides has a deep love and understanding of rock music through the ages and is considered something of a rock music encyclopedia. Give a name of an early, non-commercial band and he will provide you with its whole history. He’s that sort of person.
Today, Economides is the brains behind the popular Rock Fest shows on Mix93.8 fm, a popular community station based in Midrand, as well as numerous live concerts that have flowed from this enterprise, giving young, unknown as well as well-known bands a chance to shine.
The Rock It Scientist has endured a fascinating journey – all for the love of music.
The articulate Economides remembers when it all began, way back in 1982, when he joined renowned radio man of the time, Tony Sanderson, on a 5FM show called The Chuckle and Chat Show.
“I used to come into the studio on a Wednesday night with
my collection and play older rock music. At the time I also met such legendary radio names as Chris Prior, Rafe Lavine, the late Phil Wright and a host of others.”
His Prior connection later opened the door to the Priority
Feature segment of his show. “We would highlight a band or artist for about 1½ hours. We did this for a number of years. I always concentrated on the rarities, aimed at the more ‘discerning, musically savvy audience’, and that was my ticket to working with Rafe Lavine and Phil Wright.
“I was with 5FM for about 20 years, always as a volunteer and always being given the freedom to play what I wanted.”
While working with Wright, Economides introduced a show called The Dinosaur Days and later released two compilation CDs under this moniker in 1999 and 2000. “Unfortunately, they have long since been deleted,” he added.
“When Rafe Lavine left 5FM and joined safm he asked me to join him on his show. I was there for a number of years, calling our show The rockit Scientists. When we left safm, I changed the name to The rockit Scientist which I have retained to this day.”
Economides’ radio journey switched to community station Radio Today (1485am) in 2006, when he hosted a once-a-week three-hour show on Fridays.
“It was recorded and played again on wednesday. it was great, but i wanted the rockfest concept to expand.”
bringing past jocks on board, such as prior, lavine, david blood and wright, economides was able to create the rockfest platform – and it has been going from strength to strength.
it lasted for three years before the station’s new management made crucial changes which prompted economides to leave. this intrepid rockit scientist decided to find another radio outlet because the music he played had garnered an immense following.
“i was off air for about a month when i was approached by the management of radio midrand (now mix93.8 fm) with the view to bringing the
rockfest to the station. i joined them in december 2009 and began recruiting new members.
“i always wanted the rockfest to be a ‘springboard’ for people who had a passion for radio and who knew a bit about music.
“none, apart from david blood and one or two others, were professional broadcasters. the rest were given the opportunity to shine and they did.”
one of them, mike tymvios, later joined forces with economides as a management partner on the rockfest.
Another recruit, Diane van Niekerk, joined in 2015 and is also a rockfest management partner.
using the mix93.8fm platform, the rockit scientist was not only given the freedom to air non-playlisted music by then station manager steve milosevich, but encouraged to bring on board many up-and-coming presenters.
the current management of abi milosevich and kwaang tiribabi have been supportive of the
rockfest and “we like to believe that we have built up a fairly large following, not only in south africa, but worldwide”.
the rockfest currently runs from tuesdays to fridays, mainly from 9pm.
it features eight presenters, all playing non-playlisted music.
Economides’ show is on a friday night, from 9pm to 1am.
it feature blues, metal, classic rock, latin rock, brass rock, folk, progressive rock and other genres.
“i also play the music and support lesser-known south african bands and conduct interviews with many of them. “now and then, we have a live
rockfest, which involves between three and five bands.
“the aim is to promote them, mix93.8fm, the rockfest, the venue, and the rockfest presenters.”
as i said, leon economides certainly has a passion for music – and he still finds time to meet clients.
We’ve built up a following, not only in South Africa, but worldwide.