Hello JustMo and welcome to PulseRadio, for some of our readers out there who don't know who you are, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your back round?
Firstly thank you for the opportunity and a big hello to all your readers across the globe. My name is Just Mo, I am a Deep House DJ & producer from Johannesburg South Africa, I am also a radio presenter & mix DJ on YFM 99.2 a regional radio station in Johannesburg (The biggest youth station in Gauteng). I have been a music lover all my life, growing up I listened to a whole variety of genres but mostly I listened to House music & Hip hop. After I completed high school I started Djing this was in 2004 during the vinyl era & from there on I have been working my way up in the ranks moving from a bedroom DJ to a club DJ. In 2009 I joined YFM as an intern in the Y-academy training programme which was for six months during that time I was mentored by South African house legend DJ Oskido, after a long time of hustling and keeping my ears on the ground I eventually worked my way up to where I am now,on radio with my own show, it has not been an easy journey but this is only the beginning.
I host 2 shows on YFM on Fridays the first one is a chart show (between 9am-10am & repeated between 9pm-10pm) whereI play 9 of the hottest dance tracks out right now, I show case local talent and I also play some of the worlds biggest house tunes. The name of the show is The Hot99 Dance Countdown, its really hot & has a huge following. The second show I do is called The Warehouse also on fridays in the evening from 10pm-midnight on YFM, thats the big one man! It's a show dedicated to the true house music lover. The show focuses on the newest house tracks out & I also show case a lot of promos that I get from producers & djs from all over South Africa and the world, I host it with my colleague DJ Josi Chave. Every friday we have the biggest party entertaining our listeners with the newest & hottest music mixed up with some classic house tunes, local tunes and a lot of dance floor fillers, its also one of the most interactive shows on YFM we are constantly in touch with our listeners via social media the biggest being Twitter & Facebook, hit us up @Thewarehouse992 Yfm has been on a roller coaster for the past years, a number of high profile presenters have come and gone, Ymag is no more, how would you say the station has benefited and out lasted these perilous times to be the Yfm it is today?
Definitely, YFM has been through a number of changes over the past few years and the one thing that remains is that big red logo! YFM is a brand that is always evolving for the benefit of the station and its listeners and sometimes people have a hard time in coming to terms with what it is, but thats how things go ... people sometimes forget that the the "Y" in YFM stands for youth and with the youth things are always changing, trends come in and out at a rapid pace music changes all the time and for some of the listeners its difficult to keep up with the voice and the sound of the youth. Truth be told YFM has benefitted from the changes its gone through and the brand has stayed relevant for the youth because its always on the streets keeping up with the times and dictating what is cool, in a nutshell if its too loud then you are too old :)
Have you always wanted to a radio presenter? Yes man,I have been listening to radio for as long as I can remember and my passion for radio grew even more when I started djing I remember listening to legends like Oskido, DJ Fresh, Iggy Smallz, Khabzela, Roger Goode and even Derrick The Bandit. They introduced me to another side of radio the more specialized radio format something I was interested in. My love for the medium developed even deeper because of those people and also at the time I was buying records every month at Soul Candi records which was a stones throw away from the old YFM studios in Rosebank, Johannesburg and as kid running into your favorite radio personalities was always cool because in one afternoon i could bump into DJ Oskido or DJ Fresh if I was fortunate enough lol! Those were good times. Where do you see the future of Radio in South Africa, especially now that the internet seems to have taken over?
There is a lot of talent in South Africa and I think the lack of good presenters is something that we will not have to worry about in the near future. Just like life radio is also evolving, the radio that we listen to in our cars or at home or work will not be the same in 10 years, the future of radio will be something more personal more intimate than what it is today and from I know radio and television will be one medium that is the direction its heading. Pretty soon I will be doing my show in the studio at YFM while being watched on digital television by people from all over the world and I'm not talking about a studio cam no i'm talking about real time interactive radio on the tele with a lot more detail about the show on the spot and in the comfort of your own home. This is real man! Radio is now no longer one dimensional, it has some how managed to incorporate social networks and various other forms of communication, how does your show benefit from this? Look at it this way, radio and social media is match made in heaven the two work so well together it surprises me how we managed back in the day with out Twitter or Facebook, two platforms where we interact the most with our listeners. Our show benefits a lot from social communication because that is how we gage in real time what everyone out there is feeling or thinking, Boom! just like that.
You also Dj often which also means you must go through inconceivable amounts of music, how do you go about curating what gets played and what doesn't?
On average I get about 20-25 songs a day just for my show and I try to listen to all the music that I get via email and what I do when trying to decide on what to play during my show I use something very simple called the 'Heat' factor, if its hot and new I play it on my show ... very easy, lets be honest we all know what makes a good song, if it moves you inside its half way there. What is your take on the growth of South African dance music, do you think Radio still has a pivotal role to play in it's future?
The S.A dance scene is stronger than its ever been before right now in 2014, we have come a long way and I am proud to play local music on my show because the music that is coming out right now from our local up and coming producers is of really high standards. Without a doubt radio plays an important role in the future of dance music in S.A because the mechanics are still the same as any other genre, radio drives consumers to purchase the music of these artists that we play on our shows which sustains them in order to create more and more music and reach more and more people. What makes your show different from the other shows that might be playing similar music to yours?
Well for one we are entertaining lol ... we are fun and energetic something which is very important in a dance show and actually any radio show for that matter, I mean its a friday night after all we get people in the party mood with some good ol' kick ass house music Yeeeaah! Finally who would you say are artists that the masses should be looking out for in the future?
There are so many great local producers out there but off the top of my head I would urge people to keep an ear out for Lilac Jeans from Soweto, Ta-Ice from Pretoria, Cuebur from Soul Candi records, DJ Mshega from the east of Johannesburg, Beebar from Pretoria and a youngster named Chris Carter from Johannesburg ... These young guys are the future of dance music in this house-loving country.
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