In Praise Of… Stephanie Hirst

There are two types of radio people- those who can communicate effectively on the medium and those who can communicate effectively but also really understand the art of creating a rich audio tapestry with sound. Stephanie Hirst is one of the latter.

It isn’t about “just” presenting on the radio, it’s about utilising the special nature of our vision-less medium, leveraging the power of the listener’s imagination to overcome its built-in perceived audio only disadvantage. Stephanie does that- and always has done as long as I have known of her work. Being a practitioner in the “art” of radio, the crafting of the audio experience isn’t something which is taken for granted, not by me at least! There are only a few really excellent artistes who can wield the required skills such dexterity to make radio with the full gamut of its auditory spectrum.

The craft is where it is based. Stephanie understands the art and the craft. More than understanding, it is also an appreciation, “thinking in sound” and being prepared to fully commit to using all the power of the medium.

The days of “Hirsty’s Daily Dose” live in legend, and rightly so. Whether it’s giving listeners a “radio hug” or the expert use of music, jingles, beds, fx and language to create a rich breakfast diet- the mastery of all of that comes down to Stephanie as the ringleader.

That’s another thing- team work! If it were just one person it would be great, but making sure the whole team worked in unison, balancing the input of Danny and JoJo is an art form all in itself. I include in that, the work of producers (the likes of Scott Myers, Giles Tanner, Luciano Giaimo etc) and management (over the years the likes of Mike Cass, Brent Tobin and Alex Jungius)- but again (and I’ve been in this situation myself), you need to have a symbiotic relationship built on mutually understood goals, trust and respect to make it in any way possible, and it starts with the on air talent. There are some great solo presenters who can’t work in a team, and there are some great team presenters who can’t work solo. There are only a few who can excel in both.

I recently had a fantastic morning in the presence of Stephanie Hirst spending over an hour talking radio, audio and the art of “the wireless” (as she would put it). Stephanie helped me, help someone else, again a mark of just what kind of person we are talking about- selfless, caring and generous with their time. It was a morning which in all honesty replenished my radio brain and was really fantastic. In addition, it was one of those catch-ups which don’t happen often enough, when driving away you think of a ton of more things you wanted to talk about!

The rich tapestry of radio is all the richer for Stephanie Hirst being in it, and the legacy of her work which has inspired many in their own careers in the medium.

Two stories to finish which demonstrate the sense of fun, knowledge of the radio industry, understanding the audience, and the real enthusiast, almost anorak that lives within all great radio people. At the Student Radio Conference in Leicester a few years ago now, we had a “Quiz Night” held in the SU bar with Dino & Pete from Capital East Mids and Stephanie from Capital Yorkshire hosting. They had not worked together before but got along really well- again the art of team work. The set-up was the creation of the then chair, Stu Manton and I think Events Officer at the time Lee Sevenoaks. The spot prizes were deliberately awful and placed in a large cardboard box on stage (things like a solitary shower head etc- bizarre naff prizes). Some other presenters might have made this a tad lame, but Stephanie with Dino & Pete TOTALLY LAPPED IT UP. They embraced the bizarre, amped it to new levels with the culmination being a round entitled “Firework or Dildo”. Reading out a list of names and teams guessing if it was the name of a firework or a dildo. Crazy enough to begin with, but of course Stephanie, seeing the comedy potential in it, getting the entire room to shout as loud as possible either firework or dildo as their answer. Know your audience at the time- make the best of the situation you are in and make it work with talent, style and personality. In addition, have the confidence in your own ability to make it work as well as it did.

The final story is in the GCap days, and so Stephanie was at Galaxy, part of Chrysalis still at the time. The Morning Crew Bootcamp was taking place in GCap with a comedy bit as part of the evening awards segment. The host of the awards was Simon Bates (then at Classic FM) and late in the afternoon there was a cry from someone of “Get me some Simon Bates Radio 1 jingles!”. Someone called the only person who would be able to help, Stephanie of course, and the reply was so typical, “Which year do you want?”. Of course she would have a selection to pull from! The radio knowledge, the willingness to help, (even with people from a different radio group), and the generosity of her time knows no bounds.

Stephanie is intertwined with many people’s radio careers. If you have listened to ANY of the fabulous “Crunch & Roll” podcast, you will hear her referenced on most weeks by a guest in some form or another. A true legend of the radio industry- a word often over-used, but in this case not in the slightest.