EMW Meets Polly Lakes, Wales' very own Female Radio presenter

Move over Fearne Cotton and make way for Mrs Polly Lake. EmpowerMe Wales catches up with the welsh beauty, who's 23 years old, is married and presents on 3 radio stations! She takes time from her busy schedule and chats to EMW....

Hey Polly,

Can you tell us a bit of info about yourself and how old you are....
where your from?

Hiya, I'm Polly, I'm 23.. born and bred in the lovely city of Cardiff! I live in Cardiff Bay with my husband although work in London and Swansea as Radio DJ! Go figure... I can't seem to leave the place! :P

Whats your job? what station and times are you presenting? I'm a Radio DJ and present music based shows on Nation Radio south Wales, The hits Radio and National Radio Station Absolute Radio!

What's the best thing about being a presenter? Well, the best has to be... listening to my favourite music everyday! There really is nothing better than being on air, maybe a friday afternoon, with a big rock classic.. although I'm on my own in the studio, you can tell the people listening are just loving it! Happy days!


What's the best job you've had? Defiantly when I've been on the Radio... within radio though, would be interviewing the bands, introducing acts onto stage etc...

What's the worst? When I used to wash dishes in a kitchen when I was 15! That sucked!

What advice would you give to a young person wanting to get into presenting? I would start off at a community radio station or hospital radio, get in touch with the programme controller and tell them about your passion to be involed and ask them if you could come in and do a little demo!
I started on community Radio Afan FM in 2008 and treated my Weekend breakfast shows as if I was Chris Moyles.. I would prep up to my eyes balls, read the papers and made sure I knew about every piece of music I played out! It's SO important to rip off your audio, you can ask the programme controller to do it for you! Listen back to it and make sure you are happy with what you are doing! In no time you'll have your self a neat demo to send out! And then... PESTER time!

Can you do it full time? Yes! for example you could do a daily drive time show, or you could do it part time, a weekend breakfast show!

Is being a presenter a glamourous lifestyle? Nah, not really, you can rock up to the studio in no make up, jeans and a t-shirt! Its not like TV.. no one see's you! (Apart from the webcams) If you're invited to events though, thats fun for us DJ's as it's an excuse to dress up!

Is there an age limit? No, I started at 21, which is a little old! My husband who also is radio DJ knew he wanted to be on air when he was a kid, and had his first show at 16!

Who are your role models? I have so many! I look up to a lot of people for different reasons!

Do you need any qualifications? I have a GCSE's and BTEC sports dipolma! I have nothing in the way of qualifications used to get my job! Just a big gob and a passion for music!

What are your future plans? Just keep moving on up...

How would your friends describe you in 3 words? Probably a little bit nuts, hopefully always happy and smiling and maybe over energised!

What thing can you NOT leave the house without? Mobile!!! How people lived in the 80's must have torture!

If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you like to have with you and why? Laptop, McDonalds (free wifi for the laptop) and a Greggs the bakers! :)

You can catch Polly on Nation Radio, The Hits and Absolute! Good luck to you Polly!! xxxx

EMW Meets Laura Davie, the female singer from new up and coming band Whytel

Can you tell us who you are?
I'm Laura Davie and i am the female vocalist in an Alternative Hip Hop band called Whytel.

How long have u been a band?
It was a year in October - and what a busy year it has been!

Whats the style of your music?
We call it Alternative Hip Hop, but it is basically a blend of rap/indie/pop/rock - multi-genre! Hip hop artists like Tinie Tempah use a live band when you see them in concert, we just use a live band constantly, that's our sound!

Where abouts in wales are you from?
4 of us are from Newport, but our Bassist James is an honorary Welshman, even if he does live in Newbury. We all met in Newport though. Through school and Uni.

Who are the band members?
So as well as me, we have Lee who is the MC, Dan on Guitar, James on Bass and Joni B on Drums.

how does it feel being the only girl in an all boy band?
Tiring! No it's fine. I feel like I'm the boys mum sometimes when i have to get them organised, but it works. I am dreading the day when i have to share a tour bus with them though.

What are your dreams for Whytel for the future?
Does it sound cheesy if i say "at the top of the charts!"? I suppose that's where everyone wants to be. It's a difficult business though and we have been really lucky with some of the experiences we have already had I would be happy if we get to the point where we can give up the day jobs and just gig constantly and make our fans happy.

Who are you role models/icons?
I think we all have completely different ones. As for musical influences for example, i know that we all listen to completely different genres, which is why we can all offer so much when we are writing our music. But in regards to Role Models in my life, I'm a Daddy's girl and would have to say him. I've always thought that if i can work as hard as him and provide for my family in the same way he has for us, i will be a happy person with a happy life. I'm immensely proud of him and he has always been there for me when I've sung, taking me to auditions where i didn't get anywhere and letting me cry on him afterwards.

Your touring around London, can you tell us more about that?
After the last year we have had with really high profile support slots with the likes of Tinie Tempah, Chiddy Bang, Professor Green and Plan B, we figured that the only way to progress was to start gigging in London. We had been approached by a few promoters in the area and I now live and work in London too so it made sense to start building a fan base down here. All bands want to progress and the bright lights of London were too much to ignore.

How do we get hold of your music?
There are lots of ways. Our debut EP is on Itunes, you can also listen to it on Spotify and there are links to our Merchandise site on our My space. Alternatively, come to one of our gigs and you can buy an EP from us personally.
Whats your proudest moment so far?
Probably when we won Battle of the Bands 2010. There are photos of before the announced the winners and after, and you can tell we were not expecting it.
There have been lots of highlights though. One of the best moments I've ever had was when Plan B's band recognised us backstage at Beach Break Live where we were both playing and invited us to watch the whole set from the side of the stage. That's one of our targets now, to be on that main stage and to have our friends watching from the wings.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to form a band or get started?
Don't let anyone tell you you can't do it. I gave up on singing for a few years. I let school and Uni and then finding a "grown up" job take over, when all i really wanted to do was sing. I would also say practise. A Lot. Before i joined the band, the boys had been together for a while and it shows. They can tell exactly what each other are thinking, Dan will start to play something and James will come in with something else that matches perfectly and Jon will start and all together it sounds like they have been playing that song for years. It's incredible to watch.

Whats the best thing about being in a band?
The adrenalin rush of being on stage. When you see people smiling at you and enjoying your music, there is nothing better.

What item can you not leave the house without?
My phone, i feel like i have lost a limb without it. Luckily (fingers crossed) i have never lost a phone in my life! Also i will never leave the house without eyeliner. I'm pale and fair haired so without defining my eyes, i look really ill.

How would your friends describe you in 3 words?
Bubbly, Funny, Caring.

Thanks Laura, all the best with Whytel and the future xxx

For all the latest Whytel news, be sure to add their Facebook Fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whytel/166559624066

You can also take a look at their MySpace page and listen to some of their tracks:
www.myspace.com/whytel

They will be playing a number of gigs in both London and Wales so be sure to keep an eye out on listings. xx