Words by Bailey Alexander
We spoke to Captial Xtra’s Jourds about her big personality, meeting stars at the BET Awards, and her TV future.
BA: I guess the best place to start would be by asking you what inspired you to get into radio in the first place?
J: Well I actually went to a performing arts school, and I think my love for the performing arts has always been embedded in me since I grew up in a very musical household. I can remember being maybe 4 or 5 years old, standing on my dad’s toes whilst he held my hands dancing to rhythms, and that’s my first memory of just vibing and listening to music. And I think growing up my mum and dad made sure we were able to experience going to the theatre, and seeing shows and plays, and there was always music playing in the household. Then being exposed to the world of creatives at a performing arts school was just so good.
BA: Oh, so you actually loved going to school?
J: I just absolutely loved being in school but at the same time felt like a bit of an outsider. Like, I wasn’t nurtured in terms of my talent as much as other people on the course were, so I left thinking, “Shit, what do I do that makes sense for what I love?”. It was actually a friend of mine at school that was like, “Jourds, you would be so good on radio”. Meanwhile I was thinking I wanted to be on the West End stage and doing jazz hands. Then coming out of school and working for the family business for X amount of years, I wasn’t that satisfied and went down the path of exploring other avenues, and one of them ended up being radio.
BA: Well look, for someone who wasn’t nurtured, you seem to be doing okay.
J: (Laughs) I know! Honestly, honestly, it’s crazy. I think it was probably about 8 years ago that I decided I wanted to get into this space, and I think it’s a really good testimony because there’s been so many times along the way where I felt similar to how I did in school, with people not taking me seriously or maybe not seeing I’m talented. I even felt that when I did get my first and even second radio gig that that had its own battles of trying to showcase that I’m actually good at what I do. So it’s had its highs and lows as any journey does, but being on a station that I grew up listening to and that was on the top of my hitlist, it’s amazing to take a step back and know it’s taken grit and perseverance but you can ultimately get it in the end.
BA: I’m just so taken in by how you tell a story. I mean, you can tell you’re a radio presenter
because –
J: I talk! (Laughs)
BA: I guess that’s a big part of it! When you were in school, did you have the same big personality you do now?
J: Oh yeah, as long as I can remember from secondary school right through to being in college, I’ve always been a talker. I’ve always been a joker amongst everybody in the class. And yeah, I think the performance aspect of my personality has been there for as long as I can remember too. I feel like if I don’t get to talk and socialise, I itch. Then at the end of the day, I’ll find something to do, looking for any event, because I love being able to talk to people and having insightful conversations about music as well.
BA: I love personalities like yours, they’re always the best. Do you feel like on the radio you have to switch on an element of performance though? Or is it all just so embedded in you that it becomes second nature?
J: I would say yes and no because I guess we all go through things at the end of the day and you may not necessarily feel like doing radio that particular day based on something that you’re going through. But the second that you’re in the room, you’re on-air to 1.8 million listeners a week, and you know that you’re gonna have to be on form and deliver a positive energy. At the end of the day we want the listeners to have a smile on their faces, so I guess there’s a certain element of it which will be performing or heightening your personality. However, ultimately with me what you see is what you get. On-air I’ll joke and laugh about having IBS and making content out of it.
BA: That’s so… real. Are there any other challenges when it comes to being on the radio?
J: It’s really hard to say because I love my job. It sounds like a cliché but work doesn’t feel like work for me. I guess the only challenges are when you don’t feel like posting on social media, and the days that you don’t feel like putting on makeup and going out to an event, and days where you don’t feel like broadcasting yourself to millions of listeners. But again, I guess we all go through that in different walks of lives and in different jobs.
BA: I mean, no one can deny that it sounds like a fun job.
J: I know! Obviously you’re gonna have your moments and stuff but I guess it just boils down to how you deal with it.
BA: Everyone loves talking about how AI is gonna take our jobs though. Do you think radio is under threat at all?
J: Yeah, of course. Social media is a huge threat ‘cause now attention spans are so short. And AI is an ‘elephant in the room’ type of thing in the sense of making sure that we continue to make radio content that is heavily engaging, getting on the right guests, that it’s still marketable to the audiences that we want to engage with. There’s always going to be threats though. I remember before Uber became a proper thing, the black cabs were up in arms over it. and to reach because of course, there’s always going to be threats, before Uber was the thing you had the black cabs that were up in arms about having Uber in the area.
BA: I think what will save it will be the big personalities. Obviously you have one and you’ve very and easily listenable. On that note, are there any radio presenters that have influenced you?I
J: Oh there’s so many. On my station there’s Robert Bruce and Shayna Marie on in the mornings. They do such an incredible job, they’re so amazing, so engaging and relatable. Omah Howard is an incredible talent. Manny Norte too. Then outside the station there’s one of my good friends, Glory Beyi. There’s a lot of presenters that I listen to but also have great relationships with and it’s just amazing to see them blossoming.
BA: Let me ask you, has there been a guest who was, simply put, an experience to meet?
J: When I was on Reprezent Radio, I had a lot of fun interviewing content creators that have again ended up becoming my friends which is amazing. There are the boys from ShxtsnGigs and Ash Holme, There’s just such talent literally at our fingertips, which is so amazing. I also interviewed Ashley Walters, and there’s also Love Islanders. There’s just so many that I sometimes forget. Last year I went to the BET Awards last year and sat talking to French Montana and Ella Mai. I’ve done Anthony Joshua, it’s just names left, right, and centre to be honest. I haven’t had a bad experience with anybody as of yet.
BA: So Jourds, I have one last question and it’s the one I’ve been most curious about asking. There’s so much crossover between radio and TV personalities, would you be up for doing a full switch to TV?
J: Oh yeah, that’s in my five year plan, hopefully even sooner than planned. TV presenting is somewhere that I see myself being and I feel like going into radio was how I wanted to break into the industry as a whole anyway, so yeah TV is my end goal. I can see that happening.
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