Interview with Melvin Odoom

Melvin Odoom is co-presenter of Digs on MTV with Ricky Williams. They also present the popular breakfast show on London radio station Kiss100. We spoke briefly about university and life after graduation...

So what do you think of Bournemouth nightlife?

It was a really good night. I’m surprised at how vibrant Bournemouth is down here. Everyone’s representing, the girls are looking good and people enjoy their music. Everyone’s been really cool.

So you met actually met Ricky at university. Was it helpful to have someone with you when you were trying to get into the industry?

It was kind of an accident you know! I was studying a slightly different course to Ricky at first. I’ve got a really strict African mum and she wanted me to do a theory based subject and so when I met Ricky he was like ‘Look Melvin you’re very animated so I think you should be on the kind of course I’m doing’. So that’s how I switched over. We became good mates and started doing local and student radio...

I was going to say you both started working together on the student radio at Luton University - now called Bedfordshire Uni.

Yeah and that’s how it kinda happened and that’s how we found out that we work well together. It wasn’t like we planned to do stuff together. It just sort of happened by accident.

Any tips for about how to find jobs once students graduate?

Work experience is the key. The one thing I would like to change about how to went about things after uni is that I should have got into work experience earlier. When we left uni, Ricky worked for literally every radio station and well, I like money, so I started working straight away. Teaching dance and drama and working in youth clubs. So he got into radio before me and then he got me into it.

So get as much work experience as possible?

Even if you’re still at uni, work experience is the key because it gives you a taste of real life. There is no module, no course that will really teach you real life. That’s what you really need.

Do you still get nervous or embarrassed when you’re interviewing celebrities?

Yeh definitely, it’s good to have nerves, to have nervous energy. It can create good energy.

Who has your favourite interviewee?

Loads...we done too many.

Could you choose a top three?

Will Smith, Rihanna and Alicia Keys.

You can watch Melvin every day from 4pm till 7pm on MTV ONE.
You can also listen to Ricky and Melvin every weekday morning from 6 till 9 at totalkiss.com

 

Interview with Trevor Nelson!

 

He is one of the – if not the – biggest R ‘n’ B DJ’s in England, presenting the breakfast show every morning on BBC 1xtra as well as having a show every Wednesday on BBC Radio 2. So it’s understandable that trying to get hold of him is not an easy task.

However, when he came to do a set at V on Friday 30th October, I went along to see if I could grab him for a quick interview.

He began his set at 11pm and definitely lived up to expectations. However, he did play a lot of ‘old skol’ tunes that only a few people in the club had actually heard off. But it didn’t matter because he’s Trevor Nelson and if he wants to play it, you’ll still dance.

When I finally got to meet him towards the end of his set, he greeted me with a big smile and a warm hug. He even proceeded to leave the stage to come down and say hello to my friends when he had 30 minutes left.

We got to spend the rest of the set onstage with him and he pointed out, LJW, the DJ who was on before him dancing and said, ‘There’s nothing I love more than other DJs who can just get down and dance with crowd...just enjoy the music properly’. Then he proceeds to shout out to LJW and everyone cheers.

Though it got quite empty by around 2:30, Trevor took to the mic and thanked all those who were still there because to him, ‘these were the true music fans’. He joked that this was like our own little after party.

He said ‘ He prefers playing to a small crowd of 50 who are really enjoying the music rather than just playing a huge crowd who aren’t all feeling it’. To him, that’s what being a DJ is all about.

As he was signing our posters for us, my friend couldn’t help but whisper to me, ‘He is such a nice person in real life’. I have to agree.

Interview by Nola Ojomu