This much I know: Dave Fanning

Broadcaster Dave Fanning shares some wordly wisdom.

People say you shouldn’t make your hobby your job, but I’m the complete opposite. I always had an obsession with music. I was in the Beatles fan club when I was only seven. I was the youngest of six kids. I was lucky. My oldest brother introduced me to artists like Thelonious Monk.

How many days work have I missed in 35 years? None. I don’t go to the gym. I got a dog recently and go for a walk every now and then. I eat well.

I have three kids. If I had any regret it would be not having had more kids. No question. One of my big lessons in life has been that if you get a chance to have a family at all, don’t blow it.

As a child, I was a middling type of a thing — 70% shy, 30% outgoing.

When I was a student in UCD I hadn’t a clue what I wanted to do. I did a Hdip so that I could stay on one year longer in college and was headed towards being a secondary school teacher. I wrote to a record label - to see if I could get work as a tea boy - but I think all I really wanted was to get into radio.

The notion of financial or job security never occurred to me. Of course now, I would prefer if my standard of living was not lowered.

I started on air in Inchicore on the pirate, Radio Dublin. I did a Wednesday night slot that nobody heard. At first, I was too scared to talk at all on radio. I used to just bring in 40 albums each week and play music, I didn’t even know what I was going to play in advance.

The desk in a radio studio isn’t that difficult for a DJ. There are about 400 buttons but you only need to know how to use about four of them. You’re part of a much bigger team in TV.

I remember one of my first live television gigs for Channel 4. I was so scared. It was in the Albert Hall, with people like Eric Clapton. There were about 90 people working on the production and when I looked down at the call sheet I saw my name at the top. Presenter: Dave Fanning. And I just thought oh why have I said yes to this? I couldn’t believe how I’d got into it. I had kinda lied about the amount of live stuff I’d done.

I feel nervous at the start of any interview, even this one. But after about 10 seconds, it fades. The more you are on air, the more used you get to talking and hearing your own voice, the easier it gets. And the more people hear you, the more they start to accept the sound of your voice. That’s why some people can say something stupid on air and get away with it.

I’ve always been very happy interviewing people. I try and get a rapport going from the start and make it feel more like a conversation. But you have to have the homework done.

I’m a Beatles and a Dylan person, although live, I know he is the worst. One of the most memorable interviews was with Anthony Hopkins as he asked me out for a meal afterwards. And Leonard Cohen was pretty special. And Mick Jagger. Paul McCartney. I was completely star struck by Joni Mitchell.

There’s no life after death. When you’re dead you are gone.

One of the best pieces of advice I got was ‘just do it’. I’m going to go all Shakespearean now, from Julius Caesar ‘There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune’. I mean sometimes a huge wave approaches and it is incumbent on you to go for that wave. The worst that can happen is that it will all go wrong.

I work well to deadline. I don’t particularly like writing. I did 10 years of live reviews, 1,500 words a week, but it never comes naturally for me. Not being more disciplined is my biggest failure.

I like watching movies in bed. Even today the only real interest I have is in music and movies.

I watch at least 300 movies a year. I will never forget when I got my first video player in 1980. I’d just won a Jacobs award but rather than basking in the glory at the event I slipped home and put on the first films I’d rented, probably Chinatown and Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid.

My idea of misery is going to a job you hate day after day. I’m the luckiest guy in the entire world. I definitely feel like I won the Lotto. I’ve had a ball. For 35 years.

Catch The Dave Fanning Show on RTÉ 2fm every Saturday and Sunday 10am – 12pm for the latest music, hottest interviews and entertainment news.