DJ Chris wards off study blues with radio career

CHRIS Ward was busy revising for the Leaving Certificate over the bank holiday weekend — but still found time for his part-time job at his local radio station.

The 18-year-old has been a weekend presenter on KCLR 96fm for the past two years, after beginning his radio career on a Dublin community station.

“We moved down to Carlow when I was 14 and I started helping out on another station in Kilkenny. Then, when KCLR opened in May 2004, I got my own shows. I really love it,” said Chris.

Friday night listeners can hear Chris present The Hitsquad, treating young listeners to the best of chart music.

On Sundays, he switches to the countdown on The Chart Show between 9pm and 11pm.

He admits he does bring the books to the studio very occasionally, but generally goes to work to unwind from school and study.

“It doesn’t really interfere with my studies, in fact it’s almost a release to take a break from the books and come into the studio. It’s not like work at all, I really love everything about music,” he explained.

“I’m starting the Leaving Certificate on Wednesday but ... I’m definitely not stressing over it,” Chris said.

He said his fellow students — and his teachers — at Presentation College in Carlow have been very supportive of his radio work and it has never been suggested that the job might interfere with his studies.

The Leaving Certificate student has played drums with various groups and has appeared on the stage of the National Concert Hall playing cello with an orchestra.

But his real performance ambition is to be a club DJ, promoting the ‘wet and hard’ music genre.

In the meantime, he will continue playing more commercial music on KCLR 96fm — and hopefully doing well enough in his exams to get onto one of the music production courses he has applied to, beginning next autumn.