Mackie's  Entertainment

Interview  with Jamie  McDonald  of Live Now Die Later radio and Mackie 

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1. What are you currently up to?

Well I've spent the last 18 months in and out of the planning of the Live Now Die Later Halloween radio show - making the Halloween show is a labour of love, made on a small budget just using studio software and mixing software and my voice to bring two great radio shows - so now that the Halloween website is finished and out there it's nice just to be concentrating on the live side of things for the Halloween show.

I have also been doing the samething as well bring new music and great radio shows to the Live Now Die Later fans and having great fun doing so.

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2. Could you take us through the songs on the Halloween show and your voices (eg Voice work, process, ideas behind the songs and radio show etc)

My radio show process changed quite markedly with this Radio show. On my previous radio shows, I'd record a full demo at home, starting with a groove, then finding a riff - the vocal really came last. With the radio shows on Halloween, I wrote largely just with an Plan, and that's a good way to 'test' a radio show and get the vocal right and voices for each part. If a voice or song or anything sounds good when you're just accompanying yourself on demo and you can edit and cut remove and add items , then it's got potential. I worked very closely with my producer mackie on the radioshows and whereas on previous radio shows he hadn't really been too heavily involved in the writing process and planning of the songs and voice work, this time I really wanted his input.

I came into the studio with 50 new voices and we whittled it down to what appears on the show. Some of the voices just worked really well without any tinkering, but with others mackie came up with a different chorus, or a little melodic twist that I hadn't thought of, so in that sense we wrote together.

Also not many people know I am only 23 years of age I have seen most things that I know are good bands and artists and I can do most voices but with mackie and his input he has seen most of the great bands Live before my time its great to have his input with the history and things that works well.

Some of the songs and voices on the radio show are very specific stories about something or someone close to me; 'shaggy' for example, is a really nostalgiac voice about my youth, my old friends that I worked with that I still see from time to time

Most of the songs that get played on the Halloween show are what fit the voice like Alice cooper is known for this shock rock side thats the artist that can fit most voice but its knowing what song and what voice goes were to do that and thats why you have to plan a head before you do it.

 

3.dan Castellaneta nancy Cartwright are great friends of yours. How did you hook-up with them and what was it like working with Dan Castellaneta Nancy Cartwright?

we were doing millions of radio shows at a local radio station across in the USA and Dan and Nancy also did a few shows for me at times I was in holiday and I did the same for them.

it was pretty nerve-wracking sitting next to Dan on the sofa while he listened to my radio shows and voices!

it was pretty nerve-wracking sitting next to Nancy on the sofa while she listened to my radio shows and Young children voices!

I guess Dan and Nancy liked it though, because when I asked Nancy and Dan to come and Help me Dan and Nancy agreed straight away. Dan was an absolute gentleman and got his part down in about an hour.

Nancy Is a walking jukebox you just close your eyes for a second and her voice his down she is that fast its something that shocks you nancy was an absolute gentlewoman with a heart of gold.

I tried very hard not to rattle on about there work on many cartoons and I think I just about managed to stay cool....

4. How has your radio style different to BBC radio 1 and why did you say no to working on the station in 2008 and the way ou was developed through the years and what made you want to start doing more Halloween and comedy voices and a music festival?

Believe it or not, the record that changed my life, so to speak, and made me want to do a radio show was actually 'Crazy train' by Ozzy osbourne, which I heard when I was about 10 also note I was hearing Queen Loud from my Mums Belly as well . I heard it again the other day and it's a great riff if you can get past the Bit of eye eye eye than you hear the Riff of Randy rhoads that hits you and you think GOD thats a skillful player! Then I got into the blues through Walter Trout , and listened to all the American greats like Buddy Guy, BB King, JJ Cale, Albert King... the list goes on.

Probably the major influence on my Blues radio style was Stevie Ray Vaughan, the texan guitar player, who changed my whole approach to guitar playing and guitar tone and style doing a radio show. I think when you're a young Radio DJ, you just want to sound like all your heroes, and it's not until you get a little older that you start to find your own voice and own style of radio as a person that his still one of the youngest radio DJs playing rock metal and blues or 7 hours on the radio I have to really develop on whats new that I like and what the classic's are because you still have the area of rock metal and blues that people would like to hear as well as the new hits as well.

your own style. I don't think I really started to do that until I quit Local radio station and started seriously producing my own material and experimenting more with stills of what people what to hear.

The only thing that lets down been on a local radio station is you don't have the rights to play what songs you what to play and the playlist you what to do because you get handed a playlist and get told play them 16 songs.

The styles of the Live Now Die Later radio show his not like any station they his no Playlist let me tell you a little more.

I do plan a bit of the radio show but I also don't follow the list to all it says I add my own style of songs and voices that I feel work well for that show.

The best thing about been Live and doing that his a Live show you can't edit or remove anything its live and thats what the Live Now Die Later fans Like because most radio stations they have to pre recorded shows.

In recent years I've tried to be more melodic with my solo working voices and try and get better with it and the songs you never know whats going to happen.

The festival we did in the USA was great 4 days of rock and Metal and Blues music played LOUD with a twist of evil sadly we can't find the funds for this to go a head we are still waiting on musical arts to get back to us.

I get calls and emails asking about the festival all the time they are millions of bands and artists that also what to play the festival as well.

Are aim is to get the festival back by 2020 but its lucking good and fit to be happening will just have to wait and see what happons.

5. How did the recent booking of shows in Europe and the world go? How did you find the stations to air the show How hard/easy is it to speck to them because your english and talk english

Every radio I make to Europe or the world is tremendous fun. My Radio show is now airing to 10.6 million radio stations across the whole world.

No I don't talk 60 languages I talk 5 at the most.

Most of the stations know english so its easy but the hardiest part of airing a show across the world is you have to know what the stations play the rules of the media and what you are allowed to do and not do.

Like you can't say the F word on English radio till after 10pm but on some stations in the World you can say the F word you have to know your media to do that and that is not easy.

I have a great team working with me that keeps up to date on everything on the law and media law side of things.

6. What were the highlights of your previous passed radio shows on a local radio station in Halifax? Why did you call it a day from been at that station and do you still keep in contact with any former station members?

I had eight great years with The Local radio station. We'd all grown up together in the same Yorkshire town, and although sometimes we acted like some kind of disfunctional family, I have some great memories. We were lucky enough to spend 6 or 7 weeks touring The whole of the Yorkshire area doing radio road shows, which I remember being a very happy time.

I got the time to talk to many local bands and artists and interview and let them do Live streaming on the show.

I found some great friends at the station that yes I still talk to and yes I still am friends with.

By the time 2010 came round, i'd set up 357 radio shows and had 3456 roads shows under my wing and still touring pretty hard with my comedy- it began to me to feel like a lot of hard work, and I wasn't getting the satisfaction out of playing Chart and doing Drive time radio shows and writing that I wanted to.

Also I was not getting the full help of what I needed from the station because funds was very little they was radio Djs that was doing every little for the station and getting paid and I was not getting a penny for what I was doing.

It was incredibly loud on stage, I couldn't hear what I was doing most of the time, and we'd stopped writing and planning great radio shows and road shows and Halloween shows and started throwing what were virtually blues jams into the set instead.

They was a blues radio show in the station if you call it a blues radio show that the DJs only played 3 hours of BBking music. Im sorry to say I like BBKing every much and he was a great person but 3 hours of his music is more I can take

The thing was the DJ of the Blues show had millions of blues records that he did know about the artist but he played the same BB king songs time and time again a week would go and the same songs and the same order would be aired.

I got told off for playing Blues songs on a rock show but the station did not know that ZZTop is rock or as we know rocky blues.

I also got told off for playing death metal on a morning.

I also got told off for playing rock songs on road shows.

 

I think we were all starting to pull in different directions musically as well, and in the backs of our minds we all had aspirations to try doing our own stuff.

I had loads of plans to bring to the radio and the head of the radio station would not let me do it.

Eventually I called a meeting at which I said I wanted to stop everyone telling DJs what they can and cart do,and everyone was happy.

The same week I did a drive time show after a pretty l good start of a drive time show I was getting millions of emails texts asking for me to play songs. I played Don't stop me know by Queen and Highway to hell by Ac/dc and the Katy perry last firday night I let the song play in full. Play a jingle and walked out of the show and never went back to the station after that.

What happened next I don't know all I know his I went home.

Now, things between us all are pretty bad they tell today say bad things about me and I say some bad things about them.

The bottom of the line was they had not been playing all there staff and telling people they had no Money they also have taken copyright items from me and my show.

Some of the staff at the staff have also left and some of them have not we keep in touch fairly but its not everyday .

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Message for your fans?

I've been on the media scene for a while now, and it amazes me that people are still willing to hear m y shows my voices and my comedy shows and travel miles and miles to hear to see me do what I do - I have some very loyal fans, and I have to say, their support has kept me going during times when I've struggled or even considered jacking it all in. Music and media is such a competitive business and it such bloody hard work to get anywhere, but when you get up on stage in front of a group of peopleor get to the Mic on radio who appreciate what you do, it's the best job in the world. So, thanks to them!!

I can still do my voices my radio show and my comedy its Great.