Producer Spotlight: an opportunity to shine a light on our wonderful new radio producers, faces that you will see around the station regularly for the foreseeable future!
Over the past couple of months, we have had the absolute pleasure of welcoming Tash Evans a.k.a. Luna Thee Frenchie to our little radio production team!
Making waves in the Merseyside DJ community, Tash has an impeccable knowledge of all things dance music along with a deep passion for club culture, especially within Birkenhead!
Welcome to the team Tash, we’re absolutely buzzing to have you on board!
1. Hey Tash! We’re absolutely buzzing to have you as part of the production team here at Melodic Distraction! Radio is a thing we’re super passionate about here at MDR, so we’re curious to what draws you to working at a radio station?
Ahh thank ya, right back at you lovely lot <3. I think there are many things that interest me about radio, but the biggest one has to be being exposed to such a variety of music, hosts and discussions. It’s so great for your soul to be surrounded by people who are truly passionate about platforming certain genres, cultures and contextual issues. That kind of energy is super infectious and a pure joy to be around. I’m definitely a people’s person so I love being able to chat to hosts and find out about what they’re up to and what’s inspiring them creatively at the moment 🙂
2. It’s been a pleasure listening to your show ‘QueenswaY’ on the station! What’s been your favourite parts of hosting your show live on the airwaves, from the preparation to the presentation?
Nice one! It’s been a bit of a learning experience in terms of me and Loz figuring out a rotation to keep each show fresh and realizing how much more smoothly a show goes when we devote time to prepare. The last show we did was called Retrospective Queens of Punk and it’s definitely been my favourite so far. It had quite a lot of personal meaning to me, as we explored music which related to my childhood. We also interviewed my mum who was a punk rocker back in the 80’s which was just super lovely and dead interesting. It’s been a weird one determining a balance between electronic music and more singer/song writing/band stuff but I think we’re slowly but surely working that out now. It does also obviously take a little more work to find music which is only made by female, non-binary and LGBTQIA+ artists, you have to do your research and a bit more digging, but it’s extremely important to us that we do that.
3. Aside from Melodic Distraction, what other radio stations are on your radar that you listen to often – any specific shows you can’t stop listening to?
Gonna be honest here and say if I’m listening to the radio it’s usually either MD (cos I’m super loyal like that lol), Rinse.FM or Radio 6 haha! Big fan of Jamz Supernova’s show.
4. The saying goes: “The future is Birkenhead” – What are your thoughts on Birkenhead’s music scene at the moment and how have you seen it change throughout the years?
Ahaha that saying always unlocks a beaming light of pride within me! Just the sheer existence of venues like Future Yard and Bloom building have done absolute wonders in simply increasing general awareness of the area. It’s slowly but surely bridging the gap between “this side of the water” and “that other side of the water”, in which people make out it’s a 3 hour ferry across some turbulent ocean. I think people need to grow up a bit and realize Birkenhead is a 5 minute train journey away and unlearn the stereotype of it being some derelict no-go zone.
It’s so amazing to see the likes of Future Yard putting so much into creating a multi-purpose venue that is accessible to everybody. Through collaborations with local art galleries such as Convenience Gallery and platforming the likes of South American harpists, it’s a colossal jump to what Birkenhead had to offer music wise when I was growing up. I think their Sound Check programme is an amazing initiative to get young people involved in the industry and offer live, hands on experience. There was nothing like that available when I was younger, I had no idea that roles like event programming even existed.
5. You are a prolific multi-genre DJ around Merseyside – what is your favourite genre of dance music to play out and at which venue?
I guess I am! It’s taken me a long time to figure that out and it’s something that’s always changing but at the moment I’m very drawn to percussive, tribal-esque breaks with euphoric synths and a prolific bass line. Not sure what genre exactly that slides into but I’m all about the bassy, acid, breaky goodness. Venue wise – I love the DIY off-the-beaten track vibe that Bridewell Studios encompasses. Meraki is also a firm favourite of mine – I love the anonymity the darkness and smoke machine provides, it feels most like an authentic rave experience for me in Livrepool, plus you can’t fault the sound system in there either.
6. The ever-pressing question; What is your favourite post-rave take-away in Merseyside?
Eeeek well, I think I’m past the days of frauding as a pescatarian now lol…… I have been known to make a semi-regular slip up for a chicken wrap from Nabzy’s…. For real though where are all the decent late night falafel/veggie gaffs at in Liverpool? Pls send any recommendations over!
7. When you’ve got time to sit back and indulge in music, what albums or tracks have you had on heavy rotation recently?
Hmmmm that’s a good question! I always love a bit of Lana Del Rey this time of year, Ultraviolence being a firm favourite album for me. Also been listening to a fair bit of psychedelic experimental 70’s rock like Bauhaus, Can and Santana – big sunny vibes on all of these! EP wise, I’ve been listening to a lot of broken beat electronic stuff from Scuffed Recordings, like Sister Zo, Ayesha and An Avrin.
|| LUNA THEE FRENCHIE ||