DJ Automix / Radio Presenter

Surrey Hills Community Radio is very lucky to have Tom (aka DJ Automix) as a presenter on the station because Tom’s music preferences mean that the station can broaden the scope of its offerings to the public. Tom broadcasts his show from The Grange in Bookham and if he could have one guest on his show it would be that larger than life all round good guy Matt Lucas.

Tom’s show focuses very much on electronic and dance music and Tom brings to his show the lesser well known artists who create the music within this genre. And because Tom is so very knowledgeable about this genre, he is able to explain to the uninitiated the subtle differences between  Dubstep, Garage, Disco and Electronic. And because Tom has spent so much time with this form of music he is well equipped to advise on venues and clubs where this music can be heard.

However Surrey Hills Community Radio does not have a sole claim over Tom’s time because he can often be found at the venues working as DJ and audio mixer.

Being an audio mixer is a complicated process which rather surprisingly was a skill Tom learned at school and it has certainly stood him in good stead.

Radio has featured heavily in Tom’s life so far. As a child  Tom had to spend time at Queen Mary’s Children’s Hospital in Carshalton where he became very familiar with the hospital radio station “Radio Lollipop” and he was a regular listener to Radio Jackie when that went live. In fact he even got the chance to visit the studios and meet two of his favourite presenters. Later Tom was fortunate enough to get the chance to help out on Radio Jackie’s road shows.

It is not all radio. Tom is also keen on live music and two of his favourite festivals were The Wireless Festival held in Hyde Park featuring the Black Eyed Peas and Tinie Tempah and the Hazelmere Fringe Festival where the headline act was Scouting For Girls.  He even owns up to seeing an Abba tribute act when he was a mere lad of thirteen!

However Tom readily admits that although he has one foot in the electronic, dance genre he still has a foot in the more traditional music genres which came down to him from his parents so while he is more than happy to listen to artists like N-Trance he is equally comfortable listening to The Beatles or Enya.