Annie Mac Intro: Annie was born and bred in Dublin as part of a large, very musical family. At 17 she left home for Queens University Belfast to do a degree in English Lit, she soon discovered Shine, Belfast's biggest techno club. After 2 months of going there every week, Annie secured a job there helping to promote and market the club nights.
It was there that she first saw some of dance music's heavyweights: Laurent Garnier, Justin Robertson, Andrew Weatherall and Cajmere, DJ to a rapt audience, it provided the inspiration to buy her first set of decks. "I bought a third hand set of Soundlab decks and a Gemini mixer and a big box of unwanted records off my mate for £150 quid. Then I set about learning to mix. I couldn't afford new records, so I would buy old soul and funk 12"s second hand from charity shops and try to scratch with them"
After her second year, Annie spent four months in Manhattan, "I lived in the Lower East Side of New York, there was music everywhere, record shops, clubs, street dancers, I was in my element".
She reluctantly returned to Belfast with a bag full of new records and completed her final year at Uni. Annie explains "When I finished college, I was on the dole, working in a club and spending all my money on records when I thought about what I wanted to do. I realised that my three favourite things in life were music, clubbing and talking shit. So it made sense to pursue a career in music radio and immerse myself in it."
Within a year, she had moved to London, into a house of four smelly rockers (her brother's band) and got her first job in the music industry. She spent her first year in London working at small satellite stations.
By the time she approached Radio 1, Annie was juggling three jobs - a freelance broadcast assistant at BBC London, a radio and TV plugger and also worked at the Student Broadcasting Network producing and presenting two specialist music shows.
Annie managed to secure two days freelance broadcast assistant (BA) work at Radio 1 at the start of 2002. Her experience at radio production and passion for music quickly made an impression at the station. Within three weeks she was a full-time member of staff.
She has worked as BA on Steve Lamacq's Evening Sessions, Colin Murray and Zane Lowe's show. You will also know her voice from OneWorld, Radio 1's global underground dance show. In the past 4 months, Annie has also deputised twice for Mary Anne Hobbs on the 'Breezeblock' show.
It comes as no surprise that after four years of hard work and determination, Annie has come all this way. With a show that bridges the gap between daytime and specialist for dance music heads, Annie presents every Thursday night from 9pm to 11pm on Radio 1.
Her show takes a light-hearted look at the tracks that are filling every kind of dancefloor up and down the country, playing the very best of house, hip hop, bass and beats. "I couldn't have asked for a better show that defines me and what I stand for, I am absolutely over the moon and can't wait to get started."
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