SCOPERISE:  So were you able to do any radio show hosting ?

DANTE: From here I met a friend (ex student) of 'S' called Tim Gadd, who ran a Friday night show on 7THE FM playing mostly heavy or Progressive Rock such as 'Rush'. I used to bring up some of my record collection and became like his wingman in a few off the cuff discussions on various topics.

We actually had a band called 'The Barbs' in for an interview regarding their new single called 'Heart Attack' by keyboardist friend Mack Lancaster.  In subsequent years myself and Mack reconnected on the mainland for many years of collaboration.

Tim was a prolific fantasy writer so he went on to produce his own radio plays and won an Arts Council grant.  Also a multi-instrumentalist Tim wrote and recorded some great songs playing keyboards and guitar.  I did a cover song of my favourite song of his 'Turn Off Your Boxes':

SCOPERISE:  Tell us about your Radio days.  How did you get into Radio and what did you do ?

DANTE: Firstly, I met S Kenneth Stokes (aka 'S') though a common interest in Micro Computing in 1979.  We both had a Sorcerer Z80 Computer so he help me get set up on mine. Then I acquired a notation and sound plug device that plugged into the back of the computer and produced a 4 voice Organ tone from Sine Waves. Overdubbing that with Guitar and Vocals performed live in sync with the original Sorcerer bass line and rhythm track I was able to produce multitracked instrumental songs including my first one called 'Electric Smile'.

SCOPERISE:  So what did 'S' do with that song ?

DANTE: 'S' then played the song on his Midnight to Dawn show and a partnership was born. I created jingles promoting 7THE-FM and The eSoteric Show.   'S' used to record Hobart bands playing gigs live on Saturday Night, then play the recordings on his show.  He called this 'Almost Live To Air' and the show gained a wide audience on what was previously called 'The Graveyard Shift'.

S Ken Stokes - 7THE FM Midnight To Dawn Show

Hobart College Of The Arts - Home to 7THE FM