FEATURE:
Saluting the Queens
IN THIS PHOTO: Mary Anne Hobbs during her All Points East ALL QUEENS set in August 2023/PHOTO CREDIT: Mary Anne Hobbs
the magnificent Mary Anne Hobbs before, this point of this series if to salute queens in the music scene. From broadcasters, D.J.s, journalists, label bosses, artists and anyone else making a difference, I am focusing on a very special music journalist in the next part. I may also include some radio colleagues of Hobbs too. I wanted to focus on Mary Anne Hobbs as, though the years, she has been so influential and impactful in broadcasting and the music industry. A tireless champion of new music, she is also a staple of BBC Radio 6 Music. I hope that there are more interviews and spotlights the way of Mary Ann Hobbs next year - as she is a queen and champion of the industry. Without doubt one of the finest broadcasters of her generation, there are so many who look up to her. She recently helped launch the new London College of Fashion building - looking fabulous in the process! – and, through her radio career, she has brought to light so much magnificent music. Turning sixty next year (sorry!), there are still going to be many years to come from this inspiring broadcaster – and I think she will not rest or retire because of her sheer love and dedication to music. I will come to a recent interview with Mary Anne Hobbs.
IN THIS PHOTO: Mary Anne Hobbs helped to launch the new London School of Fashion building on 1st November, 2023/PHOTO CREDIT: Mary Anne Hobbs
I am going to start off with a slightly older one. It is from 2018, in fact. That year, when BBC Radio 6 Music announced line-up shifts that saw Hobbs move to mid-mornings (weekdays), she was part of a Music Week interview. Very much a dream job for her, Hobbs definitely relished the change:
“BBC Radio 6 Music’s Mary Anne Hobbs has told Music Week that taking over the mid-morning slot from Lauren Laverne is her “dream job”.
The move is part of a raft of changes due to come into force in 2019 at 6 Music. Laverne will take over the breakfast show, with current host Shaun Keaveny moving to lunchtimes, while Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie move to the weekend breakfast show.
Hobbs, who currently presents the weekend breakfast slot and a 6 Music Recommends slot, was speaking in the new issue of Music Week, out now.
“They’re really exciting times. Moving forward into 2019, everybody’s got an opportunity to play to their strengths and shine in the new slots,” said Hobbs.
“I’m thrilled to bits to have the opportunity to bring the rich diversity and palette of music I really love and that I’ve championed for a lifetime into the heart of the schedule. It’s a dream job, really.”
Hobbs said the show will be “principally music-driven”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Mary Anne Hobbs captured in 2021/PHOTO CREDIT: Marcus Hessenburg
“What 6 have done is looked at a presenter who’s been very productive in the more shady areas of the schedule,” she said. “A great number of the artists I’ve championed over the years, people like James Blake, Kendrick Lamar, Nils Frahm, Kamasi Washington and Julia Holter, have resonated in the lives of our listeners. This is a chance to broaden the musical palette of the network in the daytime.”
The former XFM and Radio 1 DJ said she believes 6 Music bosses “would like to take many of the elements of the DNA of the programmes I’ve created for 6 Music at the weekends and evenings into daytime.”
Hobbs also promised that, “A great deal of the feature content we do at ?the moment around arts and culture we’ll transpose into daytime, as well as the interviews.” Listeners can also look forward to more live sessions, such as one Hobbs recently helmed for Thom Yorke”.
A huge and loyal champion of women in music (from artists to D.J.s), one of the main reasons I wanted to include Mary Anne Hobbs now is because of her ALL QUEENS initiative. She hosted that event at Field Day this year. It is a stage exclusively for female, non-binary and trans talent. At a time when festivals are still struggling to balanced and not booking enough women, non-binary and trans artists, Hobbs’s salute and inclusive stage is a huge breath of fresh air. Someone always pioneering and embracing queens, she spoke with CLASH ahead of ALL QUEENS going to All Points East in August:
“Summer (pah!) may be winding down, but there are still some huge festivals still to come, not least All Points East, which takes place over two weekends from August 18th to 28th.
Over the last few years, the event has featured some stellar performers, with Gorillaz, Kraftwerk and Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds in 2022 alone. This year’s iteration is no different, as the likes of Stormzy, Aphex Twin and the Strokes will rattling the foundations of the buildings surrounding East London’s historic Victoria Park.
The official broadcast partner of the event (for the third successive year), BBC 6 Music will be playing out sets across both weekends, with shows presented by Gilles Peterson, Jamz Supernova and an Indie Forever show fronted by Steve Lamacq. Yet the centre point of their coverage is the third ALL QUEENS takeover curated by Mary Anne Hobbs. In an exclusive interview with Clash, the radio legend talks us through the recent history of the initiative and why it is so important.
“We hosted the first ALL QUEENS stage as London was just emerging from Lockdown, and it was deeply emotional. I hadn’t played out a festival for 18 months. I was shook with nerves. Mercifully, I had my friend Jamz Supernova on-side, and just to feel her presence with me shoulder-to-shoulder and her absolute belief in the project, was so powerful.”
“Last year, TYGAPAW had visa issues and and wasn’t able get into the UK at the last moment. Rebekah stepped in on the turn of a heel. She agreed to play for us on her one day off in months. Obviously, Rebekah wasn’t advertised, but word of mouth swept the site like a wildfire as she stepped up, and she ripped the field apart.”
“ALL QUEENS is setting a new precedent. It’s a unique platform created to lift-up the world’s extraordinary female artists, producers, DJs, and creatives. It’s no accident that the anarchy symbol ‘A’ is our logo.”
“Everybody knows the gender imbalance is real. It’s a war out there. The discourse is valuable, but my aim is to proactively change the culture. Samantha Moy, Head of BBC 6 Music, trusted me implicitly with ALL QUEENS. The project began as Monday Playlist on my daytime radio show. We added a live stage at All Points East. Then a takeover at fabric in London on International Women’s Day in collaboration with Judy Griffith; all-female DJs, door staff, bar staff, sound engineers and creatives. And now, an ALL QUEENS radio Residency in its second year on BBC 6 Music.”
In addition to the sets by artists (including Effy, Deena Abdelwahed and Ella Knight) other performers such as Corinne Bailey Rae, Elkka, Jessy Lanza and Avalon Emerson are hosting their own 6 Music takeover, as Hobbs explains: “The ALL QUEENS Residency takes place across August on BBC 6 Music. Thursday night into Friday morning 1-2am, plus 30 days at the BBC Sounds App. The shows are new music focused, but my residents have complete freedom to interpret that brief and deploy the airtime in any way they wish.”
As for the sets themselves, Hobbs struggles to contain her excitement: “The artists booked this year cover a vast spectrum of electronic sound, so if you are dancing with us all day, the sound will transform every hour at the stage. For me, it’s a joy to welcome Chloe Robinson as our headliner in 2023. She opened our first ever ALL QUEENS stage as we were coming out of lockdown. I’ve supported Chloe and her label Pretty Weird passionately and watched in awe as her star ascends, so for me it feels like a beautiful full circle moment.”
Looking to the future, the presenter has plans, both next year’s festival and even spreading it’s important message further afield: “I have an A-list of several hundred Artists. I supported Bjork at Bluedot in 2022. She’s a great example of the kind of Artist I dream of booking in future, juxtaposed with one of the most exciting young scratch DJs on earth, Baby B.”
“I’m always looking for opportunities to develop ALL QUEENS, and it would be exciting to propagate internationally. I’d love to take us to Berlin. Hi Tresor. Hi Berghain.”
All in good time. For now, festivalgoers and radio listeners alike can look forward to what is likely to be the highlight of an unmissable weekend”.
I have been a fan of Mary Anne Hobbs for a long time now. Someone always pushing for change and inclusion in the industry, there is no doubt that she is one of our moist important and influential broadcasters. A hugely talented D.J., radio queen and all-round fashion and art icon, there is so much cool, style and passion when it comes to MAH! Long may she reign in the industry! Someone who has been responsible for lifting rising artists to new levels, I can see her staying at BBC Radio 6 Music for many years to come - as it seems she has found her home and calling there. Undoubtedly one of the most distinct and respected voices on radio, I know 2024 will be a busy one where she conquers festivals and brings her D.J. genius to the masses. With ALL QUEENS as this established and essential inclusion to the circuit, I hope more journalists and podcasters share the voice, words and wisdom of the one and only Mary Anne Hobbs. She is one of the jewels of the BBC radio crown! If you have not tuned into her weekday show, then make sure that you do. You will get this blend of all genres. A drive and clear love of the artists she features, it is clear that there is…
SO much love for her out there.