HARD ROCK HELL RADIO DJ PROFILE: GLAMRAT

Interview By: Viki Ridley

Hello Ms GlamRat, please introduce yourself to the HRH MAG readers!

I host the HRH AOR Show every Tuesday from 1pm showing the best of AOR, Melodic Rock and Hard Rock both past and present. Every now and then I like to throw in a couple of Glam Metal tracks, and I love having the listener’s requests. I talk a lot, but to me, it’s like a weekly therapy session with great music thrown in. I try to make Tuesday afternoon pass a bit quicker.

Can we start with you explaining why you chose ‘GLAMRAT’ as your media name?

When I was at senior school, being called a rat was an insult, “dirty little rat”, “scruffy rat” etc, and I got bullied a lot. I wasn’t popular, my family didn’t have a lot of money and I was basically being called vermin because I didn’t fit in. It wasn’t just me, a lot of people in my group were bullied. As time went on, I thought, I may be a rat, but I’m trying to make myself better, glam myself up, I became a Glamourous Rat. If anyone ever called me a rat again, I can be happy about it. The bullies didn’t break me, I used what they gave me, and I’ve overcome it, for the most part anyways.

Your love of music is evident; can you define the moment that music first brought you joy?

My parents have always listened to music, varying in genres and styles. But music that brought me joy for the first time and opened my eyes to my taste in rock was watching Bon Jovi on Kerrang. Sat in my grandma’s living room watching the black and white screen, hearing the bass line. Watching the sparks fall from the lighting rig and Jon Bon Jovi spinning around with that smile and that opening line… eurgh… my love affair with Bon Jovi and 80s rock began, I was 13 coming up 14.

Who or what was your first single or album purchase?

I mean LimeWire helped this poor girl out back in the day, but my first purchase was Bon Jovi’s “Have a Nice Day”, and that album helped me a lot at the time. I saved up my birthday money and bought it at HMV in the Metro Centre. I didn’t want anything else. I played the album over and over again on my Walkman. When my family was made homeless, I could only take a few things into the shelter and believe me I took that album. I cried to the melodies, I sang to the choruses, and I’ve been overjoyed with that album.

First Gig? (And first rock gig if it wasn’t rock!)

My first gig (obviously) was Bon Jovi at Manchester Cricket Ground 22nd June 2011. My ex-fiancé bought us both tickets for Christmas. It poured down and Richie Sambora had just been released from rehab a couple of days before. I still have the videos on my hard drive somewhere. I cried so much; it was a dream come true to see Bon Jovi in the flesh. It was amazing!

You’re extremely interested in fashion and the lifestyle of the rock community, what is it that draws you to it?

I love the sense of community. For years, I never felt like I fitted in, anywhere. I was always a weirdo at school, that girl who loves rock music at work and when I joined social media, I found out that there were loads of other people out there like me. My mother has always had a keen eye for fashion, so I eventually picked up on that and out on a rock twist. I like to be effortlessly cool; I don’t know if it’s working, but I love my wardrobe. I see people from all walks of life in the rock community, each genre of rock has its own defining niche. I love the lifestyle and fashion in the community so much, my Final Project for University is all about it.

Tell the readers about your journey so far as a DJ, presenter, radio show host, you have already accomplished so much!

It’s been weird and wonderful, exciting, and changed my career path that’s for sure. I fell into it all by accident and everything has snowballed since then. It’s opened my eyes to the other side of the music industry, I’ve seen it from all sides and how underrepresented the female side is. Not that I’m a female crusader but sometimes, a little bit of a woman’s touch goes a long way.

How did you begin your work with HRH, had you attended any of the festivals in the past?

I saw an advert looking for DJs on a post on the HRH Sleaze page. I sat and pondered with it and a friend at work said “Charlie, you’re a gobsh*te and love music, why wouldn’t you be good at it?”. I sent in a 90 second demo recorded on my crappy laptop microphone talking about Crashdïet’s new single and sent it in. Didn’t even think about it until I got a call at work from Geoff Leppard, offering me the job. Surprised, completely, had a clue what I was doing, of course not. I’m lucky I have friends who do, and they’ve been a massive help. I had previously attended HRH Sleaze and I loved it so much, I never thought that within a year I’d be working there.

Do you enjoy interviewing people? It’s not as easy as it looks!

I love interviewing people, I like to find things out about people, the process of things, it can be a lot of fun when done right. I don’t like upsetting people, so I always ask if there is anything they don’t want to talk about so it’s not uncomfortable and then we roll. I like to ask questions that nobody really thinks to ask, usually something daft. When I interviewed Erik Grönwall (Skid Row, H.E.A.T) for the first time, I asked what happened to his dog when he went on tour, he said no one had ever asked him that before. I want people to be comfortable with me, more than just another interview.

Out of all of the artists and bands you’ve met to date, who has had you tongue tied or weak at the knees? Whether it’s because you adore, admire, or fancy the pants off them!

Doro Pesch was my first big interview; I wasn’t really aware at the time how big of an artist she was. She was adorable, I interviewed her on the tour bus before she took to the stage at Camp HRH in 2019. Michael Monroe has always been fun, quite a character but talking to Erik Grönwall had me buzzing for days. He’s an amazing vocalist, a talented performer and all-round great guy, the fact that he is dashingly handsome, doesn’t really matter *cough*

Is there anyone you would truly love to work with? What is the bucket list of things for GlamRat to further accomplish?

There is so many things I would love to do. I love this community, it would be nice to make my Final Project, “FRET” a reality. I am creating a website aimed at women in the rock community looking at fashion, lifestyle topics, women in the industry and things like that. Trying to make Cosmopolitan go rock, “Rock is not just music, it’s a Lifestyle.” Hopefully with my degree, I can achieve it in some description. I want to highlight this community with not just the music but the creators such as fashion, beauty, and lifestyle in general. Help independent businesses have a space to connect better to their community. I would love to interview Jon Bon Jovi from an adored fan perspective, but I would love to interview everyone and anyone. I would love for music journalism to be taken more seriously, give it a bit of a rejig, freshen it up a bit… add a bit of GlamRat.