Hi, We're Danny and Martin and welcome to our page on Phoenix Radio 1208.
we're delighted to be the first father-and-son presenting team on Phoenix Radio 1208. We'd love you to be part of our family, so here's a bit of background to get us all acquainted.
Danny has always lived for variety in language and audio, from books and music to comedy sketches and sports commentaries. The first word he ever spoke was 'light' and - in a bid to keep producing verbal surprises - he's been bringing his unique communication to the world ever since. His passion for the power of self-expression carried him through mainstream schooling to Middlesex University, where he earned a Media and Creative Writing First Class Honours degree in 2008. Since then he's spent time as a ghost-writer and a story-telling teacher, a life coach and a public speaker. In 2011 he also set up the company Ability Gateway, providing visual impairment and equality awareness training alongside access technology and Braille tuition.
Danny first sat behind a radio mic as a 14-year-old in 1999, presenting shows on the youth-led community station Lyon Radio in his home town of Stevenage. In 2012 his attention turned to Internet broadcasting, seeing him join the team at Mushroom FM from March of that year until the original station's closure in November, 2013. He immediately jumped into supporting the launch of Top Tunes FM, acting as Assistant Manager and presenting shows whilst overseeing the station's successful campaign to raise over £2,500 for UK charity Macmillan Cancer Support. After fun times with other stations and an enforced break from broadcasting, he's glad to be back with familiar friends at Phoenix Radio 1208.
Danny was introduced to music at a very early age by parents Joanne and Martin and his interests stretch from music hall ditties to the energy of emo and symphonic metal. He's also an avid drummer and a lover of singing very loudly at all times of day and night, as well as going to gigs and socialising with friends alongside his beautiful partner Stacie.
Martin grew up in East London, studying at a school for partially sighted children until his excellent academic record saw him move to Kingsway College at just 14 years of age. He became a Civil Servant two years later, serving local government for 33 years before taking early retirement and dedicating the final three years of his career to a Stevenage-based charity. Martin had moved to the town to join other members of his family in 1980 and, two years later, his younger sister introduced him to Joanne Billings, who became the love of his life. They married in October, 1984, and had two sons: Steven being the elder and Daniel coming later on. Joanne sadly passed away in April, 2020, and, as she loved appearing with Martin on Danny's radio shows and often suggested that he should become a presenter himself, Martin is now proud to be on the airwaves as a lasting tribute to her encouragement and support.
Despite not having experience in a studio, Martin is no stranger to music and microphones. In the 1970s he joined his brother as a mobile DJ, giving him an encyclopaedic knowledge of many different genres. He picked up many skills during this period, with one being the ability to pick the right length of song for any occasion...including when needing to run to the toilet or bar to refresh and still make it back to start the next record before silence took over. He's also no stranger to entertaining an audience, having entered many karaoke and talent competitions over the years, sometimes winning prizes as a soloist but most often accompanied by Joanne's vocals and exquisite keyboard playing.
Martin has always had a thirst for knowledge and is an asset to any team in a pub quiz. He's also a massive sports fan, being a supporter of both Stevenage Football Club and Kent County Cricket Club.
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