Weekend Exclusive | Radio just hit me like a train and I held on for the ride: Fever 104 FM's RJ Darius

RJ Darius,a well known Radio Jockey, started his career way back in 1998 when his parents thought a monthly allowance of Rs.250 was "ample for a 20yr-old with no job"!. But he still needed to take his then girlfriend out to movies, lunches and play some snooker and so took up a part-time job in All India Radio to fund these nefarious indulgences!

After his graduation, he joined Indigo when it was part of the newly launched World Space platform and worked there for a year, while simultaneously pursued MBA. Eventually he quit MBA to pursue radio full time and joined Radio City!

In an exclusive chat with Adgully, RJ Darius spoke about his love for his work and life.

Telling us about his journey in snippets from the start till now, he said, "I joined Radio City as a Content Researcher, grew to produce the morning show, then the co-host and finally left Radio City in 2006 as the Creative Head."

He then, immediately joined Fever 104 FM where he set-up and launched the station in Bangalore and then went on to head their creative department nationally and now, "I am moving back to the real battleground --- ON AIR!!! The best part of the journey so far has been my experience with Fever 104 FM. The talent that we have here is the best from the industry. Creative inputs from every team member is welcomed and taken into consideration and this has greatly helped us build a young, vibrant station for the listeners", Darius said.

He says, "As I mentioned earlier, I never really planned to be an RJ, radio just hit me like a train and I held on for the ride!"

Describing the "role model' in his life he said, "I would love to drop some nice big names here, but the truth is that although I do remember numerous late nights at my grandmother's coffee estate, where we would all crowd around the radio to listen to the news or music on Radio Ceylon, I never really had any "role models' as such."

Bangalore station's no. 1 jock, makes a comeback on-air after nearly 7 years and is really overwhelmed with the kind of response and admiration he got from his listeners and also thanks all his listeners to welcome him with all the love and with open arms.He says, "After my first show on-air, I really did feel that way¦ the amount of unconditional love and acceptance the listeners gave me left me speechless. I could hear the nervousness in my own voice and I could see the little mistakes that gave away how rusty I was, having not been on air at all for SIX long years, but never once did a single listener mention that."

When asked how it feels to be recognized for the power of your voice, he said, "I'd like to think that it's not my voice but what I'm saying that reaches out to the listeners. To be quite honest, I don't have one of those great bassy baritones that so many male RJs have¦ so I rely more on just being "me' and hoping that the listeners will like who I am!"

But the question arises, does he thinks that the radio industry is utilizing the potential of the medium completely?

He says,"That's a cleverly loaded statement. The obvious answer is "No". But we have to understand that radio in India is still a fledgling industry and cannot be compared to its counter-parts in other countries that have had radio for the last 60 years!

He adds, "We need to understand that everyone, the stations, the advertisers, the research agencies, the government and even the listeners , all will need time to understand what the "full potential of radio' is and especially in the Indian context!

According to him, at Fever 104 FM they have always been the thought leaders in the industry with innovative new formats like Ramayan, Tick Tock Bingo, Celebrity blogs etc and will continue to delight our listeners with more initiatives in the future also.

Very proudly he told us that he remembers having great chemistry with Naseeruddin Shah and remembers flirting outrageously with Shreya Ghoshal, while her Mom glared at him, and says "I remember confessing childhood love to Urmila Matondkar and so many moments¦". He actually enjoys every moment and inevitably remembers all the moments and fun with the celebrities on the radio show.

After thanking all his listeners for the love and support and also after leaving a message for them he signed off. In a very jockeying way, he said, "Now please send me your bank account numbers along with dob, email address, passport number¦"

RJ Darius, a very warm and smooth going personality, who loves chilling out, makes a comeback after six long years and receives a record 140 calls and over 200 smses!!!! This shows the love for the favorite RJ. Darius who started his career with All India Radio (AIR) moved to Fever 104 as creative head and handled programming of Mumbai and Bangalore stations. Now, with the format change in Bangalore, he's back on-air as a RJ, his first love.