Going on-air!

By Rashika Fazali

There are very few female radio presenters in Sri Lanka, and not everyone is highly successful. Radio demands a lot from an individual. It is not your average nine to five job. You have the weird shifts, the promotions to handle, the scripts, commercials and the productions that need to be done, parties to attend to, and so much more.

For this bubbly individual, Yazmin Yousuf, she certainly understands how radio works and strangely, loves it. She is one of Sri Lanka’s best radio producers and presenters whose style is quite unique; it’s like listening to an international broadcast.

Currently, she works at one of the top radio stations, YES101, as a producer coming up with some of the most exceptional trailers and commercials you will ever have the pleasure of hearing in Sri Lanka. She is also a sonic artist and the host of the popular show ‘YES Home Grown’ which was recently renamed ‘The YES Home Grown Top 15.’ This show complements the local music scene with a countdown of the best of the best 15 English songs in the country. It airs twice a month on Thursday from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Yousuf calls this show her own creation, adding, “As a conscious media person, I have a lot more to give back and a lot more to share because I love music by our very own Sri Lankans and on a personal level, I feel I know a bunch of them. ” Since she took over YES Home Grown in October last year, she has managed to bring many talented people into the spotlight – some Sri Lankans from other parts of the world too!

How has the journey been for this tomboy, to become a successful producer first, and then a presenter? “Radio is a very competitive industry and I could tell you tales about it. To be where I am today, it took me years of hard work, nonstop learning, the ability to never give up even in the face of intense pressure, and of course hate. Being a female, the chances of excelling was initially very hard,” she revealed.

Yousuf has been working in radio for the past 11 years doing what she knows best. It’s quite surprising though how one never knows which career they will take up for the rest of their life. Yousuf has a similar story. She mentioned that she always wanted to be an entertainer, though she never knew in what aspect.

Her decision to join radio was openly encouraged by her school art teacher who made her go for radio auditions. “Being quite stubborn back then, I asked her why. I mean, people have a hard time understanding what I say so why would they even think of hiring me,” esplained Yousuf.

A couple of days later, the same teacher spoke of a vacancy at E FM and YES FM. After two auditions, nerves and talking into an ugly microphone, Yousuf landed her first radio job at E FM.

However, she revealed that two months into her job, she became bored at work even though she had work such as prepping up for her show. “I felt that I was looking for something a little more personal. I remember watching producers like Passan, Deshaka and Shon De Fry bringing things to life from a piece of paper that had nothing but words. It was a form of art that I used to secretly try to own during the ‘prep time,’” explained Yousuf.

Soon, she started teaching herself productions by simply chopping off songs and reworking them on productions frameworks such as ‘Cool Edit,’ writing her own scripts and finding different ways to voice the lines. One step at a time – that’s how she worked it and slowly started doing her own productions.

Yousuf added that she is a hardcore workaholic, stating, “When a lot of females were just into doing their business, doing girly things and going home, I used to stay back at office and just spend hours doing nothing but playing with flangers, reverbs, delays, marrying sounds etc. My mother and a few friends used to hate me for that.”

Her success was so great that she dived into station imaging and producing morning show materials for notable stations like Kiss FM, and other production materials for Sun FM and TNL. She also revealed that she recently began to study video editing at Billy’s School of Audio Engineering and AMDT.

She further mentioned that she also was part of ‘The Big Show’ with Fuzz, Miteshe and Jeff as the show producer which held the number one slot for some time. However, she noted she never really found her place on air, except for some notable shows like ‘The Wind Down Zone’ which was ranked number one for the two years she hosted it, ‘Spinning Unrest’ and ‘Local Licks’ featured on TNL Radio.

After working at many stations, she finally found her place at YES101. “Working for YES101 is an honour. It took me a very long time to get there but in the end, I did. At YES101, everyone is family and there’s never a moment where you don’t learn anything new. Everyday is what it is – another chance for change and room for creative growth.”

Being a sonic artist and a producer works quite well for Yousuf. However, she believes she is of a different kind. “I work with everyday human emotions and make the connection real to the listener. We humans are very emotional and receptive and as an artist, it’s always something that I personally have to dive into before I even start typing the start of any script or even taking one up from a different scripter,” asserted Yousuf.  

Speaking about her mentors, she mentioned that she admires the works of Kamini Koralage of Stik Figure Studios, KellyX3’s Anil Balasuriya, Shon De Fry and Niraj Wickremasinge

“What would I have done if I wasn’t in radio? I would have started selling homemade food at my own little food joint,” said Yousuf, laughing.  “But now that I am in radio, I don’t know if I could ever leave it. I tried once and I failed miserably! Nothing could fill that void like radio.”

If there is one thing she hopes will change in the radio industry, it’s the way people address radio personalities as DJs. “I find it insulting at times. The role of a radio personality has evolved. While we play music, we also do a lot of behind-the-mike work depending on the show.”

She added, “You will never see us filling heaps of paperwork, emailing, doing social media work, getting in touch with artists, co-ordinating with the ‘playlister’ or music controller, producing audio elements, making play lists, handling events, going for business and management meetings, etc but we do all that. Believe me, every radio personality does more than what they used to back in the day.”