VANESSA LEVENSTEIN
FMR’s new kid on the block
Fine Music Radio has a new kid on the block, sound engineer Matabataba Nkululeko Radebe. Matabataba was born in 1994, grew up in Mpumalanga and matriculated in Middelburg. As a young boy he wanted to become a solider as he fancied the uniform. However it wasn’t shiny uniform buttons, rather keyboard buttons that captured his heart, as a career in sound beckoned.
From a young age Radebe loved reggae and maskandi and they formed the soundtrack to his formative years. Radebe still cites Bob Marley as his favourite musician. So how did a young man immersed in deep house music end up at the Cape’s only classical and jazz radio station?
Classical choice
Radebe relates his first introduction to FMR: “I live with my cousin, who is like my brother. He is younger than me and studying for economics at UCT. When he studies he always listens to FMR, it helps him concentrate. So I started to listen and liked the jazz. I have grown to like some classical music pieces too, especially when they become familiar to me.”
It wasn’t just the music that appealed to Radebe but as a graduate from Cape Audio College, he was always drawn to the medium of radio. Radebe completed a three year diploma where the curriculum included audio post-production, live sound and film. “Radio was always my favourite and I hosted my own weekly show called Housekeeping on Cape Audio Campus.” One of Radebe’s goals is to present his own radio show again.
Rocking radio
Clearly his passion for radio appealed to Station Manager Mark Jennings who recognised a young man with a keen sense of discipline and love of music. Yet it wasn’t only Jennings he had to impress, “My second interview was with a panel from FMR which included board members, there were about five people all asking me questions! The interview was the day before my graduation from Cape Audio College. The day after graduation I got a call from Mark and he was singing on the phone then he congratulated me on getting the job. It felt like a graduation present!” FMR’s Programme Manager Rodney Trudgeon is confident about the appointment: ““Matabataba is a delight to work with and shows amazing aptitude especially in the live studio.”
Green pastures
A homebody at heart, this young man spends his weekends chilling out and listening to music. There is however another passion driving Radebe, and it is far removed from the confines of a sound booth. His paternal grandfather lives in Nelspruit on a smallholding with cows. When Matabataba visits he both milks and helps with the skinning of the cattle. “It feels good, like I’m connected to home.”
Connected, focussed and with his finger on the controls, Matabataba is a young man to watch …or in this case listen out for!
Listen: Fine Music Radio
WS
