Juliette Jones
My guest this week is Juliette Jones, a freelance writer/journalist, currently based in Glasgow, who studied Religious Studies in the University of Wales in the late 1990s. Juliette was born in Inverness and she talks about the route that took her to Lampeter and the appeal of living and studying in a smaller place. Her earliest memory is from her time in playgroup and she talks about the relatively uncomplicated world of her childhood where the radio played a foundational role. In the context of learning to play the piano we also discuss the difference between wanting to do something and having it imposed.
The conversation then turns to the role and importance of music and Juliette talks about how she had a different taste in music to other school friends, and we learn whether she is a New Kids on the Block or a Pet Shop Boys fan and which of the two gave her a taste of the adult world. We then move on to discuss the work she has done presenting a request show on hospital radio in Edinburgh and the ‘pure joy’ involved in ‘pretending to be a DJ’ where everything was on vinyl. Juliette reflects on how she thinks of Lampeter and hospital radio in the same way as they are two things she chose to go and do of her own volition. We learn why Mark Radcliffe is Juliette’s radio hero and why she designates one stage of his career as being that of ‘an Olympic swimmer in a bathtub’. Juliette talks about what it is that singles an excellent DJ out from their competitors and we discuss why there wouldn’t be any sacrifice entailed in ‘giving up’ one’s Christmas in order to go on the radio.
Juliette refers to her time at Lampeter as one where she almost forgot about getting a degree as doing the course was more about the journey there. We then talk about some of the tutors who especially inspired her.
In the final part of the interview Juliette discusses how, generally, her memories are positive and how the first part of her life in particular was more uncomplicatedly happy. But, we learn why Juliette doesn’t feel that she has necessarily fulfilled her dreams and Juliette talks candidly about what she is missing and would like to do and why it is that she considers herself to be more of a looking back than a looking forward type of person.
Please note: Opinions expressed are solely those of Chris Deacy and Juliette Jones and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the University of Kent.