Rick O’Shea appears to be everywhere these days. A broadcaster for RTÉ, patron for Epilepsy Ireland, literature curator for Imagine Festival, and the man responsible for Ireland’s biggest book club (yes, Rick, I’ve read your Twitter bio), he’s also making the move from 2fm to present a new show on RTÉ Gold in November.

Despite having loads of experience on the airwaves, Rick seems particularly excited about this latest switch.

“I’ve been involved in radio since I was 19-years-old and I’ve never inherited a blank space like this before,” he beams. “Most of the time I’ve either been moved from one station to another, or I’ve replaced someone else on their show. But with this new slot for Gold, we’re constructing this show from the ground up. That’s an exciting process.”

What can people expect from Afternoon Gold then?

“RTÉ Gold’s success up has really been about the music,” Rick explains. “What sets us apart is that, with a lot of other stations, they’ll have a relatively small playlist of classics. You know, if they happen to put on Wham, it’ll be ‘Wake Me Up’. If you hear Bruce Springsteen, it’ll be ‘Dancing In The Dark’. The idea of Gold has always been to play a broad spectrum of ‘golden’ songs. Good music from another era.

FORK IN THE ROAD

“For Hot Press readers, there’s gonna be a lot of guitar music. My personal predilections have always been towards proper bands, real bands. Now, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to slip some Bananarama in too, because I probably will! But you’re definitely gonna hear Joy Division, The Undertones, Oasis, Blur – pick any guitar band from the early ‘60s onwards and you’ll hear them over the first few weeks.”

Does Rick remember the first record he bought?

“Ah, it’s embarrassing! The first album I ever bought was by Bruce Willis. It was some record of him singing R&B covers from the ‘80s. For the rest of my adult life, that fact has hung over my career on radio!” Most wouldn’t have known Bruce Willis even made an album… “That’s a good thing,” Rick laughs. “I don’t think anyone should go looking it up.”

Rick’s move coincides with that of fellow presenter Will Leahy, who will also be leaving 2fm to host a show on RTÉ Gold. Is this a sign that digital radio is finally starting to gain traction in Ireland?

“I think there is a fork in the road for digital radio,” Rick reflects. “Until now, there hasn’t been much of a take-up, especially compared with other countries. But we’ve reached a point here where people want greater variety. Digital radio offers that. There’s also talk that many cars coming into Ireland will automatically have digital radio installed. And there are moves to make it widely available across the country. With all that, they’re looking for broadcasters to take up new roles, which is exactly what I’m doing!”

Afternoon Gold With Rick O’Shea starts on November 6.