Music
23 Mar 04

At home with..Jenny Huston

From 2fm’s The Waiting Room to her own porch, Jenny Huston takes us on a tour of her music, and most treasured possessions.

hen she’s not musically educating the masses with her radio show The Waiting Room, or being gal-about-town in general, 2FM’s Jenny Huston seeks calm and refuge in her flat just off Pleasant’s Street.

“One of the best things about the flat is the location – it’s within walking distance of Whelan’s and The Village, which is great or terrible depending which way you look at it,” she grins. Proximity to nearby ‘amenities’ aside, the area is also a prime location for foodies. “There are plenty of delis around, which is handy, and I also love to cook, and there are nearby Halal and speciality food shops for that, which is great.”
Jenny shares the flat with Therese, a long-time friend she met at college and, as kismet would have it, Radio 1 researcher. “Thankfully, she’s very tolerant of the fact that CDs and vinyl take up so much space in the flat,” says Jenny. Ironically, when Jenny first arrived in Ireland from Canada several years ago, she arrived with 12 CDs in a soft-pack holder. ‘“I basically came over to visit my mother, who was working in Kilkenny at the time on contract, and started working part-time,” she recalls. “Then I would go back and forth to Canada and my brother and sister would bring me over my CDs and vinyl. In fact, when I did my first radio show at Radio Kilkenny, I’d have to borrow all my music from Cormac Battle!”
Is she one of these people who has a collection made up of everyone else’s stuff then?
“I have to say, I’m actually pretty conscientious on that score!” she laughs.
Jenny’s CD collection, which runs literally into the thousands, is however made up of quite a few freebies and band demos.
“RTE’s way of giving a new band a leg up is by recording a session for them, so there are lots of those in my collection,” she explains. “Sadly, I have so much stuff I have yet to listen to. I get up late each morning, drink some tea and listen to about four or five new things, before I have to stop myself and get on with the rest of the day.”
With all the incoming freebies due to work, does she actually buy anything anymore? “All the stuff I get is new, so I spend a lot of time stocking up on the oldies…I just bought the old Super Furries albums.”
While her music cabinets at RTE are reportedly “in chaos”, the home collection has been alphabetised.
“It’s not due to any trainspotting tendencies,” she insists. “I just put them in order after Christmas to make it easier to find stuff for the show. Besides, the vinyl is still all over the shop.”
A quick scan of the sounds indicates that she is an indie champion at heart;
“I’m a huge PJ Harvey fan, and I also have stuff by Elastica, Luscious Jackson, My Bloody Valentine and Blur 7-inch rarities. I also have some cool stuff that my mother gave me, like Rolling Stones vinyl, with hologrammed covers and stuff.”
Never one to let the grass grow under her feet, there are plenty of newbies on display too: “I’m listening to the Von Bondies, Belle & Sebastian, Camera Obscura, Stills, Lilo Kylie, Sophia and Duke Spirit, who are like a heavier PJ Harvey.”
Jenny’s near-addiction to music magazines goes a way to explaining her exhaustive knowledge of music. “I love hotpress, NME and Q, and I’m trying not to keep all the back issues. I tend every so often to bring them down to the charity shops.”
Speaking of good karma, it appears that Jenny is good friends with the most benevolent man in rock, Bell X1’s Paul Noonan. “He loves giving quirky gifts, he’s responsible for most of the silly presents in the flat,” she reveals. “He gave me this mug that every time I pick it up it sings this song. Needless to say, I tend not to use it very much. He also gave me a great ‘Bonjour’ doormat for the flat, and some collector snowman mugs. The other gifts most people give me are great music books, like Rock Album Covers, or The History Of Punk.”
She admits that, while she loves to read, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day.
“I tend to forget to read, if that makes sense. The last book I read was Dark Fields by Alan Glynn. I tend to go more for thriller or detective type books, with plenty of law and forensics stuff.”
When it comes to the DVD collection, there are predictably quite a few music titles in the collection.
“I’m not the type of person who’d watch a film twice, so I tend to rent films or go to the cinema. Again, a lot of the DVDs are from work – Tenacious D, Muse, Beatles…I did buy Paths To Freedom and Shrek though’.
If her flat was ever on fire, the first thing Jenny would reach for is her treasured collection of photos.
“There’s loads from my birthday and some from my 30th birthday party, that are pretty much irreplaceable.”
Aside from the obvious musical attractions, one of Jenny’s favourite things about her flat is the porch.
“It’s really rare to have your own outside space in the city, so I tend to appreciate it. I love sitting out there in the summer with a glass of wine.”
If the offer stands, HP are more than willing to provide the Chardonnay…