OJ Borg is a broadcasting genius, a wonderful friend to me, one of the nicest 'famouses' you're ever likely to encounter and addictive late-night Radio 2 company. I was over the moon when he agreed to help me reboot my long-running interview project and I'm ecstatic to share the results with you.
He has a diverse career spanning radio, TV, esports and podcasts, including hosting cycling and MMA shows, presenting on VH1, Nuts TV and the National Lottery and producing content via his company MegaCityDigital.
Let's go!
Hi OJ, thanks for taking part. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood and what your interests and hobbies were?
I don't know, man. The problem is, David, I think when we get to the age we are now, it's difficult to remember what my interests were. My interests were everything, everything and nothing. I stuck at nothing. That was the only thing. I remember if there was a club, I would join it. Like I remember playing everything from football to roller hockey to joining a sprint club, even though I was a terrible runner.
It was just that my interests were everything. There was always an interest around presenting and being on camera, there definitely was. In Leicester, weirdly, in the 90s, we had our own TV channel. So I was desperately trying to get into Radio Leicester. I did a bit of hospital radio, even though they never actually connected the studios. And we had a TV station called Leicester Cable 7, and I loved it. And I went in and I did bits and bobs of presenting, but I did bits and bobs of behind the camera as well. It's where my true love of television came from.
Okay, so what was your first media job?
Well, the problem was I had loads of things I was trying to get into, but they were stuff we did for free. It was stuff you did through the love of it to try and get better at it because you wanted a job. And it takes a long time to ever get to the point where you're getting paid for something. So I guess my first proper paid radio show was Kix 96, and I got picked up. I'd been doing radio for free with Insure FM, and I sent off this demo and they were like, look, “do you want the evening show?” And I was like, “you know what, I do”. So I moved from Manchester to Coventry for that show for £40 a day. I moved my entire life to Coventry for that. And it was great and it was fun. And yeah, that was probably my first job, my first proper job.
Who were your radio heroes growing up?
Well, I listened a lot to a guy called Mark Keane who did a show on Leicester Sound and we all loved it. Me and all my friends loved it because as I remember it, the show was three hours long and we'd do the first hour, which was like music presenting, and then to do an hour of speech and callers, and we all tried to call up and get on and we all did. And there were regular callers and there was themes and there was a guy who just said the word “nim”. And I remember loving it. And I remember Mark Keane doing a link and he did this link about Sit Down by James. And it was like, yes, that's me. I'm ridiculous. And I was just like, “wow, what is this amazing medium?”. So I remember listening to him loads.
I was a massive fan of Mark and Lard. Truly, even when I see Mark, either Mark or Marc knocking about the BBC around the Salford Riveria, I still get slightly starstruck because I loved everything about that show. The anarchy, the rudeness, the closeness to the bone, but the fact they never overstepped the mark.
I'm amazed they got away with a lot of that, especially American Sports Network and Fat Harry White.
But the thing was, though, they got very close to the bone, but I do think they rode it back every time. So they were probably my two main radio heroes. I am not what you would call a radio obsessive. Like lots of people I know who work in the industry, they know what Howard Stern did. I used to live with a guy who was mad about all these different radio DJs, knew everyone, had airchecks from all around the world back in a day before the internet was as prevalent where it was hard to get this stuff. And I didn't. I knew a few radio DJs who I sort of liked. It was never really that for me. It wasn't the fact that I truly idolise tons and tons of radio presenters. I just love the medium.
Can you tell me about Nuts TV?
Yeah. Would Nuts TV be a thing now? Vice wrote a history of it, which was really interesting. I remember Nuts differently, Nuts was all live. It was very laddy. It hit this weird point where the internet was around, but YouTube wasn't big. So realistically, a lot of what Nuts TV was doesn't exist anywhere. There's a few clips of it. It all exists in our brains, what's left of them, and it was fairly anarchic but we had quite high broadcasting standards and the guests were great because the problem since has been finding somewhere for guests to go. There aren't any shows like that, not for young audiences. So we got these amazing guests, brilliant guests and everyone who worked on it went off to quite big stuff.
One guy went to run The One Show and another went off to be Charlie Brooker's executive producer. Another guy ran another production company. I went off to do the National Lottery. Lindsay Chapman became Lindsay Hipgrave. She is one of the main presenters on sports TV. So we all went off to do quite good stuff even though we had a budget of 50 quid a show. It was tremendously thrown together.
What about MTV?
Well, it was never MTV. I was VH1. I was an MTV network presenter, which basically meant I did anything but MTV. And it was great to be there. But we were very much looked on as the lower class people. Like when I was there, Grimmy was one of the interns, so he worked on the show and he was like part of the cool set. Me and my friends were absolutely anything other than cool. And yeah, it was great. I just look back on a bit of sadness because I wish I'd believed in myself a bit more, you know? Wish I'd made more of it. I was very, almost too humble, like I didn't deserve it somehow.
Would you want to do more television than you do?
Yeah, radio is my love, but TV has its own special thing. A: it's great. B: you can do more expansive things in a way, and C: it's nice to work in a studio. I just would rather do more live TV. I mainly do Morning Live when I do get on the telly.
And you did the National Lottery too. That’s the first time I ever encountered you!
Yeah, the Lottery was an interesting one. It was a difficult show. I think they struggled to get presenters because the problem with it was that you were basically selling something. So having a commercial profit-making enterprise on the BBC was always difficult. So to be one of the presenters for them, you had to be good at selling stuff. You had to be good technically and had to be able to hit a million counts.
There was no room for error on the Lottery. A big problem was the counts weren't the same because the balls dropped at different times. So it was a really hard thing to do and you had to be good and make it sound like you weren't selling. You had to make it sound natural and fun. There were only a few of us who could really do it. So yeah, it was good to do that. I did some wonderful stuff with it, and I was sad when it ended.
Yes, it's weird. It used to be a huge event with performances and Bob Monkhouse presenting and everything, and now I think it's announced on ad breaks on ITV or something like that.
Anyway, have you always been nocturnal or is that something you’ve essentially been forced into?
It's something I've had to grow into. I sleep badly, but I think I've always enjoyed doing work early in the morning. I enjoy a breakfast show. I am at my best in the mornings, I would say. You know, I'm at my best. It's towards the end of the day, my brain gets full.
So no, I've not always been nocturnal. I am nocturnal through duty rather than choice.
Can you talk about your daytime cover? It was brilliant when you covered for Coxy at teatime the other week. It’d be great to hear you on daytime more and there’s no doubt you deserve that prominence, but I also like our late-night community.
Oh, mate, it's great. I was saying this to (Producer) Will (Broadbent). I love it when I cover daytimes. I do love it. But this is the show I feel most at home at because it's my show. And it's the longest thing I've ever done up to this. I've never done anything longer than two years. So the fact I've been here nearly eight now means that yeah, it’s wild. The show does blast by and I do find it fun. Last night I was truly asleep at 12:01am because I was just so tired, and had a little snooze, and Will woke me up. So when I did the first link I did on air, I'm pretty sure my head was still in the clouds. But yeah, I mean, when I say I'm not nocturnal, I am. I do like late nights as well. I just think I'm at my best earlier in the morning.
Your show was a good friend to me when I was in a bedsit in Middlesbrough for a few months after my separation a few years back.
Oh mate, I’m sorry to hear that. I’m glad the show gave you some solace.
I love the music policy on Radio 2 these days. I’m 43 now so most of the music is from my lifetime. I think ten years ago there would have been too much 60s and 70s stuff I couldn’t relate to even though I do like a lot from those decades.
So the music's great, but obviously there are features that keep you listening as well, because there's lots of games like Punderland, Wish You Were There? and stuff like that. It's slightly mad that there wasn't a live overnight Radio 2 show for a while.
I don't think it was that long, was it? How long was it?
I think it was like two years or something like that, and it was Alex Lester and Janice Long (RIP) before that.
Well, I was their cover, but they moved the show to the After Midnight brand. So it was seven shows split between the two of them and they just covered each other. So there was never really a chance for me to ever get on Radio 2 at the time. I would get like a show a year or something like that.
Also, the music mix is great as well. Can't think of any commercial radio station that plays Sabrina Carpenter next to Dire Straits or whatever.
No, no commercial station gets close to what we play. I think Virgin's getting there. I can tell you tonight that this is what we're starting with. Tonight we’re starting with Ride on Time by Black Box, then we'll go from that into Song of the Future, the new one from U2. And then it's Common People and The Bangles, R.E.M, Def Leppard and Lionel Richie, so it's definitely a vibey mix.
It can feel like it’s basically all my throwback playlists on shuffle. I don't think even around 5-10 years ago I would be listening to anywhere near this much Radio 2 but now I'm finding myself doing 18-hour stints.
God, wow. Get a RAJAR diary!
A lot of older people have complained that the music from the 60s and 70s has been dialled down a bit. There's a lot of people who don't like anything released since 1987, but there are other places to go if you do want to listen to older stuff. Also, Radio 2 tried to launch a spin-off station focusing on older stuff, but weren't allowed to do it. Radio 2 is doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing for me though. I'm 43 and I'm just thinking, “well that’s just one classic tune after another!”.
I feel like there was a huge gap between Radio 1 and 2 before, and it didn't feel like an easy step to go from one to another, but now I think it's natural, especially with Scott Mills going straight from R1 to R2, which made the bridge feel shorter.
So with that in mind, let's talk about my favourite feature on your show which I wish was on more often. I am of course talking about Ravio 2. Can you describe Ravio 2 for anyone who might be unfamiliar with it?
Well it started off as us just thinking, “do you know what, let's end the week on some big tunes!”. I think it was three songs or four songs to begin with, and we've pushed the boundaries as much as possible. I just think it's a nice way to end the week and it became a big thing. And I sort of constantly say it's the biggest songs we feel like we can get away with on Radio 2. There are songs we definitely do turn down and do think they're too much. But I just think it's a nice way to end the week. There's many songs you can get away with.
A big part of the appeal for me is thinking, “I can’t believe I’m hearing this on Radio 2!”, but at the same time, someone who went clubbing in 1988 is 55 or 56 now.
Who are you listening to at the moment and what were your biggest songs growing up?
I love Sam Fender. We played some of him last night. It was amazing. I grew up listening to a bit of everything. The first CD I bought was Joe le Taxi by Vanessa Paradis and the first tape I bought was On A Ragga Tip by SL2.
The first album I bought was The Best of The Bangles, so my music taste is all over the place. I listen to a lot of everything.
I don't have a favourite genre. I had a big "indie" phase as a teenager, like almost everyone did in the 90s but I'm not loyal to any style now, either it works for me or it doesn't.
I'd say the music I come back to the most is probably house music and dance music. Upbeat music is what I love. But, you know, anything that gives me vibes. Anything that gives me vibes. So I grew up listening to pretty much a bit of everything.
My playlists are just a mix of pop, indie, rock, dance and rap. A tune's a tune. I'm not loyal to any particular genre at all. That's probably why your show appeals to me so much.
You seem to have a long-term relationship with Manchester and Salford. Did you actually go to uni there?
Yeah, I came to university in Salford quite late. I'd failed a year of college, DJed abroad for a year and just worked in bars and dicked about. Then I came up here and it was a choice. I got offers from a few place, and I say this as someone who was very lowly qualified. I had the basics, but all at a very low level because I struggle with concentrating long enough.
I wanted to go to Ravensbourne, but they shut down the course I was going to do and I was really gutted about that. So I didn’t go there. I also had an offer from Luton and there was another place I was thinking about.
But I chose Salford because I loved the building and the fact they had Channel M. I thought, you know what, that sounds cool. I also never wanted to live in London. Growing up, I just didn’t like the idea of it. I can be a bit contrary sometimes and go against things just for the sake of it. When I moved to Manchester I loved the people, the vibe of the city, I was just really into it.
So I finished uni and stayed in Manchester until I got a job in Coventry. That’s when I moved out. But every time a job finished somewhere... I lived in Coventry, came back to Manchester; got a job in London, came back to Manchester; lived in Birmingham, came back to Manchester. My wife is from Macclesfield, so she’s local to the area. She’d lived in the place we live now, and we thought, you know what, let’s just put our roots down here.
Yeah, I've always had a romantic vision of Manchester. I've lived in Greater Manchester twice, first Rochdale, then commuting in to the Town Hall area, and later in Audenshaw. I didn’t really want to leave but I had to. I grew up in Huddersfield, so Manchester always felt like this magical place just over the hills that I was really envious I didn’t live in.
Yeah, it was the same for me growing up in Leicester. I felt that way about Birmingham.
What do you think the future of radio is? A lot of people say kids don’t really listen to it anymore. Will it still be around in 10 or 20 years?
Yeah, radio is going nowhere. Absolutely nowhere. I think the future of all broadcasting is live. You can make as many YouTube videos or podcasts as you like, but what people crave, especially in an era of AI, is connection. They want the ability to connect with someone real.
As AI becomes more prevalent and our lives become more digital and more disconnected, that connection you get from radio, the ability to send a voice note in, for us to create a ridiculous feature and have you take part, that one-to-one connection is powerful.
You can listen to any podcast you want overnight, but if you're lonely a podcast isn’t going to make you feel less lonely. If you want excitement, a podcast probably won’t give you that because you know it was recorded earlier.
Cheers, OJ!
You can hear OJ on Radio 2 every Tuesday to Friday from midnight to 3am or whenever you like on BBC Sounds!
