2FM DJ Jenny Greene talks mixing dance classics and broadcasting from Eurovision ‘16
THE Electric Disco every Saturday night on 2FM is a nostalgic trawl through the decades of classic dance music bangers with DJ Jenny Greene and has been a fixture on the national radio station since 2007.
On radio The Electric Disco is a request-led trip down memory lane featuring all the big names and club bangers from the last three decades. Classic tracks from Moby, Faithless, The Prodigy mix with monster anthems from Robert Miles, Ferry Corsten and Tiesto setting up the listeners for the biggest party night of the week. Jenny brings The Electric Disco to the city this Saturday.
“When I do the Electric Disco Live I will play a lot of classics that are on the radio show. I’ll probably concentrate more on the classics at The Library,” Jenny Greene says.
The 2fm DJ, who got her first set of decks when she was 12, is looking forward to bringing the classics, her own bootlegs and remixes and newer material from DJ/producer Riva Starr to The Library Bar this weekend. Jenny hopes as the residency becomes established over time that they will introduce various guests to keep it fresh and change it every month.
“I’m really looking forward to it, It is a great place to do the show. The screens, lighting and sound is great. We always get a good crowd and a good vibe going. We hope to get that crowd out who are maybe a little bit older, so might not go out as much at the weekends. They are the kind of people who tend to text in and tweet the radio show on a Saturday night. This is an opportunity once a month to let your hair down.”
Club DJing is Jenny’s first love but radio has become her full-time gig almost by accident.
“I ended up loving radio because it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I just wanted to DJ. It has been nice being able to do both.”
For Jenny, live DJ sets are more immediate when it comes to sharing the music and reading the crowd but social media has given her an instant rapport with her radio audience.
“Radio has always been like playing to a microphone but in the last few years since social media has developed, you are now getting instant feedback from listeners on Facebook and Twitter. That is your crowd. You feed off those messages as you are going.”
Jenny is on 2FM every weekday co-hosting with Westlife crooner Nicky Byrne. It is a strange pairing especially given their musical backgrounds.
Jenny has heard it all before and she has no time for any musical snobbery!
“It is one of those pairings that worked from day one which was great. It’s great fun, everyday is different. The last two years have flown by. My inner boy band has come out in me that I never thought was there,” she laughs.
“I was singing ‘Baby Can I hold You’ in Ronan Keating’s voice on air the other day.”
Now that Nicky Byrne will represent the nation at Eurovision and bring out a solo album, Limerick Post wondered would Jenny lend her considerable production/mixing skills to Nicky’s Eurosong tune ‘Sunlight’.
“You know what! I don’t think it needs a remix.”
“I have to say that it is a great song. I think it will do really well. I’ve got fingers, toes and everything crossed for him. We’ll be heading over to Eurovision in Sweden to do the show from there, for the qualifying anyway. It will be exciting and nerve-wracking.”
Jenny’s live DJ sets mixes house, techno and everyone’s favourite old skool classics that regularly packs out clubs across the country. While her radio show is request driven, the live set is a more structured and urgent event though she might take an occasional suggestion.
“I plan out in my head what I’m going to play. I’m only playing for two hours so I want to get it right. People do shout up requests to you and if I can throw it in I will. If I have it with me, you know.”
Hear Jenny Greene’s Electric Disco every Saturday on 2FM. Jenny co-hosts with Nicky Byrne (ex-Westlife) from 10am weekdays. The unlikely duo will broadcast from The Eurovision Song Contest from Stockholm in May where Nicky Byrne’s track ‘Sunlight’ is the Irish entry currently a 16/1 shot on Paddy Power.
DJ Jenny Greene brings her Electric Disco DJ set to The Library this Friday March 18.
http://www.rte.ie/2fm/jenny-greene/
