Radio Sez Interview (2024)

Sez (@radiosez.co.uk) has one of the most unique multi-hyphenate profiles I've seen in a hot minute. The music-managing, DJing, event-promoting, tennis-coaching, freelancing, radio show-host has also recently graduated from her Politics and International Relations degree. 

Labelling herself as “mouthy”, she tells us about her history with activism that led her to pursue Politics at university. Speaking at the UN at just 17, she has always been passionate about advocating for her beliefs and, quite frankly, getting shit done. Eventually growing tired of doing uncompensated work on international campaigns and consultancy, she took a step back and decided to focus on a more personal project, going on to found Resist Rape Culture (RRC) in her first year at university.

The society began during the 2020 Pandemic through a frightening realisation that although her and her peers were all locked in student accommodation, amongst people they'd consider friends, sexual assaults and drink-spikings were still happening at an alarming rate. These parties that were supposed to offer respite from the world falling apart around us, became breeding grounds for sexual harassment.

RRC quickly grew and gained momentum, going on to win several awards from the Student Union. Whilst running RRC, Sez was also the part time Women’s Officer at the uni before realising she needed to take a step back to focus on her true passion, radio.

As per usual, nothing ever goes to plan though. Sez became station manager of the university radio station due to there being no one else willing to do the job. This seems to be a recurring theme. If no one will, Sez will. Going on to programme 70 shows a week, and producing many of them too, once again her passion dwindled. It wasn't until going to the Student Radio Conference and receiving positive feedback from industry professionals that she'd regained the confidence she needed to carry on pursuing a career in radio.

I hear this story a lot. People are being driven from passion due to pressure to produce and lack of recognition. Growing out of hobbies into adulthood under the guise of “growing up”. If you listen closely, “growing up” is just Capitalism wearing a tie and wagging its finger at you. We’re convinced that anything is only worth doing if it's profitable, and profit is only ever monetary. So we pack it in, pat ourselves on the back for being a realist and keep it pushing. Sez pushes back. Likely stemming from her political background, she seems to recognise the unjust treatment and circumstances that she's been put in on the path to pursuing a career in radio. Especially since so much of it seems to be attached to her gender as a woman in a male-dominated industry.

“I started radio cos I liked it. I don't get bogged down with all these people not taking me seriously because I’m a woman in charge.”

From being disrespected as the station manager, to being paid £4 less than her male counterparts as a tennis coach (a job she's gone on to quit since this interview - thank god), she refuses to be deterred from her goals by the idiocy of others. 

There's a certainty to the way Sez conducts herself which makes you feel like she knows something you don't. I asked her about how this conviction lends to her work, especially as an interviewer:

“it’s all power dynamics. […] I think it’s one of the things that makes me a good interviewer is that I make the most of that power dynamic, I might be a young woman and you’re a super successful band touring the globe - but right now I’m asking you the questions.”

Taking advantage of this dynamic as a woman in the industry is paramount, it's one of the few times she’ll have inherent authority. She went on to note how this mistreatment in a professional and personal context has led her to struggle with anxiety and imposter syndrome but stresses that this vulnerability doesn't detract from her strength of character.

“As much as you see a super powerful woman who seems sure of herself, which I am to an extent, […] there’s nothing wrong with crying about how someone has made you feel.”

Where crying gives us space to feel, radio gives Sez space to express. She kept affirming to me that “everyone is entitled to take up space”, and she takes up space once a month at Steam Radio, hosting her show, Ones to Watch. Although the idea of having a mic on hand makes some people sick with nerves, Sez can't think of anything better.

“ … me and my mic, we’re besties. I feel so comfortable when I’ve got a mic in my hand, I’m the shit. […] Like yeah bitches, book me, play me, pay me, love me!” She laughs.

Sez is constantly using her platform to discuss and advocate for grassroots music venues and events. Expressing a particular dismay with festivals and corporate gigs that encourage emerging artists to submit to competitions that are decided via fan vote. Everything is reduced to nepotism, popularity contests and bulking up their mailing list subscriptions. It's not about what you know, it's who you know and who knows you. The rest is going swiftly out the window. This ails any minorities from having the same level of access to the industry most of their peers.

Speaking about the Misogyny in Music Report (2024), a report that detailed the high rates of abuse and mistreatment in the industry and the high rates at which they go unreported, Sez refers to the music industry as a ‘boys club’. Telling us that she's often assumed to be backstage because she’s shagging a guy on the line up when she’s not only on the line up but sometimes she’s put on the event herself.

“Is it so outrageous that someone with tits likes rock music? God forbid.”

The dismissal of the role of women in the music industry is perplexing. Not only are some of the greatest performers women but women are also one of the most dedicated demographics to have onside as a musician. It’s often women that buy merch, that engage online and are often walking ad campaigns for their favourite performers. Teenage girls in particular are near rabid with support. Teenage girls will change their profile pictures, put your name in their bio and argue with anyone that slates their fave (Just like I did for Cher Lloyd when she was robbed on Series 7 of X Factor in 2010, still devvoed).

“These younger girls that are 14-16 are the ones who will get a train to your show. They’ll turn up for you, why are you chatting shit about them? They’re letting you live your dream.”

There's a lot of sacrifices we make in pursuing “the dream”. In this day and age, being heavily active on social media as an artist seems to be one of them. I think some people mistakenly view using socials to promote their work as a cost to their integrity as an artist. I have felt the same way on occasion. The feeling that to churn out reels and stories or to specifically create work for social media was distracting me from my art, the truth is - we just haven't been using it creatively enough. Sez said it best here:

“As much as everyone says you have to sell your soul a little bit, you don’t. You can do things your way but you have To take up space, you have to put yourself out there.”

This is obviously a process. Odds on, you're not going to wake up tomorrow and suddenly be prepared for the consequences of being terminally on display. Sez assures us that over time, you will earn to take things in your stride. Noting street interviews as a great form of exposure therapy for rejection.

“The amount of times I’ve done street interviews and I’ve asked if I could speak to someone and they tell me to fuck off. I don’t blink an eye I […] For me it’s quite easy to continue putting myself out there because I’ve gotten into the mindset that this is what I’m doing, you can’t please everyone but it didn’t come immediately.”

In fact, Sez admits she used to hide her radio work on social media on a separate account, only posting after her shows had aired and went well. Now, she’s near indistinguishable from her brand.

“People know me more as radio sez rather than serena. I was joking the other day that I should legally change my name because the amount of times I’ve been on a guest list as Radio Sez instead of Serena Jemmett is so silly. Like I don’t have my ID but I could show you my sunglasses? Or my stickers?”

Being recognised as a brand is great for business, but often a pain in the arse for the individual. It's easy to forget the work that goes into hosting shows and planning events when you only witness results. A particularly grating example of this was when Sez was organising her weekend festival, Ones to Watch. Setting up a form for people to submit for a paid slot, Sez was met with DM’s trying to dodge the process altogether and a bunch of applications disregarding the point of setting up the process in the first place. Safe to say, they didn't make the line up.

It’s easy to take advantage of independent creators. Encouraged to endure mistreatment under the impression it’ll “pay off”, a lot of us put up with more than we should. Sez is adamant to break that pattern. I think this is, in part, due to her respect and adoration for the grassroots scene. To accept mistreatment would be to perpetuate the idea that grassroots don’t matter and aren’t to be taken seriously. 

It all circles back to conviction, and Sez has a shit tonne. She’s a serious yute with some big, bad ideas and she’s just as big and bad as them. From her start in politics and speaking at the UN to hosting events like her two-day festival, Ones to Watch (which we covered in this issue so keep an eye out!) Sez takes each of her ventures as seriously as the last because she’s serious about herself. She believes in her right to take up space as much as she believes she’ll do a propa good job doing so. A lesson I think is worth us all learning.