You may not recognise Ben Moseby by looking at his picture, but many of you wake up to the sound of his voice every morning. The Palm FM radio presenter, who lives in Kingsteignton, is the driving force behind the breakfast show. He joined the station in June and is enjoying being part of the Palm team, but says the early morning starts can be tiring. 'It's a struggle getting up sometimes,' he said. 'I have three alarms, the first goes off at 4.40am and they go off in five-minute intervals and get up just gone 5am. 'I have a little boy now called George, who is five months old. He usually stirs at about that time, so he's a natural alarm clock for me.' Palm might be a fairly new station but Ben is proud of what it has achieved. 'We are the only true local station in south Devon now. We've just had our first set of audience figures through which are encouraging,' he said. 'We have to keep spreading the word and keep working. The people we have spoken to have been very complimentary about the station so it's all really positive for us.' Ben spent years working at holiday camps up and down the country before getting a job in radio. 'I was a red coat and a blue coat and also deejayed and presented as part of my job. I even had to dress up in character costumes – one was a ballet-dancing ostrich called Florence at Pontins,' he joked. After five years entertaining, he decided he wanted to follow a new career path and landed a job at Abbey National. Not long after starting he saw an advert for a job as a travel presenter for AA Roadwatch. 'I kind of fell into radio accidentally,' he said. 'Most of the people I know have done the hospital radio route and started that way as they knew that's the career they wanted. 'The advert said the person had to be able to speak on the radio and know the local area, and I thought I could do it.' He spent 18 months presenting travel bulletins for local radio stations before getting a job as a Black Thunder presenter at Gemini Radio in Exeter. Ben became interested in how radio shows were compiled, and before long he was sitting in with established DJs such as Kevin Kane and Chris Edgecumbe. 'They showed me the ropes and and I learnt the workings of the studio,' said Ben. He recorded a demo which was picked up by Gemini's programme controller and he started by filling in when staff were absent. Before long he was presenting the breakfast show for Gemini and stayed for two years. Now he is carving out a career at Palm. 'The thing that I really like is this station is truly local. I loved working for Gemini, but because they are owned by a national company it became less and less local and there were more network shows. 'It took the enjoyment out of it for me. Half the reason I enjoy Palm is that I can talk about local stuff and attend local events and meet the listeners. 'I had never done radio to my patch before working at Palm, and it is great to be able to do it in the area I know well.' Despite being a presenter for a number of years, he still gets a high from being on air. 'It definitely keeps you on your toes,' he said. 'You hear that bigger radio stations have researchers and travel presenters to help out and the presenter literally turns up a few minutes before. Here, we are on our own and do our own travel and weather as well as presenting. 'You never really lose the buzz, as you never quite know the reaction you are going to get.' Ben also comperes, is a musician and performs regularly in productions by local theatre group Boads (Brixham Operatics and Dramatic Society). 'I have done six years with them,' he said. 'You can't beat live stage shows. With the stage you get an instant reaction from the audience and you can't beat that. 'But all in all I have to say though radio is what I enjoy the most.' Tune into Palm FM on 105.5fm.
