Rob da Bank

The Rob da Bank show is on on Saturdays 5 am - 7am, sandwiched between Radio 1's Essential mix - The world's biggest DJs on the world's biggest decks and Edith Bowman Music, entertainment and the latest flim and DVD news .

His show is Radio 1's leftfield show - techno, bleeps, ambient and accoustic. He plays Strange and beautiful leftfield music.

On the Radio 1 schedule I think Rob da Bank is most comprable to Zane Lowe; they both play an extensive range of music and aren't hemmed in by how famous the artists are or their genre. However their presenting styles couldn't be more different. Zane Lowe is hyped and energetic, passionate about the music he plays. He uses a lot of sound effects like klaxons and explosions and it all helps to imbue the listener with his passion. Rob da Bank has a more lazy style. This doesn't mean he's a bad DJ by any means; his style suits his slot. Between 5am and 7am most people are asleep, and the ones that are conscious are just waking up, they want someone to gradually ease themselves into their day, and Rob da Bank more that satisfies that need.

Another reason for his more relaxed style is the type of music he plays. Although, as I have said, he covers a lot of genres, all of it is relatively relaxed. There isn't a lot of Drum n Bass or up-tempo dance music. It would sound wrong if before, for example Julie Andrews & Moondog & Martyn Green — Favourite Nursery Rhymes, which is pretty much what is sounds like, a DJ introduced it in the same way they did a song by Pendulum.

Technically, his show has the kind of dream-like quality his presenting has, although this is all infused with a youthful touch, because is target audience like the rest of Radio 1 is 16-25.

For his bed music, he uses the intros of songs. This is a good method for him, as a lot of the tracks he plays are quite long. This means he gets to introduce the song at the same time as it is being played, which sounds professional and smooth. He also sometimes uses the track he has just played as bedding music when the next song isn't suitable to use a bed music.

His levels are interesting too; his mic is up higher than the bed music than most radio shows. I'm not a hundred percent sure why he does this, but it might be another ploy to keep his audience awake!

As the show is not commercial, there is a continuous flow of content which helps to keep the show fluid and smooth. If there were adverts I think that the ambiance would be ruined, and it wouldn't feel so together. There aren't may shows like Rob da Banks on commercial radio for just that reason; the commercial would just sound incongruous.

There is minimal audience interaction, which I think is down too the early morning slot; most people don't want to be texting into the radio between 5 and 7 on a Saturday morning. This is also because of the amount of music that is played. On this 2 hour show there are usually around 30 tracks played. This is roughly the same amount of song played on Greg James' 3 hour show, so you can see that Rob da Bank has a much higher music to speech ratio, as he doesn't have many features.

There is also virtually no branding; or any stings to show you whose show it is. I wonder if the BBC just puts less effort into the more obscure shows, or just assumes if you are listening at 5am on a Saturday morning you'll know whose talking.

The two features Rob da Banks show does have are both music based, and barely features really- 'ROB’S BEST AND IMPROBABLY GREAT RECORD IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW… POSSIBLY… WELL AT LEAST FOR THIS MORNING…MAYBE' is his tentatively named take on Zane Lowe's ' Hottest Record in the World Right Now'- just a song that he likes. Saturday Skank is a reggae flavoured song that doesn't even get announced until after it's been played.

The thing about this show is there's nothing that makes it essential listening, it's all rather lazy and a little bit boring. I'd turn on if I was driving that early on the morning or wanted a bit of background noise pottering around the house, but I wouldn't make an effort. It's defiantly appropriate for 16-25 because the music is very contemporary, but it's not for mainstreamer's as it's too out there.