Mike Smith

Mike Smith’s love affair with radio began at a tender age. He became hooked on the classic European stations of the late 1960’s. His early recollections, “My family had no TV in those days and I remember being in bed with the radio underneath the pillow, listening to Radio North Sea and Luxembourg. Radio One had just started transmitting and it didn’t take long before I was addicted”.

His audio obsession led to him starting a collection of vinyl records, purchasing his first 7 inch single when he was only seven years old. The collection grew to its peak in 1990 but when he decided to emigrate, Mike had to reluctantly sell the majority of his music.

The first time he became involved in broadcasting was at the age of 16, when he was introduced to hospital radio as the proverbial “gofer”. He remembers fondly, “I would help to select the music and visit the patients to collect requests and dedications”. Sadly, this only lasted about a year, before a shortage of funds meant that the station had to close. Other opportunities arose over the years for Mike to experience radio from the other side of the speaker but these were only ever in the short term, however they were rewarding just the same.

1984 was the year which Mike first visited the Canary Islands and like most people he fell in love with the place. Many visits later, in 1999, he met the owner of a radio station based in Tenerife and through that relationship he landed his first spot behind the microphone.

In September 2006 he joined the high calibre team of presenters at Fresh fm, where he joins listeners everyday (except Sunday) between 11am and 2pm. Mike sums up his feelings like this, “To be a part of peoples lives on a daily basis is truly a privilege and a pleasure. I try to treat every listener as a friend and I always remember that they have a choice”. Mike left the UK in 1990 and since then has lived in California and Southern Africa as well as the Canaries. He also has a commercial pilots licence and has flown professionally since 1994, amassing over 3000 flight hours.