New Intern on the Block: Meet Erika!

“On-air dreams in the making.”

Like most teenagers, I get weirdly fixated on a TV show at the ripe age of 13, and in my case, it was NBC’s Frasier. I’ve always thought there was something soothing about a person speaking into a microphone, talking to thousands of people, but only within the confines of a studio, with no one but themselves. No matter the type of program—be it news, music, or sports—every person tunes in for different reasons, yet shares similar interests. Granted Eastside Radio does not provide free therapy sessions to strangers like Dr. Frasier Crane’s KACL, but that’s exactly why it’s made for me. Eastside loves music and so do I. 

A Little Bit About Me

I was born and raised in a small city in Indonesia, and as early as when I was still in my mother’s womb, she was determined to make me a “genius” by constantly playing Mozart’s sonatas. Now that I’m 21, it’s safe to say that “genius” is an overstatement but if anything, my mom has made me into an avid music lover, particularly jazz, pop, and classical. A current obsession of mine is Laufey and her new album Bewitched: The Goddess Edition (I’m seeing her at the Sydney show in September!). 

My personal favourite from the album:

My parents thought it’d be best for me to expand my horizons and explore the world beyond my own country so I moved to Sydney in 2022 for university. I am currently studying Media Arts and Production at UTS which is essentially the perfect blend of film and music.

Rather than focusing on the visuals of a film, I tend to obsess over the audio more, which makes sense why I’m at Eastside now! I love doing voice-overs, meshing music with dialogues, and simply, having deep chats with my friends. If I had a nickel for every time my friends and I say we’re gonna start a podcast together, I’d be rich by now. Not only is radio a great career option, but I also think it is such a powerful medium that allows people to engage with art, politics, and culture, made better by its accessibility to anyone from anywhere.

In a nutshell, I’m excited about a lot of things in my internship journey at Eastside Radio: getting my hands on the techy side of the radio business, discussing my favourite artists and songs, but mostly, being serenaded with jazz music at my desk all day long.