Mary Anne Hobbs is probably the most widely-known radio host and evangelist for underground music in the world. As a BBC radio host, international live DJ, and music curator for events (such as 2007’s historic Sonar Festival UK dubstep showcase with Skream, Oris Jay, Kode 9 & The Spaceape) she has championed the sound of dubstep, grime and experimental music across the globe. Her ‘Dubstep Warz’ show for BBC Radio1 is widely regarded as the show that broke the dubstep sound globally. Mary Anne also makes films, presents on TV and writes. She released a trilogy of definitive underground electronic compilations for the Planet Mu label. Her tenure on the UK’s BBC radio programming is nothing short of legendary.
We’ve really missed Mary Anne Hobbs recently. Fans of experimental music worldwide were shocked to hear that she was leaving the BBC last October after 14 years on the air and handing over her coveted 2-4 am time slot to Benji B. Often considered UK’s first lady of electronic music, Mary Anne Hobbs has been championing the sound of dubstep (also credited with helping create the genre with her Dubstep Warz program) as well as dark, dubby, underground and experimental music to a legion of fans who were sad to see her leave radio last year. In the interim she helped Darren Aronofsky score the award-winning film, Black Swan (check out the soundtrack that includes Jakes, Sepalcure and Al Tourettes) but otherwise had not heard her refined selection of tunes for a little while now. That is – Until now.
We are quite proud to announce that Dubspot is the presenting sponsor of Mary Anne Hobbs’ THE ROAD WARRIOR TOUR which kicks off on April 13 in North America. The tour is a mixed series of solo performances and curated showcases that features Gonjasufi, Lorn, Take, Strangeloop, and other special guests at the showcases while Hobbs will perform solo at others. We are most excited about her visit to New York where she will conduct a workshop for students on Monday April 25. Stay tuned for more details on our workshop and in the meantime check out the tour dates and pick up your tickets asap – this is gonna be hot!
Next up – more great news for fans of Mary Anne Hobbs’ sick selections and sultry on-air voice: she’s returning to radio starting July 9th in the UK. She recently announced her return to radio on Xfm, the station where she launched her career in radio, presenting a weekly show beginning in a prime-time Saturday evening slot. She explains more on her website:
In 2011, Xfm have given me the opportunity to deliver the music that I am so passionate about on a primetime platform. This is such a victory, not just for me, but for all the artists I believe in and all the live listeners who care so deeply. I’ll be broadcasting from Manchester across the world bringing future sound and guest mixes from the most forward-thinking artists on earth. Dubstep, UK funky, minimal techno, deep house, hip hop, electronica, grime, neo-folk and art house rock… no holds barred.
We’ll be warming-up with ‘Audio Postcards’ from the festivals I’m performing and curating at this spring, beginning on my coast-to-coast Road Warrior tour of America in April. My aim… to create some truly mind-blowing, redefining radio on Xfm.
Mary Anne Hobbs – Artist Bio
Mary Anne Hobbs is best known as an evangelist for underground music, a BBC Radio1 host and an international live DJ.
Her ‘Dubstep Warz’ show for BBC Radio1 is widely regarded as the show that broke the dubstep sound globally. Mary Anne also makes films, presents on TV and writes. She released a trilogy of definitive underground electronic compilations for the Planet Mu label.
Mary Anne has curated her stage four years for Sonar Festival in Barcelona, including the historic 2007 UK dubstep showcase with Skream, Oris Jay, Kode 9 & The Spaceape, bringing the sound out of boutique clubs for the very first time and onto an international festival stage in front of 8.5 thousand people.
Mary Anne left school at the age of 16 and went to work in an egg packing factory for the princely sum of £39 per week. She quickly ran away to London with a hard rock band and lived on a bus with them in a car park in Hayes, Middlesex for 12 months, working as their lighting engineer, record sleeve artist, wardrobe designer and mechanic. Her great ambition was to become a music journalist, and she figured the next logical step would be to produce her own fanzine Krush.
She sent a couple of issues along with a demented CV detailing her adventures to the Editor of Sounds music paper and landed a job with them at the age of 19. At 21, having been profoundly influenced by snapshots of Metallica & Motley Crue, Mary Anne sold all her worldly goods and bought a one-way ticket to Hollywood, where she lived in a garden shed.
She spent a year as Sounds US correspondent in the dark underbelly of LA writing about the fledgling thrash metal scene… Jane’s Addiction… Guns N’ Roses et al. At Sounds Mary Anne met fellow teenager James Brown (legendary writer and publisher, not the Godfather of soul) who became a lifelong friend.
James moved to NME as Features Editor and when Mary Anne returned to London from LA, he promptly poached her to work with him at NME. Mary Anne spent three years on the news desk and also worked as a major feature writer there, writing cover stories on everything from Nirvana to Lollapalooza.
She went on with James Brown to form part of the original team he put together to launch Loaded magazine. She worked there as Music Editor, and also wrote major undercover stories about private detectives, cocaine dealers to the stars and most notoriously a Soho sex club.
Mary Anne got her break in radio at BBC GLR on Sunday mornings alongside Mark Lamarr. She presented groundbreaking shows on XFM for 5 years during their trial broadcasts, which helped to win their license. She was poached by Radio 1 in 1997 after a particularly confrontational interview with Radio 1′s then Head Of Production (Trevor Dann) was bootlegged around the BBC and found the desk of the Controller of the day, Matthew Bannister.
Mary Anne’s time at Radio 1 has been hectic… she has hosted shows from all the major award ceremonies: Brits, Q, NME, Kerrang, Mercury Music Prize… and made documentaries about artists as diverse as David Bowie, Slipknot and The Sex Pistols. She championed comedy god Ricky Gervais in his pre-Office days… hosted a movie review show with Mark Kermode called Cling Film… founded and fronted the award-winning Radio 1 Rock Show for five years from 1999-2005.
TV… there’s quite a lot, M.A. hosted a season of live coverage of the World Superbike Championship for British Eurosport… she made a series about global biker culture in India, Russia, Japan, the US and Europe for BBC Choice called Mary Anne’s Bikes… fronted 27 hours of live coverage at Glastonbury Festival for the BBC… and has guested on everything from BBC2’s Never Mind The Buzzcocks to John Peel’s Record Box for Channel4.
Now leaving BBC Radio 1, Mary Anne Hobbs has an infinite ocean of exciting new possibilities ahead of her, and the bass music world waits with bated breath to see what this pioneer, champion and icon will dream up next.
Mary Anne can ride any motorcycle you care to park in front of her.
