Question Time: Rob da Bank
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Your support makes all the difference.Work: Radio 1 DJ, founder of Bestival and record label boss
Life: 35, lives between East Dulwich and the Isle of Wight with his wife, Josie, and their toddlers Arlo and Merlin
Balance: Training for his first London marathon, yoga, cheese
Describe your Radio 1 show.
A higgledy piggeldy romp through music's underground and leftfield, from folky noodlings to boshing Russian techno and Brazilian dubstep.
What else are you working on at the moment?
I'm trying to confirm the final headliner for Bestival, our festival on the Isle of Wight, calculating how many toilets we need at our sister festival Camp Bestival, planning my Radio 1 show and A&Ring Ebony Bone's album for my Sunday Best label.
Why do you think Bestival has been so successful?
Bestival's raison d'être is fun. From the handcrafted fancy dress to the Inflatable Church and Morris Dancers, it's the most eccentric escapist festival about.
What inspired you to work in the media?
I always wanted to be a journalist. I loved reading Ernest Hemingway and Camus at school and it inspired me to write.
What was your first break?
Work experience at Muzik magazine, the best dance music monthly back then. I went in for my two weeks and came out seven years later having done every job under the sun from making the tea to dressing up in fluorescent furry boots at the superclub Gatecrasher as the clubs editor. The editor then, Ben Turner, is now my manager, so he's making me tea now!
Any jobs, in and out of the media, you would rather forget about?
I've been a dinner lady in south London, hoovered graveyards in Acton cemetery and cleaned boats.
What has been the high point of your career so far?
Getting a show on Radio 1.
What are your desert island media?
The Observer, Mary Anne Hobbs' show on Radio 1 and The Stool Pigeon and FACT free music papers.
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