It’s (Nick) Hamman time

This self-confessed ‘artsy kid’ was born and raised in Cape Town, where he quickly made a name for himself on campus radio. However, bouncing out tracks and keeping you up to date with youth-driven content is not the only thing he’s good at.

“I studied jazz,” he said. “I’m classically trained as a jazz musician.”

He revealed that his dad was a gigging musician for many years, kick-starting his love of music. He got all the grades at Beau Soleil Music Centre and started a few bands with his mates. “I’ve been in jazz bands, punk bands, rock bands, hip-hop groups, the lot really.

“My mother was always super into ‘do what you love’ kinda thing, she pushed that hard. So I did a lot of drama in school, debating and design, which they always encouraged. I was in the choir and the jazz band and a concert band and everything.” He’s even taken part in experimental theatre where he had to simulate masturbating on stage in front of a full audience. “The gestures and the actions were relatively explicit. That was fun though, that was really cool,” he laughed.

So how exactly did he score a prime-time slot on Jozi’s hottest radio station? Hamman hinted that the producers must have been keeping a sneaky ear on his campus show, which won a MTN radio award for ‘best campus radio show’. “I studied politics, philosophy and English so they wanted somebody who had a political understanding, I guess. Well, they encouraged me to sort of touch on those things,” he admitted.

So, he packed his car and headed to Johannesburg where he now entertains listeners from 8 to 10am, Monday to Friday. Hamman revealed that he always wanted to be a performer, and radio was a way for him to get involved in the creative process. “That’s what it has become for me, so I throw everything into it.”

@Nick_Hamman

@HammanTime

www.5fm.co.za