Dara Quilty

Dara is one of the youngest ‘professional’ broadcasters in the country. He has been with SPIN 1038 since 2008. We stole him from another radio station where he was doing the graveyard shift! He won his first PPI award in 2009 after the first year of The Lock In.

We think he knew he wasn’t going to have a ‘normal’ job from a young age;

“I was influenced by all kinds of people to work in broadcasting. I used to watch The Tom Green show on MTV when I was 12/13 years old. That blew my mind.. that someone was getting paid to do that. When I did my original demo as a teenager I immediately started working with a presenter called Brian McColl. He’s done it all, radio, tv and performance. Of course I have worked with a lot of great amazing talented people & I still do but he was the first person that put time into developing any talent I had & you don’t forget that s**t you know?”

The Lock In went on air in Nov 2008 with Dara as the presenter. It was a new format, replacing “The Shift” which was 10 Spin Hits in a Row.

In 2009 he was approached by RTE and asked to come in a do a ‘screen test’, which is TV talk for an audition, for a new show on weekdays from 5PM. He did it; he took the offer & loved being on TV!

“Two Tube was great, great people & I learned a lot. It’s live television. You’ve got a girl in your ear, 5,4,3,2 1… & you’re on. Don’t f**k up! I now have the ability to do live television, I didn’t have that two years ago.”

Would you go back to television?

“Back? I never left. I’m still a television presenter & am always eager to take on a new project”

How does it compare to radio?

“Radio is the foundation of all broadcasting & a lot of performance art. I really mean that. I’m not talking about “that was, this is” kind of radio, I’m talking about content, opinion, interaction. If you can do good radio, you can create good television. We’re in an amazing time where everything is so easily accessible. A lot of broadcasters, comedians are doing podcasts now. What’s a podcast? It’s a radio show! That’s it.”

Music is a huge part of what Dara does, he has been playing guitar since he was 13, played in a lot of bands growing up & now plays in Fox Avenue that he started with two friends. Fox Avenue do shows around the country & played at the award winning Oxegen festival in 2010. They’ve also toured & supported Jimmy Eat World, 30 Seconds to Mars, Scouting for Girls and many more.

Contact: dara@spin1038.com

Twitter: @daraquilty