Mix 94.5 presenters are top of their slots
They are the unsung heroes of *Perth *'s number-one radio station - meet Mix 94.5's workday announcers *Tim Lordan *and *Ross Edwards *.
The low-key pair have managed to slip under the radar in Perth's media fishbowl but their work behind the mic is starting to gain serious attention, having each played an instrumental role in the enduringly successful station's top-of-the-table finish in the first radio ratings survey for 2014, released last week via Gfk.
Lordan and Edwards' daily morning and afternoon slots are currently the two highest-rated radio shows in Perth.
"There's a great vibe around the building. To know there are actually people out there listening to you and enjoying what you're doing is really rewarding," Lordan told _AAA _.
After working his way up the radio ranks across Australia for almost 20 years, proudly Perth-born-and-bred Lordan was thrilled to land a job back in his home town just over two years ago. Similarly, Edwards had spent 10 years honing his craft in regional WA, the Northern Territory and Queensland before returning to Perth a little more than a year ago.
While Lordan has moved back into the morning slot after covering the drive program during veteran *Fred Botica *'s summer long-service leave, the line-up reshuffle has seen Edwards move out of the morning shift and into the afternoons.
Lordan also serves as the station's operations manager while Edwards moonlights as operations assistant (the "resident fireman", he jokes).
"People assume we jump into the studio, turn on the mic and away we go. If only we did that," Edwards says.
"Because of the shrinking industry, everyone has got a second job, so I look after music, scripts, rosters and our casuals. It's not just four hours in the box.
"Probably back in the heyday of the 80s or something, there were announcers who got paid reasonably well to come into work, do their three-hour shift, maybe an hour of prep and then go home. That doesn't happen anymore," Lordan adds.
Lordan and Edwards also share a life-long love of music and often can be seen around town catching live gigs.
Before his career on the airwaves took flight, Edwards played drums in a Perth indie band. Lordan, meanwhile, can boast rubbing shoulders with rock royalty on numerous occasions throughout his two-decade radio run.
Though he once turned down the opportunity to meet Irish supergroup U2 at a media conference in Queensland (he generously handed over the press pass to his breakfast co-host because she was "a bigger fan") Lordan made up for it with other memorable encounters with some of his musical heroes.
"I got to shake *Dave Grohl *'s hand, I met *Butch Vig *and the guys from Garbage - Butch is one of my favourite legendary producers - and I got to hang out with * Slash *backstage at Soundwave in Adelaide a couple of years ago.
"I've met some interesting people."
EMILIA VRANJES
'People
assume we jump into the studio, turn on the mic and away we go. If only we did that.' ross edwards
