Tom Zanetti on LDC Radio: Leeds DJ joins dance music station for special guest slot

It was the culmination of several years of hard work behind the scenes, bringing together a line-up of DJs and presenters with a shared passion for all things dance – from house, techno and grime, to hip hop, UK garage and drum & bass.

Among those behind the launch was Daniel Tidmarsh, one of the station’s directors, who started mixing tracks as a teenager before hosting his own events and getting his first taste of broadcasting with Leeds pirate radio station Frequency.

More familiar to listeners as Daniel James, he hosts LDC’s Warm Up For The Weekend every Friday afternoon. And the connections he has built in the dance community have led to special guest slots by the likes of Tom Zanetti.

Daniel said: “I’ve known Tom for a long time. We’ve all come up from pirate radio and the nightclub scene in Leeds.”

Fresh from his appearance on E4’s Celebs Go Dating: The Mansion, DJ and music producer Zanetti will be joining Stefan Groove and Joel Ramsden for this Saturday’s Glasshouse show from 5pm for an interview and guest mix.

The station’s regular line-up also features names like Matt Jam Lamont, Roger Sanchez and Miguel Campbell who have created mixes for artists such as Deadmau5, Mary J Blige, Artful Dodger, Daniel Beddingfield, Michael Jackson and Soul II Soul.

And former Ridings FM listeners will recognise breakfast show hosts Wes and Leanne, who joined the LDC family last year.

Giving the next generation of talent a route into the industry is just as important to the station though, with one such example being Abi Whistance, a music journalist and DJ who came to Leeds to study. She now hosts the Mothership mid-morning show four days a week, playing a mix of new and old funk, soul and disco tracks.

“The community get involved too,” Daniel added. “I’ve been getting kids off the local estates to do mixes and stuff. It’s very hard to break into the media, DJing and radio broadcasting.”

The station’s ethos is all about creating a real community for its listeners and being a part of daily life in here in the city.

It is reflected not only in the station’s name – Leeds Dance Community Radio – but also the way it has operated since it started broadcasting in the midst of the pandemic.

Daniel said: “We’ve been trying to keep everyone’s spirits up. We use the breakfast show for quite a lot of things like that. I think we’ve helped quite a lot of people.

“We’ve had a teacher on giving an overview for parents on how to teach children, how to keep them engaged.

“We had a chef who came and had a chat about how to keep healthy during lockdown. Someone called up to ask, ‘how do you make a salad taste like a cheeseburger?!’”

Local businesses have been on air to talk about how they have been coping with all the challenges thrown at them over the last year, while station DJ Amber D – one of the Tidy Girls and now a mental health ambassador – has led discussions around the effect of lockdown on the wellbeing of listeners.

“Everything has been impacted,” Daniel said. “It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from.”

• Join the LDC Radio community by tuning in on 97.8FM, online at ldcradio.co.uk or via Alexa. Hear Tom Zanetti on the Glasshouse show on Saturday March 20 from 5pm.