#BehindtheSelfie with... Maurice Carpede, Smile Drive co-host on Smile 90.4FM
1. Where do you live, work and play?
Cape Town, South Africa.
2. What’s your claim to fame?
I am an actor as well as a radio and television presenter with a career spanning over twenty years. I co-host the drive show on Smile 90.4FM with Angel Campey.
3. Describe your career so far.
As with most careers in the entertainment industry, there were ups and downs, but it’s been mostly smooth sailing, especially my radio career. I consider myself to be lucky and privileged (in a good way – that word has been associated with so many negatives lately) to be a part of such an amazing industry.
4. Tell us a few of your favourite things.
Coffee! I love a good coffee. I cannot function without that first cup of brew in the morning. Freshly ground and brewed. I even travel with a portable espresso maker and hand grinder so that I can enjoy a cup whenever and wherever I want to.
I love photography, but I haven’t been very active lately taking photos that I enjoy taking. My wife, Amanda Carpede, is a natural hair blogger and influencer, so I spend most of my photography time being an Instagram husband.
5. What do you love about your industry?
The media landscape has changed tremendously over the last couple of years, largely due to social media.
Long gone are the days when the guy on the radio was a superstar. Vloggers, bloggers, YouTubers and Instagrammers are the new breed of celebrities. They are the ones making waves (no pun intended), so it has become quite difficult for radio to remain relevant. In that lies the challenge and the beauty of this industry: how to remain relevant.That’s what I love about it right now. Nothing is worth doing or pursuing if it is not a challenge.
6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.
The Smile Drive on Smile 90.4FM only starts at 3pm, so I only need to be at the studio later during the day. However, I wake up at around 6am every morning. My wife and our daughter make use of lift clubs to work and school, so I drop them off at these lift clubs around 6:30am every weekday. I get back home around 7:45am. Then I brew some coffee, get back into bed with my laptop and do some admin and preparation for my radio show. The rest of the morning is spent going for castings and auditions if there are any, but other than that, I have the luxury of an extra hour or two of sleep.
I generally arrive at the station around 12pm to do some final prep with my co-host Angel Campey, and then at 3pm we hit the airwaves till 6pm.
Over the last two years, I was a full-time member of the panel of judges for the Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards, which meant I had to watch theatre productions three to four times every week. So quite often there were times when my day would start at 6am and only end at around 11pm. That became a little too much for me, so I decided to only focus on the student and children’s theatre, as part of the Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards panel of judges.
7. What are the tools of your trade?
Personality, wit and intellect.
8. Who is getting it right in your industry?
No doubt it is Smile 90.4FM, and I am not saying this because I work for them. Not at all. The idea of a radio station focusing on good news stories and spreading cheer and good vibes all round is simply brilliant. With all the violence and hatred and crime in the world right now, Smile 90.4FM is hitting the nail on the head. That does not, however, mean that we shy away from the harsh realities of life.
9. What are you working on right now?
Apart from my show on Smile 90.4FM, I recently featured on the KykNet en Kie telenovela, Arendsvlei as a mean, disgusting man, Ridwaan “Waanie” Matthews. The character was a woman abuser and quite a hectic and emotional role to play. I also worked on a TV series for SABC 2, called The Riviera. In this series, I play the role of a school principal in the late 1980s during the State of Emergency. The Riviera will be broadcast on SABC 2 from Wednesday, 8 April at 7:30pm.
10. Tell us some of the buzzwords floating around in your industry at the moment, and some of the catchphrases you utter yourself.
I can tell you about a catchphrase that I use on the radio all the time. “Kom Ons Gaan Huistoe Kaapstad” or in English, “Let's go home Cape Town”. That phrase has become synonymous with me. I own it. No one else on Smile 90.4FM is allowed to use it, not even my co-host (bosses order). When I started using it a few years ago, I never thought it would have such an impact. Very often when I meet listeners, they ask me to say the phrase to them.
I have even had complaints from employers saying that their employers literally stop working and start packing their bags when they hear me say, “Kom Ons Gaan Huistoe Kaapstad”. They reckon using the phrase before 5pm is not good for their businesses. I’m just happy that I can make people happy by looking forward to getting home to their families.
Kom ons gaan huis toe Kaapstaaaaad!!! PS: How fun is @YesReallyAngel's tee??? #TheSmileDrive pic.twitter.com/8ZKisJ4BRH
— Smile904.fm (@Smile904FM) March 12, 2020
11. What is your secret talent/party trick?
I’m a bit of a bedroom DJ. Not very talented, but I enjoy sitting at home in front of my DJ controller and mixing while imagining the crowds going wild. LOL…
12. Are you a technophobe or a technophile?
I’m a bit of a technophile. Technology has made our lives so much easier and I fully embrace it. I literally run my life from my phone and my laptop. I have so many apps that I use. Probably more than 200. I don’t use all of them all the time, but they are all very useful at some point.
Generally, technology is developing at such a fast pace, it’s difficult to keep up, but I wish I could live to be 150 years or older, just so I can experience future tech.
13. What would we find if we scrolled through your phone?
More than 200 very useful apps and lots of photos of my wife, which she uses for her Instagram mostly. Yep, I’m the Instagram husband personified.
14. What advice would you give to newbies hoping to crack into the industry?
Don’t come here for fame and fortune. Come here because of your passion for it.
Follow Carpede @mauricecarpede on Twitter and Instagram, and Smile 90.4FM on their Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter feeds for the latest updates.
*Interviewed by Jessica Tennant.
About Jessica Tennant
Jess is Senior Editor: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com. She is also a contributing writer. moc.ytinummoczib@swengnitekram
