Mary Anne Hobbs | |
|---|---|
 Hobbs DJing in 2008 | |
| Born | (1964-05-16)16 May 1964 (age 61) Preston,Lancashire, England |
| Spouse | Miles Hunt (1990–95) |
| Career | |
| Show | Mary Anne Hobbs |
| Station | BBC Radio 6 Music |
| Style | DJ (experimental) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
Mary Anne Hobbs (born 16 May 1964) is an EnglishDJ andmusic journalist fromLancashire, England. She currently hosts onBBC Radio 6 Music. She is also a performer and curator of live events. In 2024 she created a ground-breaking collaboration with violinist Anna Phoebe for the 6 Music Festival. She's hosted the ALL QUEENS stage at All Points East festival for 4 years. In 2019, she created a radical live show, Queens of the Electronic Underground forManchester International Festival and assistedDavid Lynch with his musical presentation at the festival, following her series of shows, "Dark Matter" at MIF 2017. She staged aBBC Prom withNils Frahm andA Winged Victory for the Sullen in 2015. She performs as a live DJ internationally, at events such as the opening of Switch House at Tate Modern and the Tate Britain re-hang celebrations in 2023.
Hobbs was born inPreston, Lancashire but grew up inGarstang, a small town 10 miles to the north.[1] In the 1980s, Hobbs lived on a bus in a carpark inHayes, Hillingdon, with the hard rock band Heretic before becoming a journalist forSounds magazine at the age of 19.[2][1] She later went to work for theNME writing the notorious Nirvana cover story of 1991.[3] She marriedMiles Hunt of the bandThe Wonder Stuff in 1990; they were married for five years.[4]
Hobbs then worked atXFM before being headhunted byBBC Radio 1 after a confrontational interview on XFM with Radio 1'sTrevor Dann.[5] She shot a TV series about global biker culture,Mary Anne's Bikes, in Japan, America, Russia, India, and Europe for BBC Choice & BBC World in 2003, and presented the World Superbikes series 2005 forBritish Eurosport. She alsocompèred theLeeds Festival between 1999 and 2003. In the early 2000s she narrated theCBBC science seriesWhy 5.[6]
Hobbs first joined Radio 1 in January 1996, as co-presenter of the weeklyClingfilm movie review show withMark Kermode.[7] A fan of punk androck (and with a love ofmotorbikes) from an early age, she fronted the Radio 1 Rock Show 1999–2005. But her best loved show onBBC Radio 1 was theexperimental / electronic showThe Breezeblock she created during her fourteen years at the network. In September 2006The Breezeblock name was dropped for the titleExperimental. Hobbs was an early champion of thedubstep andgrimegenres and hosted the 'Dubstep Warz' special on BBC Radio 1 in January 2006.
On 23 July 2010, Hobbs announced on her MySpace page that she was leavingBBC Radio 1. She spent a year mentoring media students at theUniversity of Sheffield Union of Students.
On 9 July 2011, Hobbs returned to radio in the primetime slot (7 – 10 pm Saturdays) she had always coveted for electronic music, broadcasting from XFM in Manchester. In September 2011 she began hosting the relaunched "Music:Response" evening show across theXFM network. On 31 October 2012, she announced live on-air and on her Facebook page that she was leaving XFM the following day.[8]
On 3 December 2012, the BBC announced that Hobbs was to become the new Weekend Breakfast presenter forBBC Radio 6 Music.[9]
In 2013 and 2014 she made documentaries for BBC Radio 4,[10] and hostedSaturday Classics programmes for BBC Radio 3 making the connections between contemporary and classical music.[11]
On 9 August 2018, the BBC announced that Hobbs was moving to weekday mid-mornings, replacingLauren Laverne.[12] Hobbs' first show in this slot was on 7 January 2019.
Hobbs has toured as a live DJ and curated events internationally since 2006. In June 2007, Hobbs curated the UK Dubstep showcase at theSónar festival withSkream andKode9, taking the sound out of club environments and onto an international festival stage in front of 8,500 people. Her second Sonar showcase featured Shackleton,Flying Lotus and Mala fromDigital Mystikz. In 2009 she returned to the festival withJoker andThe Gaslamp Killer, and in 2010 again with Flying Lotus andJoy Orbison. In 2011 she played solo to her biggest ever audience of 15,000 people at Sonar, and in 2012 she created a one-off collaborativeDescent into Darkness performance with techno producerBlawan. She returned solo in 2013 for the festival's 20th anniversary.
Hobbs owns an originalBanksy, given to her by the artist for her birthday in the year 2000. It is an early prototype of his piece ‘Love Is In The Air’ and is currently on display at Manchester Art Gallery.[13]
Hobbs released a dark electroniccompilation album onPlanet Mu records entitledWarrior Dubz in October 2006, drawing the sonic parallels between dubstep, grime, dark dancefloor, techno, d&b and hip hop. She followed this with two more compilations:Evangeline in June 2008 andWild Angels in September 2009.[14]
Darren Aronofsky andClint Mansell invited Hobbs to work with them on the soundtrack for the Oscar-winning filmBlack Swan. She worked with young electronic producers to create original music for the pivotal club scenes. The soundtrack wasGrammy Award nominated.
Hobbs is mentioned in theHalf Man Half Biscuit song "Nove on the Sly" from the albumTrouble Over Bridgwater.[15]
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