the mutton sandwich podcast. Welcome to the mutton sandwich podcast. This is the show that we Find an excuse Martin to catch up with our famous friends. That's right. Friends that, you know, work with us or we have worked with very special episode today because today we're speaking to the newest member of Team Class 95, newest member of the family. Today is a get to know him a little bit better. Edward Russell.
Hello,
what's up? Edward Russell,
thanks having, you know, it's strange. I've been here for a few months already and this is probably going to be the longest we've ever spent together.
Exactly. Well, that's the nature of radio, isn't it? You come in, you do your show and you don't really have time to sit down and teach at after that. And there were a few months where we were quote unquote, not allowed to meet each other because of team segregation, right? Blah, blah, blah.
Let's hope all that is over. So finally, we're sitting down together and you know, even before you joined our class and my family, we we actually got to know you through mutual friends and so, you know, now that you finally made the switch to radio, how's it been so far? Do you regret it? I wasn't going to be asking that question, but yeah, sure.
So far. So good. You know, it's been interesting like, as you know, I came from a tv background in the past seven years doing that and you think generally broadcasting is broadcasting, right? But it's a totally different thing. I think the first thing that I had to get used to on radio is just being alone? I mean
you guys don't have that problem. But having been on tv and you look in front of you and you've got a whole crew and then you've got another crew in your ear, in another room here on radio and in this country, you just absolutely alone. And you just kind of sit there trying to keep yourself company for
everybody
on the radio as well. Of course
you find that sometimes you think you are going crazy because you're talking to yourself yourself to make yourself laugh and then when you turn off the mic like did I just do that? You know it's that but that's that's our world. Right? So I mean we don't consider you a newbie because you've been doing entertainment for so long staying and stuff. But for for the new beast sometimes you tell them literally right, bring your favorite soft toy or a photograph. Yeah. Put it on the console.
So you at least you're not alone.
That's what those little figurines on the Yeah,
exactly. People actually talk to those. Right? So
I'm not going to ask you this,
you better not because they're mostly just things like that. I can't be lonely. Um and let's get to know you a little bit better. That's what today's mutton sandwich podcast is is all about? So for people who don't know, what are you, what do you mean? What are you, what are you what what what what nationality are you what is Ed Russell comprised
of? I feel this is a long story. Sure, exactly. Um No, so I was born and born in England to a british dad and a singaporean mom. So they met over here, my dad was working here, my mom was living here and the traditional East meets West love
story.
Then my mom moved over to the UK. You know, with my dad, I was born there. Um I stayed there until I was about 14, 15 I guess. And a lot of people in the UK, they have this fixation with Australia because there are a lot of tv shows in the UK which is called like place in the sun or escape to the sunshine, that kind of thing. And it paints this picture of Australia as the U. K. But with better weather and nice people,
Everybody
gets sold on this lovely image of Australia, as did my parents and we all moved to Perth. Um and it didn't take them long to realize that okay, it wasn't particularly accurate what happened.
So
I mean we came from Central London and when we moved to Perth of all the kind of cities and states in Australia. It is and I don't want to be mean to the residents of Perth in case anyone's listening, but it's a little bit behind the rest of the country
understandably.
So when we first moved there, no shops were open on a sunday for example, there's one day where the shops are open past five o'clock and that's thursday which is late night shopping and that's only two like eight o'clock anyway so it took some getting used to, I hacked it out longer than they did, so they ended up moving back but I was kind of at that stage where you know, you're just about to go into uni and it's way too hard to convert your grades to other systems and all that kind of thing.
Stop me if I'm going too long cause I'm still
in my
15 so far. So um yeah I ended up staying in Perth did uni um thankfully in Australia you can do a double degree pretty quickly in like 4.5 years, I had no idea what I wanted to do. So I did 2° on totally opposite ends of the spectrum. One was kind of arts humanities and one was commerce, economics, marketing.
Okay,
hoping that at the end of this 4.5 years I'd have a greater idea of what I wanted to do and I didn't,
so I
stayed on and did a master's
okay.
Um did a master's in english and european studies and film history. Right and at the end of that I still have no idea what I wanted to do, but knew that I wanted to stop studying, so
goodness how many years was that in total? Like at
the end of that snow? It wasn't to be like 6, 6.5
Ok, ok, ok.
Yeah, so anyway, fast forward to um how I got to Singapore, I when I was here for holiday because you know Singapore has always been a second home to me and I have family here, that kind of thing. Um and when I was very small um you know before I started school, we actually lived here for a little bit because I didn't have to
be anywhere else. My dad was working here, so on one of my kind of most recent trips to Singapore, you know, probably not so much now, but back in the day there were those like model scouts like walking around orchard road with their business cards and everything like that, right? So I thought this is all fake, these guys are like a bit weird, right? I don't know where they're going to take you to do these photo shoots, but
I just wanted to travel. So I got in contact with one of these guys that passed me his card and he was like yeah, you know come down Singapore do a three month kind of modeling stint and see how that goes. I did that and then kind of used modeling as a means of traveling around asia for a couple of years, it's one of those things where you know, you'll do some campaigns in Singapore then an agency in Thailand will see you and say, hey you wanna come to Bangkok for a few years.
Um So it's a great way to travel around. Um and then like everything after a couple of years I got kind of tired of that um and wanted to station myself in one place and and Singapore kind of seemed like the obvious choice to do
that. Nice. And then you got into hosting a tv.
Yeah, so I mean, I guess the good thing about modeling is you're in front of a camera, then you transitioned from um not speaking in front of a camera, not moving then kind of moving in commercial, you know, acting but not really speaking.
Yeah, then
you're kind of getting these skills as you go along, so then you're speaking in front of camera, I did some acting for Mediacorp actually back in the day, so Channel five spouse for house. I'm sure you won't remember my part because it was so kind of like,
okay,
and then I was on Syria as well,
you're kidding?
Yeah.
You
know, so it's a it was a show called cosmopolitan, which I assume means cosmopolitans.
Think
it's one of those like families from different backgrounds, all the characters, different languages, all that kind of thing. Um So my memory of doing that show actually was was not good and that's all thanks to bobby Tonelli who is a
former colleague of ours, so
my role in that was okay, so my role in all these kind of mediacorp shows that I did was um the young love interest guy. Okay, okay, okay, okay, but cosmopolitan, I was the bad love interest guy, so it was bobby married to this lady, I can't remember who, and I was the guy who was trying to break them up and steal her for
myself
and until bobby found out at which point this was caldecott car park, we filmed it, I was getting into my car, he literally pulls me out of the car and throws me against a pillar and the directors like bobby, you don't have to go too hard on this, this first time I met bobby was like man, we got to sell it to the people, you know, we've got to make it really before
we know he's literally
grabbing me and throwing me against his pillow and not one of those fake matrix pillars, like a
proper pillar pillar,
Man, it's safe to say like after that we didn't speak for about five
years? Oh that's so that's so good. Um but how did the hosting come around, because that was your longest stint? Right, you on the cable sports channels?
Yeah, yeah, so that was honestly everything in my life has just kind of been um not pre planned, I don't want to say it fell into it, but things are just kind of, you know, gain momentum and snowballed, right? So, um, I did some hosting like a couple of travel shows and I did this show for an online channel that we went around different companies officers like Spotify, yahoo,
all that kind of stuff. And basically somebody at Fox Sports just saw me and called me up and was like, hey, we're looking for people who want to come and do a screen test and, and that was that. And then I was there for seven years or so.
Nice. So how did the, how the masters degree and all that? Good question. Okay,
so my thesis topic, by the way on that was the representation of thatcherism and the inability of class ascension as represented in the films of ken loach
and that's, that's the education you used to commentate on matches like little boy. Exactly, precisely.
You're breaking down films, you're breaking down matches, it's all the same kind of thing.
Exactly. But I mean I'd like to ask this to people because I've never even been to university, but do you regret spending so much time studying? I
don't want to say this in case kids are listening and then they tell their parents seem um, I don't need to
go to, you don't worry steve jobs, settle that.
No. Look, I will say that. I don't honestly remember any of the content I learned and there was a lot of content. Um, but I think it definitely the co curricular stuff really helped me. So I was vice president of, I don't know how it is in Singapore. It's like the arts unions, student union for the Arts faculty and I think we had like A lot of like 10,000 members or something like that, but that taught me to kind of public speak, um um, speak to people, get up, get up on stage and
do all that kind of thing. So that helped me because I was really kind of I was really shy at school and I didn't know my place and I think that really helped bring me out of my shell and I think especially if you've been at school and you've kind of developed this persona as, you know, a bit of a show. I don't know where you fit in, that kind of thing. You need is a great fresh start, right? So you can really kind of rediscover who you are
and just become a whole new person. I don't say it became a whole new person, but it definitely gave me skills that otherwise I wouldn't,
it's not all about the academia, it's about the community as well and stuff like that. So what was wonderful. What a, what a background man, what a, what a journey. Which finally landed you here
at the end of the podcast.
It's landed you here now back. Okay, let's let's go, let's take it from the modeling
days
back then. Did you think radio would ever be a landing point
one day? No, I did. To be honest, I did realize quite early on in my modeling career. This wasn't for me. Um for a number reasons. First of all, it's nowhere near as glamorous as you think it is because you only see the end product and you see these wonderful clothes and these nice locations you shoot in.
That's why I don't do it. But because it's not glamorous, right? I'm
sure people keep calling you right.
He has in his car is ridiculous. Plastic surgeons, but
it's so weird because you do these shoots in these lovely hotels and whatever it is. And then you go back to your tiny little model apartment that they've rented for you in the past year or whatever it is and like, I don't even know if this is legal, actually the amount of people they crammed into
the
bunk beds every room. It's yeah, no, where near as glamorous as you think it is. You gotta you gotta be prepared for a lot of rejection, which I guess is actually good training for this industry. Singapore wasn't too bad. So okay, so I'll tell you what the kind of the last straw was from the modeling. So Singapore. You'll get your castings, your agency will send you the details and it's up to you to go to that place and best kind of represent yourself?
Um Thailand they'll send you the castings and you have to somehow struggle with ty cabdrivers going to like town in town, which is like, you know an hour and a half outside of Bangkok and you get there and okay, you can't really kind of smooth talk the client so I couldn't because obviously I can't speak thai but you still have that ability to present yourself in the best possible way Taiwan was my very last trip. Oh and that one, they don't even bother telling you the details
at six a.m. They turn out put your apartment, everyone crams into this van and they just drive you around the country for the whole day, you get out of the different clients place and they line you up and the your agent or your, your booker will speak to the client privately in mandarin, I'm standing there, I've
never seen no idea what's going on. And they just point at you and they point I want this one, this one this one, the rest you can go away and you go back to the van and you just sit there
and
you know they were, I think one of the jobs I booked because I have no idea how they, how they sell me right because I don't understand. So one of the jobs I booked, I was on there and that just happened to be an english speaking clients and they're like, what part of Japan are you from? I was like, I'm sorry, what? Oh, your agent said you're you're from Japan, you're half
japanese because that sells really well in Taiwan, right? And I was like, I can't do this anymore, I can't like have people talk about me and present me in different ways and treated like like cattle basically.
Yeah, it really cheapens the trade, doesn't it?
Like I have a voice and personality, I want to show that. So that, that was my final straw and
wow, amazing, wow, okay, well you know, now that you're here in radio and you know along the journey, you've, you've tried different things modeling, uh you know, being in front of the camera acting, you're hosting on tv as well, I hate to put you on the spot, which, which is your favorite? Well, okay, you don't have to give me a favorite favorite, but you know, which parts of the industry do do you really enjoy doing,
Look, I'm a massive sports guy and the seven years of Fox was, was a dream for me, I'm not gonna lie. Um you know, traveling to all the grand slams all the races, speaking to like my massive idols, right? You know, um to the point where it almost just became a formality like, oh hey roger Federer, Yeah, it's me again. Um so that was an absolute dream and you know, my, as friends will tell you outside of all this work and all my jobs, I just talk about sport to them.
So it was just the same thing that I would do normally in my everyday life, in front of a camera that was perfect and you know, that all came to an end when force closed and if it hadn't closed, I don't know if I would have left by choice, you know, I would
still be in there. But what I do love about this opportunity here at class is that it's given me an opportunity to kind of expand my repertoire and talk about different interests because seven years of Fox already, people are like, oh you're the sports guy, it's like I love sports, but I also love entertainment and fashion,
all this kind of stuff, right? And I didn't have an opportunity to kind of show that so the great thing about radio, as you know is it's all up to you, whatever you want to talk about what you want to discuss, who you want to talk to as well and to have the opportunity is fantastic.
And a chance, I don't know why you're celebrating to you, but a chance for people to say it back to you like, oh my God, I love that too, you know, to relate to people that's something tv can never give you
and you're right, actually the engagement when I because you know, when you're on tv, you go to a large, I mean we were ASia wide, right? So we go to a larger audience and you think you're going to more people, you're connecting with more people, but we get very little feedback back here on radio just the first day, you know, you have the WhatsApp, all the messages coming through, like I've never experienced this before.
Yeah, and it's a wonderful feeling to know that you're, you're, you're talking to real people, you know, exactly, you know, and when they relate to you and they like you and, you know, they start sometimes stalking you, you get a feel of, of community, he's still waiting for someone who's talking, but that's
the shadow and the potential
comes to me, but but doing this podcast a great opportunity as well to, you know, get to know you as a person as opposed to, you know, the sports guy or the model guy and all that and, you know, it's, it's a nice welcome to the family as well because uh for a long time we've, we were the only two guys here and then john joined us and then, and now you, so, you know, a little nice guy club, it's balanced out, you know, we were not always being
scolded by the girls anymore and it's great because we have such similar interests. So, um, because we're both huge sports fans as well, so well, no sports being mainly football and a couple of other Formula One, I'm a huge tennis fan as well, so, so then, you know, at least you're not going to say names who we don't know exactly who's the favorite sports person you've interviewed.
Um okay, from the tennis side of things, definitely, I would say Roger Federer, rafael Nadal. And look, I'm not going to pretend that I know them as people, Right? Sure, what I will say is that whenever the cameras are on, they were incredibly polite and they have time for you, they're more than happy to answer your questions if you want to sneak in another one, you know, when you're doing these interviews and the that the asian will tap you on the background,
you can squeeze
one in and they're like, fine, it's fine, agents sit down again, we'll finish, They're very welcoming and they just feel make you feel very at home. The one interviewee who I I I very rarely kind of freeze up and don't know what to say. The one time it happened was with Lewis Hamilton's, it was my very first F one on site, we're in bahrain, wow. And You know, when you're when you're fresh at a job,
you prep like Mad. So the night before I was like scrolling all these different questions for all the different drivers because the way F1 interviews work is You don't necessarily know you're getting louis, they all pour into this little paddock thing, I mean if you've walked around kind of the Singapore F1 Paddock, you'll see like this little pen basically, and then whenever the drivers finished qualifying and finished the race where they crash out early,
they are obliged to kind of file into this pen. So you're just standing there waiting the entire time and oh, you see your driver coming over and you're like, oh, who's this? Okay, quickly is louis trying to find your one page amongst the 50 page of notes about the Lewis questions, and suddenly he's just standing in front of me and I'm like, I can't remember any of my questions.
He's
like, hi, what's up? I'm like, I just stood there, I didn't know what to say. And he walked away and then I remember, and I was like, louis I remember can you come
back, can you come back?
And he just kept walking away? And that to be honest, that was good training to not over prep. You know, when you prep so much, you just kind of forget everything. If you have one question in your head that will do
exactly. Just
get it in there and start off on a good note, right? And then you can kind of bring it back to all the other things you have, but just yeah, that was good training for me and it never happened again.
Did you get a chance to to make up with louis like, yeah,
go down the track in the middle. I'm not sure if I'm sure you meet so many people, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna pretend that you remember that guy, I couldn't think of a question. Um, but yeah, the actually because you know, you guys are big football fans, I gotta admit the one shame about Fox is because we never had the Premier League rights.
We never really got
to speak to many footballers, which would have been the dream,
which this will shape our perception of you and our relationship as well. Who's your team?
So my team is arsenal,
which I feel
is kind of safe ground.
Yeah, yeah,
you're right. We're not good enough to really,
you were at one point you
even then, I feel like we were when we were really good, right? The invincibles time, we're kind of every second team because we played some good football.
Yes, yes. Nobody, I feel hates arsenal. Yeah, yeah. They're they're a London club that is very accessible to everybody. Like when we were in the UK for for for for a job, you know, we got the opportunity, we invited the arsenal stadium to watch a match and they treated so nicely. You know, we even told them who we support and they were like, okay for tonight. Um, yeah, we are, you know, for, for both of us, he's Liverpool and Manchester, right?
Um, neither of us have been to Anfield old traffic only Premier League match we've both ever watched was an arsenal arsenal
arsenal still
remember they beat Everton four nil back in 2017. So it was, it was quite an experience and we, we, we
didn't get the whole like corporate experience within the box and everything. Yeah, we're
very lucky. So, you know, I don't know if, you know, john dykes?
Yeah, I worked with him for a long time. So okay, dykes
is the man, you know, so wow. Okay. So arsenal were good. Exactly. We can be friends again. Yeah. Let's talk about you and Singapore. So you have been here consecutively. You, you've been living here now. What, eight years?
Yeah. About that. But then prior to that. Yeah, a lot of trips and short since
you and your family here as well. Yes. Yes. By the way for, for people who might be having designs and is married. So yeah, exactly. So hands off the merchandise stalkers do it from afar. Um, you, what is, what would you say is your favorite thing
about living here
having lived in so many other countries.
It's just easy in the sense that it's safe. You don't have to worry about, you know, um, back in the day when we can stay out until whatever time in the morning. You can just walk home. Not a problem. Don't you think about where you are, You know, make sure you're looking around at all times, everything works, everything's clean, everything's modern. Um, it's just a really easy place to live. It's efficient. It's
efficient. And what is your go to thing to eat
here.
Oh yeah, that's a good question.
So I'm trying to do no carb diet at the moment. Things that would have been my go to things to eat now can't be, but
that stuff, but in general, if you were not on the low carb
diet, okay, huck and me beef noodles, but not like the european type more the kind of like the dry and okay. Just all an oyster omelet and character of the white one, not the black one.
Okay, We can be friends. We can be good friends and it's all carbs except except that's I think lower less less carbs.
But what they're lacking cubs they make up for, in fact.
Exactly. Right, wow, Okay, Well it's, it's been, it's so fun, you know, getting to know you and like I, I never knew about all that modeling and all that stuff before we spoke today. So fantastic. Well, welcome to the team again. And, and you know, we hope to have you of course on this team for as long as possible. And we usually like to wrap up the podcast with the turning of the tables. That's right. So, you know, we've been grilling you about questions about yourself
and stuff like that. So now finally you can ask us one question either individually or collectively. Uh, anything you want to get to know us a little bit better.
Okay, Okay, so I've got to know everybody on the team. Everybody on the station. Right. Obviously you guys are a fixture as a duo, right? But if you had to pick somebody else on the station to partner up with
questions. Questions. Okay. I need to think, I, I think it's pretty easy for me. Yeah. Who I'm going to choose. Yes. See really? Because she's very hard working, which means I don't have to do anything. She can just do everything and I'll just sit there and react to her. So yes, he will be my go to see is a control freak. Exactly as she does every reason
she trains all of us,
That she's the official class, 95 trainers. So yeah, she's a control freak. Like she, even if you wanted to, she wouldn't allow you to do any of the work. Exactly. So I just sit there and relax, you know? And, and wow, thank you for your time. I know who you want. You said this to me many times, what you want to co host, john class because both of you are such good singers. You guys can go on the air every evening and sing to each other. No, no, no, no, no, I don't know why you're making up
for valentine's day. We had the best love song duets of all timer. I can totally see you and john
making his um, I actually think me and gene could do a good show together. Oh really? Okay. Because we have a lot in common in the sense that we both went to the same school, we both started doing radio and we're both 16 years old. So you know, I feel like I can be on a very similar way of language and relate with gene, you know, and and and all the times we've never got a chance to work with her. But in all the times that I've spoken to her,
like we do have a lot in common. You know what we both love like our the first loves of our lives. What fries? You're kidding me naked like she likes to eat. I have never seen it. It's a it's a myth that she
hurried banana once. I
think that's it in the Times that she does. The number one thing she goes for is fries. Which which I mean, you know it's your favorite have quite a lot in common, right? So that she would never work. Why? Because you're constantly eating fries, you can't talk. So you see that that that's out the window already. J. And J. D. I think that could be that. I think that could be okay. Nice thing. Good question. What what a nice
loaded question. I appreciate that. No one has ever asked a question like that is very nice.
But I'm suggesting you guys split up for anything again.
No, no no it's been on my mind for a long time. The alright, the afternoon show with Edward Russell. It's 2 to 5 PM every single weekday here in class 95. We're so happy to have him as part of the family and we can't wait to hear more of you. And you know what? Obviously to a lot of people, you're like, who's the new guy? But when you when you listen to him, I'm not I'm not saying this just because you hear when you listen to him, You know, and you've been in there how long? three months?
About three months.
About three months. He doesn't sound like the new guy. This guy sounds so good. Exactly polished. He knows what he's doing. He preps man. So and that's because of his thesis on thatcherism and Exactly, yeah, Good stuff. Thanks.
Thanks so much guys.