DJ Gemma Cairney presents Radio 1’s advice show The Surgery on Wednesday evenings. She previously appeared on 1Xtra and the Weekend Breakfast Show, and has also presented the station’s early breakfast show and award-winning documentaries including Tempted By Teacher (2013) and Bruising Silence (2012). In 2015 she founded Boom Shakalaka Productions, which produces theatre, films and podcasts. Her new book, Open, is a guide to help young people navigate love, friendships, health and other aspects of growing up.
Why did you decide to write this book?
In a way, I’ve written to myself. I was thinking what it would be like to be as tempestuous and raw as when I was a teenager, and it made me panic. But I’m 31 now, and life can still be as breathtaking and OTT, whether it’s the state of the planet or dealing with bereavement, or having a really low day. I hope it makes people feel less alone – the more I scratch the surface the more I feel that people are suppressing.
What were you like as a teenager?
I was quite naughty, actually. We’d moved from a vibrant, multicultural south London school to Horsham in West Sussex. People’s manner was more subdued; I was the only brown person, and being from a single-parent family was quite rare. I’d ask a lot of questions and teachers would tell me not to talk back. I was told I was a bad influence, and some of the girls that were supposed to be “good” were told not to sit next to me.
How did you fit in with the other kids?
I think people wanted to hang out with me because I’d always come up with ridiculous ideas as to how to create fun. When we were 14, 15, I’d sit there plotting how to get into Shelley’s nightclub on Friday night, while some people were more interested in doing tangerine-peeling competitions. I think the hedonism of mid- to late 90s popular culture was drip-feeding through to us. There was this aspirational character of what a woman was meant to be: going out, having fun. I did a lot of things young because I was bored.
Young people now seem to be a lot more health-conscious.
Definitely. Apart from cycling with my friends or dancing, I never thought about exercise until I was 23. Now it’s totally the norm to do exercise regularly from age 12 on. I didn’t even have any perspective in terms of my physical body. I mean, this was the 90s – I cared about having big boobs, but I didn’t ever think, “Am I fat?”
How do you think technology has changed things for teenagers?
I don’t want to be a doom-monger on the advance of tech, but I do worry that we’re only starting to talk about some of the more negative effects. Social media, the internet, all these things we get a hit from, need to be considered as potential addictions and possible detonators of poor mental health. Real conversation is so beautiful – hanging out is the simplest thing we can do as humans, but it seems more of the past than ever.
Another thing that’s changed is the way mental health is talked about.
I grew up in a household where we talked about mental health a lot, because my mum wasn’t very well, so it was a shock to get into the real world and realise other people didn’t. So I’m excited that we’re being softer on humankind and going, “fuck, it’s hard to navigate this world”. In the book there are 10,000 words on your mind, from OCD to panic attacks, anxiety, depression. If we talked about mental health more on the curriculum, that would be really helpful.
You’ve also spoken out about being in an abusive relationship as a teenager.
From 12 to 17 I had a really toxic boyfriend, who I was madly in love with, and it was only years later that I realised it had affected me so much. When I got involved in documentaries at Radio 1, I felt like I had to make a programme about violent relationships among young people, because one of the reasons I’d stayed in the relationship for so long was that there was nothing in mainstream or pop culture that reflected that it was a problem. I heard girls talking about Chris Brown attacking Rihanna, and saying she deserved it. So I thought, “we have to talk about this”.
How did you research the book?
I spoke to loads of teenagers in schools around the country. Some of the stuff that came up was so poignant, from the representation of women in the media to equality. I had this sense that young girls are trying to be so many things. I just wanted to say: “It’s OK, you are exquisite, you are wonderful.” They were articulate, and wise, and funny, and beautiful, and they just didn’t realise it.
Tell me about some of the music documentaries you’ve been involved with.
They’re some of my favourite things to work on, from going to Mali with Damon Albarn a few years ago when there was a music ban, to a show about venues that left a real legacy, like the Blitz or the Haçienda, to a documentary I did about Erykah Badu. A while ago I met Grace Jones for dinner and recorded it – I had a really honest, great chat with her, and got out of her a side I don’t think many people do, like the fact she’s quite shy.
What’s your favourite part of being a radio DJ?
I absolutely adore old-fashioned entertainment – having a jovial, light-hearted time. Sometimes you don’t need to overanalyse, you just need to play a really good pop song. Starting my day at 3.30am for my Radio 1 show nearly did me in though. The positive is that it’s a really intimate listen, because I think most people who are up are on their own. You become people’s friend at that time of the day; you all help each other get through it.
What’s the thing you’ve done recently that you’re most proud of?
I’ve started a club night in Margate, where I’ve moved to. I’ll look up from a sweaty DJ booth and go from playing an old jungle record to Britney Spears, and see the maddest, most beautiful melting pot of people. We get old ravers, blacks, whites, skinheads, gay people, everyone. That for me is an achievement: bringing people together with music and fun, because it shows you the simplicity of togetherness.
How do you switch off?
I really like the sea and the psychedelic pink sky in Margate. I do lots of cold-water swimming in the sea. I also like trying fun exercise classes that make me laugh. Tap Fit is my latest, where you get these attachments on your trainers, and you’re doing the Charleston and stomping on this studio dance floor. And I’ve got an obsessional family vibe with my best friends. They make me laugh, they challenge my brain, they look after me, and they’re all quite different. They’ll hate this, but I would happily live in a commune with them.
Open: A Toolkit for How Magic and Messed Up Life Can Be (£12.99, Macmillan) is out on 9 March. Click here to order a copy for £11.04
