BORN in New Zealand, John Buchanan moved to Australia in 1967 and worked in a variety of roles, unrelated to radio broadcasting.

He first became interested in Community Radio while driving home from work. Searching radio stations, he heard some jazz and continued listening.  He had picked up the “Jazz At 5”, programme on Northside radio, which was broadcast every weekday from 5-7pm.

His radio has remained on FM99.3 ever since!

When John retired in 2002, he became a volunteer at the Art Gallery of NSW, the Mitchell Library, and then Northside Radio as it was close to his home.

John’s music loves include most genres of jazz and blues from the 40’s to now, along with RnB, Rock, Cajun and Creole music  He attends as many gigs as possible, often visiting the annual Bluesfest in northern NSW.

He also aims to play at least 30% of ‘Anzac’ music, i.e. music from Australian and New Zealand artists.

John says “The best thing about presenting a show is that it gets me out of the house and provides some structure in my life”.

His advice to anyone wanting to volunteer at Northside Radio… 

“Just turn up and do stuff!  I began in the office doing data entry and APRA reports, and was later offered to take over when jazz musician Jimmy Doyle retired from his program.

If you love jazz & blues, make it a date to listen!