Patti Schmidt
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Patti Schmidt | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1968 (age 57–58) Carleton Place, Ontario |
| Origin | Canada |
| Occupations | Broadcaster, curator, creative producer, musician, DJ |
| Instruments | Vocals, Bass |
Patti Schmidt is a Canadian radio personality, curator, creative producer, musician and DJ from Montreal, Quebec.[1] She is best known for her tenure as host and executive producer of CBC Radio 2's long-running alternative music program Brave New Waves from 1995 to 2007.[2]
Born in 1968, Schmidt grew up in the suburbs outside of Ottawa. Arriving at McGill University as a teenager in 1987 to pursue a degree in film and communications, she first worked the airwaves at CKUT-FM, the school’s radio station that launched the same year, while also writing for its music magazine covering local and national artists.
CBC Radio
In 1990, she received a call-up from a producer at Brave New Waves to audition as a potential fill-in host. This turned into an informal internship that had her attending tapings, and by spring 1991 she debuted on-air as a contributor. She was hired as a writer and researcher later that summer. She also began to influence programming as the main record buyer, while also learning the ropes booking interviews, editing and producing.
In 1995, following personnel departures and budget cuts, she was announced as the new host of Brave New Waves after Brent Bambury left to become host of Midday.[3] A few years later she also became the executive producer, stewarding the full editorial direction of the show.[1] She also brought the show out of the studio and into venues, events and festivals across the country, including a national 15th-anniversary tour (1999-2000) in collaboration with Exclaim!, that she hosted in several cities.[4] She forged relationships across the French-English broadcasting and cultural divides, producing live concerts in collaboration with Radio-Canada’s new music program Le Navire Night, and Canadian artist showcases and web content with Bande à part.
She embraced the new media and online opportunities that arose during this time, producing webcasts and multimedia content with CBC Radio 3 and 120seconds.com.
In 2004 and 2005 she appeared as a regular contributor for NPR in Los Angeles, presenting notable, under the radar, new music from Canadian artists. In 2004 she was the keynote speaker at the National Campus Community Radio Conference in Edmonton, re-connecting to a circuit that began for her at CKUT.
In 2006, she began concurrently hosting the Montreal-based CBC Radio One arts and culture program Cinq à Six, covering arts and culture happenings across Quebec.
In 2007, she became the national and regional host for Canada Live,[5] later also hosting the national music documentary program Inside the Music, until 2012.[6]
