The Hits Manawatū daytime announcer James Pugsley says Palmerston North weather is brisk, its traffic easy, and the coffee homely. Photo / Supplied
Growing up, James Pugsley dreamed of being a drift car racer.
"Frankly, I wouldn't know the first thing about cars but it looked fun when I was a child," he says.
His school careers adviser suggested a different track for Pugsley - broadcasting.
The adviser knew young James had a background in public speaking and a passion for music and put the two together.
Pugsley is the new daytime announcer at The Hits Manawatū.
He says he does not have a technical understanding of music but enjoys it and doesn't go anywhere without it.
The Lower Hutt native has his mum to thank for his public speaking skills. She found speaking in front of groups difficult and didn't want the same for her son and daughter, so enrolled them in speech and drama classes at a young age. James then branched into public speaking.
As The Hits Manawatū announcer from 9am to 3pm, he connects with the region, shares information on what is happening locally and keeps people updated with what The Hits flagship shows are doing - Jono and Ben, and Stace, Mike and Anika.
Three months into the job, Pugsley is appreciating the variety each day brings. People go through different emotions and feelings every day and his job is to capture that, he says.
He has a Bachelor of Broadcasting Communications specialising in radio from Ara Institute of Canterbury. He likes radio as it is a secondary medium; radio can be a powerful first line of communication for news but can also be in the background keeping people company. There is value in it for every person, he says.
His favourite Kiwi musician is Auckland singer/songwriter Benee. Pugsley says Benee brings a progressive taste to her music while still being able to create a relationship with an older audience. The 21-year-old is refreshing, makes fun music and manages to communicate with people like herself and those not like her. Benee is on trend with what the current generation cares about and has a sense of humour.
Pugsley wants to do the same. He says he's a 25-year-old man from Wellington on a radio station targetted towards families, mostly women.
The Guardian asked for and received one-word descriptions for Palmerston North weather - "brisk", Palmerston North traffic - "easy", and Palmerston North coffee - "homely".
We also asked Pugsley the question that got visiting English comedian Russell Howard talking earlier this year: would you rather fight a shark that can fly or a T. rex with short legs.
Pugsley admits to an obsessive fear of sharks - he can't stop looking at them but is terrified when he does. So he plumps for the T. rex. The dinosaur already has short arms so he feels he'd have a better chance.
When he's not on air, he loves bush walks but is also good at neglecting that love for bush walks by watching TV.
He likes painting doodles with acrylics, and trying new recipes.
Something readers and listeners won't know about him is he's colour-blind. As a teenager, people thought he really loved purple but he thought the shirts he was wearing were blue.
Pugsley says he's really excited to be in Palmerston North - he loves meeting people and is always up for a chat, though probably not while drifting.
• The Hits and the Manawatū Guardian are both owned by NZME.
Police said those involved were known to each other.