The origins of Furthered Horizons began almost three years ago, during the C4 radio era. As a first year at University, Rico was keen to be involved with the station despite no radio experience. After several training sessions he was able to put his plans for what was the only trance and progressive show on the airwaves into action. An ideal slot, albeit rather short (Friday’s 6pm-7pm) allowed Rico to showcase a taster of what his sound entailed. Work commitments shifted the show to Thursday nights at the same time, which was an unfortunate situation, although many regulars changed schedules just to catch the hour of uplifting trance and deep progressive.

During the latter stages of 2005, C4 radio teamed up with Kent University radio for a week of ‘CSR’ (Canterbury Student Radio). The lack of FM transmitter at the C4 studio meant that coverage was limited. The week long CSR collaboration meant that finally, after months of hard studio work, Rico could finally be heard over the airwaves around the East Kent area. It was an enjoyable week, with Rico’s good friend Ryan O’ Kane over from St Louis, USA in the studio.

As the second year drew closer, C4 radio once again joined with Kent University to form CSR on a more permanent basis. This time the station would be permanently on FM and live over the world via the website’s ‘listen live’ feature. (see www.csrfm.com) The complexity of the switcher system between the two entirely separate studios meant that there was a great deal of ‘down-time’ where engineers desperately tried to get CSR up to speed.

There was also an increase in demand for shows which meant that Rico had to fight to keep the slot, and with that technical problems plus the subsequent raise in demand took almost six months before Rico was back on the air. It wasn’t however, in the form of the ‘Furthered Horzions’ you hear today. Rico owes an immeasurable amount of gratitude to a good friend Aimee Francis. Her show, ‘The Dance Flight’ gave Rico the opportunity to return to the airwaves. She invited Rico to perform a guest mix on her show, and from there a co-host partnership evolved. On several occasions Rico stood in for Aimee who was busy with final year projects.

The 3rd year fast approached and Rico was determined to be on the air from the beginning. Another round of technical changes meant that CSR wasn’t fully operational until well into the autumn term. But this time Rico knew he would be back with a bigger and better show. The perfect slot, Saturday night 8pm-10pm was handed to Rico by CSR management, and from here long discussions with his close friend and branding manager Tom, led to a format that is rather unique. The first hour and a half builds through an eclectic mix of electronic sounds. Every week there is a ‘Destination DJ’, chosen by Rico, a dj/producer from a different country each week provides either a classic or an upfront track. This just underlines Rico’s passion for ‘global music’ as well as his desire to seek out undiscovered talent. From chillout to electro, from progressive to uplifting trance, the show winds its way up to a peak at 9.30pm with the ‘Saturday night mix’. Here Rico can be heard live in the mix for the last half an hour.