Airwaves coax Barron from biology

Barron Hufkie.

Hailing from Somerset East in the Eastern Cape and now based in Vredehoek, Barron Hufkie is taking over the airwaves on one of the most loved radio stations in Cape Town.

Fondly known as the “Snack Burger”, Barron fell in love with radio while he was studying microbiology and biotechnology at the University of Stellenbosch and never looked back.

It was in 2011 when Barron responded to a recruitment notice on campus radio station and accepted his calling.

“When I saw that the campus radio station was looking for ‘fun, creative and vibrant personalities’ to join their on-air squad, I just had to send my application and the rest as they say, is history,” said Barron.

He is celebrating his seventh year in the radio industry, with most years having been the campus and retail radio stations.

The Snack Burger is now making a name for himself in the commercial playing field and proud of most of the work he has done in the past seven years.

“I’ve shared so many great moments on air with so many amazing people, whether it be the listener or my co-hosts and I feel there’s still a lot of great memories to be made,” he said.

Sharing his highlights, the Snack Burger said he has interviewed a number of South African and International personalities, artists and sport stars but two of his biggest highlights are probably Mumford and Sons and Deadmau5.

Barron’s work was recognised during his first year as he was nominated for two MTN Radio Awards and won several campus radio awards.

Reflecting on the past few years and his radio career, Barron admits that he has had his fair shares of blunders along the way.

“There was one time when I had to interview a well-known novelist and screenwriter about his new book and of course I had to read the book beforehand which I didn’t do. Needless to say that it was all downhill (and a lot of thumb sucking) from there,” he recalled.

The Snack Burger said it hasn’t always been easy and one doesn’t just become a good radio host. He said it takes hard work, perseverance and people must be willing to do the groundwork.

Barron recalled a time where he would do three radio shows on different radio stations a day.

“I would do my ‘graveyard’’ shift at KFM from midnight to 4am, then I would travel back to Stellenbosch to do my campus breakfast show on MFM from 6am to 10am and after that I’d go back to Cape Town again to do my retail radio show at Clicks Live Radio from noon to 3pm.” he said.

Barron said he was a mess but at the end of the day he knew what would benefit him in the long run and is now solely focused on personal growth in the commercial space.

Barron showed signs of being a natural-born entertainer when he was still a youngster and discovered that he was a talented public speaker and a great debater. Though he studied and obtained his BSc in Microbiology and Biotechnology, he never actually practised in this field.

“Luckily for me I never had to practise in my field of study, and I say luckily because I loathed my field of study, but I only realised this halfway through and it was too late to turn back,” he said.

The broadcast industry may be challenging, but the Snack Burger is here to stay as he is planning to get his fingers in more pies, particularly television.