Aly Jones

Making Connections

Name: Aly Jones
Age: 27
Born: Aberdeen
Lived in Scotland: All my life

“I’ve travelled all over the world, South African, the Philippines. Whenever I go abroad I always have the same question in my head - what would it be like to live here?

“But here I am, still living in Scotland!

Having lived in the north and east of Scotland, Aly Jones is now trying out the west coast.

Mosquitoes

“I was born in Aberdeen and brought up in a small fishing village on the north coast. Now I live in Edinburgh and work in Glasgow.

“The thing is, I may be half Indonesian but I really can’t take the heat and I’m chronically allergic to mosquitoes, so maybe that’s the real reason why I’m still here!”

She laughs: “No, I do love Scotland. I love the people. And there are lots of opportunities here for people in my line of work.”

Prime Time

Aly has worked in the arts for the last seven years and is now part of the music department at the BBC.

“I’m not sure if people realise how much television and radio is produced in Scotland. There are programmes being made for all the major UK channels – BBC1 and 2, Radio 1 and 2, digital etc - really high calibre stuff going out in prime time slots.”

Texas

“And the music scene in Scotland is really strong. Radio Scotland covered the recent South by South West festival in Texas and managed to fill four weeks of programming just on the Scottish bands that were there.”

So, what’s it like dividing life between two major Scottish cities?

“Well, the commute is only an hour. It can get tiring but it’s actually a great way to get to know a new place. It’s helping me decide if I want to move over here.”

Spoilt For Choice

“I still work as a volunteer at Edinburgh Media Base helping people make short films and I get to socialise in both places. As a complete music junkie that means I’m spoilt for choice when it comes to clubs and live music.”

And the main difference between the two?

“In Edinburgh you’re always bumping into people you know. I’m only just getting used to the fact that I can go into a bar in Glasgow and not see faces I recognise!

“I feel at home in both cities now, so I’ve got the best of both worlds.”