Stepping into the New Music Show on 2FM has always been a dream for Beta Da Silva. And now he has accomplished another dream of his this month.
He is now hosting the latest season of Sessions from Oblivion, which will once again showcase rising Irish talent around the country.
Here we sit down with the 2FM presenter to chat Irish music, rising stars and inspiring the next generation to start performing!
Talk to us about Sessions from Oblivion.
There’s so much going on when it comes to Sessions from Oblivion. I’m coming in as a newcomer, basically. This has been going on for years, close to a decade. Andrew Bass, Ian Wilson, and Lesley Kane, all three of them, have been a part of it for so long. It used to be on RTE 2XM. The reason why I say I’m a newcomer is because for the last two years, including this year, it’s been on 2FM, on my show, on The New Music Show. I’ve had the privilege of airing it. So last year, I was just presenting my show as normal and I would just air it. But for this year, I’m a little bit more hands-on with things. I was actually there at the live gigs. I was talking to the performers. I’m talking to the people who are going to these gigs. It’s fantastic to be in that space where I’m not just going to watch the gig, but actually being involved behind the scenes, being with the cameramen, the camerawomen. Working with them and seeing their perspective on things. Being close to Andrew, Lesley and Ian and kind of getting their expertise, these are people that have been in media for longer than I’ve been alive. It’s really, really cool. The fact that it gets to be on The New Music Show and we get to showcase more rising acts to watchers from Ireland is so cool. The New Music Show is a three-hour programme, and we have even more room to fit this type of stuff in. I’m just honoured to be able to be a part of it. As soon as they asked me to be a part of it, it was a no-brainer, of course. So just the opportunity to be involved in spreading more music in Ireland.
Were you always waiting in the wings to be a part of the show?
I had always been aware of it. I had always seen it on YouTube. I’d seen certain people getting interviewed. Like the Sweet Lemon Days and the Chubby Cats. I’ve always thought to myself, I would love to do something like that. But at the time when I had those thoughts, I wasn’t really at a level,broadcasting-wise, where I would be able to pull it off. So I said, let me sit back and get better at this presenting thing and broadcasting thing. That was years ago. In 2025, that’s when I started to get hands-on a little bit more. It was the beginning of 2025 when someone shot me an email, and they asked me if I wanted to step in and be the host. Since it was going to be on the New Music Show, it made sense for the presenter of that show to also present the segment they were going to put on the show. And it was just as simple as that. We were in Whelan’s, out here in Dublin City Centre, with all these people performing. They were up in Roisín Dubh in Galway for all the people performing. It was an experience in itself. I’ve never been a part of something so fast-paced and exciting, especially when it comes to these rising acts. These aren’t the mainstream acts with the big machine behind them. These are independent grassroots. They’re people who just really care about the music. And when they got me involved in that, it was just two thumbs up from me. If I could give them three thumbs up, I would.
So how can people tune in?
It’ll be on radio. We’ll have ten episodes, and we’ll be playing them over the two weeks. Monday to Friday one week, and then Monday to Friday the next week. As soon as one episode is aired, the visuals will be uploaded on YouTube.
You mentioned really iconic venues. What is that buzz like, getting to be involved in any way in a production in those venues?
It’s a bit surreal, because you can imagine with doing the New Music Show, there are a lot of gigs that I have the privilege of getting to go to. Whenever I go to these certain gigs, these will be the superstars, the international people, that’s one thing. But when you’re going into Whelan’s, or you’re going into Roisín Dubh, these are places where a lot of acts that we listen to today that come from Ireland, they’ve all played these venues. And now I’m seeing these people. In these episodes, you’ll have ESSIRAY, Pastiche, Kiing Sequence and Erica Lee, all these different people, even from our Rising List, who have performed in these different places. I’m up there on stage, and I’m presenting myself. It’s a different type of feeling than being on radio and playing their song and introducing them. I’m actually there physically. I’m looking them in the face, and introducing them. The live element, when it comes to what we’re doing with Sessions from Oblivion, is very different. I love what I do on radio, but it’s just an added excitement when it comes to Sessions from Oblivion with the live performances.
Let’s talk about the New Music Show. Tell us the importance of a show that showcases brand new talent.
The New Music Show is a very specific type of show. It’s a specialist show. Being where I’m at on the schedule from 6pm to 9pm, it’s a very important time for me to be able to showcase a certain type of music. Obviously, with daytime radio, you get what you get. You know what I’m saying? But if people stick around a little bit longer, around the 6pm, 7pm, mark, you’re going to get beautiful music. Not just with what I do, but with the radio stations all around. But specifically with the New Music Show, to be able to have that power of being able to pick my own music, it’s like no other feeling. Now I have the chance to play around with all these different genres, not just the ones that I like. I grew up as a hip-hop kid, so I always listened to hip-hop. But through the New Music Show, I’ve fallen in love with pop, with rock, with country, with folk, with dance, and all the sub-genres of soul, jazz, all these different things. I showcase different talent not just from Ireland but from around the world. I was one of the first people in Ireland to play Katseye, to play Olivia Dean. I used to play her as early as 2022, before her first album even came out. And now she’s the biggest thing ever, selling out Marley Park two nights. And that’s a great thing. I guess I’m a bit biased because I’m a presenter, but I think it’s a very important show to hear nationwide. And I hope it gets bigger and bigger and bigger in those regards, even up until the day I’m not there anymore. Whoever decides to continue on the tradition of the New Music Show, I hope that continues on because it’s so important. I’m just trying to get all the music that I can out there from Ireland, and whether it is the mainstream acts or the rising acts or whoever it is, including the people out in the States or the UK or France, Italy, whatever the case is, that’s the power of the New Music Show.
A lot of people’s first experience of music is on radio. Do you hope your show inspires more kids to pick up instruments?
100 per cent. I listened to what’s going on in youth culture with music right now. This is something that I’ve noticed for a while, maybe since lockdown, to be honest. These things, like TikTok, for example, are used as a tool to find different artists. We have this initiative in 2FM, it’s our 2FM Rising List. And there are a lot of people in there who, you know, may not have gotten a good luck from radio or from social media. So they may not have been that high up on the Spotify playlist but these are the people that we consider rising. So this is a chance for you to really step up, pick up that guitar, pick up that microphone, get that software ready for whatever you want to produce, talk to your mates, get into that band, do whatever, inspire or get inspired to, to really make that music, you know, and there’s a lot of music that you play on the new music show. It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of perseverance as well, but hopefully, through the show that inspires somebody out there could be somebody from Tralee in Kerry or Mallow in Cork. It could be absolutely everywhere, but hopefully that’s, that’s the thing that happens through the radio, even the New Music Show.
Listen to Sessions from Oblivion on 2FM’s New Music Show with Beta Da Silva weekdays at 6pm from Monday 25 May – Friday June 6.