Want to know more about the guys that get you home each and every night? Look no further.
Dean Clairs
Each afternoon Dean Clairs straps himself into The Big Couch to lighten your load on the way home after a hard day at work with lots of laughs, music and special guests. And he's got his Big Couch buddies Shane McFarlane and Kymba Cahill right alongside him.
So where was Dean before he got comfy on The Big Couch?
Dean started in radio when he was just 17, at 6MD Merredin in the W.A. wheatbelt and worked his way through stations in Bunbury, Canberra and Adelaide. He returned home to Perth in 1989 where he worked both on-air and as Music director at 1080 THE EAGLE.
Dean has been at Austereo Perth since 1991, moving to MIX 94.5 in 2001. Dean says it took him "two minutes" to understand it was the best station he had ever worked at.
Right now he's loving the fun and the challenge of working on his team show The Big Couch.
Shane McFarlane
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Shane McFarlane has worked in radio for 16 years and he reckons it's the "best job in world" (next to being George Clooney).
Shane flirted with TV as an entertainment reporter in Canberra. But the flirting ceased after he realised that he had a good head for radio!
Shane has worked at radio stations throughout Australia, including Queensland, New South Wales, Canberra and now Perth. He also worked briefly in New Zealand, and had the ultimate junket - a two week outside broadcast from Disneyland.
Shane continues his announcing career as one third of Mix 94.5's drive show "The Big Couch". He's currently working with an incredibly passionate team who are who are putting everything they can into keeping The Big Couch the biggest and best thing on Perth radio to drive home to each weekday - and according to Shane, for a creative soul, it doesn't get any better than that.
Kymba Cahill
Kymba Cahill is a Perth girl, born and bred. She is a WAAPA graduate (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts) and has two degrees she doesn’t use.
After a brief stint as a high school teacher, Kymba was forced her to try her hand at stand-up comedy after losing a bet at a party. (For those of you playing at home- Melissa Etheridge is NOT the lead singer of The Divinyls.) As a woman of her word, Kymba did the gig and soon after found herself on the airwaves.
Kymba loves the Big Couch but is in a constant daily struggle – she gives the boys (Shane and Clairsy) as good as she gets, but she just can’t help but love the endearing little buggers!
Oh, and the important bit- Kymba is a Dockers supporter for two reasons. 1) She always barracks for the underdog, and 2) It annoys Shane.
Fiona Cornelisse - Producer
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Fiona has been with The Big Couch since the beginning of 2010, and is extremely happy to have Kymba in her life. After all, along with Clairsy and Shane, Fie's also surrounded by boys at home, namely her hubbie David and one year old son Henri.
Speaking of the boys at work, Fie's favourite pastime is to sing and whistle along to all the Mix 94.5 tunes, which annoys Shane and Clairsy no-end.
Fie loves working on The Big Couch, mainly because she enjoys "… talking to the Couchies on the phone 4-7pm every day, and the idea of helping to make the trip home after work (with Perth’s terrible traffic these days) more enjoyable for Perth people."
Brooke Powell - Producer
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Brooke's been working at Southern Cross Austereo for around nine years now. She started here at Mix 94.5, and was the Big Couch’s promotions chick before becoming their inaugural producer!
Looking for a change, Brooke left for Brisbane to produce the Triple M Breakfast show, and returned to Perth after having a baby last year and is now co-producer of Big Couch and Dead Set Legends ("back where I started and where I belong, in my home town!")
Brooke's a FIFO wag and has a full time job raising her daughter Ayla, "who is very outgoing and strong willed - just like her mum".
Brooke loves music, spending time at the beach, and you will see her most mornings walking or running along the coast with Ayla and her two cattle dogs!
Brooke thrives on the excitement and personality of radio... She loves organising and seeing a final product go to air... "it satisfies my creativity and my spirit!"
