As a BBC Radio 1 presenter and DJ, Annie Mac is definitely a household name within the UK. After all, across the pond she’s considered the new voice of dance music due to her show Annie Mac’s Mash Up. Annie recently took over the legendary reins of Pete Tong’s famous Friday night slot on Radio 1 -- traditionally kicking off the weekend for those Brits to let loose. This past month, she came over to North America for a small club tour, stopping through New York City, of course. We caught up with Annie at the Tribeca Grand before her 2am DJ gig downstairs in the hotel’s subterranean dance den.

How does it feel to be the new voice of dance music for the UK? The grand plan wasn’t to be the new voice of dance music. It just happened organically. Originally, I was given a late night Thursday show in 2004, and luckily, people liked the music I liked. Radio 1 has been really good and embraced me as a presenter and pushed me forward, and I guess I’m happy to be pushed! And now I’ve ended up in this new role. I haven’t really thought about it until when there’s been a lot of press around and during the change. For me it’s not a change, because we just switched the show times around. I’m trying not to feel any pressure and to keep doing what I’ve always done. Trying not to compromise the show and keep playing the music we’ve played and stay true to what we’re about. It’s a bit silly and a bit fun-loving, a bit chaotic in a good way. Obviously the music is the important thing.

Your new Friday night slot from 7-9pm opens you up to a whole new group of fans that have been listening to Pete Tong for years. How have you shifted gears? We had a cult following on Thursday night and when we moved to Friday, we wanted to keep our Thursday-night fans happy, yet know that we’re also broadcasting to people who don’t necessarily buy music or care about labels or producers. It’s to entertain as well as educate. It’s about programming the show and working with the team to make sure that when we play two records that are quite challenging and then after, we play something that everyone knows. It’s all about the flow of the music. Our guests as well -- the presentation of being inclusive and trying not to be intimidating -- talking about the lifestyle around the music more than the actual music itself. The clubbing, texting your mates, and all the fun bits around the music.

It sounds like you’re carving out a nice balance of both worlds within your programming. Mainstream and more underground music ... We, the team, have to keep ourselves interested as well. We could play all the big tunes, but then you want to also something that you’re really excited about. Play it and explain why you’re excited about it. That’s why I love my job.

As a club DJ, you’re an artist, but you’re also a journalist. How do you wear both hats? When I started to be a club DJ, I found it very hard because I felt that I wasn’t really prepared for that transition from being a journalist to being an artist. When I'm doing my radio show, it’s been mostly girls, and fun and a bit silly, so you don’t really think about the fact that thousands of people are listening. You’re just having fun playing records. When I started playing records in a club professionally, all of the sudden I had 500 people staring at me ... I found that really difficult. I wasn’t ready to be physically on display while performing. It took me a full year to become confident and comfortable onstage. That transition took awhile, yet I think both complement each other. When you play a track in a club, it’s really interesting to see the reaction you get on the dance floor -- because you know when you play it on the radio, it’ll also be really good.

People here in the US definitely seek out your programming. Did you have any expectations when coming across the pond? There’s nothing like BBC Radio in the US, so it’s made me re-evaluate and appreciate what the BBC lets us do as a service. Not only does it give us complete freedom with what we do, but it also really nurtures its DJs and lets us be personalities. The most overriding thing about my recent club tour in America is that I genuinely didn’t know what to expect when coming here. Because I didn’t know if anyone would be at the clubs. You get emails every week when you broadcast, and seeing those emails from Canada and here in the US saying they’re coming, and then seeing that manifest into a crowd of people physically there at the club was amazing. What they’ve also said is how much they love Radio 1 and the show because they don’t have anything like that here. The internet is amazing.

Who are some interesting artists that have come into Radio 1’s studio for an interview? There’s been a few that have stuck out. We had a mini-mix from a guy named Cajmere of Green Velvet. We did a phone interview with him and he was incredibly gracious and charismatic. He was everything and everyone you want them to be in an interviewee. Someone who came in to do an in person were the two guys from Chromeo. P-Thugg does a voice-box for Chromeo and does this funky 80s thing. He did the whole interview that way. It was just hilarious and really good fun. There’s a guy called Rex the Dog who is a producer from back home. He did the whole interview as a dog with a bark sound effect. One bark for yes, two barks for no. There has been some really really funny ones. Dizzee Rascal ... I did a whole interview with him that was great. Radiohead as well with Thom Yorke -- that was the most nervous I’d ever been, but also the most rewarding. Thom Yorke was just wigging out! He was playing techno behind the board, and I kept saying, "Calm down, Annie, calm down!"

While in New York City, you broadcast your Friday night show remotely. How’d that go? It was wicked! It was on the 36th floor of Sirius. Seeing radio in a different country like here and how it’s done and how the studio works is interesting. Seeing pictures of Howard Stern and Oprah Winfrey, all these proper iconic people. It was a bit weird doing it in the afternoon, but I think we were really happy with the show and how it went. I think we brought back a nice flavor of New York back home in the UK. I’m really happy with it.

You DJed with Mark Ronson too? Yes, It was brilliant. I did his East Village Radio with him. It’s incredible ... such an amazing way to do a radio show right on the street in the East Village, seeing everyone outside through the glass. He had all sorts of people drop in.