IF you groan about “all that wittering” on the radio, here instead is Witter on the radio.

Rick Witter to be precise, the bantering front-man of York’s most successful band, Shed Seven, who at the age of 40 is adding “presenter” to a CV that already includes singer, songwriter and Bar 1331 indie night DJ.

Rick Witter’s Disco Down – named after the Sheds’ number 13 hit in 1999 – is aired on Minster FM on Sunday nights, and such has been its rising popularity since its launch last August that it now runs for two hours, from 7pm to 9pm, rather than the original 60 minutes.

Part of that momentum comes down to Rick’s ability to line up special guests for 20-minute live interviews, ranging from Chris Moyles last Christmas to rising Nottingham singer-songwriter Jake Bugg; The Bluetones’ lead singer Mark Morriss to comedian Leigh Francis’s northern caricature Keith Lemon.

“I spoke to Keith two weeks ago on air and I honestly thought he was going to get me sacked because he was so risqué,” says Rick. “I’d met him at a party in London – out of character as the real Leigh Francis – and it turned out he was a Sheds’ fan.”

Last Sunday’s guest, another man-of-the-moment comedian, was encountered by Rick in similar circumstances. “I met Alan Carr at another party. It’s very weird meeting these people, but he was just like he is on the TV, all that camp energy. ‘Hiya, it’s Shed Seven,’ he said across the room, and by the end of the night we were singing Chasing Rainbows hand in hand.”

Rick’s interviewing technique is not to ask the obvious questions. Alan Carr, for example, was quizzed about his father, the former York City goalkeeper, Northampton Town manager and now Newcastle United chief scout Graham Carr.

This Sunday’s guest will be the BBC football commentator and York City fan Guy Mowbray, who still lives in Haxby. “He was in the year above me at Huntington school,” reveals Rick. “I guarantee I won’t be asking him questions about football.

“Because I’ve done so many interviews myself for the Sheds, I know what makes a boring question. I like to go off-piste, like asking as the first question what they’ve been up to today. It takes off wherever they go after that.

“Like when I asked Mike Joyce, out of The Smiths, and he said he’d been preparing his salads for the week! To me, it has to be better talking to him about that than yet another standard music question.”

The interview slot is but one feature of Rick’s weekly show – a demo of the week is another one – but it is Rick’s strongest suit. “We now put together a podcast once a month of each month’s interviews,” says Rick.

Music is of course the fulcrum of Rick Witter’s Disco Down, after he accepted Minster FM’s invitation to host a regular show. “I’m absolutely loving it, playing whatever I want for two hours and speaking a lot of rubbish,” he says.

“When I started last August, it took me a couple of months to get used to doing what I’m doing, being totally in charge of everything in the studio, when I’d been used to being on the other side, being interviewed!”

Indie music from Shed Seven’s era features prominently on Witter’s Disco Down playlist, just as it does at his Bar 1331 nights, but not exclusively so. Especially when Rick he asks listeners to respond to his weekly theme for song titles or band names, such as “Break” or “Breaking”, inspired by his enthusiasm for the US television series Breaking Bad.

He is chuffed that his show has been expanded to 120 minutes, as he builds on his status as Minster FM’s answer to Jarvis Cocker and Elbow’s Guy Garvey on BBC 6Music.

“It used to be 7pm till 8pm, but I had to insist on the extra hour because I just couldn’t cram everything in,” he says.

“I find it an absolute pleasure to go in there and play the songs I love – and I love thinking all week about what I’ll play as it’s reignited my passion for discovering and re-discovering music. The biggest buzz for me is when someone texts in and asks me about the song I’ve just played.”

• Rick Witter’s Disco Down is broadcast on Minster FM on Sundays from 7pm to 9pm. His monthly podcost is available for download on Rick’s page on the Minster FM website. Bands can send digital demos to rick.witter@minsterfm.com. “I must warn you, there’s quite a backlog,” he says.