Would you like a podcast with your mocha?
London Fields will always be associated with hipsters burning the grass with their portable BBQ pits and the odd slice of gang warfare. But aside from vegan burgers and teenage blood on the streets, London Fields Radio, with its range of podcasts from metal to folk, is starting to pop into people's thoughts whenever they speak of Hackney's prettier parts.
The station's run by two very lovely lasses called Sarah Bates and Kate Hutchinson, and we managed to catch them for a little chat about one of London's fastest rising online broadcasters...
Could you give us a little bit of history about the station?
Sarah: The station was set up late 2009 – when The Wilton Way Café opened – by David McHugh and Dominik Prosser and inspired by East Village Radio, an internet radio station that used to broadcasts from a shop-front in Manhattan. Except that London Fields Radio broadcasts from next to the coffee machine in the corner of the café.
Since then, London Fields Radio has continued to grow incredibly fast – we’ve recorded over 100 shows over the past six months and we’ve heard from huge numbers of people all eager to present and produce more of them. We have started taking part in events and festivals, creating ‘live’ radio broadcasts, which involved us taking over the men’s changing room for Lido Love at the London Fields Lido earlier this year and, more recently, pitching up at The Old Boy’s Club as part of the annual Dalston-wide Land of Kings festival.
You both work full-time jobs, if I'm not mistaken. How do you guys keep up with running the station?
Sarah: Yep, we both work full-time jobs. It is hard work, but we both manage. You find that most people these days juggle work with other, often quite demanding, commitments. All of the people involved in LFR are in exactly the same position. Everybody gives their time up for free and takes from the station what they want. In an ideal world we’d be able to devote all of our time to LFR. Hopefully, one day, we will!
What's it like running London Fields Radio? Could you run us through a typical day at LFR? Is there a lot of coffee involved?
Sarah: A lot of coffee and cake. Actually, because of our jobs, Kate and I spend a lot of time working remotely, so our London Fields Radio days consists of answering emails, going through new show pitches and helping get people set up and ready to go. A lot of time is also spent on thinking of ways to develop the station and what to do next. LFR is completely self-service. Newcomers are trained up on the desk, given all the relevant information and, once they’re booked in, are left to their own devices.
We have a lot of trust in our presenters and producers: they come in, do their show and then pack everything away ready for the next person. There are usually more shows over the weekend than there are during the week, so there’s always a great atmosphere there on a Saturday and a Sunday. There is nothing better than sitting in The Wilton Way Cafe with a cup of tea and piece of avocado toast listening to somebody recording a great show.
Are there any boundaries you don't want contributors/DJs to cross? If so, why?
Kate: Not particularly. We like to think of ourselves as boundary trashing rather than as having a reserved Radio 4 type of set-up. That said, we record during café hours, so we are respectful to our regulars and, particularly, families and young children who come in for their lunch and coffees.
We do have some x-rated shows available on our Mixcloud stream – cabaret femme fatale Ophelia Bitz presents the podcast version of her vintage porn and sex industry night, ArtWank!, for London Fields Radio, which features interviews with people in the sex industry and some great rude tunes. We record it out of hours, though, so that it won’t cause offence to delicate ears – and so that all the pervs can seek it out online instead.
What podcasts do you find yourselves listening to quite often?
Kate: We have so many different shows now that I could easily spend all of my days listening to London Fields Radio. We have some fantastic regular ones – few can beat design duo Helicar and Lewis’s musical selection of new, forward-thinking dubstep and house, alt.rock and even thrash punk, and For Folk’s Sake monthly run-down of the UK folk scene. But I have some new favourites too.
But we’re not just a music-based station: our podcasts often have a magazine format, and we cover everything from current affairs and issues and teenage diary confessionals niche interests and subcultures like riot grrrl, comic books and drag.
Finally, in true radio fashion, would you like to give a “shout-out” to any of your friends out there?
Kate: Ermmm. Big up the Notting Hill Arts Club bruddamen, da Hackney massive, da Wilton Way Café cru and da Internet micro-radio revolution. Was that “pirate radio MC” enough for you?
Join the radio revolution:
www.mixcloud.com/londonfieldsradio
www.facebook.com/londonfieldsradio
www.twitter.com/ldnfieldsradio
London Fields Radio will be relaunching their website very soon. Keep locked on www.londonfieldsradio.com
Add an event
Frieze Art Fair to launch new section for young galleries in 2012
Frieze have today announced details for the 2012 edition, their tenth art fair in London. Taking place...