FBi announces 24-hour digital station
FBi Radio has announced the upcoming launch of FBi Click, a digital station with a focus on electronic music.
Launching on Wednesday June 25, FBi Click will broadcast 24 hours a day both online and in place of the current simulcast of FBi 94.5 on DAB+.
FBi’s Music Director Dan Zilber told TMN he saw a new station as an opportunity to take a risk.
“We wanted to do something special with our digital frequency and take a risk with our programming. FBi has always championed dance music, but over the last few years the scene in Sydney has gone from strength to strength and FBi Click is the perfect way for us to recognise this fantastic community,” said Zilber. “So, we collected together some of the best crews in town and asked them to make exciting radio for our listeners. They’re excited to bring the tunes and we’re excited to show the world what Sydney can do.”
FBi has partnered with EDM’s most proactive brands and artists for ten collaborative flagship programs. They include indie labels Sweat It Out and Motorik, artist management company Astral People, music blogs Purple Sneakers and Thump (Vice’s EDM authority), live venue Goodgod Small Club, Sydney rap party starters Halfway Crooks, touring company Picnic and DJs Mealo & Amelia Jenner, Stuart Buchanan, Tony Chill and Klue.
FBi have kindly provided extensive details on the kind of dance music each flagship program will play, which we’ve included further down the page.
The station will also feature guest DJs and specialist electronic shows curated by FBi Sunset’s current roster.
The news comes just weeks after the Federal Budget spared a recommended $17.5 million in cuts to the community radio sector. Prior to the announcement, The sector and its supporters ran a high-profile campaign to fight any cutbacks.
FBi is holding a fundraiser launch party on Friday June 27 at Goodgod, tickets can be purchased at Goodgod.com.
ASTRAL PEOPLE
Presented Ben Fester & Chris Barker
Yet to celebrate their 3rd birthday, Astral People have already proved a guiding force in the proliferation of Australian electronic sounds. Through touring and representing some of the world’s most exciting artists, their arm has extended from national tours and sell-out Sydney nights to stages at the Sydney Opera House and Strawberry Fields, plus their very own boutique festival – the FBi SMAC Award-winning OutsideIn. With a bourgeoning management roster including Wave Racer, Jonti, Basenji, Black Vanilla and Cassius Select, the Astral crew are paving an iconic path in Australia’s ever-shifting landscape, and will continue to do so on FBi Click.
With a programmed vision and weekly special guest mixes, expect everything from ice-cold techno, full-bodied house, expansive beatwork and all the in-betweens from artists both celebrated and undiscovered.
MOTORIK
Presented by Pat & Andrew Santamaria, Vivi & Francis Xavier
From the warehouse to the airwaves, Motorik brings the best in cutting-edge dance music from around the globe. They’re focused on providing you, loyal listener, with the tools to be a self-contained legend of dance. Expect partytechnorave, next-wave and acid anthems. The Motorik crew’s nascent record label has released hits from local boys gone good The Finger Prince, Jensen Interceptor, Light Year, CSMNT61 and K.I.M of The Presets, plus hits from international legends of dance like Louisahhh!!!, Harvard Bass and Sinden. Meanwhile, the Motorik Vibe Council continues to throw parties everywhere from basements to Sydney’s largest venues, with legends like Brodinski, Gesaffelstein, Maelstrom, Tiga, Thomas Von Party, and Guy Gerber in tow.
Needless to say, anything that makes you reach for the lasers is in the bag, and heading your way on the airwaves.
PICNIC
Presented by Kali
For those who know exactly what they want, Picnic is renowned as one of the best ‘really good music’ parties in Sydney. Their carefully curated events centre around that that forever-burning beacon of dancefloor culture – house music, as well as exploring disco and the stranger, more experimental sounds of the world. Picnic’s One Night Stand parties have become a regular full-house experience, where the talents of some of the world’s most extraordinary music people are showcased via all night DJ sets. Simon Caldwell, Tornado Wallace, Late Nite Tuff Guy, Andrew Weatherall, Dreems and more have all shown Sydney exactly what’s up.
Now they welcome you to Picnic radio, presented by Kali – the sound, without leaving your comfortable surrounds!
PURPLE SNEAKERS
Presented by Martin Novosel & Gabe Gleeson
Purple Sneakers is one of Australia’s most prominent niche music blogs. The site’s founders – Martin Novosel and Gabe Gleeson – set out to feature emerging club music from around the world that they’re passionate about. They’re doing this very successfully too, as the blog is consistently rated in Nielsen’s top 20 Australian music sites – a position which mean they reach a far broader audience than they used to find throwing weekly parties under the same name.
While Gabe and Martin are nationally touring DJs who often find themselves on huge festival stages, their nation-wide team of young and enthusiastic contributors provide the grounding to form a truly forward-thinking music and club community. It’s this cocktail of passionate musical minds that will ensure the creation of some very exciting radio.
GOODGOD SMALL CLUB
Presented by Jimmy Sing
Welcome to Goodgod country. A land where tropical disco, UK garage, hip-hop, acid house, afrobeat and bashment dancehall live joyously with one another.
Goodgod Small Club is a subterranean tropical oasis right in the middle of Sydney CBD. Your one-stop late night funhouse hosts a collection of resident parties, reliably known as being some of the city’s most loose-limbed affairs. The intimate danceteria venue is well regarded internationally with global dandies such as Diplo, Thom Yorke, Four Tet, Jamie XX, Erykah Badu, 2 Many DJs and Oneman, who’ve all dropped by to play surprise sets. Goodgod has hosted parties and stages at the Sydney Opera House, Splendour in the Grass, Laneway and OutsideIn, as well as collaborating on events with Boiler Room, Red Bull Music Academy, Sofrito, Young Turks, Numbers, Cutters, Siberia and Mad Decent.
The club’s raucous clash of genres, talented musical friends and propensity for surprises makes the thought of a Goodgod radio show very enticing indeed.
SWEAT IT OUT
Presented by Frames & guests
Nominated for best Australian indie label of 2012 & 2013 and now complete with a publishing and agency wing, Sweat It Out is home to platinum selling artist Yolanda Be Cool and gold selling artist RÜFÜS. Releases from What So Not, Motez, Indian Summer, AC Slater, Sinden, Todd Edwards, Ajax, Frames, Go Freek, Playmode, Caseno and Silversix have also found a home on Sweat, which has grown from its original focus as a dance label into a genre-free zone. Sub-label Club Sweat offers an outlet for our more club-focused records.
Tune in to hear exclusive mixes from Sweat’s varied roster of artists & friends, plus forthcoming releases from the label & a slew of exciting new tunes they’re loving – all direct from Sweat It Out HQ.
THUMP
Presented by THUMP Australia
Bringing you the world’s best over and underground electronic music and culture, THUMP is VICE’s electronic music channel. They have partnered with major artists, festivals and industry the world over including Disclosure, Cut Copy, Factory Floor, Mount Kimbie, Warp Records and more. Locally, events are held in Sydney and Melbourne having hosted acts including Black Vanilla, Retiree, Kangaroo Skull and Air Max ’97.
HALFWAY CROOKS
Presented by Levins & Captain Franco
From the DJs behind Sydney’s long running rap party Halfway Crooks comes a new all-rap radio show: Halfway Crooks Radio! Tune in each week to hear Levins and Captain Franco play the latest and greatest rap hits mixed with a nice amount of classics, forgotten gems and exclusive rap content. Halfway Crooks is a rap party for party people.
Started in 2009 by rap-obsessed DJs Levins, Captain Franco and Elston, Halfway Crooks was a breath of fresh air for Sydney rap fans who didn’t want to hear the same tired classics at hip hop parties. Levins and Captain Franco have shared the stage with an impressive list of touring rappers, including Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Ferg, Danny Brown and Flatbush Zombies.
Halfway Crooks Radio is the perfect blend of a Halfway Crooks club night: a party on your radio that keeps you up to date with the best new rap!
SEQUENCE
Presented by Stuart Buchanan
Sequence investigates the infinite connections in electronic music, past, present and future. Each 60 minute show follows an artist, genre, producer, subject, location or label and explores the influential tracks that exist in their orbit – before, during and after. Neither retro nor futurist, Sequence celebrates the timelessness of electronic music, in all its forms. Sequence is presented by Stuart Buchanan, founder of the experimental record labels, New Weird Australia and Wood And Wire.
Buchanan was one of the first broadcasters on FBi in 2003, presenting Fat Planet for five years, and the New Weird Australia radio show for three years. Prior to arriving in Australia in the early 2000s, Buchanan worked as a DJ and producer in the UK, influenced and inspired by pioneering artists such as Cabaret Voltaire, Einstürzende Neubauten, Aphex Twin and Throbbing Gristle. Stuart’s depth of knowledge and passion for electronic music will make Sequence a surprising and intriguing experience each week.
BODY PROMISE
Presented by Mealo & Amelia Jenner
Body Promise will deliver a textural collage of house, electronica, hip hop, afrobeat and techno from all corners of the globe. Body Promise brings you smooth basslines, deep 808s and eclectic beats, spanning Romania to Nigeria and all the way back to Sydney. Wherever they’re from, these tunes will move your body.
LAZY RADIO
Presented by Tony Chill
Lazy Radio explores the slower, deeper, more nuanced end of the electronic spectrum. You’ll hear material from the DJ’s warm-up set, the headphone album, the after-party, the instrumental b-side, the producer’s “change of hat”, or the clubber’s night in on the couch. A wide swathe of genres, scenes, styles, labels and artists feed 60 minutes of esoteric, soulful, lush, diverse and discriminating radio. Presented by journalist, blogger, DJ and music lover, Tony Edwards.
BARE NECESSITIES
Presented by Klue with Huwston, Sam Z, Ribongia & Iron Gate Sound (co-hosting on rotation)
Bare Necessities is all about broken beats and rhythms of the world, beyond the standard four-to-the floor. And bass. Lots of that! Bare Necessities combines the more familiar styles of bass music from the UK, US and Australia’s thriving Beats scene with traditional and contemporary electronic sounds from Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Klue is joined each week by a different member of the Bare Necessities family taking on co-host duties, including Huwston, Sam Z, Iron Gate Sound, Ribongia, and other guests all bringing different flavours to the mix.