We’re very excited to announce that Radio Magnetic, the UK’s longest running independent radio station, will be moving all their content to Mixcloud. Since the outset they have been devoted to foregrounding the underground with a mix of specialist shows, guest features, label features, mixes, interviews, and even some “off the wall comedy”. 

Their Live Circuit sessions capture exclusive performances from the world’s biggest acts at Festivals in the UK and across Europe, they’ve featured big label showcases and hosted guest mixes and club sessions featuring a who’s who of of the underground music world.

In keeping with their forward thinking ethos, Radio Magnetic’s parent company Inner Ear have been collaborating with Mixcloud and will be moving their content over to the platform. They have dug into their archives to bring best exclusive live recordings and DJ sets, bringing a diverse array of content for all to enjoy.

We had a quick chat with Dougal Perman, founder of Radio Magnetic ahead of the 10th anniversary celebration.

For those who haven’t cottoned on to the phenomenon yet, could you sum up Radio Magnetic in a sentence or two?

Alternative, underground, independent music you love, or will soon love. A mixture of cutting edge and classic sounds from a large extended family of specialist presenters – who are all DJs, producers, musicians, label managers, promoters and crate digging geeks.

How did it come about, and what was the initial ethos of the station?

My good friend Tom Lousada and I had worked together in student radio and wanted to do something similar, but the radio market in Scotland wasn’t very inspiring.

The ethos started out as quite alternative then went pretty deep underground. We were tired of mainstream radio playlists, which didn’t seem to offer much choice for listeners. Student, community and pirate radio provided some great music and speech shows, but mainstream BBC and commercial radio was, on the whole, unrepresentative of a large subculture – i.e. the kinds of people we met going clubbing in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, London and other cities, who are probably a lot of the people we connect with on Mixcloud now.

Did you come across any obstacles along the way?

Our development path was littered with obstacles in terms of high streaming bandwidth costs and technology issues of all kinds but we always seemed to find a way around them. We made a lot of good connections. The streaming and hosting company we used for many years actually got in touch after we inadvertently sent them an email virus!

What are your future plans with Radio Magnetic?

We want to keep developing our specialist shows. We’ve got a host of current programmes that we’re really proud of by the likes of Scottish new music champion Jim Gellatly, internationally acclaimed rock band Mogwai, Toddla T’s good mate MC Serocee, UK Bhangra beats mashup men Tigerstyle and more.

We continue to enjoy strong relationships with the labels we love, such as Warp, Ninja Tune, Big Dada, !K7 and so on. We’re working with Chemikal Underground on some exciting ideas for creating a new style of music TV for the web, which will also generate a series of unique live recordings. We’re also looking to revamp the site, with one of the main new additions being the total integration of the Mixcloud player for all our shows.

What is it you like about Mixcloud that has lead to this partnership?

I think Mixcloud is a very exciting social media platform for a number of reasons. Whereas services such as Soundcloud and Audioboo are great in their own right, they are not intended for radio shows, DJ mixes or podcasts, whereas the Mixcloud player is excellent for those things. Features like the easily searchable playlists and time stamping make it easy to enjoy listening.

For media and music industry people, like us, the fact Mixcloud has such a comprehensive copyright royalty payment system is a massive bonus. But one of the best things is the community of really enthusiastic music fans. The more we get into the community, the more we’ll get out of Mixcloud, I think.

How do you envisage the future of radio?

On demand, downloadable or streamed entertainment media is great, but there’s still a place for live radio, always will be, for that connection people feel with the presenter who plays the right tune for them at just the right time, or discusses the issue they care about most.

I think podcast radio shows will continue to be popular and important. The best podcasts provide true individuality through the personality of the presenters, speciality of the selections and exclusivity of the sessions, and Mixcloud enables all of that to thrive, which is one of the reasons why radio will always be wonderful and continue to delight, enthral and inspire listeners.

What can we expect from this Friday’s party?

An eclectic mashup of everything that Radio Magnetic stands for from station manager Andy McColgan and I, a deep electronic dub step, electro, techno offering from Davie Kelly and a very big, heavily percussive but anthemicly melodic electronic hip hop live set from S-Type, who has an EP coming out on LuckyMe later this year. All that and the Mixcloud crew too. Can’t wait!

Check out our man in action here –

…and of course, do come along to the Radio Magnetic 10th Birthday party we’re hosting at the Big Chill House on Friday- check out event details here – its FREE!

A week last Thursday night, the Bench DJ Competition final took place at the cool NoHo bar in the Northern Quarter of Manchester; this was a night of great music and saw the Bench Parklife DJ Competition winner from this summer, Rob Drake, play a set too.

The final of the Bench DJ Competition, in association with The Warehouse Project, Mixcloud, SAE & Vestax, kicked off on Thursday night at NoHo bar in the Northern Quarter of Manchester.

Five finalists battled it out to be crowned winner, each playing a 30 minute set to a packed crowd and judges from the industry, including electro trio The Japanese Popstars, Paul Nolan, Head of Electronic Music Production for SAE, Lee Stone, Promotions Manager for The Warehouse Project, and representatives from Bench.

DJ Dave Crane from Leeds won the phenomenal prize, winning a New Year’s Eve set at Warehouse Project, the chance to play at Bench events next year, a £2,000 course in Electronic Music Production from SAE & £1,000 worth of software and equipment from Vestax.

Dave was clearly thrilled to win, saying: “I’m over the moon! It’s such an amazing feeling to win out of the hundreds of other talented DJ’s from around the world! After all the hard work I’ve put into my music over the years it’s finally paid off. To play alongside my heroes at one of the best parties in the world is a true honour. Thanks to everyone who has supported me and pushed me over the years, hopefully this could be the start to living my dream.”

Not short of experience, Dave has been DJing for over 15 years and plays House, Tech, Techno and Classics. He can be foundon SS Radio every other Monday on his House Mates Show, showcasing guest mixes from DJs like Jonathon Ulysses, MYNC Project, Timo Garcia & Mark Mendes to name a few.

Over his career he has played alongside names such as Carl Cox, 2 Many Djs, Judge Jules and Zombie Nation amongst others, while playing for events like Euphoria, Gatecrasher, 4Clubbers, Life’s Chemistry, Blend & Echo.

INTERVIEW

Mixcloud asked winner DJ Dave Crane some questions following his success:

How did you first hear about the Bench DJ competition?

I was reading Resident Advisor when I saw the post. This was the first time I heard of Mixcloud too, two good finds in one day, I use Mixcloud all the time now.

What made you want to enter the competition?

I have been entering DJ competitions for years and have won a few too. I entered the Cream DJ Comp a few years ago and got to the finals where the Cassette Jam boys won it. After that competition, not many others really attracted me until I saw the amazing prizes for winning the Mixcloud & Bench one.

How did you go about making your mix, what went into selection choices, what equipment did you use?

I used Pioneer CDJs and equipment to make the mix. I wanted to create a party atmosphere with the mix but keep it sounding fresh and original. I sifted through all my tunes and settled on a few current releases mixed in with some classics from the last couple of years which represent my style. I always feel that an introduction is important when preparing sets like this as you need to stand out from the others. Its hard to make a set flow and progress within half an hour, so I edited the tunes in Ableton to enable me to make the mix flow better and include more tunes. I mixed the set live on 3 CDJs.

How did you promote your mix / entry?

I informed all my friends on Facebook, Myspace and in my group. Emailed friends and family and networked with some of the people on Mixcloud. I also used my House Mates radio show to promote the entry and messaged all the Dance music forums too.

How did you feel when you found out you’d qualified for the finals?

When I got the email from Kayley at Bench I was over the moon! Out of the 100s of talented entries from around the world and all the different genres, I managed to to stand out from the rest! It was an amazing feeling!

What was your strategy for the final, did you prepare / practice in advance?

I practice most days, keeps me out of trouble . I knew I needed a completely new set and so went through similar process as last time but added a few special extras to stand out.

How does it feel now you have won, are you canceling your NYE plans?

Playing one of the best parties in the world on one of the most important nights of the year, it’s amazing, such a great feeling! I was playing at This Way up and Kill the Disco @ Distrikt in Leeds alongside Sebastian Budniak, Adam Daniels, Deacon and a few others. Those guys have kindly let me go play the WHP instead

Do you have nything else to say, any shout outs?

I would just like to thank all my friends and family for all their support and encouragement – enjoy the music and hopefully I will see some of you soon!

Here is DJ Dave Crane’s winning mix from the Bench DJ Competition Final:

Aaron Porter President of the National Union of Students

The UK is alight with student protests against the government’s proposed rises in fees and cuts in spending. Following marches and walk-outs, students at a number of universities are staging sit-in occupation protests. At University College London (UCL), students have occupied a large function room and are staging events and talks.

The UCL radio station, Rare FM, is covering the occupation, recording speeches and statements from unions and activists (including Billy Bragg), and conducting interviews with everyone from Jeremy Corbyn MP to comedian Richard Herring.

You can follow Rare FM’s coverage of the occupation as it happens on their Mixcloud page and Twitter.