Beach FM
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beach Radio is a community based radio station that was situated in the Artworks complex in Oneroa on Waiheke Island, New Zealand. It is currently owned and operated by long-time Auckland radio personality Barry Jenkin and features a number of community-based shows. The station is run solely by volunteers and broadcasts on 99.4 fm or on 107 fm for the Palm Beach and Onetangi areas.
[edit] Features and Events
An Audio Island History
The Beach strives to be a station that reflects the island and its people. To that end it often broadcasts interviews with local people and performances by Waiheke musicians. Recently the station has begun to archive these broadcasts to ensure they will be available in years to come, thus creating an audio history of Waiheke. These recordings have been stored on-line at The Internet Archive [1], a project dedicated to 'building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form'. You can access the material The Beach has archived here.
Live On The Beach
Every May, to mark NZ Music Month, The Beach presents Live On The Beach, a series featuring Waiheke musicians playing live in the studio. The series was started in 2003 and proved so popular it has become an annual event. Throughout the history of Live On The Beach it has tried to showcase musicians who don't get the opportunity to perform in front of an audience on the Island whether it be because of their age, or because they are playing music that doesn't fit the solo acoustic blues format favoured by many of the local venues. Most of these performances have been recorded, and many are now available to listen to on the internet or download.
Find more info and audio on The Beach Radio Blog here and here.
Alternatuis
In 2006 The Beach launched its very own music awards, The Alternatuis. Arising from concerns that mainstream NZ music awards had become predictable and lacking in adventurousness. The Alternatuis are given to NZ musicians that the radios' DJs feel deserve acclaim but aren't receiving it. The judging criteria for the awards are a strictly guarded secret but are rumoured to be completely subjective. Even the award categories change from year to year.
Winners of the 2006 Alternatuis, who didn't know until after the awards were made that they had been in the running, included Steve Abel, Dudley Benson, Chris Knox and The Mint Chicks. At least two of these artists subsequently placed Alternatui winner stickers on the front of their CD releases. Visit The Beach Radio Blog to find out about the 2006 winners and their reaction.
