Free Lab Radio
Last Saturday we braved the intense heat of the studio and spent 11.30 - 1.30am making noise for the launch of a new weekly show on the ResonanceFM schedule. Much in the style of the Cling Radio experiment of 2003, the studio was turned into a musical instrument creating feedback on itself, and for the first half of the show I played music to dance to - from Steppenwolf to The Chakachas. I'd been planning to pre-record the show, but there's nothing like keeping a broadcast live to give it that energy. So set with a floor fan and two sets of headphones, we opened with the line "Listeners, it's time to clean your ears..."
Free Lab Radio is to all extents and purposes, a chance for us to air our feelings sonically. For my part I feel strongly that, generally speaking, there's not enough dancing going on in our everyday lives. We are too static. It's now normal to rush madly somewhere to then sit down and then rush somewhere else and sit: pub, TV, internet, second life....a few of us go to the gym, some go clubbing...but where is the culture of dance fast disappearing to from centre stage as we grow older? Six years ago at my first ResonanceFM gig no one was dancing although we were at Cargo. A bunch of people stood rooted to the spot, chins turned upwards as they observed the antics of a couple on stage who writhed and gyrated in time to their music. I was struck by how Giacometti-like the ResonanceFM crew were at the time.So this is the 6th year and still there's not enough physical expression in our social circle. Rough Trade Records have a show, so does The Wire music magazine...and every now and then Art Rocker throws out a track I could move to but still the reason to DJ on a Sat night is because people still flock to the city centre to go dancing and we want to reflect that energy at the heart of London. Then as the hour turns to Sunday morning a more reflective sound takes over the airwaves as we move into a space more for listening rather than one in which we might physically respond. When I was teaching in the Himalayas there was one other Western teacher in the school there was no TV, no town to speak of to visit. So when things became overbearing I would lock the door to my teacher's quarters and put on a Diana Ross tape, and in my sari with hairbrush in hand, dance for that goosebumpy feeling that sometimes works up the spine and leaves one with an easy and relaxing ability to let go. If you've not felt this yet, then please by all means join in the experiment - close the curtains this Sat night, turn Resonance FM up loud and enjoy the space to let go in. Leave us a note!
