We had the opportunity to sit down with DJ ST from The Beat Radio Bali, this week to check in and find out more in regard to the new online radio sweeping the sound waves of Bali and the world. The Beat has been around a long time, but how about the radio? Let’s find out more.
So ST, what is The Beat Radio Bali all about?
I guess it started many years ago with radio shows I did with famed music activator and antagonist, Rudolph Dethu on the local, terrestrial FM station, Radio Plus, which was run by Mamsa Wijaya of Jenja fame and used to broadcast out of Sanur. That was a regular show from 2001 until the night before the first Bali Bomb. Later, maybe 2009, I joined the beat name to Mamsa’s radio and started trying to do the marketing for the radio station, which was always a difficult process I might add, and it became known as The Beat Radio Plus. For many years there were more shows but only a few ads, and things really began to drift apart by the start of this year, mainly due to me being too busy with other things in my life over the past few years. Good luck to 98.5 Radio Plus, I wish them well.
So what happened next?
Well, I suppose the pandemic happened next. With extra time on my hands and someone I knew saying they wanted to do a podcast show, I thought ok, we could put something together online. Have an online radio station and try some podcasts. So I went out and bought some equipment and away we went.
What’s the experience so far?
Well, things have changed a lot since just a few years ago, when I was last part of a regular show on the airwaves. Podcasts are now all the rage and people are tuning in from all over the world to listen to people speak about everything under the sun. Not exactly our podcasts, just yet, but podcasts appear to have taken over from radio and music generally on the internet airwaves. That’s my impression anyway. With so much music-on-demand available like Youtube and soundcloud etc, curated music seems to have lost a lot of its shine and attraction, nowadays. I don’t think people are listening to radio online as much as they could do and it needs the technology and especially global based Wi-Fi, for example, so you can tune in easily through the radio in your car. Having accessibility in the car is still a must for any radio. Right now it’s kinda flimsy with Bluetooth connections, or just listen direct from your phone. But we all know that Wi-Fi connectivity is going to be here very soon, so we have to just wait.
What kind of music are you playing?
At the beginning I kept the playlist to a more terrestrial radio station style, but encompassing all (or most) styles of music, including classical and jazz in the mornings, indie rock and folk styles during the afternoon and from sunset till dawn electronic of different persuasions. That’s all good on a local radio but eventually I realised that since we are global and 24 hours it needs to be one genre of music only, or it’s impossible to promote effectively. You know, you can’t be in Europe or the USA listening to classical music at midnight if you are ready to party, for example. Now it’s just electronic 24/7, and let’s face it, electronic is the music most people, or at least intelligent adults, as Mamsa would put it, are listening to nowadays. We mainly play deep house to progressive, we keep away from banging ‘hands in the air’ EDM, but we slip in some mash ups and stuff like Kygo, which is a bit more pop-ish electronic, but still in my mind, very cool. Underground would be the moniker the playlist would sit nicely on and not a bad spot to rest your name in my opinion.
How about the podcasts, how are they going?
Yes, we have a few shows every week, and it’s kinda fun. NoahJon does his local and world news roundup, Miss M comes in to talk about events around the island, and we have other guests on other nights coming in for a chat, including Belverdere who pops in here and there with his view from Jakarta. All the shows are recorded and run as podcasts on our website, iTunes and Spotify. Just search online, or go to this page The Beat Radio Bali.
There you have it, The Beat Radio Bali at your service. Tune in through this link on the site or from Twitch. Soon there will be an app which will make the whole process that much easier and more accessible.
