Phonic FM is delighted to be a finalist in the Exeter Living Awards, for the second year in a row.
Phonic FM is Exeter’s ‘sound alternative’ – a community radio station for the city and beyond, broadcasting on 106.8FM and online at phonic.fm. We are a largely self-funded membership organisation with around 80 people actively involved in any given month. In 2017, Phonic FM enters its tenth year of broadcasting.
We provide our members, and by extension our audience, complete creative freedom to express their passions for music and the arts through their broadcasts. Music is the greater part of what we do, with programmes featuring pop, rock, indie, folk, jazz, funk, reggae, world, hip-hop, dance, electronica, classical, experimental and beyond. Our music programmes are accompanied by a range of speech programmes covering local affairs, the arts, technology and more.
A unique creative platform
Phonic FM provides time and space for the people of Exeter to explore and develop their creativity – not only through our regular schedule, but also through special broadcasts and events. Some highlights from 2016:
- BBC Radio 1’s Academy partnered with Phonic FM and Sound Gallery Studios to run a series of creative workshops for young people. Over two days we provided 21 young people with an opportunity to create work for broadcast; we featured live sessions from six up-and-coming local acts, and provided five hours of live broadcasting dedicated to the event. You can see Phonic FM’s studio (with presenters John Stammers and Hannah Jay) in the BBC’s official promotional video and listen again to Phonic FM’s broadcasts.
- Phonic FM partnered with the inaugural Art Week Exeter, broadcasting two special programmes to accompany the exciting, fledgling visual art festival. Exeter Talking with David Treharne contained in-depth interviews with participating artists, whist the EAR [Exeter Art Radio] Show with Josie Sutcliffe contained a range of discussions, features and performances from artists and curators.
- The experimental audio-theatre piece O-B-A-F-G – commissioned for Phonic FM by the NOSE2015 contemporary art event, and produced by theatre company Blind Ditch – was selected for broadcast as part of Radiophrenia Glasgow festival of radio art in September 2016.
- Phonic FM put on a number of live events through the year, including internationally-renowned headline acts Banco de Gaia and Don Letts, along with storytelling events and a showcase for local female musicians.
- We estimate that each year Phonic FM’s programmes feature around 100 live sessions from musical artists, writers and poets. Many more cultural items are covered in pre-recorded reports and features on programmes including Culture & Review; Exeter Talking; What the Health!; the Steph Knight Show; the Eccentric Selection; the Last Transmission; the Classical Journey; Hot Pebbles!; and the internationally-syndicated Mike James Rock Show.
Looking ahead into 2017, we already have a significant sweep of programmes planned for International Women’s Day on 8 March, in partnership with Dreadnought South West. We are working on plans for further collaboration with Art Week Exeter, including using the station as a site for an expansive piece of sound art. We continue to offer training opportunities and a creative outlet to new broadcasters. Artists and musicians of all backgrounds are always welcome in our studios.
We value the support of our audience and our partners – thanks to everyone who has sent good wishes so far. We have our fingers crossed for the awards ceremony on 8 April!