gwEm plays Resonance FM!
Gameboy Camera Mini-Diary
Images taken on 21st Jan 2004
Download the show here (20Mb MP3) - thanx to stu and manou for recording it
Preparation 1
I did my Atari DJ shown in a 'free slot' at the famous London station 'Resonance FM'. You can download an edited version of the show from the link above. Here's how it appeared in their advertising:

"'Chip music', using sounds from old computer hardware, is becoming universally popular and well aknowledged in the underground scene. Even mainstream artists such as Zombie Nation, Scooter, Kylie and The Vengaboys have harnessed 8bit power.

Mixing audio from two of his beloved Atari STs, gwEm will be taking control with latest releases and classic tracks from the Amiga, Commodore 64 and of course Atari ST demo-scenes."

After that introduction I wanted to do the phattest show possible, so I spent alot of time carefully preparing my set and putting material on to Atari discs and carefully vetting the track I wanted to play. In the end I had more than enough material for the 1.5 hour show that I was scheduled for. Better to have too much material than too little I thought, and then I could make changes based on my mood.


Preparation crib-notes: websites, big-ups, phone numbers, gig infos, and even a short shopping list!

Getting my Ataris to Resonance FM was a bit of a mission it must be said. I took 2 trips on the underground to get everything there, TV, leads, discs, Ataris and a big bar of chocolate ;-> It was good excercise, but ultimately a pain the arse.

Preparation 2
When I got to the radio station for my show I had to wait outside for sometime. The reason was that a death metal band were doing a session and there was no possibility for them to hear the bell. Once I was insider I was greeted by my producer and engineer for the night, Steve, who had a chilled out attitude and hippy long hair to go with it! I had a nice chat with him, and he posed for me as a heavy metal rocker:


Steve looking ROCK! - Where's the bat?

There was still a show going on (the one featuring the death metal band), and I checked out their gear through the seemingly low budget 'sound proof' patio doors they set up there.


If you can look past all the promo posters you can just see the band

After this show we had to upstairs into the main radio studio in order to setup my gear - there was a pre-recorded show lasting 30 minutes, which was definately tight... As it turned out there was some problems with the equipment and connecting the ataris to it - their level was too loud. We played a few jingles to cover the dead space, and together Steve and I worked out a solution with DI boxes, mixer and dodgy leads.... just!

The Show
The first few of my announcements were a bit shakey after the previous excitement, but I fast got into it. Once he could see I knew what I was doing Steve basically let me do my own thing. You hear for yourself on the MP3 recording what happened, so I dont need to describe it. But here are some pics of the studio:


DAT/Minidisc for recording the show, mixing desk, CD/Minidisc players for music, my Atari setup.

One of Atari's was being a bit tempremental (disc drive trouble), but it got through ok. I really started to get into the show, the Atari settled down, I even started to get some positive listener feedback! Then I looked at the clock - and there was only 15 minutes of the show left! That was fast, I had a been having a great time and the had minutes just flown by. I set up the last few tracks, and then wrapped up the show. Was that really it? The whole thing had been a really buzz from start to finish. I wasn't sure if I felt good about it, there was not really alot of audience feedback with the radio show, but then I'm used to stage work with an instant crowd response. Actually I did get positive feedback, but it came slower over the next few days when people told me they had listened into the show.... Probably it was the largest audience I ever played to, Resonance FM has listeners all over the world, not just London - thanks to a popular live steam.

Afterglow
Steve the put on the next show on (like the show before mine it was pre-recorded) and we packed up the stuff. While I was waiting for a can to take me home I got talking to a girl who like Steve worked at the station. She was raving about a performance of music from the famous composer John Cage, which I thought was pretty interesting. But the cab came too fast, and we had to stop our conversation. In 15 minutes I was at home...

From my preception this was the shortest show I'd ever done, actually it was one of the longest. I was still buzzing from doing the show, and I made myself a warm vanilla milk and tried to sleep - but it was impossible ;-> Its always a childish turn on to connect to a phatt sound system, or in this case radio transmitter and make some noise, and in this case it was also chance to big up my favourite music and projects to a wider audience.

It was fun, I would definately do it again.

Here's those weblinks:

(c)gwEm 2004
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