The Red Bulletin February/March 2020 (UK)

Underground radio
“Foundation FM does
what she wants – we
just go along with her”
One. “If you turn on mainstream radio, it’s crap. It’s
just playlists and it’s unbearable because it’s always
the same stuff. You need to give people a diverse
offering; it’s essential to get certain types of music
out there, to give actual space to let all people
showcase their talents, because you’re not going
to hear about it otherwise.”
One of London’s most exciting underground
stations is Balamii, owned by radio fanatic
James Browning. Located at the back of a
run-down shopping arcade on Rye Lane, south
London, at the end of a long corridor illuminated
with fluorescent strip lighting, the station’s HQ is
easy to miss. Browning’s office – a windowless space
around the same size as the single toilet with which
it shares a wall – is behind the studio; in the corner is
a bucket to catch water dripping from the ceiling.
Balamii has stayed true to the spirit of underground
community radio, with local DJs spinning every
flavour from the surrounding area, from house to jazz
to grime, techno and more. Reputable DJs, including
Shy One, play shows alongside university students
who are just starting out, and the station enforces a
vibe of inclusivity and creative freedom, championing
safe spaces and musical integrity.
In the corner of Browning’s office is an old poster
printed on A4. “That’s a flyer from the first event I ever
put on, when I was 15,” he says. “When I was that age,
I was always listening to pirates with friends in the car
or at our houses. All of us had decks, so we’d just go
around to each other’s places to make mixes.” From
there, Browning went on to help out at Resonance FM
at the age of 18, then he shadowed other radio DJs
throughout his time at university in Brighton. It was
more than a decade later, however, after years working
in the capital, that he decided to take a risk and launch
his own independent station based in the South
London music scene he’d grown up with.
“I’d wanted to run a radio station since I was a
teenager – it had always been my dream – but I never
thought it would happen,” he says. “Then, one day,
I just thought, ‘Fuck it, I’m going to take all the money
I’ve been saving for a house and spend it trying to do
what I’ve always loved the most.’”
After locating a suitable space by talking to people
from the Peckham area, Browning set about building
the station using resources from the community.
“I went down the road and got all the timber from
a local place and just built it with mates,” he says.
“I spent my life savings on it. Then, when I ran out of
cash, I borrowed the rest of the equipment.” From
these modest beginnings, Balamii has grown into
a fully-fledged station with listeners in the UK, Europe
and America; it also runs events that attract hundreds
of people from across the capital. “I still think that
people have dedication to the cause of underground
radio,” says Browning. “You don’t have to go running
up on houses, putting aerials up and climbing shafts
and shit like that, but you need to make sure you’re
correct with the music you’re playing, the way it comes
across and what you represent.”
All internet radio does not look the same. Just
down the road from Balamii, also on Rye Lane,
is an entirely different kind of operation.
Foundation FM was set up with a clear mission
statement: “To showcase the hottest emerging talent in
the underground music scene, led by a diverse group
of women, LGTBQI+ persons and talented creatives,
with women at the forefront.”
Although the online station is entirely independent,
Foundation FM’s co-founders – Becky Richardson, Ami
Chowa Nkonde works the desk during Balamii’s Wednesday night show on November 13,
2019. The studio in Peckham transmits live from 8am to 3am every day
Bennett and Frankie Wells – have extensive radio
experience at BBC Radio 1Xtra, Capital Xtra, BBC
Asian Network and Radar Radio. This station could
rely on more than goodwill, local timber and borrowed
speakers: it received funding from the outset, and
the three women have a studio that can only be
described as ‘Instagrammable’. Polaroids of all those
who have appeared on the station are spread across
the coffee table, and a rack of merchandise stands
in the corner. A huge neon Foundation FM sign is
reflected in the window of a professional studio where
DJ Kamilla Rose (Boiler Room, BBC Radio 1Xtra) is
in the middle of her daily show. While Foundation FM
may share a mission statement with the original
THE RED BULLETIN 47