Don't hold back

I look back on that first Festival Radio as a miracle of community endeavour, led by two of the most capable people I've ever met. I knew Daniel and Eugene from the days of Faze FM, both as a presenter and graphic artist, but that was just a twinkling in the eye compared to Festival Radio.  

Then as now, the town crackled with creative energy although little of it could be heard on the airwaves. People longed for a radio station that was representative of Brighton's vibrant street culture and would dare let talented locals off the leash, along with a wealth of great music that stood little chance of being play-listed by any commercial station.

Before May 1990, you rarely heard reggae and dancehall music on local radio. I'd already started writing by then and wasn't DJing at clubs or house parties so much but the nineties was a golden era for Jamaican music and I was convinced that the more people heard it, the more they'd love it. Luckily, Daniel and Eugene agreed but then everyone involved with Festival Radio also felt passionately about what they were doing. That sort of thing went with the territory, and the reason those two got us all to share their vision was because they believed in ours. It was as if they'd said to us, 'don't hold back - just go on air, play what really moves you and we'll take care of the rest.'

I loved the freedom that came with that kind of attitude. Being part of the Festival Radio story was a special moment in many of our lives and thirty years later, it's heartening to witness that same spirit coming from Brighton's Next Generation radio station, Platform B, which again owes much to Daniel's involvement.