Broadcasting is very important for emerging talent. Being featured on radio gives an artist support and credibility, while allowing them to reach a wider audience. The radio format is special, because it doesn’t rely on the atmospherics of a venue. It usually gives a focus to the aural sense and the listener is also in a passive state. Of course they can change the channel, however they can’t easily skip a track.
International broadcasting shows such as BBC Radio 1 , Boiler Room and Rinse FM are all well-known examples of how this platform can change, build or make an artists career. In this four part series, I will be interviewing the people who assist in setting the pace of the Australian electronic music market, through broadcasting.
Fenella Kernebone is one of Australia’s most revered journalists, especially in the field of electronic music. Her triple j show, The Sound Lab , is now in its tenth year. In this time she has pushed the frontiers of computer sounds, from both Australian and international artists and has educated countless listeners like myself. Many of her picks have made their way onto prominent labels, commercial radio and high-scale music festival line-ups; the exposure that she has given plays a major role.
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Sonia: So Fenella, how did The Sound Lab come along and your involvement with it?
Fenella: I have been at triple j for a long time. I started off doing the arts program called Artery and had a playlist that I was given each week, of all the crappy tracks that I didn’t like. I’d just chuck them out and play my own stuff; mainly electronic music. I played lots of Warp [Records] music and other Australian producers. That was pre Richard Kingsmill being the director.
At the same time there used to be another segment that I curated, on the art program at midnight. Tim Richie who is on Radio National now, used to come in and play new stuff. The segment that he did, tied in with a previous segment called The Sound Lab. So when I pitched a music show, that name stayed. I came up with all of these great names but they wanted me to keep The Sound Lab.
And where did your passion for electronic music in particular stem from?
Before I was at triple j, I used to do a breakfast show where I played electronic music. That was where I fell in love with Warp, Aphex Twin and stuff like Coldcut.
How has The Sound Lab changed since the early days?
I’ve still maintained the devotion to electronic music in all of its forms. It’s about a passion, an interest and keeping on top of what’s going on in new music.
When I first started, it wasn’t really being played much on triple j. Now across the network, there are more and more people who do electronic music. It’s partly because we can listen to more music from around the world, immediately. I think that our knowledge and exposure to electronic music is greater than it ever was. I hear music now that’s huge but I remember an artist I know making similar stuff ten years ago. Our palette is broadened.
How do you feel about Australian artists pioneering their own unique sounds?
I listen to Dro Carey and I think he’s great. He’s taking a sound somewhere else. It’s another quality and another level and he’s being recognised overseas for that reason. Flume and Ta-Ku have also managed to cut through with fantastic beats. They have a good story in their production.
I’ve always liked Spoonbill and his sort of Australiana. It’s unique. Lawrence English has been around for ages too and is so talented and well known. There are these people who just make wonderful soundscapes. We have incredible artists in this country.
Out of new comers, who else are you enjoying?
I’ve enjoyed Tincture and a few other names from [triple j] Unearthed , such as Veins and Lucian Blomkamp . Someone like Jonti is good to me and definitely one to keep an eye on.
Each day it changes though; new artists and new tracks. I see it as an opportunity and it’s a privilege for me to be able to do this. Actually, my only crisis is that there aren’t more women making music! I’d like to see a bit more equity…
Well you had Gazelle Twin on last night!
Oh! How good is she!?
I like Kito from Perth. She’s going amazingly. I also like Anomie and Drill Folly .
So how do you find new music and keep your finger on the pulse?
I stalk websites, read magazines, blogs and listen to people talking. I follow Twitter now and Facebook . I’ll go through links, contact people and people will contact me.
I spend all of my spare time listening to music and annoying people with it. I’ve been surrounded by it for so long, it’s been part of my life and I adore it so much. It’s like a “chose your own adventure book”. I find myself choosing my own adventure with music.
On Sunday nights when I’m DJing, I always bring in a huge box of stuff that I’ve been listening to for a while. I’ll be digging through it and think, “Yeah, this will be good now”. Sometimes if somebody sends me a message to play something in the middle of the show, I’ll download it while I’m on-air and play it. I like that immediacy.
What is it about an artist work that makes you decide that it’s worth featuring on The Sound Lab?
If someone has gone to the effort of sending it to you in the first place, then in their mind it’s already good enough. I’ve made some music myself and I know how hard it is. I’m blown-away by what some Australian producers are up to. They’ve found new ways of expressing themselves in a genre.
Obviously I listen to it to see if the production is good. If someone sends me something that’s half-hearted or half-arsed, that’s another story. After all these years, I can hear the quality in the production. If there’s fragmentation in the sample or if the snares are flat, I’ll hear it.
Generally the level of sound quality that’s present today is second to none. Sometimes I even find myself questioning if I can play the same track on-air twice! I think, “Why can’t that track be heard more than once?”
Although I’ve received comments from some people who feel differently…
Isn’t it the right of a music journalist to get behind talent? That’s one of the things that Mary-Anne Hobbs [from BBC Radio 1] has projected her career through. It’s the altruism of dedicating yourself to select artists.
Exactly and she particularly dedicated herself to the growth of dubstep when it first emerged. That program shows the power of the British audience, or even an international audience. That show was on at two in the morning on a Monday morning or Tuesday night. They have all of these special shows with massive audiences, which is amazing.
I think that your show has that sort of influence too. We just don’t have that sort of audience though.
Yes, it is a smaller pool. I also keep a broad perspective in terms of what I play. I’ll play that twenty minute track here or there, which I think can be good. Actually, it could be really annoying but I don’t care.
For me it’s about finding new music, not focusing on new releases that are big necessarily. Finding music that is unreleased or that people are making in their bedrooms, putting it on the radio whether it is out there or not and trying to showcase that. I couldn’t give a crap about labels for example. I never have. It’s about finding music that’s out there and that’s the beautiful thing.
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To listen to The Sound Lab, tune into triple j on Sundays at 11pm. The show can also be streamed on demand from the triple j website and mobile apps.
http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/soundlab/
Stay tuned for Part II - Bevin Campbell from The Blend on PBS …
WORDS BY Sonia Miles-Khan
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