IC Radio wants you!

When I got elected as station manager of IC Radio for the coming year, many people were surprised… including myself! I stood a clueless (albeit enthusiastic) fresher whose first suggestion to get the station on FM airwaves was very swiftly shot down (An on-air radio license in the middle of London? Good one, fresher!). Honestly, I don’t know how I got elected – I remember saying the phrase “I’m charming, so vote for me”. Must be the Irish accent that made that statement seem endearing rather than obscenely obnoxious. Anyway, I can tell you now, that despite being barraged with hundreds of emails, being station manager of a student radio station really is as awesome as it sounds.

But enough about me. What does the radio society actually do? Who are we? What on earth are these programmes broadcasted so shamelessly for the entire world to hear? Why do you care? Why are you reading this? Shouldn’t you be studying? Where am I?

IC Radio is the official sound of Imperial College London. We’re an internet-broadcasted station playing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, alternating between live broadcasts and a play-out of our enormous library. Our music team is working hard on reviewing new music that we’re sent every day from labels, independent artists and flat out gangstas to ensure that our play-out system only contains quality tunes. Our presenters are students just like you – hard working (ish) nerds who sincerely love a laugh.

Radio is fun. Even for people who get a little bit nervous speaking in front of people, you can still tell yourself that you’re really only speaking to the wall when you’re in the studio. Listen to any decent station and the presenters are generally having a goodlaugh (unless they’re reading the news, in which case that’s incredibly unprofessional and I highly disapprove). Societies are meant to be fun and rewarding – otherwise what’s the point?

Here at IC Radio, we will give you a show which you can make your own. We only ask that you undergo a 20 minute training session on how to use the equipment and obey the usual don’t-be-racist, etc. From then on, you’re basically given free rein to do whatever genre of programming you like – talk, pop, rock, electronica, psychedelic funk, Australian folk, whatever. Once you have joined the society the door is pretty much open for you to use our gear. If there isn’t a show on you can come in and practice on the decks in the studio - much cheaper and convenient than buying your own stuff and carting it to uni every time you want to jam. And all for a very reasonable 8 pound membership fee? Simply fabulous, dahling.

Our recording studio is unrivalled by other student radio stations here in the UK

24 hour music and programming isn’t all we do. We are blessed with a fully equipped recording studio as well as our production studio, meaning we get plenty of bands and artists in to do live sessions and recordings. We are pretty unique to have such a facility as a student radio and we’re planning on holding lots of live sessions this year. They are open for anyone to turn up to and watch, and are held in our “shared studio” (completely separate to our production and recording studios, and shared with Music Tech, Photosoc and Stoic). Some names we have lined up for this year include Tay Mos, Sam Gray, The King Blues and Missing Andy. I was told by the previous station manager that our recording studio is unrivaled by other student radio stations here in the UK – in fact, he compared our studios to the professionals at XFm. Not to be tooting our own horn or anything, but I think that’s pretty impressive – even if the man I’m quoting basically founded IC Radio Recordings himself and is therefore fairly biased.

We also make a point of hiring out our equipment to parties and events to make some extra cash so we can buy new toys (and pay our license fees, etc.) and there are always opportunities for budding DJs to play some gigs, which our members do take advantage of whenever they can.

As a London-based station, we have the advantage/disadvantage of getting lots of emails from those in the media industry and upcoming artists. True, we get a lot of spam, but sometimes a golden ticket flies our way. Just last month we were contacted by the presenting company for the Olympics with an opportunity for budding presenters to audition for 2012 events. [Insert scream here.] And just last week, a representative from the Student Radio Association contacted us about some radio work with BBC 1xtra. [Insert further cheers here.] For anyone who’s even vaguely thinking about a career in the music or media industry, we have some really incredible opportunities coming our way all the time where you can gain invaluable experience.

Honestly, I can’t imagine the week without my one-hour slot (entitled “Mad Craic”) in our modest Beit West Wing Basement studio. I wouldn’t be at Imperial if I wasn’t at least vaguely technical and all the buttons and slides down there make me positively gleeful. Music, technology, and the sound of my own vo– I mean, banter with my co-host, notorious biologist Craig Woods. What else does a girl need? It’s an absolutely brilliant society to get involved in - whether it’s music, production, presenting, technical, DJing, or even marketing that you’re into, we’ve got an enthusiastic committee member who can help you out!

Check us out on www.icradio.com, where you can listen live or listen back to previous shows, and hear some of our best sessions and recordings! To get involved in our music team, contact music@icradio.com To get involved in our live sessions and recordings, contact production@icradio.com To hire equipment or get some DJing gigs, contact discos@icradio.com To get your own show, contact programming@icradio.com To complain about the length of this article, contact manager@icradio.com. Cheers!