Twenty years in a long time in radio, but this Sunday RTRFM’s long running program Ambient ZOne will celebrate 20 years of being on air with a special show at Th Bird.
OUTinPerth talked to one of the program’s presenters Kael Discoll who told us how he first got involved in the long running show.
“I’ve been presenting on Ambient Zone since early 2011. I got involved through meeting Gavin Ee when I was DJing at the wedding of a mutual friend of ours and we got talking about ambient and electronic music. Gavin has been doing the show since it began in 1994 and he was looking for some new presenters, so he taught me all his radio tricks and let me loose in the RTRFM studio.” Discoll said.
Discoll said one of the great elements of the show is that it has great diversity, noting that the six presenters who take turns to present the show each week have very different takes on what ambient music entails.
“We all bring a different sensibility and definition of ‘ambient’ to our musical choices, although we share a fair bit of common ground. The thread that unites us is an interest in esoteric, atmospheric, experimental music, usually with an electronic soul, and a smattering of organic elements. This means we range from drones to Detroit techno, shimmering synths to slow-mo beats, atmospheric soundscapes to bizarre samples. We tend to play music that doesn’t easily fit into other genres, the weird stuff that falls through the cracks.”
To mark the shows 20th anniversay the collective are playing a live show at The Bird on Sunday September 21st. Alongside the DJs from the show a selection of local musicians will also be performing including Furchick, Sacred Flower Union and Craig McElhinney.
Driscoll predicts that the live experience is going to be a little more upbeat than the regular radio show.
“The live acts are going to bring some experimental energy to proceedings while the AZ DJs fill the gaps with some more laidback and lush sound excursions. It will have aspects of the old style chill-out room, with visual projections and aural atmospheres to expand the mind and soothe the ears.” Driscoll said.
Head down to The Bird on William Street from 6pm on Sunday September 21st for AZ20. Tune in to RTRFM 92.1 every Sunday night from 7pm – 9pm to listen to the program.
