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Advice for Emerging & Independent Artists
Find out about upcoming shows and content. Visit our shop for U & I community merchandise.
Find out about upcoming shows and content. Visit our shop for U & I community merchandise.
we invite local DJ’s to come to our live lounge at Inkspot, in Cardiff, to showcase their awesome skills to a select group of friends and local listeners. If you’re a National or International DJ we will ask you to create a mix to play exclusively on U & I Radio and added to the dedicated playlist below. Every show is replayed on Sunday morning from 4am – 5am for our International listeners and party goers!
We want to hear as many genres as possible, as discovery is listening as we like to say 🙂
In order to be considered please make sure you have the following in place before applying –
Mixcloud/Soundcloud Account with a mix we can listen to
Facebook/Twitter/Instagram Page(s) for your DJ Name
When you are ready, email uniteandinspireradio@gmail.com with a quick intro and link to your latest mix. Please put Monday Night Mixtape Application in the ‘Subject’ Section. Once we have had a listen, if we like what we hear, we will send successful applicants an artist form so we can book them in.
So if you are a budding or established DJ, what are you waiting for! Send us your music now 🙂
We were approached by Sean James to see if we would be interested in a radio comedy show! Our reply was “we want a shwubbery!” but we settled to allowing them to have a 12-week pilot show to test the waters 🙂 See or hear all the episodes below and be sure to follow them.
It all started in the mid 90’s when I was sat in my sodden flat with my worldly possessions swimming around my front room, because someone decided to steal the copper piping from the flat above me. I was on the 13th floor! I needed a way out. But, being an ex-offender, many doors were closed.
I decided to create a pamphlet of poetry and inspirational ways to get out of the rut we often find ourselves in! From my window I could see a local resource centre, so I went and had a chat to see if they could help me make a transition from hopeless criminal, to someone with value and respect. I spent days hand-designing artwork using an old typewriter to create the pamphlet. After a few weeks I had the final pages ready to print. (I still have the originals too!) Now all I needed was the money to produce 1000 copies. I needed sponsors!
One of the sponsors was a Pirate radio station called Fresh FM. As I was collecting the payment for the pamphlet, I asked who was responsible for booking the shows. Unbeknownst to me, the Director of the station was stood right next to me! “Oh, you think you can do it can you Tiny! (My nickname at the time!) Well, we’ve a slot on a Sunday evening you can have!” I replied, “what would you like it to be about?” He responded abruptly by saying “You just told me you can do it, so get on with it!”
Mainstream radio seems to bombard you with the same negative and downright rude music they seem to the think the world wants to listen to! This is usually interrupted, to bring the latest death and disaster stories, happening around the world! The big boys are fighting over the big outlets, while the masses wait and see who will control the industry next and what will be pumped into our ears to satisfy their greedy lifestyles and other people’s egos! No wonder so many people are depressed and lost. They have lost touch with good music and what it can do for the soul!
There is a wealth of new music out there waiting to be heard, not just by the mainstream but by you! Every day we get new music submissions from Emerging & Independent Artists to well established Artists! Discovery Is listening to them!With the newer acts, they have very little experience or knowhow as to maximize their online presence to attract new followers and increase their listener reach. They think a Manager will take care of that for them! This is sometimes true but mainly they are vultures who make money for doing very little!
Well, perhaps it is time for a musical/audio revolution! Technology today is making it easier for the individual to get themselves out there. To Unite & Inspire the people around you, who may just have the skills you need to achieve true recognition for your skill is the way forward in the beginning! We are all part of the universal jigsaw called ‘Life’ and have a talent to bring to the table.
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Find out about upcoming shows and content. Visit our shop for U & I community merchandise.
Find out about upcoming shows and content. Visit our shop for U & I community merchandise.
Find out about upcoming shows and content. Visit our shop for U & I community merchandise.
Big Scott
Station Creator & Owner – Award Winning Presenter – Dedicated to Discovering New Music
South Wales
To Unite, Inspire and Educate the Emerging & Independent Music Scene around the Globe
Tina Evans
Social Media – Reviews – Photography – Artist Liaison – Musical Mum
South Wales Valleys
To Unite, Inspire and Promote the Original music scene Globally.
Lloyd Hawthorne
Technical Wizard – Website Guru – Good Egg!
South Wales
Wants take over the world and make it a better place for all!!
Whether you approach a friend, label, station via social media, messaging or email, it is always polite to do a few simple things. Manners and a bit of politeness can work wonders.
Don’t post a link to song/video with no introduction or request for action
Do introduce yourself and explain what the link is about and what action you would like
Don’t post a link without any thoughts of your own
Do post a link with some choice words to entice your audience
Don’t send nasty/insulting emails, comments when someone offers to help
Do take advice and free support
At the end of the day, you are asking someone to listen to your personal thoughts and emotions, get absorbed and then share with the world. So the least you can do is take the time, effort and use a bit of courtesy to make it an enjoyable journey for all 🙂 x
Tips For Getting Heard
You would not believe the amount of music that is sent to us without any real due care and attention to detail! You have taken the time, invested time, money, and effort to create your work so the world can hear and share it.
In a world where most music is digested on some form of electronic device, you forget the basics, to label your music correctly. This is a key when trying to get as much exposure for your music without paying a penny, as most electronic devices display Artwork and Artist-Track info for the world to see.
Have you taken the time and effort to have all your social media and online presence setup, created a basic press pack, made a list of who you are going to send it to and why? Most importantly! Is your music correctly labelled and edited?
When approaching various media networks like Radio Stations, DJ’s, Presenters, do you have a database of those who responded and shared your music? Have you joined groups or networks for Emerging & Independent artists who play the same styles of music you do? Do your research to gain maximum reward with minimal effort.
The fundamental thing to remember is you love your music and want others to fall in love with it too! You want your friends, fans, music networks to share the love far and wide. Treat your music’s journey as a relationship and give everyone the love and respect they deserve when sharing your emotions.
Music is the most powerful medium in the world so make sure you harness that power and reap the rewards 😉 x
Top & Tail Your Music
Silence Is Golden!
Music is one of the most powerful mediums that we all love. When we go to a concert, watch a video or tune into the radio, we want uninterrupted music that flows and takes our mind on a musical journey. Where radio is concerned, a few seconds of silence in between tracks can make or break that flow! The listener has a very keen ear and can lose concentration if the mind is left to wonder for too long between songs.
If every track sent to us had 5-10 seconds of silence at the beginning and/or end of them, you would have around 10-20 seconds in-between every song. Listening to that would be like driving in and out of a tunnel, where you lose signal and it comes back again! Not a smooth journey at all and on-air it would sound awful!
As an Artist you should ensure you have no unwanted silence at the beginning or end of your recordings. You need to ‘Top & Tail’ your music before you start adding metadata and artwork etc. If you don’t do this and expect the station to do so, you will get nowhere very fast!
At U & I Radio if we see a track needs editing in any way, it will either be put in the ‘To edit when we have time folder’ or be deleted. So, for a matter of a few minutes of your time, you can significantly enhance your chances of getting your music played.
In this video we show you how to top and tail your music using Audacity (which is Free) plus add basic meta-tagging details too.
Correctly Label Your Music
U & I Radio Love To Receive New Music!
We have a very eclectic database of music from across the globe. From Harp playing Rappers in the USA to Downright dirty Rock and Blues from the Valleys. We’ll listen to it all. If it makes us think, feel something, or entices us to bounce around the room for no apparent reason, we will play it. From the raw bedroom recording to the polished and seasoned article! We have room for you all.
Whether Brand New, Emerging & Independent or signed, we will listen to your creations, providing they are labelled correctly and have all the necessary metatag data within them to display on or station player. We love good quality music that’s labelled correctly and radio-friendly!
We take the time and effort to share your awesome music and make it as easy as possible for our global audience to link to you. All we ask in return is for you to follow these simple steps before you send your tracks to us or anyone else. Meet us half-way and we can help you go all the way!
All of the following can be done using mp3tag or similar metatag software.
Watch the video to see how we like you to submit your hard work…
Ensure there are no silences at the beginning or end of your track.
Embed the following Data ensuring you Capitalize Each Word. DONT USE CAPITALS, _Underscore_ or punctuation.between.word.or.letters
Filename – Artist(s) Name – Track Title – Album Title (Demo, Single, Album, EP etc…) – Year of Release
Genre(s) – Please put Emerging & Independent as your first genre, followed by Main Genre of each track (Pick one that best describes each track) followed by the Country you live in
Embed Artwork – Make sure this is 512 x 512px
Remember to change the track Filename. This is VERY IMPORTANT as that shows when you attach to emails etc
If your music has any swearing please send a clean Radio edit for daytime play. Explicit material will only be played at selected times on specialist shows
Send only correctly labelled tracks as an MP3 (320kbs). Please do not send WAV, MP4 or any other format
Once you have done the above, here is how it should look –
The reason we ask you to do this is to help you gain maximum exposure in a world where most information is displayed and digested electronically. Be it on your phone, computer, Tablet or via our station, they display almost everything for the listeners to know who they are listening to.
We can do all the above for you (for a small fee)
As an Emerging & Independent Artist you are probably creating and recording lots of songs and tracks. Maybe you are putting an EP/Album together and want to label lots of metadata in one hit.
Maybe you are a DJ/Producer/Presenter who has hundreds of tunes containing All CAPITALS – Annoying punctuation (:’’_-) and Numbers in between words or Incorrect Filenames.
The following 3-minute video will show you the steps necessary using Mp3Tag to save you lots of time whilst you declutter your musical archives before adding to your Press Pack/EPK 😉 x
You may also want to consider using MusicBrainz Picard if you have thousands of tracks, duplicates and want to do a full clean-up and backup of your music archives.
Social media’s a key factor when trying to get your music heard and create a fanbase these days. So many Emerging Artists still do not have a proper ‘home’ online. Artists still tend to use their personal accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Mixcloud etc, which makes it hard for promoters to link you in their posts and marketing campaigns. These days you need a digital ‘home’ to invite your fanbase!
It is worth taking the time to create your online ‘home’ for your music and stage persona. Separating your personal and musical life will make things a lot easier to manage. A little of preparation goes a long, long way!
Don’t try and make your Artist page name tricky or hard to find. Use a name as true to your Artist name as possible. If your name is taken, try putting different words like ‘Original’, ‘The Only’, ‘The Real’ or something similar at the beginning or end of your name. Be unique and easy to find. It may be worth taking some time to search and see if the name you choose is available on all three accounts before creating them.
You don’t need hundreds of accounts on different sites, just concentrate on the 3 main areas you will be promoting and putting online for the world. That is how do they read about you, hear your music & watch your videos. The final area is how do they interact with and contact you.
For fans to read about you, create –
A Facebook Artist/Band Page – basically you can treat this as your website to start with as it has many features to help you grow online.
An Instagram Artist Account – Use the same name as your Facebook Artist Page. You can link posts and pictures etc with relative ease.
A Twitter Account – Use the same name as your Facebook Artist Page & Instagram Account.
To Listen to your Music & Watch Videos, create –
Create an Artist account with a music platform that allows you to upload, share and sell your music, for free to start with. Something like Soundcloud/iTunes etc. No need for multiple music sites doing the same thing
Create a YouTube/Vimeo or similar video Channel for your Act/Band – This will be the home for all your video creations.
Add your music to a distribution site that gives you the best share of any revenue your music may create when selling online. Something like CD Baby, Tunecore or Ditto Music to name a few. Do your research!
For your fans to interact with you, create –
Create a dedicated email account for your Act/Band, so you can create business cards etc without having to share your personal details to the world. Keep your two lives separate.
Use an online Merch store that allows your fans to buy your goods and you get a small fee from each sale. Something like Spreadshirt or similar When you grow you can expand to bulk buying. But for now, every little helps in the beginning!
Once you have these all set up, make sure they are all linking to each other and try to keep the same images on each profile you create, so fans know it is your page instantly. That way it doesn’t matter how the visitor lands on your various pages, they can easily link to all the others with ease.
This is only the start. There’s plenty of advice online to help you expand 😉 x
What Is A Press Pack (EPK)
A Press Pack or Electronic Press Kit (EPK) is one central place for you to collate all material that someone interested in your music would need. It’s a sure-fire way of looking professional when it comes to dealing with the music industry. Once you’ve gone to the effort of creating you press kit, it will save you plenty of time in the long run.
These days most press packs are electronic and online, so with one click you can direct the intended recipient to a page/folder containing all the information they need to learn about you and your music.
What Should A Professional Press Pack (EPK) Include
Friendly, punchy, and personal intro/brief Bio
Make this informative, brief, and direct them to a fuller Bio that you may have online. The secret it to whet the appetite of the receiver. Make sure you specify your main genre, don’t overthink or make up a new genre as this may hinder you being added to station playlists
Latest Music
Make sure that the music you are sending is correctly labelled with all metatag details and artwork embedded. Most stations and music services prefer mp3’s in 320kbs format. Always good to do your research and see what format each recipient prefers.
Current Artwork & Promo Pictures
Ensure you have the latest artwork for the tracks you are sending as well as the most recent pics that reflect you and your act as they are today. Don’t send old and low-res pics
Links to online Music & Videos
If you have online music stores or videos be sure to add links only to your latest ones.
Links to Events/Upcoming Shows
Provide links and information for where they can see you perform or share with their audience
Social Media, Website links & Contact Details
These need to be up-to-date and ready for the world to look at and share. Be prepared for the Viral hit we all aim for! Plus, the recipient can check out your follower stats etc
A few quotes or writeups about you and your music
Add a few quotes from professional or reputable people who have commented on your music. Maybe add links to them if they are long and detailed
What Not To Put Into Your Press Pack (EPK)
Old releases of your music, old pictures, and videos. These can be left on your website or social media channels for them to research later if they so wish.
No more than 3 Hi Resolution photos. So, make sure they reflect your image and brand perfectly.
Unconfirmed events and plans. Keep them quiet until they are 100% guaranteed.
Try not to be too cocky/funny or self-aggrandizing, as you risk not being taken seriously!
Sending Promo Emails
Emails are usually your first chance to impress the recipient. Be it a Radio Station. Record Label, Manager or similar it is imperative that you do a bit of research before sending any information. Make sure they play or listen to your genre of music. There’s no point sending your Folk music to a Heavy Metal Station/Show!
In the subject line of your email –
Make sure you make it short and straight to the point. Most of the time, you will be promoting Albums or Singles, so your subject line may look something like [BAND] – [Title] – [RELEASE DATE]. If you’re looking for press coverage for a tour, the subject line should say “On Tour Now” or “On Tour [DATES]”.
In the body of the email –
Briefly introduce yourself and outline what you would like the recipient to do with included information. All other information should be on your Press Pack (EPK) which you should either attach or provide link to download online. Do not send longwinded emails as they will usually not be read to the end.
Add links to your music so they can listen before they decide to take the time to download or maybe attach your latest song to the email.
At the bottom of your emails –
Include your social media & Website links and direct contact details to make it easier for the to follow up on the email.
Attachments –
If you are sending attachments make sure that they too are labelled correctly so that they know exactly what the attachment is and who is it from. For example, an EPK attachment could be labelled thus… U & I Radio – ‘New Song’ – EPK.doc so that when downloaded they know exactly what it is and who it is from.
The key secret when emailing is to keep it short and simple. If you have lots of information to share, point them to your EPK or Website. Try and grab their attention within the first paragraph. Make the music as simple as possible to hear and make sure they can contact you easily on whatever social platforms you use
A few other things to consider –
Do a bit of research about who you are sending music to and see what format they prefer, as every station has their own ‘House Rules’ and procedures.
Make sure any tracks you attach to the email are labelled correctly. This will put you in the good books and put you one step ahead of the competition.
If you get replies and/or they play your music, create a database, and add their emails for you to use in the future. Nurture the relationship. Don’t just take their support for granted. Touch base and say hi, even when you are not hitting them up for promotion.
Learning to tag on social media platforms is an effective way of spreading the love all from one post. It can sometimes be so frustrating and boring copy & pasting the same message to several locations. It takes a little while to get used to but a great way to promote and share for free, from one post!
Facebook likes to change its ways of working every now and then, so be sure to try and keep up with the times. Sometimes it is a matter of trial and error before you find the results you want.
The video below will give you a brief idea on how to link U & I Radio and other people to a post. So that when you share it the post will appear on all those pages/people you have tagged.
You may want to also do some research into Hootsuite, Autopo.st and other helpful sites, that allow you to post to 3 or more different social media accounts at the same time, plus they have a scheduling feature too. Although at the time of writing this Facebook now allow you to schedule your posts on their platform alone.
Create a Database of Contacts
Throughout your journey as a Musician/Artist you will be contacting important and influential people on a daily or weekly basis. Trying to get them to respond is hard work, so if they do respond you need to keep a record to approach them again in the future. Build up a relationship and keep in touch even when you have nothing to promote. Maybe you can help them in some way!
A good habit to get into from the very beginning is to catalogue all the responses you receive, positive and negative, and create a database of different organizations and networks. This will come in very handy when creating future campaigns for you and your music.
This doesn’t need to be extensive and heavy on data. All you really need are email addresses, contact numbers, social media links and postal addresses if you intend to post CD’s etc. It can be broken down into various categories.ie Radio Stations, Record Labels, Events, Promoters, Reviewers etc.
You could use a package like Mailchimp or similar as the free packages will help as you start to build your network. Or you could just create a spreadsheet with different sheets for the different types of networks. Once you have the data organized it will be much easier and a more efficient use of your time when mailing, as you can hit a certain group(s) all from one email.
If you are sending to multiple people in one go be sure to only put one recipient, i.e. you, in the first section of the mail and copy and paste the other recipients into the CC section. This should stop any spamming issues that could occur. Sometimes it is best to send to each person individually and personalize it to each recipient.
There are lots of tips and support online if you want to dig deeper into this topic 😉 x
As you may have heard on our station, we have amazing jingles created by artists that are on our vast database. We also have a couple of jingles from listeners too! They play every 30 minutes on a rotation basis, for eternity or until you send us a newer version.
If you could find the time to create a 5-10 second jingle for U & I Radio, we will happily add them to our eternal database, which may be selected to play anytime. Feel free to have fun and make them interesting using your own music and imagination 😊
Please use the following format: –
(INTRO & YOUR NAME/BAND NAME)
“You’re tuned into U & I Radio, Where Discovery Is Listening”
Please make sure there are no silences at beginning or end of the Jingle too!
When completed send us a correctly labelled MP3 –
ie… Big Scott Radio – U & I Radio Jingle
We look forward to hearing your creation on a regular basis on U & I Radio 😉
This month’s Mammoth Monthly Playlist is dedicated to the artists performing live at Big Love Festival 2018. All these awesome acts will be showcasing their amazing skills to 1000 loyal festival lovers at Baskerville Hall Mansion, Haye on Wye from 4th – 6th May. There are a few tickets left so go get them right here… We’ve done our bit. All we ask is for you to post & share with a few kinds words about U & I Radio 🙂
This month’s Mammoth Monthly Playlist is dedicated to the artists performing live at Big Love Festival 2018. All these awesome acts will be showcasing their amazing skills to 1000 loyal festival lovers at Baskerville Hall Mansion, Haye on Wye from 4th – 6th May. There are a few tickets left so go get them right here… We’ve done our bit. All we ask is for you to post & share with a few kinds words about U & I Radio 🙂
Find out about upcoming shows and content. Visit our shop for U & I community merchandise.
Kids Pop to Dirty Beats
DJ Boo is a young female DJ who loves everything about music and has an eclectic taste for her age. From kids classics and mainstream pop to downright dirty Dubstep and Drum & Bass. She is sure to get you and your youngsters onto the dancefloor and keep you there ’til you drop!
If you need a DJ for your kids’ party, DJ Boo is the one for you!
Deep & Soulful House / Dancefloor Cuts
11pm – 12am Thursday / Replay – Sunday 12pm – 1pm
DJ Mr Mase’s musical journey started many moons ago when as a boy he began recording songs to tape. This was the era of Top of the Pops and radio shows: CDs were a thing of the future and years before the internet was conceived.
By the mid-’90s, the accumulation of Christmas presents resulted in a modest setup of an Amiga 500+ and Yamaha keyboard. During this time he taught himself keyboard and eventually obtained an add-on sampler for his Amiga. Armed with a music program called Octamed and despite a meager 4 channel audio limit, the power of sampling meant he could produce music that consisted of a mishmash of samples of other songs. He would sample from whatever media had the groove: tape, CD, vinyl, VHS, and even FM radio shows! It was at this point that his love of sample digging and collecting music flourished whilst exploring the fundamentals of 80’s Electronic music, Soul, Funk, Disco, and Jazz.
A quick listen to his sublime DJ sets and eclectic taste focus on the melodic and underground styles of House will confirm an attractive and emotion-rich aesthetic. While rooted in house, his sound takes on flavours of Disco, Deep Grooves, Nu-Jazz, Garage, Broken-beat and is sure to elevate your mood! He is a true connoisseur of the deep and soulful experience.
10am – 11am Saturday / Replay Sunday 10am – 11am
Ecklectic Mick (AKA Heisenberg) is the 65-year-old ex Goldsmith College painter who has swapped his paintbrush for an electric pipe. Hailing from Wild West Wales, Mick started mixing sounds instead of paint about 4 years ago, shaping his craft on Ableton Live and posting music to SoundCloud.
Fresh to the World of DJing Eclectic Mick has already achieved an impressive roster playing his unique brand of music to packed out clubs and festival tents.
Northern Soul
8pm – 9pm Friday / Replay Sunday 1pm – 2pm
In 1978 a fresh-faced Glyn was a regular at The Wigan Casino all-nighters, Nottingham Palais all-dayers, and many other soul clubs around the country. Northern soul became a passion for him, and he became an avid record collector.
Glyn’s career as a DJ started at 7 years of age on his brother’s mobile disco. From 13 he was working in night clubs and in 1994 following a stint on pirate radio he started his own radio station in the UK called ‘Valley Radio’
In 1997 Glyn began the ‘Soultastic’ Soul Club based at Alfreton Leisure Centre in Derbyshire UK attracting up to 800 soul lovers every month at the regular Northern soul nights.
You can contact Glyn direct using the links above or below. Enjoy!
Putting The heART Back Into Wales
8pm – 9pm Wednesday / Replay Sunday 12pm – 1pm
A jam-packed hour of the best new releases coming out of Wales right now across all genres – with a few old classics thrown in for good measure, in both the English and Welsh language. You’ll find everyone from Al Lewis to Alkatraz, Steve Balsamo to Badfinger and a whole lot more besides!
Exploring modern Electronic and deeply-rooted Ethnic music to take you on a sacred journey you’ve not experienced before. All from the comfort of your own space. Sunday mornings will never be the same again! With a gentle breeze from Balkan and Mediterranean countries, organic and dark Nordic sounds, melodic African house, Indian folklore and upbeat tunes from South America you will be taken on a unique journey, smoothly put together by Cardiff ‘s underground DJ, The Scruffy Monkey :)
The launch of Falcon Records Radio happened in January 2012. Falcon Records excel in connecting music and musicians from all over the world. Every week we will bring you emerging and exciting new music from North of the border and beyond.
As I walked home with a bounce in my step all I could think was “I am going to be on the radio this Sunday night! I could become a celebrity and make millions!” But I had nothing prepared. I listened to Fresh FM for the day taking notes as to how the Presenters were doing things, which to be honest was not very impressive. They tended to ramble about nothing but did play some banging tunes. After several hours of ingesting, I decided I was going to do a proper talk show and intermix it with new tunes and requests from the local listeners.
After a couple of weeks of doing the show, I decided to do a journalism course in London, but it was going to cost me around £3,000 which I didn’t have. After a bit research I discovered I could get a Career Development Loan.
I spent 12 months in London learning the media world and making real contacts in the industry. As part of the course, I had to find my own work experience and managed to get a placement with Planet 24, who were responsible for the famous TV show ‘The Big Breakfast”! This gave me a real insight into how friendly and exciting the creative industry can be. It felt like I had found my creative home! Exam time came and I failed the exam on ethics. I soon ran out of money and headed back to the Midlands.
Our station will be like no other, as we have a vested interest in helping the artist and our listeners grow and develop their mind, body, and soul! Because as you grow, so do we! Music is a key part of all our lives in one way or another. It is a universal language we can all understand, wherever you are in the world and whatever tongue you speak in! It helps us through the sad times and makes us dance like fools in the good times!
How cool would it be to turn your dial (or press a button these days!) to hear a station that will make you feel safe and respected, anytime day or night, whilst discovering music from Emerging & Independent Artists, with the old classics thrown in here and there, to jog the memory banks!
At U & I Radio our ethos is to Unite & Inspire people through music and self-expression, at the same time uniting musical and creative minds to achieve personal and group goals, whilst being mentored at the same time! Meet us half-way and we can go all the way to achieving success in whatever path you choose.
During the ‘Lockdown’ we are busy behind the scenes rebranding the station for her 5th Birthday, developing new technology that allows us to stream video and audio content easily. Our Technical Director is ensuring we grow as a business so after the hiatus we will be in the perfect position to offer a variety of management and development structures to make the world a more positive and cohesive place where we can Unite & Inspire each other using the power of Radio! We will be hosting shows where we talk to inspiring and uplifting people, to give you an insight into how to follow your own dream/passion.
Eclectic/Emerging/Live
Various times throughout the week
Former pirate DJ, TV Researcher, Location Scout, Hospital & Wedding Jock, Production Assistant & Talent Booker, Theatre & Lighting Tech, Stage & Tour Manager, Crew Chief, Roadie, Magazine Creator & Editor, Broadcast Production Trainer, Events & Festival Manager, Award-Winning Presenter, Voice Actor, Giant & Eternal Softy.
BBC trained Best Male Presenter (2011, listener’s choice) & Producer of the Internationally regarded “It’s Your Call” & “Let The Music Play” magazine & music shows (Radio Cardiff 2009-14) first dipped an ear into a life of broadcasting in 1995 via pirate radio station Fresh FM. Greater London Radio & twice weekly Bronglais Hospital Radio (Aberystwyth) followed. In between, a stint as a not-what-you’re-thinking End Of Parts Researcher for Channel Four’s award-winning dawn chorus sense avalanche “The Big Breakfast.”
A series of theatre-based Technical & Production roles & UK tours culminated in 2014 with the Set Construction/Trench dig Management of the National Theatre of Wales’ Owen Sheers-penned audience interactive WWI commemorative play-in-a-field Mametz.
Standing at 6’8” (7ft+ with full ‘fro) there is no one bigger or louder exposing live music venues throughout South Wales to Emerging & Independent Artists & Bands travelling from all across the globe, specifically to play for a loyal local & Internationally expanding cam-streamed audience.
Equally at home with debutant(e)s & veterans, community radio grifters & national radio Napoleons; a keen nose for equine feculence & a tongue sharpened by experience; the Big Scott Radio brand has warmed listeners’ ears & emptied their pocketbooks ahead of the bandwagon, introducing the likes of Ellie Makes Music, TIBET (formerly Brothers), Fingertrap, Railroad Bill, Albatross Archive, Nia, Nia Ann, Little Eris, Maddie Jones, JC’s Hopeless Sinners, Laurence Made Me Cry, Rad Stewart, James Clode Band & Samantha Crain (to name a handful) on many an occasion.
Internationally respected, connected & correct, a third ear for the unique amongst the new & an articulate respect for the never-say-die, & anecdotally linked to Bruno Brookes who once wished it were possible to purchase his ‘Walnuty and Dark Chocolatey’ baritone voice!!
World Music
Has had the privilege of working at KFOG for the past 22 years, and have programmed Acoustic Sunrise for 12 years. It’s a disc jockey’s dream come true. I also serve as Director of Special Programming, producing ‘Live From the Archives’ the Show each week, which means I get to play around in our extensive collection of live KFOG concert recordings. It’s a very humbling experience, sort of like being a museum curator. Outside of the station, I write and co-host the nationally syndicated radio show “The Putumayo World Music Hour”, heard on 125 stations throughout North America, including KFOG at 6 Sunday mornings.
World Music
Majored in Latin American Studies, and on a trip to Colombia found himself in the Putumayo river valley where he fell in love with the indigenous handicrafts, people, and countryside. In 1991, on his return from Indonesia, Dan stopped in San Francisco were in Golden Gate Park he happened upon an African band named Kotoja – who were performing upbeat Afro-beat music to a happy, dancing crowd. That chance occurrence led Dan to start the Putumayo World Music record label with his friend Michael Kraus in 1993.
Dance, Electronic, House, Trance, Techno, World
Sunday 9am – 10am / Replayed Sunday 8pm – 9pm
Exploring modern Electronic and deeply-rooted Ethnic music to take you on a sacred journey you’ve not experienced before. All from the comfort of your own space. Sunday mornings will never be the same again!
Various Locations in Wales
www.uandiradio.com
1pm – Late
https://bit.ly/39dSKdh
www.uandiradio.com
Join us while we test out the new website and our ‘Live’ streaming capabilities for the first time.
Opening Show and Intro to the new website.
Performing regular shows since the age of 16 has given Tobias a wealth of experience in front of a range of audiences and left him with a calm and comfortable demeanor onstage.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/tobiasofficial
Katielou is a young indie/folk singer and songwriter from South Wales. She is currently gigging around England and Wales with her debut EP Households.
https://www.facebook.com/katielouofficial/
Acoustic Singer-Songwriter from the Wales
Foot-tapping, feel-good Blues Rock, which is heavily based around the guitars and putting on a big show.
www.facebook.com/BlueEvolutionMusic/
A newly formed four piece band who have already started making an impact on the local scene with their big, highly infectious, guitar heavy tracks.
www.facebook.com/TheNowUk
Latest videos from our artist Database.
Closing Show
Polish born explorer of music from every corner of the world, focused on creating sets distinguished with its tribal, ethnic and melodic vibe.
www.facebook.com/djthescruffymonkey
The Legend that is renowned for Producing and mixing some of the finest Electro-swing out there.
www.facebook.com/mick.kelly.965
Cardiff based, Deep and Soulful house DJ. Musical satisfaction guaranteed!
www.facebook.com/djmrmase/
He may make a guest appearance!
Last Wednesday of every month
Emerging and independent artists
On the last Wednesday of every month our loyal and voluntary team broadcast & film (HD) yet more great ‘original’ music from the wealth of talent out there. Local or International, we open the stage to all genres and share with the world on U & I Radio. All hosted by Big Scott Radio from the new music friendly The New Crown Inn in Merthyr Tydfil.
The nights are not a typical gig but more a showcase and chance for Artists to get a feel of ‘Live’ broadcasting to an intimate yet Universal audience!
The nights are not a typical gig but more a showcase and chance for Artists to get a feel of ‘Live’ broadcasting to an intimate yet Universal audience! All music played from 8pm – 9pm and in between acts are acts from our extensive database of emerging music on a global basis.
See you there 🙂 x
Within 12 hours Tina furnished me with a list of over 20 songs from Jacky (Carl’s Wife) which contained treasured memories they both shared. Plus we received some lovely pictures from the family too. So now we had the task of trying to fit in as many songs as possible, bearing in mind that every song will have a significant meaning for it being chosen, into 1 hour!
There was no way this was going to happen so we decided let’s go all-in and do a 2-hour show, bearing in mind I have never been trained to do anything like this in over 20 years of enjoying radio! We had the music they would love to hear, they sent me a link to the Memorial Wall set up for Carl so I could get an idea of what sort of man he was and see what others thought of him, which was very emotional to read and digest! But, it did give me a valuable insight into what a wonderful man he was and how he’s going to be missed.
From 1999 -2001 I spent 2 wonderful years at Coleg Harlech, Mid Wales. I learned all aspects of the radio industry. Under the tutorage of the wonderful Jenny Zobel (RIP), who was BBC World Service Presenter for 12 years. Jenny extracted my passion for talking and discovering music from all around the world! I found my voice and presenting style! I was coming back to life!
Life changed in 2007 when I found out I was to be a dad again! I moved to Cardiff to be closer to my little one. After me and the mother split, I ended up sharing a house with a local music promoter, who was only in the game for free beer and notability! One day he said he wanted to have a radio show. I said it was a piece of cake to get a show!
Within a week we had managed to secure him a slot on the local community radio and I would be his Producer. This show lasted for about 2 months before he decided it was too much work! So, the station offered his slot to me! I spent nearly 5 years at this station learning and teaching myself the way things had changed from my Pirate radio days. Along the way amassing a massive database of awesome music from emerging & Independent artists.
Whether you like Blues, Jazz, Classical, Rock, Soul, Funk or Reggae, every hour of the day we have something different and exciting for you to discover and throughout the whole week we have hopefully covered most genres you can think of. All interspersed with Emerging & Independent artists so you don’t have to tune in at a specific time just to hear new music! They sit side-by-side and most of the time we bet you won’t even notice!
As you can see, we try not us the word ‘Unsigned’ as that seems to have a stigma attached to it! Emerging & Independent makes the artist sound more professional! At U & I Radio we aim to equip the new, Emerging, and Independent artists with the basic tools necessary to help them make an impact on the world using our International music network. We will be offering free online tip sheets, tutorials and guidance to one-to-one and group workshops to engage the whole community.
Since launching U & I Radio on March 15th 2015 we have been sharing Emerging & Independent music with over 180,000 keen ears tuning in from over 180 countries. Through ‘Live broadcasts’ and weekly feature shows we show the world why ‘Discover Is Listening’! We regularly put our artists on many stages including Big Love Festival, Swansea Fringe Festival, HUB Festival, Geckgo Festival to name a few with many more to come. We intend to be live-streaming from venues every night of the week from around the globe once the madness is all over!
So now my brain is in overdrive and I contact our genius of a Tech man behind the scenes to see if we could whip up a page dedicated just to the family while we do the live broadcast. Without any hesitation, he’s on it and we are on the phone discussing what can be done and before my eyes I see it all appear. The power of Teamviewer and a Website guru guiding you!
So now I start working on a radio script to piece it all together, without sounding like a Pastor, and knowing every song on the list is vitally important to those who will be listening. The Backing Music (Music Bed) Tina and I chose was Ave Maria by J.S Bach, a very powerful piece of music just on its own! The words on the memorial wall were wonderful and Jacky sends me beautiful words to add to the script too.
When I was unfairly dismissed in Dec 2014 it was a serious kick in the teeth! At the time I had 2 shows of my own, produced for 3 others and conducted live broadcasts! Plus, I’d won ‘Best Male Radio Presenter 2011’!! But still I was undervalued!
After a few months of fighting my thoughts as to whether to keep on the radio path I came across a software provider who offered a radio station in one package, for a small monthly fee. I said “F**k it!” If nobody will take me on and appreciate what I have to offer, I will create my own radio station, based on my own ethos, and find people with the same values! I spent the next 12 months learning how to build a website, create a brand and label & upload a database of over 30gb of original music and classic albums gathered on my life journey.
On March 3rd, 2016 I soft-launched U & I Radio to the world. Since then it has grown from strength to strength, with over 170,000 people listening in all over the globe. As U & I Radio moves into the 21st century we now have a Technical Director who’s ensuring we are at the forefront of promoting Emerging & Independent music in the best way possible. By the time you read this our new website should be ready to take the station to the next level. The team is growing week by week and the unity is awesome. Like-minded people with the same passion, doing what they an to promote the music of Emerging & Independent music globally.
In our short history we have amassed a database of over 1400 artist from around the globe of many a genre who make up the database of our station. We have a reputation for putting on some of the most professional and friendly events, with the artist being the main focus. Because without them and their music U & I Radio would not exist! Each artist who performs live with us is broadcast, filmed and promoted to the best of our ability!
U & I Radio is not a conventional radio station as we aims to be a Global Community Radio network where you can escape from the madness of the ‘Real’ world and help you think differently at the same time, whilst discovering new music to fall in love with from all around the world!
Life is an opportunity to talk to the world. At U & I Radio we help Emerging and Independent artists encourage the world to listen 😊 x
#uniteandinpire #discoveryislistening #uandiradio
After not writing a radio script, let alone do a 2-hour live show in over 5 years I was slowly getting back into the swing of things and the training I received from Jenny Zobel sprang back into action. First I had to work out how many songs we could fit into the show. After a lot of decision making Tina and I came up with 19, which would give us a healthy balance of music and plenty of time to commemorate Carl the way he deserved to be.
While writing the script and listening to the tunes, many memories of my own came to the forefront and took me back to my childhood and family lost! Carl, like my father, respected his vinyl and had certain rules you had to abide by when handling them! He knew his bands inside out and was a font of all things musical, He Loved Formula 1, ACDC, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Dire Straits and a whole lot more! So many memories and smiles, tears, and other emotions emerged too! The Power of Music right there!!
Now I set about editing the music so it appears just the way we like it on U & I Radio, images altered to embed in the track metadata correctly labeled! I embedded a special image that has a significant memory behind each and every one of them! So when the individual tracks appear on the screen they each have their own picture and a nod to Carl.
Everything is ready to go. Dedicated website page setup and ready to go, script approved by Tina, tunes edited, and loaded to the station. It has been an eye-opening couple of days to how radio is probably more important now but we still need something visual to trigger our minds and release the myriad of wonderful thoughts and feelings we all have associated to a piece of music x
On the morning of the show, I am a little bit anxious! Will this really work? I had been having internet issues so I decided to ensure the station played only the songs we wanted during the duration of the show, just in case we drop out! Showtime arrives and everything is ready to Rock ‘n’ Roll, so to speak! There is already activity in the chat room and I start to get butterflies in the pit of my stomach!
We are now live broadcasting to the world! But for the next 2 hours, it is solely to commemorate Spike (Carl) to his friends and family, wherever they may be. I have a bit of a shaky start after not riding the desk for a good few years. The show finds its own pace and I start to relax. But not too much as to make it sound flippant! It was a fine balance and a few times I had to fade into music early as my own emotions started to flood my mind!
The end was approaching and the wonderful words from family, the lyrics of each tune, and the special message in the chatroom helped us remember Carl in the best way possible. They may not have been able to be in the same room and share a drink but at least they could connect, wherever they were around the world x
