CHINESE VERSION
「WHY RADIO？」是 HKCR 由主持人間訪談系列，旨在探討各位創作人於當下，堅持做電台節目的源由和意義。
A: Anlin
G: Gribs
疫情之後，你感覺跟自己身處的「場景」是疏離了還是更加緊密連結了？
A：我其實感到更強的連結了。我在封城期間在網上認識了更多的人，這似乎是件好事。我有個朋友在2019年的時候教我和其他幾個朋友學習怎麼用DJ控制器。當時我只認識這些朋友，混的也是某些特定風格的音樂，但我對電子舞曲的喜好在這幾年裡變化很大。封鎖期間我在社交媒體上認識了更多有類似音樂喜好的人。
G:我的體驗是相反的，因為我刪除了自己的社交媒體，這單純是因為我不再享受使用社交媒體了。也是因為這樣，我很多時候不知道別人有演出或者是發行了新的音樂，但是目前為止這樣的做法還是值得的，我得而靜下心來。疫情前到俱樂部玩時的偶遇或者不斷結識新的人（現在才！）重新開始發生，我的心情因此得到了很大的改善，這樣的感受還挺震撼的。我重新開始發郵件簡報，告訴大家我現在在做什麼，人們發來體貼的回復也鼓勵了我。所以從某些方面來講我還是感覺到緊密的連結的！
有的人或許會說現在電臺太多餘，『太多電臺mix了！』在當下，電臺的價值在哪裡？
A：有的時候我的確會覺得有太多的mix了。我知道現在很多人會直接到存檔去找他們喜歡的藝人做的mix，也許網站上的mix的數量看起來多得讓人喘不過氣。我喜歡在Radio Garden這樣的平臺上收聽隨便哪個電臺，看看能不能聽到些好的音樂；這樣樂趣更大。但是很多時候我的確會到存檔處找某個特定的節目。我覺得存檔還是必要的。（注：回頭看我並沒有真正回答問題！）
G：就製作電臺節目這點來講，多年過後我回頭聽以前跟朋友一起錄過的舊電臺節目，才意識到這些節目是（意外的！）時間膠囊，裡面藏著我們玩耍的地點，我當時學到的東西，我當時正在讀的書，我喜歡的人…就因為這個原因，每個月拿出一小時來用聲音標記時間總是很值得的事情。我無法想像十年，十五年後回頭聽這些節目會是怎樣的感受。而為聽眾，我很喜歡每月有一兩個小時被別人邀請至他們自己的「世界」裡，而且我覺得若定期收聽某個節目，長久下來，在每集節目之間，你會從主持的視角來看或聽你去聽的讀的看的其他東西。不過也許只有那些你認為一集也不能錯過的節目才會給你帶來這樣的体验。
A：你可以給我這類節目的例子嗎？
G：我愛Mobbs，ONY，KO_OL還有Mark Leckey的節目。每個月的Dead Mall Radio和Gochu World也總是能帶我踏上有趣的旅途。Mobbs特別啟發我，我推薦他的節目推薦得不能再多了。
A：你提醒了我，在我十幾歲的時候，我會製作一些受我的情緒或者我看過的電影啟發的mix。我會將它們上傳至Mixcloud，跟朋友分享。我以前聽的電臺都是父母在車上放的商業電臺。我成長的期間沒有任何的獨立電臺收聽，又或者只是我不知道而已。然而我卻會去做這些mix作自我表達。
G:你提到在車裡聽電臺這點很有趣，因為我在7歲至18歲之間每天都聽Radio One，而且只有Radio One。我記得主持人讀出我的短信，尤其記得第一次在車上的電臺上聽到The Prodigy的時候。即便那個不是什麼“地下”電臺，也沒什麼關係，因為這個電臺給我帶來了（對我而言）嶄新的音樂，讓我著迷。
『就製作電臺節目這點來講，多年過後我回頭聽以前跟朋友一起錄過的舊電臺節目，才意識到這些節目是（意外的！）時間膠囊，裡面藏著我們玩耍的地點，我當時學到的東西，我當時正在讀的書，我喜歡的人…就因為這個原因，每個月拿出一小時來用聲音標記時間總是很值得的事情。 』
這是個類似的問題—隨著音樂流媒體及點播服務等的崛起，人們的注意力平均水準直線下降，為何電臺仍受歡迎？
A: 疫情發生的時候，我在instagram上一個互關的朋友在Mixlr開了一個叫Volumelithic的電臺，我加入了。這個電臺上的主播都是他在現實生活或網上認識的人。
G: 我和我對朋友也開了個Mixlr電臺！我覺得這正是我沒有瘋掉的原因。
A: 電臺的主播們會按時間表進行播送，每週如此。在封鎖期間，這個電臺是我的一個陪伴。我頻繁收聽電臺，在聊天室裡和一小群人聊天，在隻身一人的時候這個電臺陪著我熬過了很多—我可是完全獨居了六個月。有的時候我還會為周日的播送製作舞曲mix。這個Mixlr電臺還一直在繼續，即使如今我不再那麼頻繁地收聽了。
G: Mixlr太棒了。我們也通過做這個電臺收穫了很多樂趣，也很驚訝我們得到了很好的回應—人們從世界各處打電話進電臺！我們有每週的固定聽眾，我也因此保持動力，因為我知道我需要發掘新的音樂，每週五晚進行播放。我們在客廳跟彼此分享音樂，而有人收聽並樂於其中，給予了我們很大的肯定。
A: 我猜從某種程度上來說電臺更有人情味。不管是主播還是聽眾都可以從電臺收穫很多東西。
G: 二者能夠似團隊一樣合作時是很美妙的！尤其是在做即時電臺的時候。
你在做電臺節目的時候會考慮展示不同人群嗎？
A: 我看著這個問題的時候，想到的是，你上電臺得到的曝光並不意味著你會被請去演出。展示似乎不能轉變成金錢。
G：是的！相比起請人上節目，向活動組織者推薦DJ或者向廠牌分享某位藝術家的音樂應該是更加直接的支援方式。這不意味著擁有 一個平臺，並發展以及展示你做的東西對藝術家們來說不重要，但如你所說的那樣，這不自動等同于進一步的機會。
你覺得電臺的地理位置仍重要嗎？
G：我總是很樂意聽我從前未曾聽過的DJ做一些有趣或不同尋常的東西。不管哪種方式，只要能給我帶來這樣的發現—比方說節目的策劃邀請他們在自己的城市遇見的藝術家上節目—我都十分支持。電臺上有國際主持當然是有趣的—我在香港聯合電臺上就是個國際主持電臺，這個電臺上很多其他主持也是。但是作為聽眾，我不會希望各個電臺上的本土節目消失。
A: 我跟Gavin （HKCR 主理人）討論過香港聯合電臺上的本土/國際節目分佈，他跟我說香港聯合電臺是給宅宅聽的。縱使電台存在著本地的節目，他覺得 HKCR 沒有真的很本土。我覺得正正是因為這個原因我可以為他們當寫手，即使我並不是住在香港或來自那個地方，雖然我成長於這座城市的不遠處。
G：我幾年前在美國的時候參與過一個社區電臺，這是個本土的FM電臺，在人們的車裡，商店，披薩店裡被播放。我的節目是深夜檔，每週都有很多人給我打電話，他們淩晨五點正在開咖啡館，或者是上完夜班正在開車回家。我想，如果那是個網路電臺，這些人也許還是會收聽，但是我知道收聽的人都在我身處的地方外一個較小的範圍內，並且在這麼晚的時間收聽，絕對改變了我做節目的方式。
A：我想回到前面提到電臺mix太多的問題上。這個問題之所以出現，大概是因為Gavin的關注點在網路電臺上。當你談及本地的FM社區電臺時，電臺上的節目讓人喘不過氣這樣的事情應該是不會發生的。但如果你關注了一群網路電臺並去探索它們的節目存檔，你可能會覺得很難消化。
G：任何以『網源』的形式投送到你眼前的，都是被設計成如此讓人應接不暇的，儘管偶爾我會在健康的範圍裡享受這樣的應接不暇。
『當你談及本地的FM社區電臺時，電臺上的節目讓人喘不過氣這樣的事情應該是不會發生的。但如果你關注了一群網路電臺並去探索它們的節目存檔，你可能會覺得很難消化。 』
除了香港聯合電臺以外，你心目中還有哪些「酷」的電臺呢？這些電臺有哪些突出的地方？
A：我的答案是一個叫做Radio is a Foreign Country的電臺。這個電臺的簡介裡寫著電臺播放的包括國際電臺節目，田野錄音，民族志影片，老舊唱片和磁帶等組成的片段。這個電臺上播放的聲音對我來說都很新穎。
G：Datafruits讓我讚不絕口！我特別喜歡他們會開誠佈公向他們的支持者諮詢關于電臺開發和改善的事情；電臺的設計，策劃和對音樂的真摯投入總能給我啟發。
ENGLISH VERSION
‘‘Why Radio?” is an interview series hosted by our residents, each of them contains conversations of the residents to explore the meaning of making radio shows in the present day.
A: Anlin
G: Gribs
Are you feeling disconnected or more connected to the ‘scene’ you are at after the pandemic?
A: I actually feel more connected. I got to know more people through the internet during lockdown, and that seems like a good thing. A friend taught me and a few other friends how to use a DJ controller in 2019. Back then I only knew those friends and practiced with certain genres of music, but my taste in dance music varied considerably in the past few years. During this lockdown, I got to know more people who enjoy similar music as I do on social media.
G: I think I had the opposite experience because I deleted my social media, purely because I didn’t enjoy using it at that stage. Because of this I don’t feel like I always know when people are playing shows or putting out a new release, but it was worth it to experience some peace. The chance encounters and constantly meeting new people that I experienced when clubbing before the pandemic has (only just!) started to return and it’s been intense to feel how much it improves my mood. I have no idea how I went without it for so long. I did restart my newsletter last year purely as a way to update people on what I’m doing and I’ve been encouraged by the thoughtful responses people have been sending me. So in some ways that felt pretty connected!
Some might say radio is redundant these days, ‘There are too many radio mix!’ What makes doing radio worthwhile these days?
A: Sometimes I do feel like there are too many mixes. I know that nowadays a lot of people will go straight to the archive to check out the mixes of certain artists they like, and maybe the number of archives on the websites makes it look overwhelming. I like tuning to whatever radio on a platform like Radio Garden and see if I can get some good music; it’s more fun this way. But a lot of the times I do end up going to the archive and search for that specific show. So I do think archive is necessary. (Note: Looking back I didn’t really answer the question!)
G: In terms of making radio, years later I’ve gone back and listened to old radio shows I recorded with friends, and realised they were (accidental!) time capsules of where we were hanging out,, what I was learning about, the books I was reading, who I had a crush on.. it was all in there. So having an hour a month to mark time with some sound will always be worth it for me for that reason alone. I can’t imagine how it will feel to eventually listen to shows ten or fifteen years later. As a listener, I love being invited into someone else’s “zone” for an hour or two a month, and I think if you listen to a show every regularly over a long period of time you end up applying the host’s lens to things you hear (or read or watch!) in between shows. But perhaps that only comes with the shows where you never want to miss an episode.
A: Can you give me an example of this kind of shows?
G: I love Mobbs, ONY, KO_OL’s show, Mark Leckey. Dead Mall Radio and Gochu World always take me down a fun path each month. Mobbs is a particular inspiration to me, I can’t recommend his show enough.
A: You remind me of my teenage years when I would do mixes when I was inspired by my emotions or films I watched at that time. I would just upload them on mixcloud and share them with my friends. The radio I used to listen to are the commercial ones my parents put on the car. There weren’t any independent radios that I knew of when I grew up in China, or maybe I just wasn’t aware of them. Nonetheless I knew to do these mixes to sort of express myself.
G: That’s interesting that you mentioned listening to the radio in the car, as I grew up listening to Radio One and ONLY Radio One every single day between the ages of about 7 and 18. I can remember having my text messages read out by the presenters and I especially remember the first time I ever heard The Prodigy was on the radio in the car. So even though that’s not an “underground” radio station, it didn’t matter because it was introducing me to new (to me) music, which was what got me hooked.
“In terms of making radio, years later I’ve gone back and listened to old radio shows I recorded with friends, and realised they were (accidental!) time capsules of where we were hanging out,, what I was learning about, the books I was reading, who I had a crush on.. it was all in there. “
In a similar manner, why is radio still relevant considering the average attention span of people have probably decreased dramatically in the rise of music streaming, on-demand media and all that?
A: When the pandemic happened, a mutual on Instagram started a radio called Volumelithic on Mixlr and I joined it. All the hosts were people who he knew in real life or online.
G: Me and my friends did a Mixlr too! I think it kept me sane.
A: The hosts would stick to the schedule and broadcast every single week. That radio was a companion during lockdown. I would tune in very frequently, and chat with that small group of people in the chatroom, and it helped me go through a lot during isolation—considering I spent around six months living almost completely alone. Sometimes I do dance music mixes for Sunday broadcasting as well. This radio is still going on Mixlr even though I don’t tune in as much now.
G: Mixlr is a dream. We had so much fun doing ours and were surprised that we got amazing responses; people calling in from all over the world! We had some people coming back every week to listen, and I found that really kept me going because I knew every week I would need new music to play on Friday night. The fact that we could sit in our living room, share music with each other, have people tune in and enjoy themselves was so affirming.
A: I guess in a sense radio is more humane. Both the broadcaster and the listeners could get a lot out of radio.
G: It’s lovely when they can work as a team! Especially with live radio.
Do you think about representation when running a radio series?
A: When I looked at the question, I was thinking that the exposure you get from being on the radio doesn’t necessarily get you booked. Representation doesn’t seem to translate into money.
G: True! Suggesting a DJ to a promoter or sharing an artist’s music with a label might be direct ways to support them rather than only inviting them onto a show. That doesn’t mean having a platform to develop and showcase what you can do isn’t important for artists, but as you said it doesn’t automatically equate to further opportunities.
Do you think the geographic location of the radio matters anymore?
G: I’m always happy for any opportunity to hear a DJ that I’ve never heard before doing something interesting or surprising. Anything that makes that possible—like curators who are inviting artists they come across in their city—I’m down. It’s interesting to have international residents too —that’s my case on HKCR and quite a lot of people that are on the station. But as a listener, I wouldn’t want the local programming for all of these different stations to not be present.
A: I talked to Gavin (Founder of HKCR) about the local/international programming on HKCR and he said HKCR is for nerds. What he meant was that HKCR is not that local, although there are obviously local programs. I think the reason why I could write for HKCR is exactly because it’s not really that local. I’m not based in Hong Kong; neither am I from Hong Kong even though I grew up not far away from that city.
G: I did community radio when I was in the States a few years ago and because it was broadcast on FM in the local area it was on in people’s cars, in shops, the pizza place.. I had a late night slot, and every week I got a lot of calls from people opening up a cafe at five o’clock in the morning or even driving back from working night shifts. I think if it was an internet station those people probably still could have tuned in, but the fact that I knew everyone listening was from a fairly small radius surrounding where I was physically situated, and had turned on a radio in the depths(!) of night time definitely changed how I approached the show.
A: I want to come back to the previous question about there being too many radio mixes. Well, I think that question exists probably because Gavin thinks of more online radios. When you talk about the local FM community radio, I don’t think you will be overwhelmed by too many radio shows. But if you follow a bunch of online radios and dive into their archives, you might feel it’s a bit hard to keep up.
G: I feel like anything that’s delivered to you on a “feed” is overwhelming by design, though sometimes I enjoy a healthy bit of overwhelm.
“When you talk about the local FM community radio, I don’t think you will be overwhelmed by too many radio shows. But if you follow a bunch of online radios and dive into their archives, you might feel it’s a bit hard to keep up. “
Any other radio station you think is ‘cool’ right now (other than HKCR)? What’s great about them?
A: My answer would be a station called Radio is a Foreign Country. The introduction of this radio says it features cut-ups of international radio broadcasts, field recordings, ethnographic film, vintage records & cassettes. All the sounds from this radio are really new to me.
G: I am forever in awe of Datafruits! I particularly like how they are open with consulting their supporters about new developments and improvements for the station, and the design, curation and unabashed commitment to the music is always an inspiration.