y.e.a.r.n. for online radio Interview with Ingrid from Kaas FM

Pirate and community radio have been around for a long time, offering people an alternative way to listen and explore local artists and music that is not in the mainstream. Online radio is a continuation of this tradition, and in the face of Covid, it offered the possibility to experience spontaneous, live and human-curated music. Ingrid is part of this scene with her radio show Kaas FM, where she showcases artists from the local underground music scene in the Netherlands. She shared some of her experiences and feelings with us in this inspiring conversation about her love for online radio.

First of all, what is Kaas FM?
“So I run this online radio station Kaas FM. It is online, which means it is based on the internet. It plays music most of the time and features only Dutch underground independent artists. Actually, it’s not just Dutch artists, it’s more about the location, because the more you get into the scene, the more you realise that there are internationals making music or people from different backgrounds that don’t identify as Dutch. Location is important for me because the whole goal of the project and radio station is to spotlight local artists that maybe play at a venue next to you and make a connection between local artists and audiences. Also, a connection with the international audience, because when I was studying, I was at an international school, and I would tell my friends: “Let’s go to this gig.” and they would say “Ok, which band? I don’t know it. I’m not going.” “But ok, it’s a cool band you should listen to it.” So I was collecting a lot of local Dutch bands, I had 300 different bands or artists at one point, and I decided I had enough material to do something with. So now I have more than 1000 and it keeps growing. “

How did you come across the local scene of the Netherlands?
“I think I just literally googled festivals near me or festivals in the Netherlands. Or if an artist I already liked would play in the Netherlands, I would go and see them in some random venue and then I would follow that venue and see what other shows they have on. Then if I saw something interesting, I would go there again, or I would go to a festival. I like going to festivals a lot because you are in one place and can see a lot of bands and different music, and maybe some of them you don’t know or you wouldn’t check at home, but being there and hearing it live is better. It’s easier to discover things if you are in the room with it, and then you go home and check it out.”

What is one of your favorite venues from this exploration?
“My answer to this was always Stroomhuis from Eindhoven, which was a squat, a very industrial, big space, that was run by volunteers and was very community-based. There was dinner being made for the artists, and they could also sleep over as there were bunk beds and rooms backstage. It was very nice to be involved with that. But now that it is not there anymore, I would say I really like Cinetol, it has the spirit of you can make a weird event if you want, or you can make a non-music event, or you can combine music with performance or with something else, which I think not a lot of venues are super open to. I also made my own event at Stroomhuis, but when I wanted to do that at a different venue, they would often have their own booking team which made it not possible, and that makes it less accessible for a band or local promoter to program their own night. I like DIY; I think it is needed, because it is how a lot of things start.”

Every university has their own radio station and the students are doing shows and playing music, and I thought “this is amazing, I want this at my uni right now!”

Like your radio is a good example of that. So back to that, how did you get into radio?
“When I was in university, having more friends from the UK, I heard about college radio which is popular there and in the US. Every university has their own radio station and the students are doing shows and playing music, and I thought “this is amazing, I want this at my uni right now!” Or “I want to do that, it’s a great idea.” But it wasn’t a thing. Covid happened when I was trying to set it up, so it didn’t go through. But in Eindhoven, there is this radio station called RARARADIO. It’s in a container and it is a very small DIY initiative, so when I couldn’t do the radio at school so I thought, well there is this other one in the city that maybe I can get involved with. And coincidentally, a friend of mine from university was programming there. One day of the week was intended for young people, students and internationals, it was the one day you could speak English on the radio. So then I got a slot once a month or once every two months. In the beginning, they have to see if you are good enough or have a good concept. I would play from playlists and talk in between, and they said: “Well, it’s really great that you talk because most people are just playing a mix and not talking, and that’s cool but it’s not radio if you are just making a mix of techno beats”. For me, radio has this element of being live and knowing that you are live because people are paying more attention when they know something is live. If you miss it, you can’t just go back, or you can’t save it to listen tomorrow, and this creates more focus. Playing a mix is also cool, but it misses that human touch or spontaneity. I like the shows that also have a bit of speaking and introducing the music as well, because if you hear a song and you like it but you don’t know who is playing, don’t know if it is new or if it is old, it’s always fun to provide context in the radio. Then I discovered there is a whole scene around online radio, and I think the biggest now is NTS, which I really like because they also have a lot of speaking shows. It is more casual as opposed to when you go in the car and put the FM on, it’s less commercial than that. I really like the online radio scene because everyone can make their own radio mix, and a lot of people have good taste. “

That’s really interesting. It sounds like there are different types of radios; I know that you do interviews on your radio show, so for a final question: who would your dream radio guest be?
“Oh this is really fun. Because I am also a graphic designer, I really like when musicians or bands have their designated photographer, or creative director or someone, doing the visuals. Sometimes it’s also someone in the band. For example, I really like the band Parquet Courts, and the frontman Andrew Savage is also doing the graphic design for it. He paints all of the covers by hand, and one of their albums was even nominated for a Grammy for best design. So, I would interview everyone nominated for this graphic award, but specifically him because I like his style and he is also the frontman, which makes it much more personal, as he both writes the songs and makes the covers that represent them. I find that very interesting. “
Talking to Ingrid made me realise the different ways there are to discover and support local artists and how much the online radio community has to offer. It is a way to actively engage with music listening, from the context and discussions brought by hosts to having to research the tracklist of a show to find out more about a song or artist you enjoyed. It requires more than the passive listening promoted by algorithms and streaming platforms. In a time where the attention economy is promoted and listening is saturated, where local artists have to compete with AI artists and playlists that are made by people within a corporate agenda, independent online radio offers an alternative to engage with listening in a way that supports the local music scene and offers spontaneous discovery through mindful human curation.

Check out Ingrid’s radio Kaas FM to discover new up-and-coming bands from the scene in The Netherlands. I recommend going down the rabbit hole of independent online community radio. Some honourable mentions are: Echobox Radio, Radio Tempo Não Para, Radio WORM, Blue Rider Radio, Radio Arcadia.

www.kaasfm.com
@ y.e.a.r.n.4music