Such a threat makes an event like the PBS Radio Festival even more important than usual. The two week fundraising event is not only necessary to keep one of Melbourne’s finest community radio stations alive, but it’ll also raise some much needed awareness about radio’s place in contemporary culture. It’s an essential dose of both money and attention that the station couldn’t live without, as well as an opportunity for PBS listeners and supporters to go in the running for a whole range of exciting rewards, including a brand new scooter, a guitar, and a priceless turntable.
The community radio cause is one that Maddy Mac, presenter of Monday afternoon’s Homebrew show, is very passionate about. “It just seems incongruous to me that something like community radio and what’s a small amount of money for a specific expense is not supported,” Mac says. “I think even if the government couldn’t give a shit about independent media even financially, I think they should be concerned about what the community would lose. Community radio is an important training cog. Even volunteering and gaining skills through radio – just engaging people with social wellbeing – is important.”
Mac believes that any damage inflicted on community radio stations such as PBS would have immediate and far-reaching consequences. This wouldn’t just prevent people from hearing some great tunes while on lunch break – it’d be a devastating blow felt by the community at large.
“If community radio isn’t there and can’t do things [like help people] gain skills, how is the government going to make up for that?” Mac says. “They’d be fucked. And the community would be fucked. Because I don’t think the government would pay for these things. It’s an easy decision for the government to just be [like], ‘They’re little independents, they can do it themselves or finance it themselves.’ But I just don’t think politicians – and particularly financially-minded politicians and governments – understand the financial wealth of what community radio can offer Australian society.”
Indeed, it seems that some members of parliament view community radio as a threat – something Mac can’t understand. “I don’t see that it ever really threatens the things that governments value,” she says. “It provides something in addition to commercial radio and it provides something in addition to governmental public stuff. I can understand why a government might control a government media outlet, but there’s not really repercussions when it’s community radio doing it for itself.”
Mac has been involved with PBS for a decade now. Over that time she has not only become aware of the station’s precarious, always-at-risk position, she has also learnt a great deal about its important connection to the live music scene – another reason this matter means so much to her.
“I first became involved in 2006 when I heard about the announcer course on air,” she says. “I was studying music at university at the time and I was just a bit disappointed that my music friends were too busy practising to actually go to gigs.
“Getting involved in PBS – which I had been listening to for a while – was a way of extending living in that music world. [It was] an opportunity to give back to the scene. Working on an Australian music program was a way of keeping that connection with other musicians alive and also a way of supporting them.”
The relationship between emerging Australian musicians and community radio is a vital one. It’s how a majority of acts get their kick-start, how they find and expand their audience and how they send their music out into the world.
“I think the relationship between [bands and the radio scene] is one of those cyclical relationships. They both contribute to each other’s vitality. And they really rely upon one another.”
The Radio Festival is a way of ensuring that new and original Australian music is able to prosper. Our local scene isn’t something to be disregarded. It’s the envy of musicians across the world: even Henry Rollins is a dedicated devotee of Australian emerging acts, including the likes of Tyrannamen and Summer Flake.
The theme of this year’s Radio Festival – Take The Plunge – is a fitting one indeed. Don’t ignore the chance to preserve this thing that sits upon your doorstep. Engage with it. Fund it. Help it. Take the plunge.
“The importance of community radio is its independence. Every year we experience the community coming forward and financially ensuring that it can continue.
“I think we all get to witness [radio’s] strength under the microscope in those two weeks. We’re literally putting our call out and the phone is ringing or someone is donating online – that’s how immediate a message can be transmitted, and it’s also how immediate the meaning can be responded to by the audience. We have very active audiences. I think how active our audiences are is indicated in that cycle of participation. We don’t fall on deaf ears.”
BY JOSEPH EARP
