Is anybody out there?
A Foxton man is broadcasting a radio station from an empty bedroom and would love to know if anyone is listening.
Bill Bodell, 83, is the man behind Foxy Radio, which can be found on 107.7FM.
“I honestly don’t know who is listening. I would love to know,” he said.
Bodell had been broadcasting a huge range of easy listening music for the past five months on the low power frequency station that was free-to-air, and could only be heard in the Foxton and Foxton Beach districts.
He had a studio set up in a spare room at home complete with a microphone and played anything “other than that head-banging stuff”.
“The music I play is music. It’s very good ... country and western, R and B, jazz, a lot of big band stuff ... and a lot of New Zealand artists, and there is some good modern music out there too,” he said.
Music plays around the clock and he picks and chooses when he goes “live”, normally between 2.30pm and 5.30pm and 8pm and 11.30pm.
He said Foxy Radio was a non-profit organisation that offered free advertising for local businesses and events.
Now retired, he continues to indulge in his love of music. He has a recording studio at home, too.
Bodell spent his early days in the building trade and did music on the side, but in 1992 took an opportunity to work as a music teacher in Perth at the Joondalup School of Music.
He tutored saxophone, clarinet, trumpet and harmonica.
He returned to New Zealand in 1997 and tutored saxophone and clarinet and set up
his own music studio where he recorded and engineered several music albums for local artists.
Bodell also worked as a DJ with the late Ian Little at the now defunct Radio Foxton, and also at Seabreeze FM in Himatangi with Stu Frith.