Radio for the people
Community access radio was given a voice in Manawatu¯ 21 years ago and it is still being heard. Carly Thomas tunes into Manawatu¯ People’s Radio.
In the space of 10 minutes on Manawatu¯ People’s Radio the soundscape moves from a Samoan hip-shaking track through to a spacey song by Palmerston North 90s band Zigsaur and then swiftly runs into Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas.
Anaru Davis will be in the studio soon. His show is about how people in the community with disabilities can be supported and he often has guests in for a chinwag and a giggle. Later in the day, there’s country music with Nana Moo, a debate about animal rights and some 80s anthems.
Anyone can have a show on these airwaves. It’s community radio at a grassroots level and the people who have been walking through the door for the past 21 years are a reflection of what is happening in the Manawatu¯ region on a daily basis.
It first went to air in 1997, named Manawatu¯ Sounz back then, and the first broadcast was at an old common room, picked for its cheap rent, at Queen Elizabeth College. The station that now hosts about 50 community access shows a week was a long time in the making and so when the first broadcast, a Cook Islands community show hosted by Tai Williams, went to air, it was a great triumph.
John Thornley was a part of those early days, alongside David Lines and Roni Fitzmaurice. He had been plugging away at getting an access radio going in the Manawatu¯ community for about four years. For him, it offers a much-needed voice for the voluntary sector.
‘‘It gives people a voice and that is a very important thing to have. A voice for the voiceless, really. For migrants, refugees, people with a different language, all the groups that are in the community.’’
New Zealand On Air was also essential to getting the station up and running and it is still the station’s main supporter. Money was tight back then and there were a lot of fundraising hours and volunteer time put in to get the studio kitted out and on air.
Hylton Read dealt with the technical aspects of getting the transmitter on Settlers Line set up while Michael Fowler tackled the financial side. Read says he has enjoyed watching the way the station has expanded over the years.
‘‘Remember, we didn’t have computers back then – it was turntables and records and tape recorders. CDS were just coming in.’’
Barry Angland remembers well the challenges of the 50-stack CD player. His show has been going since day dot and he remains a stalwart supporter of the station.
‘‘It would jam in the middle of the night. Always then, and we would have to go in and free up the CD player in the dark.’’
James Lissette, too, was at the first steering helm of the station and says it was all pretty basic.
‘‘It was a really simple thing, giving a voice to people of Palmerston North, but it meant that people could come in and it immediately opened so many doors for so many community groups. It was straight away cool.’’
Kev Stanton was the first manager, followed by Suzy York, Terry Casserly and then the reins were passed on to current station manager Fraser Greig. Greig says the station has always been an ‘‘evolving beast’’.
‘‘What I think represents this station is the ebb and flow, the continual movement in the programme schedule with people using this platform as and when the need or opportunity arises. The shows cover a huge diversity of cultures, faith, interests, stories, passions and opinions. It is a true window to the community.’’
The studio moved to its current Broadway Ave premises 11 years ago and Grieg says the fact that one of the main principles of the station is it is not journalistic, ‘‘so it is not required to have that journalistic balance’’ raises some interesting issues.
‘‘The history has not gone without the attraction of controversy, but we have a pretty good reputation for managing controversial issues. We have never been stung by the Broadcasting Standards Authority.’’
Anything and everything has been talked about on the station’s airwaves for 21 years, from politics to religion, what it is like to be a foreigner who doesn’t know what a jandal is, mental health, capitalism, veganism and the existence of aliens.
There’s been heavy metal, gospel music, experimental jazz, electronic bleeps, Celtic tunes, reggae and throat singing. Anything goes, nothing is tuttutted at and an open mind and an open door have served the station well.
Hugh Dingwall is the station’s programme co-ordinator and he says he has seen a few characters come through the door over the years, ‘‘and everyone is welcomed’’.
‘‘We had a programme maker who passed away last year called Al Winder and he made a psychedelic rock show. Al had all sorts of health problems, he had significant mobility problems and was in pain a lot of the time. He could be a bit difficult at times and had a hard time finding a place that he really fit.’’
But at the radio station he could come and play an hour of his music and talk about it and in doing so, he found that place. It also opened up a window for him to get involved in other fan communities. His world got a little bigger and Dingwall says one of the bands he was playing even got in touch.
‘‘They were still active since they first got together in 1969 and they discovered Al’s show and reached out to him. They kind of became his unofficial house band and it was very cool.’’
Being able to provide that space for people who struggle with fitting in is invaluable, says Dingwall. ‘‘Al’s sister said he was always a grumpy old sod until he started coming into the station.’’
The station has had its fair share of name changes since it was heralded in as Manawatu¯ Sounz in 1997. Access Triple 9 and Access Manawatu¯ followed and this year the station’s current brand of MPR – Manawatu¯ People’s Radio was adopted. Greig says changing times meant a name change was necessary.
‘‘We’ve been known as Access Manawatu¯ for over a decade and the media landscape has changed dramatically over that period. With the emphasis on multi-platform content delivery . . . our old brand was becoming more of a barrier to communicating what we do, rather than a symbol.’’
With the rebrand, a studio upgrade has taken shape and the return of Sounds of Summer has been a focus for 2019. The event first began in 2012 with the support of the Palmerston North City Council, showcasing local musicians in a rollout of concerts. Greig says they, like the radio station, are always a good indicator of what is happening in the musical community.
‘‘For next year we decided that we wanted to go out wider into the region and we wanted to go to areas where perhaps there wasn’t something like this happening at the moment. It’s a year one proof of concept and we are doing a few in Feilding, one in A¯ piti and one in Hiwinui. We are also working to get a visual art component in there as well, so really celebrating creativity in community.’’
And playing now on the Manawatu¯ People’s Radio airwaves? Songhoy Blues, a desert band from Timbuktu, formed after they were forced to leave their homes during the civil conflict, are being heard all over the region and beyond because of a little radio station made for the people, by the people.
‘‘It gives people a voice and that is a very important thing to have.’’
John Thornley