On air here since 1981
Massey University’s student radio station may be having a change in management, but as Carly Thomas found out, the ethos of the place has not changed much over the decades.
Radio Control is a nice place to be. It feels a bit like a lounge room on a Sunday. There are sweet tunes playing, people coming and going and host Abi Symes is wearing pyjamas.
She’s a bit teary. It’s David Stevens’ last day as manager and he will be missed. He’s off to London, so, yeah, he’s sad, but, well, heck, he’s off to London.
‘‘Yeah, it’s pretty exciting, but I will miss this place. It felt like the right time to do something new and London seemed like a good idea.’’
Radio Control 99.4FM is Massey University’s student radio and it’s been running for ages, since 1981 to be exact, and it was broadcast from a caravan back then. The radio station was a bit of a first for New Zealand, the original commercial student-run radio station. And like the gangly teenager that it kind of was, it had a few image changes and names to match.
It’s been Masskeradio, Radio Massey, 2XM and more recently it’s settled into itself as Radio Control. It’s been around the block a bit, too, before finding its current nook overlooking the campus’s concourse.
Radio Control’s studio has just had a spruce-up and it may have gone through its various phases and decades, but one thing has remained true – the little radio station that could plays local, Kiwi, alternative music, with stuff that is new and relevant to the students who help run it. It’s volunteerheavy, staffed with current or recent students, and people from the wider community jump into the DJ seat too.
It’s what Stevens says has kept the job interesting for him – all the different people that pass through the door – and it’s the fact that they don’t play ‘‘the same old stuff’’ like other stations that has made his reign at Radio Control one he won’t forget in a hurry.
‘‘It’s a student radio station that is essentially made by students, but it’s for everyone. What we support is local music, New Zealand music, emerging artists – people that aren’t getting coverage elsewhere. The under-represented is what we like to do. That’s the hard bit about leaving a place like this, because I actually care about all of that a lot.’’
It was the same back in the day. In 1991, Guy Mcindoe was the manager and Radio Massey was run out of a cupboard at the back of the university’s recreation centre. He was in his early 20s, a keen muso, and Mcindoe thought he had landed the ‘‘best job in the world’’.
‘‘There were some pretty landmark albums that year and changes in the direction of music, so it was really exciting times. There was lots happening locally, [music venue and recording space] The Stomach was going nuts, there was a good local music scene and we were all playing in bands and hanging out and having fun.’’
Mcindoe and his merry band of