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Subcity Radio (formerly Sub City and SubCity) is a non-profit
freeform radio station, arts collective and events promoter based at the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
which is run by volunteers from the University and local community with the aim of providing an alternative to commercial and mainstream radio providers.
It currently broadcasts online year round and until September 2009 also on temporary short-term
FM Restricted Service Licence
A UK Restricted Service Licence (often called an RSL), is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event. Licences are granted by the broadcasting authority Ofc ...
broadcasts.
The station also hosts a large catalogue of audio for on-demand listening and podcasting, including recordings of the live stream, sessions, interviews, news and live recordings. Off-air, Subcity runs various events and club nights throughout the year, with previous venues including the
Sub Club
The Sub Club is a club and music venue located at 22 Jamaica Street in Glasgow, Scotland. It opened 1 April 1987 and is the longest running underground dance club in the world. The basement space can legally hold up to 410 people. In 2008 it w ...
, Art School, Research Club and
The Arches.
[ ]
Overview
Subcity is run by volunteers and has over 200 weekly contributors from all over the city. Contributors include current students and staff of the university, students from other institutions, former students and others from the local community. Many previous contributors have gone on to jobs at commercial and
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radio stations most notably:
Laura Sayers (
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
),
Dougal Perman (Radio Magnetic),
Annie McGuire
Annie McGuire is a Scottish reporter who presented BBC Scotland football phone-in show 'Your Call' and Sportsound. She also did guest links for Radio Scotland's New Music Zone and T in the Park coverage and stood in for presenter Vic Galloway. ...
(BBC Scotland) and Adam Uytman (
XFM). In addition to those who have gone on to high-profile careers in radio, many Subcity contributors already had or went on to achieve fame in other areas most notably:
Hudson Mohawke
Ross Matthew Birchard (born 11 February 1986), better known by the stage name Hudson Mohawke, is a Scottish-American producer, composer, and DJ from Glasgow. He is known for his influential work in 21st century hip-hop and electronic music. A ...
,
Optimo,
Boom Monk Ben,
Slam (band)
Slam are a Scottish producer/ DJ duo from Glasgow, Scotland, consisting of Stuart McMillan (born 1966, Glasgow) and Orde Meikle (born 1964, Oxford). They are co-founders of Soma Quality Recordings. Their music style consists of house and techno ...
as well as many other Glasgow clubs and DJs.
Subcity has no
playlist, instead each show is largely
autonomous
In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...
from station management and presenters have full choice in what music they play as well as the format sound and branding of their shows.
The station broadcasts all year round, and from November 2015, the show application process was changed from being a twice yearly window to being open indefinitely. Applicants are invited to submit proposals for a radio show with an outline of what music would be played and what style and format the show would take. Musical specialism, non-mainstream music and under-represented musical styles are encouraged. This contributor autonomy is extended to most areas of the station's output including podcasts, reviews, design, photography, comedy and current affairs output.
It is a part of, and partially funded by,
Glasgow University Students' Representative Council. It is one of four student media organisations who receive support from the SRC,
who provide both a service and opportunities to students at the University and to the wider community. Subcity is also a former member of the
Student Radio Association.
History
Subcity was founded in 1995 after the initial Glasgow University radio brand, Sweet FM, was used by former members of the team who had graduated. They encountered regulatory problems during their broadcast in 1994, leaving the Sweet FM brand tarnished and in dispute with the University student authorities over naming and logo rights. Subsequently, the official university station was rebranded as Subcity Radio.
The University's first broadcast was as Sweet FM in September 1993 for one month on an FM
RSL from an un-let University flat in the Murano Street Student Village. The next broadcast was under the Ton and a Half brand in conjunction with the Glasgow School of Art who were celebrating their 150th anniversary in the Winter of 1994, with a subsequence joint venture with the School of Art in the winter of 1995 under the "Art School Radio" brand.
''1995''
*Its first broadcast under the new SubCity brand was in October 1995 from an unused University apartment in Park Circus on a minimal budget. As part of this inaugural broadcast the
K Foundation
The K Foundation was an art foundation set up by Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond, formerly of The KLF, in 1993, following their 'retirement' from the music industry. The Foundation served as an artistic outlet for the duo's post-retirement KLF in ...
gave their only radio interview about their
burning of a million pounds on the SubCity show "Everything You Know Is Wrong" on 3 November 1995 at 6 pm.
[Dower, John, and Greer, Dave, "The K Foundation: Why we burnt a million pounds", ''Thee Data Base'' fanzine, 1 March 1996; based on an interview with Drummond and Cauty on Subcity Radio, ]Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, 3 November 1995
link 1
JD Twitch (of Optimo) was one of the first non student DJs to be invited to contribute and would go on to do a show "Freestyle with Twitch" every year until 2000.
''1996''
*February saw the station's second broadcast as Subcity Radio .
*The station was later awarded Best Station at the inaugural UK
Radio 1 Student Radio Awards.
*In July Subcity ran a 3-week RSL to cover that year's
T in the Park
T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused B ...
festival.
''1997''
* In March, following the station's awards win the year before,
John Peel and
Steve Lamacq
Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by John Peel), is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio station BBC Radio 6 Music.
Early life
He attended The Ramsey Academ ...
presented shows from the station's studio, which at the time was in a student's kitchen.
* In July Subcity joined forces with Edinburgh's
Fresh Air
''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to ...
FM to provide RSLs in Edinburgh, Glasgow and on site for the T in The Park festival.
''2000''
*The station was able to move into a new, purpose built permanent studio on campus which allowed for year-round broadcasting and training.
''2002''
*In 2002, a 5-year low-powered
AM licence was awarded. This allowed for permanent broadcasting to campus, rather than for just one month per year. However the AM broadcast was discontinued after 5 months due technical issues.
''2003''
*The station ceased broadcasting on AM, and began streaming online.
*In November, the Subcity show 'The City Sessions' won Bronze at the
Student Radio Association Student Radio Awards in the Best Specialist Music category.
''2004''
*In February the station celebrated its tenth birthday with a large event at
The Arches in Glasgow. The line up featured DJs from Subcity's past who had gone on to bigger things. 1800 people filled the venue – the largest crowd a student station had ever attracted to an event. It was later discovered that the station's tenth birthday would be in 2005.
*In November, Subcity won the
Student Radio Association Student Radio Award for Best Marketing.
''2005''
*In July the station hosted a small stage on Byres Road at the
West End Festival
The West End Festival is an annual festival in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland.
History
The West End Festival in Glasgow was started in 1996 by Michael Dale as a small local festival centred on Byres Road.
It has since become the biggest ...
Opening Parade Street Party.
*In November, Subcity show Grind Your Mind won the
Student Radio Association Student Radio Award for Best Specialist Music Show, and the Stations won Silver in the Off-Air Promotions and Imaging category.
''2007''
* In June the station hosted a stage in
Lilybank Gardens for the
West End Festival
The West End Festival is an annual festival in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland.
History
The West End Festival in Glasgow was started in 1996 by Michael Dale as a small local festival centred on Byres Road.
It has since become the biggest ...
Opening Parade Street Party.
* Beginning in November, the station ran a monthly club night during term-time at the University's Hetherington Research Club. This continued until June 2009.
''2008''
* In
Freshers' Week
Student orientation or new student orientation (often encapsulated into an orientation week, o-week, frosh week, welcome week or freshers' week) is a period before the start of an academic year at a university or tertiary institutions. A variety ...
the station launched a new website featuring dynamically updated navigation of its listen again content based on playlist data from every show.
* In November the station won Silver at the
Student Radio Association Student Radio Awards in the Best Specialist Music category for drum and bass show Armed Response.
* In June the station again hosted a stage in
Lilybank Gardens for the
West End Festival
The West End Festival is an annual festival in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland.
History
The West End Festival in Glasgow was started in 1996 by Michael Dale as a small local festival centred on Byres Road.
It has since become the biggest ...
Opening Parade Street Party.
''2009''
* In February Subcity broadcast on 106.6FM across Glasgow for 28 days.
* In June the station again ran a stage at the West End Festival, this time in Kelvingrove Park.
* In September the station broadcast on 106.6FM across Glasgow during Freshers' Week.
* In October, part of Subcity's website was nominated for a Technical Achievement Award at the Student Radio Awards.
* In December, the station launched an archives podcast featuring highlights from sessions, events and the broadcast from the past 15 years.
''2010''
* On 6 March Subcity celebrated 15 years of broadcasting with a sold out birthday party at The Arches, the first time the station had returned to the venue since the Block Party era ended in 2006.<
* On 19 March an episode of the 'Party Party' show on the station was the subject of a news story run initially by the BBC and later in the day by other news outlets including
Reporting Scotland
''BBC Reporting Scotland'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Scotland, broadcast on BBC One Scotland from the BBC Pacific Quay, headquarters of BBC Scotland at Pacific Quay in Glasgow.
History
Although BBC Television was esta ...
. The articles focused on a drinking game feature and the provocative language and nature of the presenters in the episode. The story was the top UK story that day on the BBC News website and made the top 5 total.
* Between April and August, the station moved to temporary premises on South Park Avenue whilst the John McIntyre Building's roof was repaired.
* In September 2010, the station produced a 60-page hand illustrated guide book to Glasgow, called "Subcity's Guide to Staying Fresh 2010". The station also ran an open top bus tour of the city for freshers' of the Art School and University of Glasgow.
''2015''
* To celebrate its 20th year on air, the station ran a number of events at The Art School including an exhibition featuring print and audio archival content, a party featuring DJs from the station's extensive throughput, and a film screening of a documentary specially made to commemorate the 20th birthday. Some controversy arose from the line up of the 20th birthday party, which initially featured exclusively male DJs.
''2017''
* In February, DJ and presenter (and ex-station team member) Sofay invited Ben UFO onto the station.
* In May, Subcity Radio held a party at Gourock Outdoor Pool to celebrate the end of the academic year.
References
External links
Official Subcity Radio website
{{Use British English, date=December 2012
Radio stations in Glasgow
Clubs and societies of the University of Glasgow
Freeform radio stations