Tune in at: https://www.10twentyradio.com/

Stokes Croft, Bristol. Just a couple of doors down from The Canteen, nestled between a barber shop and the Take Five Café, and with one of Banksy's most famous pieces stencilled on the side of the building, you'll find Elevator Sound, an awe-inspiring modular synth store.

Even better, if you make your way through the labrynth of synths, panels and wires to the backroom, you'll find a cramped but inviting studio. This is 10Twenty Radio, an online-only station broadcasting underground music to the world from the very heart of Bristol with the aim of creating a platform for up and coming labels, DJ’s and collectives to showcase their music to anyone with an internet connection. We got to speak to founder and head of programming, Sean:

So, I guess a good place to start, where did 10 Twenty come from?

So we started 14th September 2015, when we first broadcast from what was my bedroom at the time. We gutted my bedroom and moved into my girlfriend's room basically. I already had technics, mixers, speakers and all that. Saved up a bit more money, built the necessary stuff and kind of built on it from there really. The idea came about when we moved to Bristol. There wasn’t really any active radio platforms that were really pushing the thriving underground scene that there is here. That kind of amazed me after growing up just outside of London with access to a lot of good radio basically. So yeah, I just kind of thought why not?

Had you not done anything like this before?

Well, I used to work in events and clubs back in Essex. That's where I learnt the basics and put me where I am now really. So I started off DJing and then started helping out when needed with events. Then the club got closed down, obviously.

It happens!

Yeah, yeah it does. It was turned into an office block or a cafe. It was dead, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Even in a smaller town in Essex that’s happening mate. So yeah, that’s kind of why - I’ve obviously always been involved and I wanted to do something anyway. It just seemed like the right time to do it. Now we’ve got several really good stations in Bristol that are doing a lot for the cities scene as well.

Have you got an FM licence?

Nah. That’s not a road I want to go down. It’s really expensive, and you’ve got to follow a load of rules. In my eyes, I think FM is gonna be gone in 10 years. Norway has already got rid of it. I’m pretty sure they’ve got rid of it. It is the same as TV init? It’s all gone digital. I’m gonna stick to my guns and keep it internet. If you look at the likes of NTS and Radar and what they’ve done with just an internet connection - sorry I've gone a bit off topic, haven't I?

No, no. It’s perfect. So you started off in your bedroom, and you moved…

Yeah, it was a simliar set up in my next house. I had to do it while I was looking for the right studio space which ended up taking over a year man. I just couldn't get anywhere in Bristol. Then I heard Idle Hands were moving so I put a few feelers out, spoke to a few people. They put me in touch with Marco who owns Elevator Sound.

It’s a modular synthesis store. It specialises in that kind of equipment. As you just saw it’s pretty niche, but I would recommend anyone to check them out who’s into that. A wicked team of people that run it and stuff. So yeah, shout them out basically. We’ve got the studio cos they used to be where our studio is, and the record shop is at the front. So yeah, it just works perfectly man. Now we’ve got more studios going in the basement as well.  

One last thing while we’re on this question: is there a story behind the name, 10 Twenty?

So yeah, 10 Twenty, a little bit nerdy really. It stands for, “what’s your location?” in CB radio. Do you know what CB radio is?

Yeah, like truckers use.

Yeah. So you must have heard of like, “ten-four, ten-four”. 10 Twenty is “what’s your location?” And obviously going back to my original point of there not being anything in Bristol it kind of made sense for me, in my head, for it to be called 10 Twenty because Bristol should be on the map for all of the wicked stuff that’s going on here.

My main focus as well is working with building artists from the bottom up. We welcome anyone to the station that has an interest in getting started on all levels. We do our best to kind of help them and offer them lots of advice and already I've seen some people grow so quickly from having a weekly, fortnightly or monthly radio show and that's really satisfying to see. It's difficult being a DJ as well. I don't know if you DJ yourself but it's a lot of work, do you know what I mean?

I don’t. I’ve been getting lessons from my mate the last two weeks. I actually got a radio show the other day on Platform B in Brighton. It’s very entry level. They have a controller and a laptop so literally anyone can do one.

Is there anyone else behind 10 Twenty?

Yeah. Thank fuck you asked that. My girlfriend, Jolie. As much as I've said we moved into her bedroom; she is the key to the station. She helps out with a lot of the stuff. Now we’ve got a graphic designer, but before that, she did all the design because I can’t use Photoshop to save my life. And I don’t have the time either. So she’s key. She’s always there when I’m not there basically. It was just the two of us for ages - people kind of came and went. 

Then we've got Jake. He runs an event down here as well which is like a tropical house night called Club Djembe, it's banging! He's taken over all of the social media and stuff like that. He's always there when I need him basically, he's good. He's got a show on the station too. So yeah, it just works. It's getting there anyway, we've got 1 volunteer, Kieran, who's always on point but I could always do with a few more. But yeah, we've got a unit now which we didn't have for the best part of two years. There's a lot changing at the moment which is good!

Nice. So we’ve touched on this earlier about the influence of radio in your childhood - did it play a big part?

Erm, not initially. When I was like young, young, it was mum and dad’s CDs. But I was always interested in music; I always found my own tunes and stuff when I was younger. And then in school, I got into grime, dubstep and all that basically. And then I kind of found Rinse FM which was a major player I’d say for me discovering new music and raves for me to go to. Now I’ve said that actually; Rinse FM played a big part in my life man.

That’s the biggest shout out.

Yeah, it is. It was a big inspiration and obviously just going raving as soon as I was 18. I’m now 25. Fabric every weekend. Fabric or Cable every weekend. Yeah, that’s kind of like my influences and then obviously got back and involved with stuff in Essex. Lived in London for a year - didn’t really do a lot in London really, just studied and then moved down here really. Didn’t really answer your question, sorry.

No that was great! Can you talk me through some of the shows on 10 Twenty?

Most people work on a monthly basis now. Like when we first started it was weekly and we had about 10 shows roughly. People couldn’t keep up with doing a radio show every week - it doesn’t work like that. As it’s developed, I’ve realised what better radio is, after obviously listening to radio for years as well. In regards to shows, we’ve taken on a lot of new shows at the moment. It’s really hard to think off the top of my head.

So when you’re programming it, is it mainly people coming to you looking to do a show or do you seek stuff out or a bit of both?

Yeah, so it's like a balance of the two. We're always looking for interesting stuff, trying to keep it fresh, interesting and fun. We get a lot of people emailing us too; it can get busy sometimes trying to schedule so many new shows in but we're always welcoming new people to the studio.

Back to your question about shows though... I'll start off with Elevator Sound, the shop that we work with, their shows are some of the most interesting of the lot.

Is it a modular synth show?

Yeah, it's a modular synth show, we run long cables from the studio to broadcast them live from the shop. And they stream it from their Facebook page. So it's Ben or James who work in the shop, they basically prepare a few bits and jam with a little bit of chat, does really well too; it gets posted up on the modular groups.

Yeah, it’s really niche but massive at the same time!

Yeah, within its own circle it's really big. So that's different man, it's not two decks and a mixer like everything else. That's a cool show that I would really reccomend. 

To be honest I fully rate everone on the station and believe in what they are doing, I could chat to you for hours about all the wicked shows we have. Everyone is well passionate about what they are doing and I hope that resonates through the shows. Something I always look for in people is if they've got a passion for what they are doing, we love to bring in good energy.

We've got shows covering all angles of the musical spectrum, I'd like to think there's something for everyone on the station.

So I’ve noticed that your website and your promo material has got a very distinct sort of 90’s VHS aesthetic recently in your rebranding.

Shit haha. Before that there was no real identity to it - it was just me and Joelie making it up and learning. We wanted something a bit more exciting and different than just the standard artwork for each show. I wanted it to be funny really, a bit amusing. Hence why we've got Ali on board, so it now actually works properly. He came up with this whole aesthetic; the idea for the first event poster he did came from a screen of the old Nokia 3310. You must have had a 3310.

Yeah like when you turn on the phone.

Yeah like the digital pixelated stuff. He did a string of posters for events for us like that and kind of built on that. He redesigned the logo, simplified it because the logo we had was very much like it is now but it was a font, so it looked shit on any artwork. So it took him a while to convince me, but he's done it.

What are you listening to at the moment?

What am I listening to at the moment? I’m listening to nothing and everything. I follow all sorts really. Running the statio has been more than educational when it comes to music; always hearing new exciting bits. I don't get time to collect music like I used to but I've always got some sort of radio on.

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