Who are you and what are you doing?
My name is Kelly Crawford and I am an internet DJ. Wow that sounds like we’re at an AA meeting or something. But seriously, I do have an internet radio show called Euro-Rock Radio - one of many shows on RenegadeRadio.Net - and we focus on music from Europe and Scandinavia. In addition to that I also have a small promotions company that works with several bands (mainly from Finland at the moment) and I do a bit of concert photography as well.
What drew you to the idea of an internet radio show?
Sort of a long story but the short(ish) version would be that myself and a couple of other girls were doing street team work for the band HIM. Street Teaming is basically coordinated word of mouth promoting. We were trying to find better ways to promote and I happened to meet a guy that lived near me that ran an internet radio station, Jerry Hayes, and had been in the local music scene for many years. I would listen in on his show and hang out in the chat room during it and request HIM and various other bands and he would tell me to send him music and he’d play it. After talking and finding out the size of the fan base for some of these bands he suggested we do a show on his station. It started out as only music from Finland and then the girl I was working with at the time - well we had some ‘creative differences’ and she went off on her own. I stayed with Jerry and RenegadeRadio and expanded my playlist to not just Finland but Europe/Scandinavia and we are now the most popular show on RenegadeRadio. Popular enough that I’ve been told a few people from Sirius Satellite Radio have listened in and are considering their own Euro station.
How did you get started? Did you have a broadcasting background?
Sort of answered the how I got started bit above but no, no broadcasting background. That’s the nice thing about internet radio, you can give it a go without the background needed to be hired. I don’t get paid for this, it’s a hobby that is pretty much a full time job. Maybe eventually we’ll turn a profit but our main goal is to spread the word that the music the FM stations and record labels are constantly shoving down your throats isn’t the only thing out there. There is a ton of amazing music both locally and internationally and it’s about time it got some airplay.
Describe a typical show — how you pick the songs, where you get them, how you broadcast.
I broadcast from home. I have a sound board and microphone and a DJing program on the computer. At a particular time of night (Tuesdays, 7-10pm CST) I log into a server that streams our music and from then on anything I’m playing on my computer is broadcast. Pretty simple really but sounds very professional as we also have ’sweeps’ - basically ads that tell you what show you’re listening to, advertise for the station, etc. Some are very funny.
I get the vast majority of my music directly from the bands. Some of it I’ve bought on my own, some they’ve sent me for promo purposes and airplay, but we always ask permission before airing the music. Some labels want to make sure you’re signed with particular companies (BMI for one) so they get the proper royalties for any play. But the majority of the music we play is indie so the bands aren’t signed by any label and can give us the okay on their own. A few of the bands we work closely with and consider family have since been signed by labels but we’ve always been given the okay to continue playing them. I will usually go through my extensive list of music and pick about an hour to two hours worth of stuff - things that are popular on the show, new stuff we’ve gotten in, things I haven’t played in a while, just whatever mood I’m in. Then the rest of the show will be requests. We also will from time to time do a night that focuses only on one band. Our most popular are HIM nights were we play only HIM during the show. We never fail to pull in huge numbers on those nights. When we do these nights we’ll try to get an interview with the band (usually pre-recorded because of the time differences) and play that and sometimes the band will stay up late (or get up really early) and do it live or come into the chat room. We also usually have things to give away - shirts, cd, etc - on those nights as well.
Tell us about the funniest/craziest moment you’ve had with the show.
Oh lord, there’s a lot. Tommi from the band Sinamore (Finland) has gotten up at 4am to be live on the air with us several times and that’s always a riot. Not only is he sleepy and working on his first few cups of coffee but he’s a funny guy anyway. Then there’s the band Eleventh Apparition (Wales) and they’ve stayed up late to be in the chat room with us. Great guys and very funny to watch them all sharing one computer.
One of the funniest times I would say was actually not on the show but related to it. Myself and two other girls (one of which works on the show with me) went to Finland for New Years in 2006/2007. We got to meet up with a couple of the bands we work closely with. One is a band called Fokker and we met with two guys, Antti and Pasi. Antti is a good friend and he was very funny - so excited to see us on top of being very drunk (as most Finns are) and was showing us the club we were at and forcing us to dance with him. There were lots of hugs. On our last night there we met Tommi, who I mentioned earlier, and again went out for drinks. The poor guy was having such a great time he didn’t want to leave and missed his bus home. So we took him to the little flat we were renting for our stay. I can officially say I took a rock star home I guess lol.
Then there was the time that we got to take Jyrki (lead singer of The 69 Eyes) on a tour around downtown Dallas and did an interview - he’s a huge history buff and wanted to see where JFK was shot and the museum. I got turned around in downtown (easy to do) and he has never let me forget that I got lost in my own city.
However I’d have to say the most memorable moment for myself anyway was last summer at Projekt Revolution. HIM was playing that show and after a lot of emails and being willing to sell my soul I managed to score an interview with them for the show. It was my one big goal ever since starting the show - interview HIM. It was horribly hot outside and I’d been out with lots of our team doing promo all day so by the time I was taken into the tour bus I probably looked horrid but I got to sit down with Ville Valo (lead singer) and Mige (bassist) and the rest of the guys for an hour. Ville and Mige were wonderful as always and answered all my questions extensively and were nice enough to give us a little radio drop - that’s where they say something along the lines of, “This is Ville Valo from HIM and you’re listening to Euro-Rock Radio.” That’s not an exact quote but you get the idea. It was a wonderful moment and maybe one day I can do a follow up interview.
What do you love best about it?
Honestly? The friends I’ve made. I’ve met some amazing people by doing this show and I adore them all. I’ve been given so many opportunities to do things I’d never dreamed I’d get to do - like going to Finland - and it wouldn’t have happened if not for this show. And of course there’s the music. I’ve discovered so many great and talented bands and it’s been wonderful to be a part of their growing experience and see a few of them start to make it big. One band in particular, Widescreen Mode, is about to have their CD released here in the US and I am so proud to have been a part of their journey.
Have any pics to share?
Do I have pics? Girl I have tons of pics! I’ve been lucky enough to manage photo passes to several of these bands as they finally come to the US and have a full gallery to go through at http://www.eurorockpromotions.com/EuroRockGallery . My photography website, RenegadePhotos.net, will hopefully be up and running soon and there will be pictures there from local bands as well. For now you can see some of those at http://www.myspace.com/renegadephotos
Where can listeners learn more and find out about the show, and listen?
Two places. First our station’s website: http://www.renegaderadio.net There is a 24/7 stream of music so if you’re sitting on the comp go tune in! You’ll get a very wide variety. You can also tune into all the shows from the main page there as well by clicking on the Now Playing section or any of the player links in the top right. Link to the chat room is there as well.
As for my show in particular you can find out more by going to our Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/finnishmetalradio (our old name before we expanded) or visiting us at Trig at http://www.trig.com/eurorockradio You can also join our mailing list at http://www.eurorockpromotions.com
Annnnd…anything else you’d like to add!
Just a huge thank you to you, my dear, for doing this! Using your blog to let others speak is very generous of you. It is truly an honor to be one of your minions. I do hope I do my Mistress proud. ;-)
And that’s what I like to hear. :)
Want to be a minion? Email me at readinbed AT gmail DOT com for your application.
M
Every Tuesday from 7-10pm CST (8pm eastern/5pm pacific/01:00 gmt) Euro-Rock Radio brings you the best hard pounding metal and hard rock Europe/Scandinavia has to offer!
Tonight we’re taking requests as well as throwing in a few things of our own. So if there’s something you want to hear just let us know via Myspace, email (kelly@renegaderadio.net) or the chat room!
So tune in TONIGHT for great music and join us in the chat room where all the fun happens!
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