Website of the month
interFACE at http://interface.pirate-radio.co.ukWhile wandering round central London the other week, I was roused from my usual stupor by the sight of promotional stickers advertising a website at 'www.pirate-radio.co.uk/interface'*. Well, I met a few "real-life" pirate radio geezers when I lived up North, and it was mainly tower blocks, amphetamine psychosis and "a shout to the boys in the big house" (aka the local nick), with plenty of decent music thrown in. So, what's all this Internet pirate radio business? Being a nosey kinda person, I had to (if you'll pardon the cliché) turn up, tune in and check it out.
To listen to interFACE, you need the RealPlayer 5 plug-in, which is downloadable using a link on the site. With the software installed, you can click on one of interFACE's three Real Audio servers, and up will pop a digital piccy of one of its DJs playing in the London studio, accompanied by live music. With an average sound card, the mono broadcast doesn't sound at all bad through PC speakers. But you need a decent modem. On anything lower than 36.6K, the digital camera image starts to deteriorate. And I suppose tuning in to Internet radio is an expensive way to listen to yer daily dose of dance music, but pretty cool if you're doing something else on the Net and have it running in the background. The standard of music on interFACE certainly wipes the floor with Kiss, which still tends to play Rip Groove about 1,000 times a week and has recently signed the (ahem) ultra-cool and credible Dani Behr to its DJ roster.
Looking at the statistics, some 600 radio stations are broadcasting on the Internet and, of these stations, interFACE is among the few that have video capabilities – which makes it pretty leading edge. The station plays a wide selection of music encompassing house, garage, gabber, techno and drum n bass, with live broadcasts taking place constantly during the weekend and from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. on weekdays. According to station webmaster, Eezee E, interFACE will soon broadcast round the clock all week.
It quickly strikes you that interFACE must be doing something right – not least because the site, which recently celebrated its first birthday, attracts 35,000 hits a day from around the world. It currently broadcasts over ISDN via two servers in the UK and one in the US, and is retransmitted in far-flung locations, including Brazil, Gibraltar and Brussels. According to Eezee, interFACE has recently received requests from Canada and Cuba to set up servers there. Ok, so Cuba may seem a bizarre location for this kind of activity (you tend to think of cigars, rather than dance music), but what the hell? "We're attracting a lot of interest," he says. "The Ministry of Sound is investigating the possibility of broadcasting on the Internet and has recently approached us for help."
So how did interFACE come about? According to its extensive press clippings, the Internet station evolved from a 'conventional' pirate, FACE FM. It was set up during early 1997 with little financial backing, to give up-and-coming London DJs the chance to play underground dance tunes to a global audience, using Real Audio. Unlike conventional pirates, which operate under threat of closure by the Department of Trade and Industry, interFACE is a legal business in the UK. However, it is a true pirate on the Internet, as broadcasting other people's music without permission is illegal – although performing rights laws remain difficult to enforce on the Net.
interFACE is certainly similar to conventional pirates in attitude and programming format. DJs are allowed to play what they choose, avoiding the sanitised play lists favoured by commercial dance music stations. And, in line with many other pirate stations, the DJs aren't paid for their efforts. In fact, interFACE finances itself by charging each DJ £10 per show, rather than selling in-yer-face banner advertising. Eezee explains, "Our focus is on the music, rather than on the hit rate and having a large, commercial site. We want to keep what we're doing underground."
Music aside, the interFACE site features some entertaining content. Check out the mugshots of DJs and fans – they provide an amusing diversion for a few minutes, if you've got nothing better to do. There's also a Java chat room (soon to be upgraded), in which you can discuss whatever takes your fancy with other site users. When I first logged on, the conversation was about Freddy Krueger, which seemed rather strange at the time. I've recently noticed the chat room is an ideal place to visit at the weekend if you want to discuss how cabbaged you are after a night "largin' it". So, what about discussing dance music in its numerous manifestations? This subject seems to be pretty much avoided.
Besides entertaining us on the Internet, interFACE is out and about at a plethora of events. For those in reach of North London, the crew is running 'HUB' parties at London's 333 Club on the first Friday of every month, which are broadcast live across the Net. I visited the first HUB party, and must confess to being somewhat incoherent (it was obviously the tequila that did me in). For 'bloody lightweights' or those who tend to be uncivilised, this raises fears of the globe's dance music-listening Net surfers watching you staggering about. If you fancy checking it out, the next interFACE HUB event is on 3 April.
interFACE is also running monthly 'Frequency' events at The Complex and is playing weekly drum n bass rooms at Jazz Bistro and Happiness Stans. During the summer, the station will be broadcasting from two large marquees at Glastonbury, from the Big Chill festival and from a special event in I-beeef-aah.
If you want to obtain information about interFACE, contact holodeck@pirate-radio.co.uk. For party info, ring 0171 692 5503.
* the site's old URL