Can you tell us a bit about Area 3000 — how and why did it start?
Area 3000 is a digital platform for sharing and listening to music. We act as an incubator for local artists, giving them space to experiment, innovate, and collaborate.
I created Area 3000 during the lockdowns in 2020. I was between jobs due to the pandemic and needed a creative outlet. Area 3000 became that passion project for me.
After months of figuring out how to actually start an online radio station and coordinating artists, Area 3000 launched in November 2020, initially broadcasting two DJ mixes each day from 12 to 2 pm Monday to Friday.
I've always loved music, DJing, dancing, and radio. When I started Area 3000, I had no idea how it would be received by the community, especially at a time when the scene was so disrupted by COVID, and there weren't a lot of events happening. But it was received with open arms, which was pretty exciting. We had lots of local artists jump on board to participate in producing mixes, which enabled us to have a really steady program for a long time.
It was also a time where I felt the local music scene could really benefit from a platform like Area 3000. I myself was an emerging DJ in the Melbourne scene at the time, and I felt that a lot of emerging artists didn't have a platform for showcasing their music and their work.
Often it was more well known and established artists who got those opportunities through traditional radio platforms: PBS, Triple R and Triple J. All very well established with their radio programming and the types of guests that they bring on the shows, which is totally fair enough. But I felt that something was missing for those artists who were just starting out, dabbling in music, and excited to get involved. I wanted to showcase what they were doing. And I think it was clear by how well received Area 3000 was that other people felt the same way and were very welcoming of such a platform to the Melbourne scene.
What inspired you to incorporate live events into your programming?
It probably wasn't until year two that we started live events. And that was due to COVID. But it felt like a natural next step, similar to the gig guide that we have on our website, where we promote events across Melbourne.
Events enable you to connect with your community in real life. So when you're working on something that is very digital - at the time, we were just an online only station, no studio - events could bring our radio hosts and listeners together.
What kinds of live events do you typically host?
We've hosted a range of live events, including pop-up radio broadcasting, which has been really fun to do, as well as gigs at local bars, nightclubs and warehouses. All DJ based music events with live streaming, which is awesome, because if you're not actually at the event, you can still tune in.
We have also hosted a few Q and A's, and now we do regular meetups with our residents as well to foster more meaningful connections amongst our radio hosts. I really love organising events that focus on building community.
What benefit have you seen from doing live events?
I am very passionate about giving opportunities to emerging artists through radio. Through events, we can provide additional opportunities to perform in a live setting, sometimes for the first time. We’ve given some DJs their first gig, which is a really proud moment to see them go from a bedroom DJ to a radio DJ, and then now they're playing live events. They're obviously stoked when we can make that happen.
Events also benefit the station directly, allowing us to reach more people, people who maybe haven't interacted with Area 3000 yet, or digital radio at all, for that matter. We can certainly connect with our community on a deeper level.
I am a big believer in providing opportunities to people as much as possible. We all need champions in our lives to help make our dreams happen, and I’m proud to be able to support that through radio and events.
Are the live events always broadcasted through the radio station?
I would say 90% of our live events are broadcasted, and that's because we can pretty easily bring equipment now to live stream. You just need internet access and a computer. And because we are a digital radio station, it only makes sense for us to offer that at events. I find that a lot of artists consider it valuable to, and appreciate having their sets recorded and promoted afterwards.
That being said, we've also collaborated with promoters on events where we’ve intentionally kept everything exclusive to the night - no pictures and no set recordings. Those events are great too and offer a unique feeling of intimacy.
How often do you run live events, and how do you plan or promote them?
At the moment, it's probably on a quarterly basis, we’re a little bit less active than we’d like to be on this front. Obviously, being a digital radio station, or maybe not obvious to some people, we have a small team, and when I say small, it's less than five and so it can be hard to just make the radio component happen. Doing events on top of that is a lot of work. Area 3000 is a volunteer led station with limited resources, so we can only do what we can do.
Planning events always starts with the venue, or some sort of idea. And then we work to identify artists we want to include and again, coming back to giving people opportunities and a platform, I always aim to spread the love across our residents program. So for example, when we've done residencies at Rooftop Bar in Melbourne, those were spread across one month, and I booked four different artists each week, and artists who I haven't already booked on other event lineups. I really do try to spread the love, while making sure that their sound is appropriate for the venue or the night that we're hosting.
A lot of our event promotion is through social media, with Instagram being our primary platform. We also ask our residents to promote events through the radio and will list events on Resident Advisor and eventbrite.
What has been your most memorable or successful live event so far?
One of the more memorable events was our first takeover at Revolver Upstairs. It was such an exciting milestone, Revs being an institution in Melbourne. So many people from our community came out in support of that. We only booked residents on our lineup, including artists who were playing at Revolver for the first time. The whole event reflected the sounds of Melbourne at the time, and the crowd was just unreal. I remember it being a really enjoyable night, for all the right reasons.
Another memorable event was when we hosted a pop-up radio station at Sun Cycle Music Festival on New Year's Day. We had a branded tent with a pop up radio live streaming all day. People who were attending the festival could come by and speak on the mic if they wanted to and we had a few little activities going on. We were sharing highlights from the year, asking people to share their reflections on the year just gone and their resolutions for the new year. There were some pretty funny ones. It was great interacting with our community in a different setting.
How have your live events impacted your listener engagement or audience growth?
Events have definitely expanded our reach. Like I said before, you often get people at events who have never even heard of Area 3000 and that's their first time, because maybe their friends have brought them, or maybe their friend is playing, or they were simply walking past the venue.
How have your live events created new opportunities like partnerships, sponsorships or community connections?
We've been really fortunate to collaborate with lots of established promoters in the Melbourne music scene. For example, Untitled, who we've collaborated with at Pitch Music Festival and Beyond The Valley, specifically around creating media opportunities. Some of our hosts have even gone on to host the social media account for Untitled, which is very exciting and reflective of the passion and skills our residents have. There are so many promoters that we've collaborated with now, probably half of our events, have been collaborative in some way, whether it be with a promoter or having some sort of presence at an event, like hosting a side stage.
The beauty of being a radio platform is that you're suddenly a media organisation as well, which is not necessarily what I intended when I started Area 3000. Conceptually, it was all about providing more DJing opportunities to artists. Now they also have opportunities to interview touring artists, sometimes artists they look up to. These opportunities also present areas for professional growth and skill development. You don’t only have to DJ, you can also explore media and broadcasting, and even podcasting. It's amazing, the breadth of opportunities coming our way, like the sky's the limit. It's really exciting.
Has hosting live events helped define your station’s identity or brand in a meaningful way?
I think we've always had a well defined brand. Area 3000 has always been quite recognisable because of the logo and the vibrant colours. I have a good friend of mine, Laura Misuraca, to thank for that.
Hosting events hasn’t defined Area 3000, but they’ve certainly helped us become more established. We're not just a random online group with a SoundCloud page. We show up where it matters, and we give opportunities to artists. The more meaningful impact we’ve had is in the opportunities Area 3000 has created and continues to create for artists.
I know Area 3000 is highly valued by all of our residents. Every single year at our end of year catchup, and at many other times during the year, I'm told just how meaningful it is to our hosts, how life changing it has been for some. And honestly, sometimes in the back end, when I'm writing emails, organising uploads and doing all the boring admin stuff, I don't fully comprehend how impactful it can be. It's through those in-person events where we have more opportunities to engage with our community that I fully understand the impact. It’s still mind blowing to me, and I don’t often get time to reflect on this, that my little radio station that was only an idea five years ago now has hundreds of people listening and attending events, a long list of radio residents, and thousands of followers on social media.
What about Radio Cult has been most beneficial in supporting your station’s live broadcasts?
When I started Area 3000 I obviously had no idea how to start a radio station. I quickly began researching, and by now I've been through probably three to four different tech platforms. Many of them weren't reliable.
In fact, sometimes I had to keep my computer on with a program playing for the radio to even stream properly. The laptop had to be on all day. I remember once I went to work and the music didn't start on time. And I thought, sh*t, I forgot to put my laptop on charge. Obviously my laptop died, and then that stream couldn't play.
Radio Cult has definitely made a positive difference. It's a platform designed specifically for digital radio stations and with the kind of digital station that Area 3000 is in mind. For us, it is the scheduling component that makes all the difference, it's very easy to use, and makes my life so much easier.
What advice would you give to other stations looking to travel down a similar path?
One piece of advice would be to go with Radio Cult just because it's so easy.
But, also, to those who are considering starting their own digital station, I would say: just go for it. Even if you think your city has too many radio stations. How many are in London? Heaps, and they're all still doing amazing. Even if you think there's no room, chances are there probably is, because there's always going to be more and more artists and listeners looking to engage with different platforms.
All stations have a life cycle as well. They’re not all going to be around forever. You never know, you might get to work on an exciting creative project for two years, but you also might be the next NTS in five. So, go for it.
What’s next for your station? Any exciting live events or new directions planned?
Area 3000 turns five this year, which is a pretty exciting milestone. We're in the planning stages for a few different birthday celebrations.
We have some exciting live pop-up events and collaborations coming up, so keep an eye out for announcements on those.
We also hope to be hosting more community focused events, like meetups, Q and As - opportunities for people to engage with us, without the need for a dance party. I love parties and going out dancing, but I also love meeting with people to chat about music and the industry. Not everything needs to center around drinks and dancing, and in a dark room. We can also have fun in the daylight!
Where can people listen to and learn more about Area 3000?
Our website, Instagram and obviously the Radio Cult app, which I encourage people to download.