What is Mouthfull Radio?
Mouthfull Radio is an independent non-profit online community radio station, broadcasting from Aotearoa, Australia and parts of Europe.
It is a home to a digital community of hosts and listeners, and presents a wide array of music from all genres, insights, tidbits, and conversations. Virtual space shared with real people in real time.
As a community focused, independent, and intentional entity — this space exists to provide more opportunities to explore sonic presentation, practice, self-navigation, conception, and growth. Listening together and to each other, Mouthfull Radio broadcasts 24/7
What prompted you to start Mouthfull Radio?
What prompted us to start the station was the start of the 2020 pandemic. That’s what really kicked us into gear, because we had already been an arts collective for around 3 years doing all sorts of things including hosting live music events, workshops, making zines, and even movies. We would ask our musician friends to put together playlists to help us connect with people we didn’t know online. That was kind of the groundwork and then once the 2020 pandemic hit, the idea for a radio station blossomed out of a shared love for music and a lack of in person connection. We wanted to find other ways to connect, and so the online radio station was born.
Also, the fact that New Zealand didn’t really have that online radio culture, at the time we were listening to Worldwide FM and NTS and seeing a lot of inspiring radio pockets based in other countries. We're like, “This is great stuff. Aotearoa could use a bit of this.” There's definitely a gap there we were aiming to fill, in more ways than one.
What are your goals for Mouthfull Radio?
Ultimately we want to keep up what we’re already doing and continue to grow alongside our community (all the while staying independent). We love to see those around us flourish and it's beautiful to be a part of that process that uplifts those artists and hosts.
Bringing a unique experience is also important to us, so we want to try and inspire more of an audience for online radio style listening that shifts away from a fast paced consumption of music. I see it as back pedaling away from the algorithmic listening that streaming platforms have pushed upon us. I think it’s important to have many different ways of listening but we want to keep the radio alive and well.
Other goals include putting on more live events. There are plenty of amazing musicians that we’d like to see play live more frequently. This year's our fifth anniversary, so we'll be doing a little bit of a birthday event in Wellington.
What role does Mouthfull Radio play in connecting people - locally, online or both? And can you provide a real-world example of this?
Things like having a website you can visit that isn't a social media (i.e filled with ads and mines your data) is important, a space where people can go to listen to music, maybe learn something about what they’re listening to, and experience gathering in an online space. We like the role of a ‘well-spring,’ where we offer delicious water to nourish your spirits, welcome.
Also using our reach to put on gigs and bring people together. We will often broadcast on the radio from venues so those out of town can tune in from a different space of being.
What does “community” mean to you as a station operator?
Well, community is all about the people. We wouldn't be anything without people contributing; whether that be amazing hosts, people backstage keeping the station going, or the people tuning in and engaging with us, coming to our gigs, or proposing wild and fun ideas.
It's all about connection. People want to feel connected with each other. I’d say (the chat room) is an example of that with the radio website specifically. You often get a lot of the same people coming to the chat room, they're having micro conversations with each other and the host in real time. Being seen and acknowledged is often all that happens, but maybe that’s all that is needed at the time? A small moment of connection can go a long way. It sometimes weaves into the everyday, too, where crossovers from the online world emerge in real life situations. We've had people come to gigs from finding us online, so that hybrid kind of community is very important to us.
What advice would you give to someone starting an internet radio station who wants to build a strong community?
You have to do your thing, you've got to stay true to yourself and what it is that you want to do. It certainly can be a slog and it takes time to cultivate the right formula, but if you stay true to yourself, eventually the right people will come and you’ll start to grow.
But in practical terms. If someone reached out to me asking for advice on starting their own station, I would recommend Radio Cult. You definitely need a system that can house your schedule and host information, it's a crucial component.
How does Radio Cult help you to run Mouthfull?
It's really streamlined how we do things, especially with the scheduling and the communication with the artists and hosts. The amount of admin that we have to do each day has decreased, meaning we have more time to focus on other stuff. For example, having each of the hosts login has been revolutionary, now we don't have to double handle files and information. It's all in one place. Everything's clear, exactly where you need it, and it’s not on Google.
The way that you guys helped us set up the website with the Radio Cult, that was completely seamless too and also, if we ever need any ongoing help or if anything is awry or something isn't quite right, you are very responsive to pick up the phone or answer an email.
You are also relatable and personable. You understand the people you are helping actually get it, you're part of the community. It feels like we’re cut from the same cloth in a way, I see Mouthfull and Radio Cult as similar entities, similar beings. We’ve both begun out of not much, or just a love for what we do, and just trying to create it, and you want to stay true to that... Sister entities in a way.
You were one of our first customers, what appealed about Radio Cult when you first signed up?
Immediately when we chatted to you guys, you seemed real down to earth and that you had a genuine care for what you were doing and on top of that what really spoke for itself was the site and what you guys were working on. It genuinely looked way better than anything else we've seen,by miles and miles.
We were also at a crossroads in that we wanted to graduate into the next level of what the station could be. Along with Radio Cult came the ability to grow and push us further.
Mouthfull Radio was one of our first customers, what’s the journey with Radio Cult been like?
It has been seamless, from the initial integration with our current site to the constant developments and upgrades, there's always improvements happening. You guys are definitely working a lot to make things happen and to make the experience better. We've already received so much bang for our buck. It's hard to imagine how much further it could even go. It inspires us to see you growing and doing rad things.
It also opens our eyes up to what’s possible that we didn't know were possible before (we’re not very techy, so glad to be in safe knowledgeable hands). When you guys implement a new change, it pops up on the site to make it obvious to see what you have been working on. I think that's really awesome.
Where can people listen to Mouthfull Radio?
Jump on the web, go to the website
Bring back fun websites too!
Or catch us on Instagram
