Ok, so it’s been a while since our last blog but this one is uber exciting so it’s all ok.
For those of you not up on Scratch festival news, a few weeks ago our very own Wil Vincent managed to get into Sonisphere Festival and got to chat to quite a few well known acts from the lineup. Well, in case you missed the Facebook update, this weekend Rich Skelding has made his way into Bloodstock festival and will be bringing you all the highlights when he gets back!
It’s not just rock and metal that we’re covering though, it was revealed the other week that our very own Ben Stones will be popping along to this year’s sold out V Festival in Weston Park. He’s going to attempt to chat to a few of the big names on the lineup.
You can keep up with news, interviews and pictures from all the festivals we’re covering on Facebook, Twitter and the blog. We’ll also be bringing you all the festival highlights throughout Freshers in September!
It’s not just our festival coverage that’s exciting at the moment, our studio move is now well underway. Whilst we will be off air for a short period of time, this means we can move all our equipment and (carefully) attempt to put together the new studio in time for September.
In other news, for those of you who have recently logged onto the website, you may have noticed that we’ve managed to fix both the webcam and our streaming! We locked Ben in the studio until he fixed everything and he managed to get our webcam going. You can now log onto the website and see live pictures from our studio (or Scratch Studio 1 as it’s lovingly known).
Radio geeks out there will also be pleased to hear that we have now moved over to Shoutcast streaming technologies, which means for those who haven’t been able to connect to our stream before should now be able to listen! All you have to do is log onto the website and click ‘Listen Live’, which will launch our all new listen live player.
So, if that’s not enough exciting news for you then I don’t know what is! Stay tuned to our Facebook page for updates on the new studio, new website and plans for Freshers, in the meantime look out for festival updates right here on the Scratch Blog.
Sonisphere: Europe Extended Interview
Scratch Radio’s Wil Vincent has made his way to this year’s Sonisphere Festival where he’s caught up with legendary Swedish heavy-metal band Europe…
Q: You played Bloodstock Festival last year, and you said people were surprised to see that you’re a lot heavier than they thought, does this happen often? A: Yeah, everyone seems to attach us to “The Final Countdown”, and we went on the Bloodstock site and everyone was like “Europe are shit”, but when they actually saw us, they realised that we are heavier, and we can kick ass.
Q: Have you got a producer for you new album? Where you going to record it? A: Yeah we have, we’re gonna record it back home. We don’t see any point in me flying all the way over to America to record an album, when I can do my bit in two days, and beside, I get to go home to a wife and a hot dinner, rather than some s***ty hotel food.
Q:Whats the worst bit about touring? A: What really winds me up are all these refurbished venues. They all scream about how wonderful they are, yet nothing ever seems to work. On the last tour, I slept in the bus, thinking I could go into the venue and have a shower, and none of them ever worked! And everything either seemed to be dirty, or not working etc.
Q: Do your kids get any stick for being the son of the “Final Countdown bloke”? A: Not as much as you’d think. My eldest son, who is almost 18, is with me at the moment, and came to the Peace and Love festival a few days back, and just camped by himself with his mates. He does get a bit proud though when he sees his dad rocking out with Europe.
Q: Do you think there is a difference between festivals now, and back in the day? A: Yeah, cause there were hardly any festivals back then! In Sweeden there are so many now, and half of them are going bust as they cant get the line ups. Our tour manager says however that we always seem to play the good Festivals. I dunno if thats a compliment to them or us…
Sonisphere: Day 1 Report
Good Afternoon all!
Despite the ever present threat of rain, all is good here at Knebworth! The live music is due to start within the next hour or so, and there is a great evening of entertainment lined up for the 30,000 campers to enjoy.
Delain will be opening up the festivities at 5pm this evening, but not before a World Record Attempt, to get as many people as possible to do the Time Warp. For those of you who don’t know what the Time Warp (or the Rocky Horror Show) is, SHAME ON YOU! However, you can see Team Sonisphere doing a practise run the other day…
The campsites are buzzing, the beer is being drunk like it’s going out of fashion, and the queues for the toilets are as long as ever… Wish you were here?
For those of you sat at home, we have got a number of interviews lined up this evening, EUROPE will be talking to us in a bit, followed by Karma to Burn, 65 days of Static, Never means Maybe, and Throats.
All interviews will be online at some point, so long as there remains a spare plug socket in the Press area. We’re right in front of Scuzz TV, and it’s hectic stuff! Anyway, enjoy the rest of your afternoon, and remember, It’s just a jump to the left…
Wil Vincent - Head of New Music
We’re moving! (well, not very far)
It’s exciting times at Scratch towers! After months (possible exaggeration) of waiting and building excitement, we’ve been given the news that over the summer we’re moving! Cheers and celebration all round, I hear.
Today brought an announcement from BCSU that Level 2 of the Students’ Union Building on City North Campus is set for a total revamp over the summer. The good news is that the work includes moving the Scratch studio, along with the other Media Groups.
The plans mean that not only will our studio be easier for everyone to actually find, but you’ll be able to see and hear Scratch across the revamped Level 2. With a rebuild of the studio now in it’s final planning stages, work will start in the over few weeks.
Our new studio sits next to the new Media Groups office on Level 2 (the old Waterstones for everyone returning to BCU) - where Scratch will be working together with Tiger TV and Spaghetti Junction.
Hopefully by now you’re as excited by the move as we are! Come September, we will be up and running from our new studio bringing you a fresh sounding Scratch (not only because we’ll actually have an opening window) with tons of amazing shows and events for Freshers 2010.
And, if this post isn’t long enough already, the move isn’t the only news on the Scratch agenda. Over the summer we’re busy beavering away on some other highly exciting plans which we will reveal in due course.
This Friday and Saturday sees Birmingham City University open it’s doors to prospective new students. If you’re popping down we’re going to be out and about on campus all day, do say “Hi” if you see Dan wandering around in his yet to be announced fancy-dress outfit.
As well as wandering around and generally making fools of ourselves, we’ll me broadcasting live from our stand outside the studio in the Students’ Union! The line-up is looking something like this…
Friday 18th June
10.00-12.00 Dan Richards and Kash 12.00-14.00 Carl and James 14.00-16.00 Rich Williams 16.00-18.00 The No Signal Rock Show
Saturday 19th June
10.00-12.00 Rich Skelding 12.00-14.00 Tom Williams 14.00-18.00 Paul Hadsley
If you’re coming down do pop over and see what we’re all about. But no-fear if you’re not on campus, you can listen to all the special shows live online!
Our very own Dan Richards has caught up with new Scratch presenter, Tom Williams, to find out how he’s getting on!
Hear what Tom’s got to say for himself above; Dan finds out all about Tom’s show, what you can expect to hear and how you can get in touch!
You can also download the interview so you can listen on the go, all you need to do is click the down-arrow on the right-hand side of the player and then drop it into your chosen media player.
You can catch both Tom and Dan on Wednesday’s from 10am right through until 2pm - find out more online at www.scratchradio.co.uk
Scratch Bi-Election Results
The bi-election has taken place and the results are in - get ready with the X-Factor voice…
Station Manager (External) - Paul Hadsley
Assistant Station Manager (External) - Kevin Moore
Head of News and Sport (Internal) - Conor Fitzhenry
Head of News and Sport (External) - Kate Single
Head of Promotions (Internal) - James Gregory
Non-Portfolio (Internal) - Kash Prateek
Head of New Music (Internal) - Wil Vincent
Well done to everyone that was nominated for positions on the committee! If you want to find out more about the committee and how Scratch is run, check out the About pages of the website.
You can listen again to the special show from last week online now. All you need to do is click the big orange play button on the player above and you can hear the highlights - well, the full show just without the music.
If you want to listen to us on the go or in your choice of media player you can also download the whole show, all you need to do is click the download button at the top of the player.
Whilst this year’s Birmingham Music Month may be coming to an end, the music scene in and around the city doesn’t. At the beginning of the month, Scratch’s very own Dan Richards managed to grab Birmingham-based Brian Travers - from UB40 - for a chat about the month, the Birmingham music scene and what Brum music means to the band.
In response to the university-wide funding cuts and the extensive £1.4million cuts to the Faculty of PME announced this week, Scratch Radio is bringing you two hours of live discussion and debate this Friday from 2pm.
Join Dan Richards and representatives of the student-body and Students’ Union to air your opinions and get an idea of the impact of the vast cuts proposed. We’re also hoping to make the show available to download as a podcast from our main website.
In the last week, it has been announced that there will be £1.4million of cuts from the Faculty of PME - which works out at £230,000 funding cuts from the UK’s leading School of Media. Leading to a 30% decrease in the number of staff and equipment within the department, and the proposed closure of a number of specialisms, Scratch is backing the fight against the cuts.
On tomorrow’s show we want to hear what you think. How will the cuts impact you? And, more importantly, what can be done? Get in touch with the studio on all the usual ways - check out the main site for more information.
Make sure you’re tuned in tomorrow from 2pm and make sure you join the fight against the university-wide cuts. What do you think needs to be done?
Keep up to date with all the latest from BCU's Scratch Radio. Look out for info on new shows, presenter bios, behind the scenes stuff and so much more!
You can find more information and check out our full schedule online at www.scratchradio.co.uk
