Adrian Newman is the Station Manager at Reprezent Radio. Broadcasting since 2011, and now run from 3 shipping containers in Brixton, Reprezent Radio prides itself on its forward thinking underground music. Their DJs and presenters all work in the music industry; produce their own music, run their own labels and club nights - meaning their sound is always on the cutting edge of music - across every single genre imaginable.
What challenges have you faced in running Reprezent?
Reprezent runs on a mixture of grant funding and brand partnerships, which is challenging as everything is so fragile. To really support the grassroots, we need bigger industry players to go beyond ad-hoc initiatives and think about how they can invest funding more sustainably, and work more proactively with organisations developing future talent.
When we have sustained funding over time, the impact we can have is immense: both for the individuals and the industry. Not only have our DJs, producers and engineers moved into the studios - of the likes of BBC R1 and 1xtra, Beats and Global - but they’re now even starting up their own businesses like No Signal
What has it been liking working with young people? What advice would you have for other organisations looking to do the same?
It’s a positive cycle that keeps us constantly evolving, adapting and developing the way we work - it’s integral we keep refreshing our talent pool and bringing through new voices and specialist DJs to stay ahead of where the industry is moving.
Radio stations become big networks of young people that criss-cross and work with each other. There are so many outputs and outcomes that come from a radio station that might not be initially apparent, but then you get these cultural crossovers where things get made because it’s such an incubator. If you can get young people in different regions and areas to do their own radio thing that’s proper DIY and you never know what creativity and connections can come from it.