Spotlight on Seoul Community Radio

We’ve long been aware of Seoul Community Radio and the high-level output they produce. We’d been planning to get in touch with them ever since we stared rolling last year, as we were keen to do our bit to spread the word. Then, as luck would have it, our fine contributor, Toby Doman, gave us a shout to say he’d written a piece all about them.

Naturally, we are very pleased to present it to you here.

Written by Toby Doman

The sun is setting once again on the Seoul neighbourhood of Itaewon. The blend of locals and foreign residents that call this part of South Korea’s megapolis home are bundling up against the biting cold and making their way along the bustling Itaewon-ro in the advancing dark. Itaewon as a space is in constant flux. It’s bar and dining scene seemingly moving in new directions weekly. There is a distinct influence from western culture on the streets – seen in the fashion boutiques and restaurants - but underpinning it all, an unmistakable Korean foundation.

A few hundred metres from the main thoroughfare of the district, in Usadan-ro, where there is a bunker. And in that bunker is a British man applying the very same blend of western influence to the city’s music scene and grafting it onto the thirst for modern Korean culture that feels so obvious at street level. Welcome to Seoul Community Radio (SCR).

“All commercial radio, not just in Korea, is guilty of dumbing down and selling out music to attract a more mainstream audience,” says Richard Price. Londoner, Arsenal fanatic and founder of one of the region’s leading voices of the Korean underground. “Curating interesting and original content is really at the heart of what good radio should be. The fact that it is live and there are real human voices delivering it gives it even more of a personal touch.”

SCR crew

The fact is that before SCR flung open its internet airwaves, the average Korean DJ, clubber, dance music lover, did not really have anywhere communal to share their passion or showcase their talent. Taking cues from other successful radio ventures in Europe, such as NTS and Redlight, Price has spent the past three years building up a 24/7 internet radio operation aimed at Seoul’s diverse and creative communities.

“We are a platform to give artists here in Korea a chance to showcase alternative and creative output people may not get to hear anywhere else – even in clubs,” adds Price. The genesis of the platform can be traced back to 2016. “We started off with getting artists and DJs involved and having them contribute recorded mixes which we would post online. At the time, we didn’t even have a studio or recording facility so were asking people to record at home.”

This spirit of rolling up sleeves and doing it yourself can be traced back to the early days of pirate radio in the UK. It’s a scene that has given a platform to Grime and its many sub-genres, but also Jungle, Drum n Bass and countless DJs and producers, many of whom are now in the big time. At the heart of that largely illegal movement was a buccaneering spirit to bring quality music beyond the mainstream to new, engaged audiences. It’s the spirit that drives SCR.

So what’s next for SCR? “We’ve done some takeover shows with established stations like Radar Radio and Berlin Community Radio where we have showcased the Korean underground,” adds Price. One of SCR’s most exciting excursions comes with a sprinkling of international diplomacy. “The DMZ Festival is an attempt to bring communities across borders together through music and dance. We’re hosting the dance stage for the third year running and all in the shadow of the North Korean border. It’s real ‘beats not bombs’ kind of stuff”, he says.

Other plans in the pipeline include a hush, hush vinyl pressing collaboration with the sneaker kingpins over at Vans plus a long-anticipated upgrade on the current studio space as demand for more multimedia content, label parties and product launches start to take the operation in a fresh direction.

As the sun sets on another day in Seoul, there is a small bunker in a corner of Itaewon where the creative fire continues to burn brightly.

You can tune in to Seoul Community Radio here.