Beyond the Hood

During lockdown it all began to feel a bit groundhog day with either the radio or the news on in the background constantly. In the end we had to limit the news to once or twice a day because to be honest it was all beginning to feel a bit depressing and seemed like we were hearing the same old, same old sounds on a certain national radio station.

We’ve always been a bit eclectic when it comes to music and picking up on new artists, discovering tracks from a variety of places so when a friend sent over a link to Amateurism Radio, an on line global community radio station that started broadcasting 24/7 at the start of lockdown, we were intrigued, even more so when we headed over to their website to see their brilliant tag line “Think local, act intergalactic!”.

Amateurism was founded in 2011 by London based DJ/promoter Leo Walton “to bring together a group of people with a similar spirit for unearthing records of a certain vibe”. They describe themselves collectively and have been described to us as a “tribe of good people, an inclusive club, bringing people together through music and shared experiences” pre COVID playing at festivals. Obviously that all came to an end so Amateurism radio was created and their inaugural broadcast was aired on 28 March.

If you’re interested in making some musical discoveries tune in you’ll very quickly find your favourite genres, musical curators and shows. We’ve enjoyed various programmes including one based on the stories behind some of Wes Anderson’s film soundtracks, a two hour tribute to Ennio Morricone and Rob Leggatt’s “righteous selections” of a Sunday.

We have to admit that during lockdown we even shed a small tear or two on a couple of occasions. Once when Leo Walton passed the show baton on to his Mother Mama Walton signing off with his children saying love you Granny and when a poem was read out about the power of music, how we are not alone, that if we have music we are united. Yes we know we sound like right old over emotional woke softies but we all agreed that music was even more powerful and quite frankly a life saver during lockdown. Wish we could remember what that poem was called so we could get hold of a copy!

Find Amateurism Radio on Spotify, archives on Mix Cloud or listen on line https://www.amateurism.co.uk/