AIR-FM: Radio for the People

In The Mistress of Dimmiga Berg there are several references to the community radio station, AIR-FM.  This was a real-life radio station until about 2002 when a government decision to permit only one community broadcaster in the area saw the licence go to rival station WOW-FM (Way Out West) at nearby St. Marys.

David Evans with guests.

AIR-FM was located in an old dwelling on the campus of the University of Western Sydney, at Werrington. For two years (1999-2000) I was the breakfast announcer.

It was a voluntary position but the presenters’ spots were keenly sought out. Since few people wanted to be there at 6.00 am I won the position by default. In fact, I fell into it.

The overnight broadcasting was done by computer which kept music and commercials playing until the live staff came on in the morning. I was only there to assist the announcer but he was young, unreliable, and several times failed to come in at all. On those mornings the computer continued to dish out a bland diet until 9.00 am.

Then, on one of those mornings, the computer died. I had no option but to grab the microphone and the DVD player, and keep things rolling. Two years later I was still at it.

It was mostly just music, talk, announcements, weather and traffic reports, but sometimes I did theme broadcasts.

During that time a woman wrote to the Penrith City Star saying that her husband was serving overseas with the army. She wanted people to send in jokes to the paper so she could mail them to him to cheer him up. I don’t know if they received many  but I contacted the paper and arranged for the lady and her sister to come in one morning, and spent three hours telling jokes and playing funny songs. I gave them a tape of the broadcast to send to him. They’re the visitors in the attached photograph.

On another occasion a hot air balloon landed in the university grounds about a kilometre away from the station. I threw the computer into the loop, jumped in my car, and retrieved the pilot and his passengers –- three very bubbly Irish colleens. The interviews went well and for months afterwards listeners phoned in to tell me when they had sighted a balloon flying anywhere in the listening area.

It was fun, but it wasn’t a pushover. I arrived each morning at 5.30 am to set up the facilities, worked on air for three hours, then spent another thirty minutes stuffing around with whatever needed doing before heading home for breakfast. On top of that I spent about fifteen hours a week preparing the programs.

And so, when I needed a radio station for Dimmiga Berg, AIR-FM was a natural.