Take one house in Hackney with an empty shed at the back. Throw in a few trannies, a couple of tres cool East London DJs, a mirror ball and a makeshift studio set-up and… ta-dah…!
You have Shed Radio, the throbbing heart of the sound of underground gay radio coming at ya courtesy of some of the scene’s most colourful characters. Cliff Joannou speaks to one of the men behind the madness, Colin Rothbart…
Shed Radio… let’s go back to the beginning. It all started with you converting a battered old shed in your garden into a party space. What shenanigans went on there?
Well, first of all it was all quite innocent. We used to go out and have occasional parties back at the house but found people kept going into our manky, battered shed for some reason, even though it was full of spiders, broken glass and old loo seats. We put in a stereo and used to play Sharon Osbourne’s autobiography as a sort of ‘alternative area’.
Then someone got hurt on some glass, so it had to go. It was a potential deathtrap after. The new improved shed was soundproofed, and then had added lasers, DJ box, smoke machine and a piano. We’ve had some great parties there. You often find builders dancing alongside disheveled trannies. And there’s a dressing up box!
So then you had the idea to upgrade and transform said ‘shed’ into a radio station? Do tell…
DJ Squeaky, my flatmate Chrissy Darling and my other half Jonny Woo said we should use the space more as a studio, and so Shed Radio was born. The idea was to provide a platform for new and established DJ and artistic talent. We’ve had a great response and now have five weekly shows and loads of guest appearances. We do fundraisers to get cash to keep it going and buy equipment as it’s all run ‘not for profit’. It’s a lot of work, I tell thee!
Who has been involved in the shows?
Chrissy and Jonny do a weekly ‘Drag on the Radio’, and DJ Squeaky and Jon Delano are our residents. We now have loads of people playing our parties and doing guest mixes. Everyone from S’Express’ Mark Moore to Danny Rampling, Per QX, Mel Merio, Jim Warboy, Hannah Holland, Josh Caffe, GutterSlut, A Man To Pet, John Sizzle, Holestar, Billie Ray Martin, Q Boy… to name but a few.
That’s a wonderful mix! What kind of content do you feature?
Shed Radio is a digital radio station with mixes available online, with plans around live streaming and video. The shows are a mix of chat, great music and general silliness.
I hear you even have a hot tub there?
We do indeed. It’s unofficially know as the Yacuzzi… or tranny soup. We do clean it after most parties… though now we have the hosepipe ban, it could get interesting. You take your chances getting in there. It’s Russian roulette.
You have a fundraiser at SOS this week. Tell us what to expect.
We do. It’s at Jim Warboy’s ‘SOS’ spectacular at the wonderful East Bloc club. John Sizzle, Bruno, Basso, Holestar, Miss Odd Kidd, Lucious Flajore, Squeaky, Jon Delano are playing – Jonny Woo and Chrissy Darling are hosting. Who knows, you may even win a turkey twizzler in our raffle… or a free dip in the yacuzzi
• The Shed Radio fundraiser is at S.O.S. (East Bloc, 217-219 City Road, EC1V 1JN) on Saturday 21st April, 10.30pm-6am.
• Check out shedradio.com for all the latest/regular shows and mixes! And look out for Shed Radio at festivals soon. You can also donate to the radio station there, too.
