Irish Independent
Dancing on air to good vibrations

Irish Independent – February 15th 2000

Power FM, the online specialist music station, will return to Dublin’s FM band this weekend. Power, who formerly broadcast without a licence, will be back on for ten weekends under a temporary licence from the BCI until June 14th.

Now celebrating sixteen years in existence, Power FM will be available in the Dublin and Greater Dublin area on 99.5MHz from Friday and will broadcast on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until mid-June. The station officially goes live at midnight on Thursday evening.

Power FM continued live broadcasting online at powerfm.org following its FM closedown. It is available seven days a week from its studios in Glasnevin and currently has a roster of 40 voluntary djs. In addition Power FM regularly hosts live broadcasts from venues, clubs and cultural institutions around Dublin city.

Delighted that the station can showcase themselves on FM, station founder Brian Chamberlain says: “Musically, Power FM has always played new and other music that tends to be overlooked – no matter what the decade – handpicked by DJs whose commercial concerns were more aligned to having enough money for the bus fare home after their show. It’s always been about a passion for discovering music, be it soul, jazz, funk or vocal house music from the heart of New York’s latin neighbourhoods, to new electronic and improvised music produced in a basement under the Liffey ­ all joined by the hearts and minds of their counterparts around the world – from Rio to Detroit, Cork to Tokyo. The station has always been about keeping an eye on the future with lots of respectful nods to the past.”

The station’s first full day of broadcasting on Good Friday will include ‘Decks & The City’ with Claire Roche (formerly Scooter Girl of City Channel); The Golden Maverick, aka Matt Vinyl, on lunchtime, and Michael Black of Stereotonic on Friday drivetime.

Power FM will also be broadcasting live from the All City Dublin Jam this Easter Saturday afternoon at The Tivoli Theatre in Francis St in Dublin. In addition, DJ Laz-e will also be broadcasting highlights from the event the following day Easter Sunday from 6pm.

Everyone involved in the station’s current seven day live online schedule will be taking to the Dublin airwaves, along with some very special guests and collaborators in both music and the wider digital and visual arts.

Power FM’s existing Monday to Thursday schedule will also continue to run online at powerfm.org throughout the weeks of the FM broadcast.

Power FM originally began broadcasting in the back garden of a semi-detached house in Palmerstown, Dublin in 1993. Having moved premises to Dublin city centre in 1998, the station was always a port of call for international artists visiting Dublin.

Power FM have won a number of Awards over the years, including ‘Best Radio Station’ at the Smirnoff Dance Club Awards, but was always seeking to expand its own music programming remit and made the decision to concentrate on developing the possibilities offered by digital broadcasting in 2003.