SOLARFALL RADIO - Miscellaneous - http://maxpages.com/aeazine2/SOLARFALL

SOLARFALL RADIO
Interview with Spar

Solarfall Radio is an Internet radio station owned by Spar, a professor and physiotherapist who happens to be a metal fan. The website of Solarfall Radio has a link to her blogger if you want to learn more about her interests. Solarfall specializes in bringing black metal, death metal, punk, and other styles to the net waves. From what I gather, it has a strong following. The programs currently available on Solarfall Radio are Spar's Stream of Misanthropy, Metal Pig vs Firegoat with Pedro (rock, punk, sci-fi, occult & comedy), Hellfire with Per (black and death metal), Voices of Sorrow, Aural Onslaught and Ambiance with Mickmo featuring Bug Slayer/Tales of Retribution graphic artist and resident CD reviewer Mickmo. The Solarfall site has detailed news about its programs and highlights many of the bands who get rotation.

Describe the earliest beginnings of Solarfall Radio.
Solarfall.com was initially created in 1997 as a media portal and slowly evolved into a music promotions website. I started to play with the idea of the Internet stream, hacked and pirated my way onto the web. It was an easy way to share some of the great music I was receiving, unknowingly creating somewhat of an audience. It caught on and more listeners started tuning in. Of course, I had to stop hacking systems and finally went legit with a true server!

What factors came into play as to why you decided to do Solarfall Radio full time?
I used to write for zines and helped to develop an online presence for bands several years ago, but this became a bit too much along with other projects going on career-wise. So I thought the radio was a very fun way for me to remain involved with music, and it was easy to do this all from my home studio since I'm pretty much a computer geek. Along the way, I found several people interested in coming aboard to assist and lend their talent to the radio.

What inspired the name of Solarfall Radio?
Solarfall was actually just a name suggested by a friend to describe some of my artwork back when it was simply Media and Digital Arts. The name just fit perfectly to describe all the projects that have stemmed from that. Solarfall Studios is the main production house, and Solarfall Radio was derived from that.

What are the main commitments of Solarfall Radio?
Currently, we promote music period. Particularly those bands who are not signed or simply unknown. It's been a great way for bands to get some exposure. We also assist with promotion packages together for bands and helping to design materials for them, particularly if funding is a problem. The staff is 100% dedicated to just spreading metal music.

How many listeners would you say Solarfall Radio reaches worldwide?
The station runs 24/7 and reaches several hundred listeners worldwide. There is a dedicated core that tunes into particular shows, but it varies since there is a bit of a diverse lineup. Listeners can also get concert/festival reviews, hear guest hosts, and live interviews. Listeners can also win merchandise by tuning in; anything from concert tickets, T-shirts, CDs, DVDs etc.

How widespread are promotions for Solarfall Radio? Do you contact labels, zines or promotion companies most often and why?
Well, we are very committed to supporting and promoting the extreme metal scene worldwide. So I try to get in touch with bands from all over the place. I keep in contact with other promotions, zines, distros, labels, and other radio stations. The Internet has been very helpful with that actually, and just going out to festivals and shows has been a great way to network.

Are you the only member of the Solarfall Radio staff or do people help put it together?
I'm sort of the one who makes everything swirl together, haha! I run the main station from my studio, direct the programs and touring schedules for the DJs, obtain merchandise / materials, as well as do all the design work. I work together with CDJunkie (of CDJunkie.com) for a lot of the technical issues and audio mixes, and Mias Production or audio promos and obtaining music releases, etc. It's been great actually to have a lot of interested and motivated people working together.

What is the complete range of music played on Solarfall Radio and which styles of music has gotten the largest response of late?
Well, there is a variety of extreme metal from black, death, doom, grind, ambient, thrash you name it. The mornings to midday is full of metal interspersed with a lot of dark comedy, satire, evil rock, and occult so it's an interesting mix. I would say that black metal gets the largest response. I gravitate toward bm and doom, and the Scandinavian extreme scene in general, which is my biggest focus personally. But there are shows to meet the aural demands of every metalhead!

You mentioned that you recently got your PhD. What did you earn this in? How frantic has your schedule been since this happened compared to before?
PhD in Education (with emphasis in Anatomy and Kinesiology). I've been a Physical Therapist for 9 years actually, but am a clinical educator and anatomy lab instructor, so I have my hands full in that regard. However, music is such a drive for me, so I really enjoy doing the radio work. It's actually a bit amusing how I somehow lead this double life, after all, I live in the bible belt, or should I say belt buckle?!! The metal scene is not well embraced here in the heart of Dixie to say the least, and perhaps it is a bit unnerving for some to find their professor to be an extreme metal fanatic.

You likewise mentioned covering several European festivals each year as well as several United States tours. How many European festivals did you cover last year and which of these were most memorable? Did you get to contact any of the bands that played?
Yes, this is the good part.. going abroad for some great festivals and fun times! Some festivals last year included Party San, Wacken, Tuska, Summer Breeze, Inferno, Hole In the Sky, Decibel, Fuck the Commerce, Sweden rock Festival, as well as just following some tours like No Mercy, Dissection, Gorgoroth, etc.. If I can't go, then someone from staff goes for photography, reviews, interviews. I typically cover the Scandinavian events. My personal favorites are Inferno Festival in Oslo and Hole In The Sky in Bergen, Norway - just well organized, great people, loads of fun, and amazing bands year after year. I will be attending those again as well for 2005.

Which American tours did you get to cover this past year? Were you in contact with any of these artists?
We didn't do too many US tours this year but had some correspondents at some Texas Festivals (Murder or Extreme... hmm, can't remember), some metal tours, and the Maryland Death Fest. Speaking of the Maryland Death Fest, I must pull a shameless plug for this event and my other site Everlastingfire.Com; for this fest will feature Immolation and the new record, Harnessing Ruin just kills! So mark your calendars!

Are your listeners in the States generally more interested in Stateside tours or European festivals? How about your listeners overseas?
Well, I think that people are interested in hearing about the events regardless of where they are. However, it is difficult to actually get some of the US fans abroad if they win tix for European festivals.. airfare and all the travel arrangements are not always feasible.

How many bands do you and the staff get to interview each year? Which of these bands gave your favorite and least favorite interviews?
We try to at least get 1-2 good interviews a month, but I'm pretty open to getting anyone on the air to share their music. I'm looking forward to getting Benighted from Sweden on the show, they are an amazing band and K.Aho is just an extraordinary musician.

Do you conduct interviews besides band interviews? Which of these are your favorites?
Sure we talk to anyone involved in metal.. zine writers, artists, promoters, and the audience can call in if they want to talk on the air about events, new releases, anything ... The show is also broadcast over a webcam (ivisit.info) so if you want to mix with some fellow metal fiends online, this is the place.

How often do you hold contests for listeners to win band merchandise? Do these get large responses?
Every Saturday 6pm central US time is when I usually have the merchandise up for grabs. That is typically the night with the largest audience.

How many web radio programs were there before you began Solarfall Radio? Do you see more web radio stations popping up in the future?
At the time I started, I wasn't aware of very many, except for other fellow hackers. However, it has boomed in recent years.. I mean, it's relatively simple these days if you have the right equipment and software. Music has exploded on the Internet so I'm sure that web stations will continue to take form.

In what ways do you believe the Internet has affected the music underground? Where do you see fanzines and webzines in the future? Do you personally prefer fanzines or webzines?
The Internet has become an essential tool for networking, facilitating ease of communication and trade. I think zines in general have been the core of the music underground and will remain relevant in the future. The downside of the INTERNET however is the fall of the print zine. I remember old cut and paste B/W zines from 20 years back, and loved every bit of that for its personality regardless of how shitty the print was. They are all rather nostalgic.

What does Solarfall Radio plan for the future?
I received some interest for label partnership. It's not something I really have had the time to fully think about, but I will give it some consideration of course. For now, we will just keep on rockin!

Anything you wish to end the interview with?
Yes, thanks for the interview! If anyone is interested in having their material on Solarfall Radio, just email me at radio@solarfall.com ! And if anyone has a burning desire to DJ, drop me a line! You can find out more information at www.solarfall.com and don't forget to check out www.everlastingfire.com! Thanks!

http://www.solarfall.com
radio@solarfall.com
yahoo: sparsfs
aim: sparsfs icq: 52382821
mail all demos/promos/records etc to:
Spar - 108 Hickory Hills Drive, Alabaster, Alabama 35007 USA

- Dave Wolff

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Page Updated Mon Jun 12, 2006 4:30pm EDT