KOOL FM

Pirate radio stations have been around in the UK ever since Radio Caroline set sail in the 60s. Since then, nearly every underground music movement has had dedicated stations. There's a romantic notion that pirates are some sort of swashbuckling figures, sticking two figures up at the authorities, but the plain truth is that mainstream radio stations move too slowly for street music's needs, and pirates simply fill this gap. The most influential jungle pirate is undisputedly Kool FM, which has been broadcasting from east London to a 40 mile radius since November 1991. It's reputation stretches way beyond it's limited broadcast range: people have travelled from all over Britain to specifically tape their shows and their logo is recognised by junglists worldwide. Just as Radio Caroline paved the way for Radio 1's existence, so has Kool for jungle shows on Kiss FM and Radio 1, perhaps slightly dissipating its influence. However, Kool FM isn't just a radio station these days, with their merchandise, K Power record label, and a forthcoming compilation "The Fever" on Breakdown. Kool's spokesman is Eastman and I asked him to explain their unlikely success story.

"When we started, Pulse FM was on a couple of months before us playing that sort of music. Back then, it was hardcore and techno. We just thought we could do it better than the stations that were on air at the time. As we were a bit older, we tried to get more maturity behind it - we just wanted things to run more professionally. Like the professionalism of one of your major legal stations, yet on a street level. The other objective was to push the music further, and no other pirate has had the amount of quality DJs and MCs as us. In the early days, we worked really hard and the team pulled together. We put giros together to start the station and, money we earned, we saved to buy fresh equipment. That has been the downfall of some other stations - they might earn £100 and go out that night and spend it all. It ain't about that, 'cos if the DTI take your rig, you can't get a new one. Some other pirates have been good, but I think they haven't had the determination it really takes to go that step beyond. Once you go the step beyond, then you get pulled along and everything falls into place. At the end of the day, we will always rely on ourselves to keep us on air."

You've been running over five years now, what have been the main changes? "We used to be bedroom orientated in the beginning, everything really quiet, but nowadays all the DJs and MCs want everything loud as it can be. As many of them are professionals on the circuit now, getting paid for what they do, they also want half-decent equipment. They want decent monitors - some people used to just work off headphones or something - and they want to be able to mix, 'cos obviously they're mixing in front of thousands of people on the radio. Nowadays, we also try and hire industrial premises for the studio, places where we're not really bothering anyone with the sound. We've got it so loud we try and soundproof it as much as we can but, moving about so much, it's hard."

How do you square getting this good equipment with the fact that you can get raided at any time and have it confiscated? "The studio and output transmitter are linked separately, but we've had everything taken away - studios, output rigs and mid-points. As I said before, the main priority is to make sure you always have another rig spare, 'cos if you have to wait for a month and are off-air, your listeners are going elsewhere. Even if you come on one weekend and have a crackly reception that's only good for three hours, it doesn't matter, you're still on and some listeners will stay with you. Our main aim is to be on air as often as we can."

Do you think you get the credit you deserve for developing the scene in the early days? "Probably not, but it doesn't really matter because we, and a hell of other people, know what we have done. It's nice to look in magazines and see recognition, but our listeners are our main source of recognition. Before we come on air, people are phoning us asking when we're coming on and what's happening. We know they're there for us and they're the real people who matter at the end of the day, not some magazine editor who wants to sell 100,000 copies and fill his pages up. The places we're known, no-one has ever done that with a pirate radio station before."

Have you ever considered going legal? "We've had meetings before, and I've said 'put your hand up if you want to go legal' and we've all put our hands up. The question is though 'would we have to change?' and obviously we would and realistically I don't think it could work. Even if we did go legal, we'd put another pirate on undercover! People think if you go legal you're selling out, but it's natural progression.

"The funny thing about pirates," continues Eastman, "is that everyone thinks you're rebels, but it's just doing what you're doing for yourself, listeners and friends . You're not doing it to show the DTI 'look we can do it', you don't even think of them. It's such a way of life now, I don't know what I'd do if the radio wasn't there. Even if I'm watching television, it's on. It might not be turned up, but you can see the levels moving. If that signal goes flat, I'm up straight away phoning up to find out if we've been hit and, if we have, we're out there working to get it back on, even if we have to stay up all night."

Finally what's "The Fever" compilation all about? "The album is meant to reflect the music we play on the radio, so it's very diverse, it's not all jump-up, dark or rolling, it's bits of each. Nearly every producer on it is a resident Kool FM DJ and it shows what they and the station are about. Kool DJs like Brockie, Swift and Jinx might all sound the same to an outsider, and while they are all coming from the same thing and make up a unit, they all play different beats."

Almost time to go and I haven't even mentioned their sister station (Midlands Kool FM, based in Birmingham), Club Kool at The Powerhouse on June 29 & July 27 (check listings for full details) or even their plans to reopen their record shop. Oh well, I have now...

Kool broadcasts to London on 94.5 FM, Thursday to Sunday.