During Spring 2022, we teamed up with 7Hills Skatepark and Refuge Worldwide to create Amman's new online radio station and media lab 'Aswat al Raseef.' Meaning 'Sounds of the Sidewalk,' we worked with a host of artists, musicians and activists from Jordan, Palestine and MENA hosting workshops with young people in Amman to create the radio's first shows exploring the contemporary issues people face in the city. Alongside a series of public talks, workshops and film viewings exploring young people and political activism, these themes were interwoven in the broadcasting of Aswat al Raseef's first radio shows that went live on air on Saturday June 4th from Downtown Amman and re-broadcast at Refuge Worldwide in Berlin on June 27th.

Listen back to the shows to hear the sounds of Amman’s sidewalks…

Our June residency at Stranded FM was broadcasted from the Caribbean shoreline of Bull Bay, Jamaica. Over three months we worked withCJF researching the impact of The Freedom Skatepark one year after construction.

This radio show explores the research project with Maggie Wilmot - Bull Bay community figure, Chrissana Wilmot who is part of the research team, and Tim van Asdonck who is the Programme Manager for CJF in Jamaica. We set the scene by discussing Bull Bay's historical links to surfing and skateboarding whilst mapping out the day-to-day life of the community who use the skatepark. We then move on to talk more generally about The Freedom Skatepark and the Edu-Skate Programme, outlining how the research project and it’s merits research regarding improved programming at the skatepark.

Longterm friend and supported Zaatari Radio and co-founded of Dance for Refuge Max from Mitcham provided an hour long dancefloor-focused mix to mark the restart of our residency at Stranded FM.

Dance for Refuge are a UK based collective raising funds for charities committed to aiding war-affected people around the world. This mix reflects their long running party series that have continued to raise money for charities working across the globe, packed full of floor-to-floor bangers that are getting us itching to return to the club.

Deep into the Dutch winter we bring warm Caribbean vibrations to your airways with the Well Raggedy Show put together alongside our good friend FroggBoss. Originally recorded in September 2020, we've been holding this radio show back for a special occasion, and as lockdowns continue, the weather is getting wet and cold, and with the one year anniversary of the Freedom Skatepark approaching, we are really happy to share with you this months Stranded FM residency show. FroggBoss worked in the Planting Seeds Apprenticeship Programme during the construction of The Freedom Skatepark over which we first discovered our mutual tastes in music. These are explored in the first half of the show followed by a live performance from FroggBoss at Jamnesia Surf Camp's Pon Di Bench live music session.

For the second show at our residency with Stranded FM, Zaatari Radio's technical wizard and radio guru Liam Evans provided an hour long guest mix. Liam has been with Zaatari Radio from day one, spending countless hours editing our podcast series and any audio output of ours, as well as being present on the ground every time we have been working in Zaatari working on audio-based workshops and making sure the radio is broadcasting. It is about time we've had him take over a radio slot, and he did not disappoint; an hour of laid back music across genres including a number of his own productions and affiliated bands.

Full tracklist available on our Soundcloud page!

TL Morrison teamed up with Tom from Zaatari Radio to bring the listeners of Stranded FM one hour of women-led music- new releases and old -spanning ambience, jazz, folk and beyond. The show features a special sound recording written by TL Morrison, performed by TL Morrison and Amir Abualrob and recorded by Tim Leech-Cleary. In the ten-minute piece called With Humming, TL recalls her time working at the Freedom Theatre in Jenin, Palestine where she met Amir who provides vocals for the track which was recorded together at the beach in Laytown, Ireland during lockdown in Fall 2020.

This is the first of a monthly residency at Stranded FM where we will be exploring all things Zaatari Radio

Due to the phenomenal success of his first Podcast with us, we are extremely excited to take you on a musical journey with Cairo-based DJ: Mo3en!

Mo3en specialises in world music, multi-cultural electronica, ethnic and down tempo Middle Eastern James, with a love of blending natural and real sounds with acute attention to detail. Mo3en’s music is age friendly and creates a feel-good atmosphere, taking the crowd on a middle eastern magic carpet ride to different countries across the region through diverse sound elements and unique cultural beats.

Sit back an enjoy this electronic adventure!

The second episode of our podcast series Musical Journeys: Conversations with Migrant Musicians.

Aisha sits down with Palestinian Luai Ahmaro, who shares his stories of growing up in Jerusalem and then travelling through the Middle East in search of his artistic home. Luai Ahmaro plays traditional Levant instruments, however his travels and the musical talents he has collaborated with on the way have also left a contemporary-tinge to his musical tastes.

Our first episode of a new podcast series: Musical Journeys: Conversations With Migrant Musicians.

Our host Aisha speaks with Essien, a Sudanese musician who travelled from Khartoum to Amman where he has been working in volunteering work since 2017. In the light of recent political upheaval in Sudan's capital Khartoum, Essien discusses the role of music in his home city, as well as comparing this to life adjusting to a new culture in Amman, and how music has helped his integration challenges.

We are very happy to share that between recording and editing this podcast, Essien has been granted a visa to move to Canada, and we wish him the best of luck on his new adventure!

On August 23rd we were invited into the Netil Radio booth to take over the Hackney-based radio station for two hours to discuss our time in Jordan, as well as interview Sabrina Mumtaz Hasan and representatives from EYESORE magazine.

Sabrina has been doing groundbreaking work in investigating Soicio-Parasitology within the humanitarian field, and we discussed with EYESORE the roots of their publication, our article in their upcoming issue and what is next for the group.

This podcasts features tracks from Onyx Collective, Bedouin music and some Serbian folk!

"Seeds Of Tomorrow is a special set made for Zaatari Radio station that broadcasts from Zaatari. I have been involved for the past 3 years with the camp through a documentary film called Tiny Souls directed by Dina Naser. In the set I added some bits and sounds as samples from the film.

Tiny Souls is about 9 years old Syrian girl,Marwa who stranded with her family in AL Zaatari Refugee camp. The director follows Marwa's life in the camp where she blossoms from being a child to becoming a young woman. Some might ask do Refugees need electronic music in their life's my own answer would be yes and music in general, I believe if one day 1% of those refugees became a musician, a dj, maybe film maker, or an artist in general that would be a great. To influence such souls is a great success, the best tool to tell a story is through art.

Enjoy 

Moعen"

Ahead of our fundraiser at the Love Inn in Bristol on June 28th with Bruce, Àrni, Robin (Giant Swan) Bokeh Edwards, and Ifeoluwa, we released a mix by our final component of the bill : Louis Gray from the Colours collective with a composition of Electro, House and Rave tunes within the mix.

An extremely successful evening of charitable techno that raised £725 for the project, a special thanks goes out to Sean who helped us organise the event whilst we were in Jordan, The Love Inn Bristol for hosting the evening, the DJs who provided the tunes, and of course, all the dancers who came out to make it such a special night and raise such as phenomenal amount. 

As our Kickstarter Campaign has hit full swing, and our send-off date in June edges ever nearer, we bring you a Podcast from the Zaatari Radio archives...

Earlier this year, we were invited onto Jasper Kirton's Wired Radio show to discuss all things Zaatari Radio. It's a good opportunity to have a listen to a podcast more focused on our work, and get to know more about the project.

Jasper is one mind behind the esteemed Dance for Refuge, who put on parties with funding towards humanitarian projects. He drops some clues about their forthcoming events so well worth a listen for that. Beyond this, Jasper hosts radio shows across The Capital, can be found spinning records at nights such as You're A Melody, and also produces top-quality tracks himself. His varied talents are reflected in his choice of music, tune in for the talk and stay for the music... Jasper handpicked some top quality Middle Eastern jams for you all.

Zaatari Radio 05 is with Poltergeist Theatre! 

Poltergeist Theatre are an emerging theatre company catching lot of attention at the moment, and winning all sorts of awards with their play Lights Over Tesco Carpark. They are a New Diorama Emerging Theatre Company, travelling around the UK at the moment with their play, eventually taking it to The Fringe this August, 2018.

Their accolades speak for themselves, and we’re very honoured to have been given the chance to speak with an incredibly talented emerging theatre company. Asides from their current play, and the forthcoming Fringe, it was very interesting to hear about their experiences in establishing a theatre company at a young age.

For Zaatari Radio 04 we sat down with one of the most sought after bands in the UK: Lady Bird. Having recently signed to Girl Fight Records, released their debut EP Social Potions, and featured as BBC Introducing Tack of The Week, Lady Bird's are at the forefront of British emerging artists.

We spoke about the role of local music venues in supporting new talent, signing to Girl Fight Records, and the support they've received from radio stations. If you're a fan of Lady Bird it's a great listen to hear more about these genuine and lovely punk rockers, or if you're new to the band it's a great opportunity to hear what they are about.

Our third podcast is with DUF Space. We’ve got some incredible sounds to accompany the podcast too: recordings from a refugee choir within the Eritrean Church at The Jungle, and radios playing between two refugee cafes in Greece.

We explore the most innovative debates in humanitarian work that are shaping the future of responses to refugee crisis. DUF Space are pioneers in shaping how we respond to war-affected people in Europe and beyond, and it was a pleasure to be able to sit down and talk about their work. A big thanks to them and Goldsmiths Uni for being so accommodating to the project as a whole. Hope you enjoy!
 

For our first podcast I sat down with radio host, Dj and Open Access Zone member Simkin to discuss the state of radio in London at the moment, his DJ collective and their most recent booking Eris Drew.

Some really interesting points were raised about the role of radio in supporting emerging artists, as well as giving a voice to marginalised communities. This is followed by a Simkin mix: tinges of techno, house and UKG, accumulating to an hour of that unique Open Access Zone sound.

Make sure to sign-up to the mailing list to get our next podcast as soon as its live: I sat down for an extended chat with Will Joseph Cook to talk about breaking down the barrier with fans, creating content that engages with the people he works with, and his unlikely sources of inspiration.