MUMBAI: Envisioned as an online community radio from India that will cater to the growing demand for alternative music in the country, Boxout.fm will go live on 7 April.

The brainchild of music entrepreneur and promoter Mohammed Abood aka DJ MoCity, Boxout.fm has been designed to showcase sounds and styles that champion underground culture, not just in India but from around the world.

UK producer Romare, popular for his samples-heavy productions like ‘Who Loves You’, ‘Je t’aime’ will play the two launch gigs in Delhi and Mumbai on 7 and 8 April respectively. Supporting act and popular indie producer Dualist Inquiry will also be presenting his new DJ set at the gigs.

Boxout.fm, need of the hour

According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India reports, there exist over 260 private radio stations in India across 84 cities but not a single station is dedicated to independent/alternative music from India.

The idea for Boxout.fm was borne out of this lack of platform for alternative music in India. DJ MoCity, who has travelled and lived across the world and now calls Delhi home has been an active instigator of the music scene in India. One of the founders of Reggae Rajahs and the curator of the popular Pepsi Dub Station at Bacardi NH7 Weekender, DJ MoCity has been closely involved with some of the most exciting IPs in indie music in India including club nights like Delitronica and Imported Go(o)ds.

“I returned to Delhi in May 2016 after a stint in Dubai and was wondering how I could contribute to the scene in India,” says MoCity, founder Boxout.fm. “The idea of an online radio station made a lot of sense to me given the way we consume music in this country. Outside of festivals, concerts and clubs, there is no space for people to listen to alternative music. Promoters needs tools to reach people and I want to be the bridge that connects promoters to people. I want to take music outside of the nightlife life space and even if ours is a niche audience, it’s worth tapping,” he adds.

Boxout.fm will be hosted by DJ MoCity, and will feature guest DJs, live sessions, interviews and discussion with the aim of continuing the mission to “explore and showcase sounds and styles that champion underground culture”.

The content for the radio channel will come through guest mixes by artists, from events (BoxoutWednesdays at Summer House Café, Delhi and BoxoutSocial at Socials all over India) among other content offerings like streaming existing, popular shows like Pressure Drop, Truth & Rights and Motellacast.

Launch parties: Delhi and Mumbai

Producer and music collagist, Romare aka Archie Fairhurst has earned a reputation for using a slew of obscure samples to create music that is innovative and timeless at the same time.

Inspired by Afro-American artist, Romare Bearden – who was at the forefront of abstract collage art throughout the ’60s and ’70s – and his style of collaged, cut ’n paste artworks, Romare’s music is similarly created, an approach that was hugely fruitful and established him as a confident and distinctive producer in electronic music today.

His last album, Love Songs: Part Two released on Ninja Tune featured samples – moving from jazz and blues on previous releases to disco and psychedelic – but also saw the producer play much more of the music on this new record, from monophonic synthesisers to his grandmother’s recorder and his dad’s mandolin, with electric bass, plus a variety of guitars and keyboards taking central roles, too. The resulting sound and the structure of the songs is also much more club friendly, no doubt linked to his growing demand as a DJ.

This will be Romare’s first-ever shows in India.