Behind the Scenes: KMAH

Nestled above a beauty salon and a photography studio in the dead centre of Leeds’ shopping district, DJs, guests and good natured hanger-onners visiting KMAH Radio are hustled not past rows of women awaiting a pedicure or a young family killing time before a shoot, but up four precarious looking flights of metal stairs. It’s a dizzying experience at the best of times, but for any selectors returning from an indulgent weekend of work and dealing with a hangover, jet lag or worse, the trip up and down the reconstituted fire escape feels borderline perilous.

But for both the talent making it to the top of the stairs, as well the thousands already tuning in, KMAH represents a definitive moment for the North’s bubbling electronic underground and beyond. Founded by long-time Leeds residents and promoters Kristan Caryl, Mike Stockell, Hamish Cole and Arthur Barr, the name makes up the quartet’s initials but also offers a discreet nod to classic Chicago stations such as WLJB and WBMX, where the likes of Jeff Mills, back in his days as ‘The Wizard’, and Richie Hawtin were integral parts of a diverse network of enthusiastic local selectors. Despite the huge difference in era, technology and environment, it’s this sense of community that fundamentally inspires the station’s founders.

“It’s about keeping people together who’ve got their own groove, people coming together and playing great records that you’ve never heard of,” explains Barr, who also runs the popular FullBarr label. “A few years ago there were nights against each other, a lot of negativity, but this has brought people together. People come here to do what they want to do. There’s no competition in KMAH.”

Barr is joined today by Mike Stockell; although all four heads of KMAH have equal say in the station’s operations, the pair deal with the daily studio operations, be that binning the weekend’s empty cans of lager or ensuring there’s a lengthy jazz odyssey ready to roll in case a DJ is running late. Karyl and Cole deal with scheduling and promotion respectively, and are absent with amusingly contrasting reasons; the former is expecting a baby alongside launching his radio project, while the other is currently lost somewhere in Berlin’s Panorama Bar, celebrating his birthday.

Leeds is a city with a strong musical scene, but while lacking the population of Manchester and London, like many other university strongholds in the UK its nightlife undeniably revolves around the immense student populace who don’t always remain present and correct even when the city’s creative and music talent stay put. For inspiration, KMAH have looked west.

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“It’s about keeping people together who’ve got their own groove, people coming together and playing great records that you’ve never heard of” – Arthur Barr

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“A really good friend of mine lives in Bristol, and where they’ve really got it nailed is everyone supports each other’s nights,” explains Stockell. “The guys making the hardest techno going support the people making nu-disco. And that’s starting to happen here, that mentality towards each other, and that’s what we hope will come of it.”

The roster of DJs and shows on KMAH is a patchwork of local party crews and labels combined with a smattering of impressive, more internationally recognised names. Renowned crate digger, author and dance music archivist Bill Brewster hosts his Disco Jungle once a month, and masterful producer Maurice Fulton is also on the books. Long-time Warehouse Project resident Krysko couldn’t make a recent show due to the imminent arrival of his first child, but fortunately his friend Andrew Weatherall volunteered a recording of a back-to-back set between the two instead. The precociously talented young techno producer Happa presents his regular show, Big Tunes & That, with a crew of similarly good humoured pals, and the vibe is that of pirate radio at its cheekiest and smartest.

Yet, KMAH isn’t about status and the pair recognise the small shows as “the lifeblood of the station.” They’ve already been discreetly fielding requests for the possibility of airtime from names they might have thought to be unattainable, and yet their ambitions are tastefully rooted in quality, be that in or out of underground music’s established limelights. “As long as it’s interesting and well done, that’s just my criteria really, that’s what matters,” Barr elaborates. “If the right proposal comes along, be it for spoken word or otherwise, we’d take it. We used to have a monthly show on Sweatlodge radio in Berlin, and we wondered if anyone was listening, and then we ended up getting a three-hour warmup in room one at Fabric after a year. So we know this sort of radio definitely works.”

In the three months since its launch, KMAH has exceeded its founders' expectations in terms of support, and after a few technical mishaps, now broadcasts daily from noon to midnight. “It’s been very intense,” admits Stockell. “But it’s just troubleshooting, trying to solve problems within ten minutes. It was very stressful, the sheer stress of it had us shouting at each other. But having everything happen in a month was a blessing in disguise.”

Online radio is now firmly within the reach millions of music fans as well as aspiring broadcasters, and yet it feels that, outside of template-setting stations such as NTS, it’s a phenomenon that has yet to fully flourish. And yet, the music, the talent and the passion exists, as KMAH’s warm reception has more than demonstrated. In age of instant streaming and archives, what is the lasting appeal of radio?

“There’s a statistic that 80% of people want to hear music they already know, and that’s the purpose that commercial radio serves”, observes Stockell. “I’m in the other 20%. I want to hear new music and trust tastemakers to provide the right mood. I’m personally 80% rooted into house and techno, but having the radio there allows me to get into other music. To be able to trust those selectors.”

While the station undoubtedly leans towards a club-friendly, 4/4 template, the more offbeat selections on KMAH are infectious enough to pleasantly disturb any working day. There’s room for balearica and psychedelic indie rock from local institution The Outlaws Yacht Club, experimental electronica on Bambooman’s Healthy Living broadcast and deep-dug Afro-disco from club night Banana Hill. All of the shows are neatly stored on Soundcloud, or at least until the platform’s notoriously overzealous anti-piracy bots haul them off, and come September, the men behind KMAH plan for the station to have a larger impact with club nights and maybe even a breakfast show focusing more so on the local community.

Despite Leeds’s proliferation of great venues, the recent legacy of groundbreaking labels such as Hessle Audio and even its internationally known rock festival, it sometimes feels as if the city's musical heritage is overlooked, especially in relation to once trendsetting venues in dance music such as the original Warehouse. While not driven by an ounce of negativity, a more substantial musical future for the city is definitely something on the collective mind of KMAH.

“For Kristan in particular, he was tired of people doing great things in Leeds and then moving to London or Berlin,” notes Stockell. “One of the fundamental points of setting up the station is to give Leeds more limelight. And the student turnaround can be an issue, but the heads of all varieties are there, and the stuff we get is solid. I want more underground things, and hopefully we can be a driving force in that. Choosing people who you respect musically, and seeing what they do with their two hours, be it once or twice a month, the results are just astounding. It’s amazing to be able to give people a platform for that.”