Since 2003, FBi Radio has championed the development of independent arts and culture in Sydney.

It was this ethos that initially drew the interest of Stephen Goodhew, now FBi Radio’s music director. Battling adolescent blues and societal pressure, Goodhew took an internship with the community station in 2009, complete with an ulterior motive.

“I didn’t really have a concrete idea of what I wanted to do in life,” he says. “I liked music but my knowledge of the industry was limited. I was in bands and studied media before I scored an internship with FBi. At the time it was an excuse to network for my band before I quickly realised a potential career path, so I ditched the bands and focused on FBi.

“I had this idea that it was going to be full of pretentious hipsters, but it was the opposite – enthusiastic music nerds who just loved it. I respected that. I learned a lot, so consequently I stuck around.”

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

FBi continues to explore and uncover local music, with previous winners of its Northern Lights competition like Oliver Tank, Moon Holiday and The Walking Who all being Sydney-based. The importance of local music to the vibrancy of a city is why FBi exists, and Goodhew strongly believes the station’s supporters are aware of that, which is why their donations matter.

“It’s 100 per cent of why we’re here,” he says. “You can listen to the big stuff any way you want. FBi is Sydney-based with an Australian focus. We are reflecting back what Sydney is at this moment, culturally speaking. That’s really cool – no-one does that the way we do, and I am proud of that. I want to keep that philosophy going.

“We wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the financial support of our listeners. We are essentially a crowdfunded radio. We are not for profit and we’re not accountable to anyone. The fact that our listeners support us really frees us to do that.”

For someone like Goodhew, who receives anywhere from 300 to 500 releases each week, running a competition like Northern Lights – whose winner will travel to perform at Iceland Airwaves Festival in Reykjavík, and record at both Sigur Rós’ Sundlaugin Studio and Studios 301 in Sydney – could seem like a rather overwhelming task.

 

“It’s more about providing a platform for emerging acts than exploring,” he explains. “It’s about taking those acts, giving them the exposure they deserve and a confidence boost. It’s a national competition selected by myself and Grímur [Atlason, Iceland Airwaves’ music programmer] to play on the official lineup in Iceland for a lot of overseas industry and media.

“It started as a competition for electronic producers but it has grown substantially. Those days of just producers were a reflection of our limited resources.”

Iceland emits an undeniable energy, with a growing attraction to its progressive culture and seemingly boundless creativity; Goodhew sees it as fitting to send artists there for inspiration.

“We have a habit of romanticising far-flung destinations. There’s a reason why Hollywood uses Iceland as a destination to film alien landscapes – it feels removed and unlike any other landscape I have experienced. That has helped produce some interesting and beautiful art over the years. Australia is a far-flung country and we thought it would be cool to send someone to somewhere as equally removed. That’s powerful.”

With so much music to listen to on the horizon, you could be forgiven for thinking there are strict guidelines for Northern Lights, if only just to make it easier on Goodhew’s sanity.

“There are no guidelines, I want to keep an open mind! After hours of sorting through entries it’s the feeling of finding those gems that you didn’t expect to hear, and it really is satisfying for me. It’s what makes this competition worthwhile.”

[Pictured top:Northern Lights – Reykjavik, Iceland; and above:Stephen Goodhew

Entries forFBi Radio’s Northern Lights Competition 2016 close Friday August 5. For more go to fbiradio.com/northernlights.

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine