Local artists and student broadcasts coming to the airwaves of Denmark FM

Denmark FM 99.7 is finally live, with broadcasting for the community radio station starting last Friday.

Set to feature local music, student broadcasts and a text line for news and updates, the idea always seemed a winner but it took some time to come to fruition, according to station coordinator, Matt Sivyer.

“The idea of a Denmark community radio station has been talked about in Denmark for probably 20 years plus, from what I’ve heard,” he said.

In 2013 when he was manager of the Denmark Community Resource Centre, Mr Sivyer wrote to then director of finance and administration at the Shire of Denmark.

“Denmark CRC is overseeing the establishment of the Denmark community radio station by managing the application process and coordinating a radio station working group comprised of motivated community members,” the 2013 application said.

“It is envisaged the DCRS will become an incorporated association once established.”

But after Mr Sivyer moved to Perth in 2014, the project stalled until he returned and helped revive it in 2017.

“I approached the chair of the CRC, who was previously the director of ABC radio, and said ‘look, I’ve got some time at the moment, let’s get this ball rolling’,” he said.

Stalled applications, COVID-19 and a transmitter tangled up in a $3m meth bust meant delays continued, but the team and Denmark CRC were tenacious. And with 25 presenters now ready to go, the community is on board.

“Bringing along disparate strands together, comm-unity groups, the Shire, the school, we’re going to be bringing all of these voices together,” Mr Sivyer said.

“We’re going to work with the students and teachers, train them up on how they can produce content to send it over to us and we’ll play it on the radio.

“It will be a great link-in for the schools to share what they’re learning about and if a new teacher comes to town, we can introduce them to the community.

“We have a real focus on the local music, Great Southern music and local Australian music.

“Not the stuff you hear on commercial radio ... we want to give support to the local, the independent, the artist.

“I feel like we’re on the cusp of something really special for Denmark.”