Rare FM - Content

Content

Rare FM is primarily a music station, which in past tended to focus on indie/alternative music. However in recent years this focus has dwindled and a diversity of genres and interests is now widely catered to. Shows specialising in Funk, Soul, Disco, Jazz, Blues, House, Electro, Hip hop, DnB, Dubstep, Grime, Psytrance, Dancehall and Reggae all now feature on a schedule that of 2008 amasses over 130 DJs with a vast variety of tastes. Rare FM also broadcasts the weekly Student Radio Association chart show each Sunday.

Rare FM is believed to be the first radio station in the world to play a Coldplay track, the members of Coldplay having met at UCL, although there is still some debate about this.

Outside of the music content, Rare FM has shows focusing on film, books, football and news from UCL Union's clubs and societies. The station regularly features interviews with musicians and comedians. Recently, special guests have included Alan Fletcher (Neighbours's Karl Kennedy and lead singer of the band Waiting Room), Josie Long, The Spinto Band, the Five O'Clock Heroes, Jason Bavanandan (lead singer of the band Battle), Ty, Field Music's David Brewis (aka School of Language), Portland, Oregon folk outfit The Battle of Land and Sea and Agaskodo Teliverek. Past interviewees and/or studio guests have included Thirteen Senses, The Subways, Stewart Lee, The Magic Numbers, Graham Coxon, Gideon Defoe, Razorlight and Kings of Leon. Guests on the Blonde Bimbo Show compiled by Brooke Burfitt include Julian Bennett Hayley Westenra and Johnny Rotten.

During the 2009/2010 season, the station began Rare Sessions, a YouTube series in which bands perform acoustic songs around the UCL campus. Guests so far have included Gideon Conn, Dan Mangan, Hey Rosetta! and Woodpigeon. The series won UCL Arts Colors award in 2010.