Introducing indiego: Could This Online Local Radio Station Be The New Lush 99.5FM?
indiego could be a new home for Singaporean music (Credit: Unsplash/Eric Nopanen)
One sour reason that contributed to the slow uptake of Singaporean music in the community was its lack of radio airplay. That’s why the scene displayed a collective grimace when the beloved Lush 99.5FM, a local station that regularly played all sorts of homegrown music, threw in the towel. Even with the backing of national conglomerate, Mediacorp, from 2005 to 2017, Lush 99.5 couldn’t be sustained, leaving an empty hole in the fight to keep Singaporean sounds on air. But now, it looks like the media giant is back with a new like-minded initiative, and it’s aptly called indiego.
Still in its soft phase, indiego is an online radio show that flows in the same vein as its predecessor. Streaming live on meLISTEN, Mediacorp’s radio platform on the web, indiego digs up songs from local musicians and global alternative acts that you can access at your convenience, 24 hours a day. The programme is currently split into several shows dedicated to varying genres – .wavlengths for indie-pop and electronic, The Flipside for hip-hop, Adrenaline for heavy metal and rock, and others. Exploration and discovery are twin tenets of an engaging radio show, and indiego seems to have them both.
indiego has also revealed on its Instagram page that its programme has been curated for music fans, by music fans. So far, it has unveiled a behind-the-scenes lineup that includes Gareth Fernandez (Project Lead), Charlie Lim (Music Director/Host), Weish (Host) and Auzaie Zie (Social Media Community Manager); all of whom are respected veterans and groundbreakers in the industry. And who’s to say we won’t have invited guests down the line? The sky’s the limit in the realm of radio.
Is indiego going to be the next movement that adds legitimacy to Singaporean music? Time will tell.
Tune into indiego here. Follows its Instagram page for more updates.
