STREAMING AUDIO INTERVIEW

When RawFM first hit the airwaves, it was servicing what they describe as a “humble” audience that was restricted to Sydney’s Northern Beaches and Central Coast. So how impressive now that it’s grown to cover a broadcast area of over one million people? The station continues to broadcast its exclusively club-focused sounds to the people every week, with a particularly strong presence in Canberra, and it’s developed into a bona fide Australian clubbing brand.

A big part of RawFM’s appeal is their regular mix compilations, and the latest installment Raw 09 has just been released with Chris Fraser and Jeff Drake on mixing duties. The most interesting thing about having these two DJs on board is that in addition to the fact that they both hail form Canberra, they’re also currently each working in industry roles with two of Australia’s other leading dance brands. While Chris Fraser works for Onelove, Jeff Drake is involved behind the scenes with Ministry of Sound. But for the moment, it’s all about RawFM.

“The RawFM dance radio station covers a range of areas, but primarily the ACT,” Chris Fraser told ITM. “A couple of years ago we had the brilliant idea of doing a mix CD that was based around the station, but that was also able to travel and have a national platform. So it means something to the kids in the ACT of course, but we can also take it to Perth.”

To mark the release of the Raw 09 CD, ITM’s Angus Paterson got Chris Fraser and Jeff Drake on the phone to talk about all things RawFM.

Raw 09 mixed by Chris Fraser & Jeff Drake is out now through Sony BMG. You can catch the boys in the flesh on remaining dates of their tour around the country…

Saturday 9 May: Chinese Laundry, Sydney
Saturday 23 May: King St Hotel, Newcastle
Saturday 30 May: Rolling Rock, Noosa
Saturday June 13: Family, Brisbane
Saturday June 20: Fusion, Melbourne