adminA big warm welcome to R.O.A.R: The ’90s Rave Podcast – it’s great to have you along for what we hope will be an entertaining and informative journey back in time to some of the best nights out this country has ever produced.
My name is Tom Latchem, the alleged “brains” behind this brand-new project – and I hope you’re as excited by R.O.A.R. as I am.
You may wonder why a 37-year-old who wasn’t even old enough to experience the famous Decade of Rave, has decided to launch a podcast series about it.
But therein lies the precise reason I have decided to do so.
Being a national newspaper and broadcast journalist of 15 years, I have a constant and never-ending desire to learn more about things I am fascinated by, but don’t know enough about. And one of my biggest fascinations is the old school rave scene.
As someone who never experienced it first-hand, and only got into happy hardcore, jungle, jungle techno, drum-and-bass techno, acid, gabber, hardcore techno and hard trance, after its glory days of massive multi-arena events were in the rear-view mirror, I have lived my passion vicariously through old sets and footage from the events.
And despite ’90s rave being well documented in terms of its music through ripped tape packs and videos posted online, because it all played out underground and largely pre-internet, there is little available information about (or interviews with) the DJs, MCs, producers, promoters and pirates that made the scene so magical and mystical.
So I decided I wanted to change that, to find out more myself – and so here we all are with the launch of R.O.A.R: The ’90s Rave Podcast.
Frankly, having never launched a podcast series before, how this series will turn out is anyone’s guess – but then that’s kind of in the spirit of the makeshift, improvised, and rough-and-ready ’90s rave scene and why we all love it so much.
But, given my interview style is in-depth and exploritative, while my broadcast style – honed talking to the bonkers late-night listeners of talkSPORT – is fun and off-the-wall, I can promise you it will be interesting, informative and full of laughs.
And in my brilliantly clued-up and game-for-a-giggle co-host, former rave DJ and promoter Chrissy Richards (AKA Chris.E.Manic), I couldn’t have hoped for a better sidekick.
We are currently all set to start with a bang.
We’ve got two great first guests lined up – who are as big as they come in terms of rave legends, so watch this space for further announcements – and I promise you will finish listening to them having learned something new and with a smile on your face.
The R.O.A.R. artwork by our brilliant resident artist Grantus Arts and graphic designer Sam ‘Mule’ Worlledge is absolutely wicked, and there will be plenty more cool rave art from them heading your way soon.
Our website and social media accounts are set to pop, and there will also be guest mixes, features and competitions aplenty.
Now all we need is YOU – to listen, enjoy, and most importantly get involved.
We all hope you enjoy what you’ve seen of R.O.A.R. so far and what we have in the pipeline.
I was a 90s party girl. What an awesome time to be alive. Where has that love all gone and how do we get it back?
What’s going on man. I’m original insomniac Los Angeles I raved from 93 to 2001. Hit me up if you want some stories. I got enough to go around and then some