How to Start A Radio Station 101
This is the full version of an interview featured on the Yama Music Blog back in December 2024.Dan Formless is a DJ/producer and digital visionary who has been a regular contributor to the London house and techno scene for over two decades. He is an artist who can respond to the many digital expectations of the modern-day electronic musician. He founded digital radio station Hoxton FM, Forward Movement studio and vinyl imprint Saboteurs Sanctuary. His sharp eye for producing quality video content and aptitude in livestreaming has led to work with Ableton, Resident Advisor, Fabric London, Dommune, Mixmag Japan, and Half Baked records. As a producer, Dan’s productions have found a home on Pyramid Transmissions, Subtatic, Bank of Switches and Yama Music. It’s now been four years since we worked with Dan, so we thought we’d check in to find out what he’s been up to since featuring on our fifth vinyl release.
Guess his favourite artist
Mr Formless, greetings. We were delighted to release your track ‘NoLaughing Matter’ (feat. Locïc) as part of ‘The Shin’yuu’ EP in 2020. Would you like to tell us more about the track and what it means to you today?
The track means a lot to me for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was very gratifying and validating to have a track accepted on to a label I respect. Tobbe featured alongside artists I look up to like Birdsmakingmachine and yourselves felt like a real feather in my cap. In the two years leading up to the release, the Hoxton FM studio on Hackney Road closed and I began travelling more. I livestreamed from record shops, bars and clubs all around the world, met a lot of cool people and spent a considerable amount of time filming interviews with inspiring creatives.
Anything for the gram
I was DJing, buying records, filming and livestreaming during Sonar, Amsterdam Dance Event, Mutek in Japan and anywhere else I had contacts. Everything was great, but I wasn’t making music. I had somewhat run away from solo productions after previously collaborating with friends in their studios over the past five years. Despite being competent working alone in the box, it just felt very sterile and I craved visits to my collaborators’ studios when I wasn’t doing radio.
These custom colours never seemed to sell
I started picking up vintage analogue synths and other studio gear on my travels, especially on trips to Japan. Whilst filming for Ableton at Superbooth in Berlin, I reconnected with Locïc, a former guest on my radio show. He was working in a record shop not far from where I was staying. In their basement was a studio that he had access to in the mornings. I would go there with my drum machine and jam with him and his sampler. We didn’t really plug into the rest of the studio beyond the speakers, we just had so many ideas flowing between our machines. 
5G in Tokyo was like a shop and a museum rolled into one
The time constraints were tight, since the shop always opened at midday. We wrote three tracks in four mornings.
Locïc brought Koko to Hoxton FM as a guest and now he’s warming up for Peggy Gou…coincidence?
I don’t even think Locïc makes music anymore. Last time I spoke with him he said “I’m just a fisherman now”. I suspect that secretly he might still be producing. His talent is undeniable and at that time, his passion was very much focussed on making music. He definitely awoke something in me to finish building my own studio. Before that I was kind of messing around with the idea, accumulating gear, but never connecting it all together.
Lambs to the slaughter
The other main reason “No Laughing Matter” means a lot to me is the sample we used. I played Locïc the recording of an interview I did with an eccentric 80-year-old lady from New York who I randomly met one night in Tokyo. He was was totally inspired by the vibe of it. I had popped out to a convenience store for late night snacks with a friend and turned my head for a few seconds. I heard her before I saw her. This octogenarian was clutching my friend’s hand and telling her whole life story. The next thing I knew she was holding my hand too and remarked how warm it was. It was quite a sight to see in a Shinjuku backstreet in the early hours of a Wednesday morning.
All photos are acceptable in Japan provided you throw up a peace sign and/or stick your tongue whilst winking
I got totally swept away by her romantic tale of spending the last 50 years in Tokyo, having moved for the love of her Japanese husband. I decided to arrange an interview with her. She suggested we meet at St Mary’s Cathedral. Our conversation ended up being the antithesis of my preconceptions. I filmed her sharing cautionary tales of foreign musicians and DJs she had met who suffered heartache in Japan. Her stories felt all the more foreboding as we sat together in a huge modern house of god. It was a very deflating day and I had no intention of ever releasing the video because it made me so uncomfortable.
Bet you can’t guess what shape it is from above.
Luckily I was able to salvage some soundbites like “He has a big following”, “you need so much energy to entertain these people” and “to get caught up with the adulation from the fans” from that seemingly useless interview. Locïc agreed and the samples featured in “No Laughing Matter”. The track feels like a phoenix rising from the ashes of a short-lived creative partnership that rekindled my desire to commit to music full-time again. It was the point where things really started to click and fall into place for me musically. I look back on it all fondly now.
The inspiration behind the Hoxton FM logo
Your talent as a DJ/producer is matched by your hospitable style as a presenter. At what point did you realise you wanted to expand on an already successful career as a DJ to that of the all-encompassing digital presence you have since become?
That’s very kind of you to say. I can literally feel my imposter syndrome inflating with your praise. It was by total chance that I fell into radio. I was initially not motivated by anything beyond getting more gigs. I was DJing a lot around Shoreditch and got invited on to numerous radio shows. I was a good guest and later a co-host because I loved to tell stories that led the listener down an embellished lane littered with exaggerations and half truths. Verbal mischief making if you will. When I was offered my own show on a station I pushed them to let me broadcast live from a venue I had a happy hour gig at. From the first show, it was clear that people were interested in livestreams from venues. I’m massively glossing over many many bumps in the road, but soon after Hoxton FM was born. We committed ourselves to attracting genuinely talented people wanting to showcase themselves in areas of music, art, fashion and culture. We wanted to help elevate passionate people. Little did I know that starting a radio station would thrust me into the orbit of a childhood hero I had grown up watching on TV. Within the first few minutes of meeting at a live gig he was hosting and I was livestreaming for, I offered him a show on Hoxton FM. Soon after, I made him a patron of the station and literally learned on the job from a true master of TV and radio. I am of course referring to the man, the myth, the legend, Normski; who I watched present Dance Energy on the BBC when I was a kid. 
Hoxton FM was turbo-charged by Normski
It has to be said that he truly personifies “multi talented” as his skills in photography and DJing probably eclipse those that he has in presenting.Before I could fully process the rapid growth of the station, he had opened the door for me to join him at the International Radio Festival (IRF) in Zurich, of which he was a lead presenter. We interviewed techno godfather Derrick May the first year. The next year we interviewed hip-hop super producer DJ Premier.
Interviewing the godfather of Techno outside a Zurich castle
I was invited on to a panel discussion with senior BBC stalwarts and also gave a presentation on innovative revenue generation methods for radio stations. In 2016 the IRF moved to MiIan and we had the honour of presenting the first show of the festival. The total listenership for the four days exceeded 100 million. In my wildest dreams I could not have planned a trajectory as I’ve described. I rode the wave as best as I could, and learnt so much in the process.
Big waves = big wipe outs
After launching Hoxton FM in 2011, you went on to launch Forward Movement studio and Saboteurs Sanctuary. Would you elaborate on each of these projects and explain the part each has played in your career.
Hoxton FM was an all-singing, all-dancing radio station with over one hundred live shows streaming to half a million listeners and viewers globally by 2018. 
The Hackney Road studio with complete ROA artwork
We sold no advertising and had built ourselves up purely by word of mouth. Once the other founders moved on to different projects, the station became a tough balancing act to maintain whilst also DJing and making music. Something had to give and ironically, it was the studio’s foundations. The building was demolished to build luxury flats in 2018. I continued to livestream as I travelled. I would broadcast from Grow in Hackney Wick monthly under the name “Hoxton Forward Movement”. It was an all-day hybrid pop-up studio and party with international and local guest DJs.
Not many pop-up radio stations look like this
Over time, I began to crave more in-depth interviews like the ones I had conducted at the International Radio Festival and for Dommune in Japan.
Dommune founder Ukawasan rarely allows photos, unless you know Nick Clarke at Mixmag Japan
It seemed right to create the Forward Movement concept as its own independent entity to produce longer format content and provide videography and livestream services. We are now refocusing Forward Movement around the music studio. I want to make what I have created for myself available to others. Anyone can make music on a computer now, but tacit interactions with machines can make you feel so much more inspired and engaged in the music making process. Feeding sounds through the right effects chain can be the difference between sounding unique and sounding like everyone else. I have found time here is best spent developing and harvesting sounds from my collection of restored analogue machines. It has become a place of much joy for me, so it feels right to share that with others. Most of the music made here will be released on my label Saboteurs Sanctuary. The debut being the Actions Speak Louder EP with two original tracks by me and an amazing remix by Alex Celler. Recently I’ve enjoyed welcoming in collaborators who bring their own production methods and ways of thinking. Some invite me to look after their studio equipment while they are away on tour. This might be because I started making videos about gear loaned to me by friends. It might also be because I have become active in the servicing and restoration of gear from the studio with my tech. So you could say that Forward Movement as a studio really has taken on a life of its own. 
New arrivals sometimes don’t stay long
As a DJ who has been active on the East London circuit since the early 00s, tell us how the landscape of Shoreditch, Dalston and Hoxton differs today to when you began your career.
I really couldn’t say much about how it is now. I’ve been doing more gigs abroad than in London in the last few years. In my peak Shoreditch days, it felt like there was a decent party most nights of the week. Opening times were more fluid, as were music tastes. People wanted you to blow their minds. Now it feels like in a lot of venues the crowd want you to blow them by only playing music they know. I believe things on the scene are starting to get better though, especially in up and coming areas like Canning Town.What does the future hold for yourself both as a DJ/producer as an influential livestream curator and commentator on electronic music culture?
I’m at a point in my life where there seem to be so many possibilities, but my main priority continues to be making music. It feels like a natural extension of that is creating content around the studio, its evolution and the sort of people we have visiting us.
Justifying the extra baggage fees
The content shares my perspective of how I see or do things rather than dictate how you should. I highly encourage dialogue as Ivalue different perspectives and experiences on all issues, whether technical or further reaching. I can see the merits in creating both live and edited content to facilitate a regular flow across all platforms. Expect more in-depth interviews and short documentaries through the Forward Movement website.The return of a weekly DJ show from the studio is imminent with fresh music and guests. I’ve put out a few Hoxton FM pilot livestreams on Twitch. I still love playing my favourite new and old music to people all over the world. The real pleasure comes from shining a light on under-appreciated talent.