Listen to the discussions behind Grassroots Rising: Community Radio's Power in APAC

EMC and Mixmag Asia will release Grassroots Rising: Community Radio's Power in APAC, a two-part conversation recorded at ADE 2025's Nighttime Lab, presented by the Nighttime Foundation.

The entire session was captured in a single recording and has now been split into two 20-minute episodes for broadcast across community radio stations in Asia and Australia this month.

Hosted by EMC’s Community Engagement Manager Shivani Sharma and Mixmag Asia Director Arun Ramanathan, the series brings together Rich Price of Seoul Community Radio, Takky of Bangkok Community Radio, Akiko Usuki (CEO of TEAL Inc.), MiMi Shimada (Tokyo-based artist manager and booker) and Paul Gorrie aka DJ PGZ (3RRR Melbourne) across two conversations that move from the region's broadcasting history to where its scenes stand today.

The series will be published and broadcast collaboratively between EMC, Mixmag Asia and Airtime Asia as well as being distributed through Bangkok Community Radio, Cambodia Community Radio, Đà Nẵng Community Radio, FBi Radio, Seoul Community Radio, and Trust FM.

Episode one goes live today (August 3), featuring a set of scene-defining tracks to trace the histories of underground music and community broadcasting across the region.

From there, the conversation moves into the founding stories of Seoul Community Radio, Bangkok Community Radio and 3RRR, covering pirate radio roots, volunteer-run models and rebuilding after COVID-19.

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The second episode (going live on August 10) picks up where the first leaves off, shifting from those founding stories to what each scene sounds like now, with guests spotlighting tracks and artists currently shaping their local circuits.

The talk then turns to sustainability, brand partnerships and how residencies help surface new talent, closing with reflections on radio as a stepping stone for artists.

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Both episodes land just ahead of Airtime Asia, the independent radio festival running August 13–16 in Da Nang and Hội An, Vietnam.

Hosted by Đà Nẵng Community Radio, one of the stations also carrying Grassroots Rising, the festival extends the same conversation into a live setting, bringing broadcasters, artists and labels from across the region together for four days of performances, talks and radio showcases built around independent and community radio.

Listen to the first episode below, and head here for the full broadcast schedule.

Amira Waworuntu is Mixmag Asia’s Managing Editor, follow her on Instagram.

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