Our History

history

Circa 10 million BC… An island just off the east coast of what would one day be the South Island of New Zealand blew its top. Two great volcanoes had long occupied this island, growling and grumbling, laying the groundwork, squabbling occasionally, two young siblings threatening a tantrum…

The first to tear itself apart used to rise some 1500 meters above the waters of Lyttelton harbour and when it went, it went with a BANG, heaving its peaks and eastern flanks into the vastness of Kiwa’s great ocean, showering rock and ash and lava blood upon the lands of Te Papanui, the expansive plains that
extended from the southern alps to the sea.

One day, this island would find itself attached to these vast plains, and the wound of this first explosion would welcome in the ocean creating a harbour of depth and beauty and later, much later, people from the Pacific and the rest of the world would come to live on its shores and build on its heights and wonder at
what lay over the hills.

Welcome to Lyttelton Harbour, Banks Peninsula, Aotearoa
and the home of Volcano Radio.

Volcano Radio went to air on Waitangi Day (New Zealand’s national day)
and Bob Marley’s birthday. The first song played was Love is a beautiful thing by Max Maxwell and Carmel Courtney. Official launch date for the station coincided with the Lyttelton Street Party,an event supported by 10,000 people (a great number for a party!) and a glorious summer’s day.

When the sun set on the festivities a troupe of fire-poi dancers lit up the skies in a spectacular display of flowing lava emanating from the top of the
old Harbour Board building on Norwich Quay, where Volcano Radio broadcasts from it's studios on the fourth floor.

VR hit the airwaves flying, broadcasting 24/7 (not counting an occasional ‘Zen moment’) with 35 volunteer DJs on the roster presenting as diverse a collection of musical genres, philosophical ideas, artistic approaches and downright whacky personalities as you are likely to hear anywhere in the weird wide world of radio.

From that very first song a simple ethos has prevailed; to produce Community Radio that sounds real and relevant, local and live presenting a diverse and personal cultural collage of music, people and place. A lack of hierarchy within the station has promoted and enhanced the idea of genuine shared ownership,
an absolute condition if community radio is to remain true to the idea.

This approach has seen the original crew of 35 DJs swell to nearer 100 DJs, techies, sound engineers, hosts and helpers, with several local businesses stepping up to offer sponsorship, and a broad cross section of the harbour community lending their support and assistance to other initiatives that combined, somehow manage to
keep the station going – and we thank every one of them.
After all, nothing runs for nothing and VR doesn’t do ads!

So Volcano Radio enters its third year of broadcasting in an ever expansive mood, making waves beyond its shore, continuously thinking outside the Square and over the hills, always looking for new and better ways of keeping it real and relevant,
local and live…. Volcano Radio 88.5FM