KTS Rochester: Steam powered
From grime to grinds, the KTS radio station, recording studio and coffee shop is dedicated to unearthing Kent’s new musical talent
While People Just Do Nothing may have brought small-time radio back into the public consciousness in recent years, alternative stations are nothing new.
But while the words ‘community radio’ might conjure up images of middle-aged men in caps and large headphones, holding a mug in one hand with a thumbs-up on the other, there is now a new dawn.
In Rochester KTS (Keep The Sanity) Radio Groove has taken a new approach to urban music and there isn’t a shout out to a local crew or posse to be heard.
Playing purely unsigned music, the online station is co-owned by the duo of Richii Bunger and Dave Walker, who are dead-set on giving up-and-coming artists the chance to be heard. But there’s more.
A purpose-built music studio has been set up at the bottom of the Rochester High Street offering, arguably, the lowest rates of studio-time in the county.
“As far as we know we do the cheapest recording studio rates in Kent,” says 20-year-old Bunger. “It’s £15 an hour and you get a producer with that.
“We are jam-packed, back-to back with sessions at the moment.”
Heading up a team of three producers, Walker gives his time in the studio to help performing artists lay their tracks down while Bunger runs the bookings and associated KTS events.
If putting together a radio station and a recording studio wasn’t enough for the duo, the business is completed by the KTS Coffee & Sound café, offering refreshing drinks snacks and place for artists and DJs alike to come and chill out before and after their sessions.
In the studio the specialism is in producing urban styles like grime, hip hop, r&b , drum’n’bass and afro beat but the KTS duo don’t discriminate.
“I want to listen to fresh music that I haven’t heard before”
“On the radio, it can be anything. Music gets sent in, we listen to it, if it is of good enough quality then we can put it out.,” says Bunger. “We want to promote this as an unsigned radio station. So many other stations play the same music as each other, over and over again, I hate it. I want to listen to fresh music that I haven’t heard before.”
Bunger, who had some troubled times as a teenager, took on his mum’s calming words ‘keep the sanity’ to create the brand as a teenager before eventually opening the property in September 2018. With in-house videographers, and the growing live events, KTS can offer aspiring artists all under one roof, from recording to video support to live shows to get their tracks heard.
And their associated-artists are starting to get noticed with a few making it onto urban music video site Link-Up TV: “Watch out for Vino Deniro and Curtis Dxn,” recommends Bunger.
“We get so many artists from Kent,” says Bunger. “You wouldn’t believe how many people want to create their own music. And there are plenty of people out there who want to hear new music, too.”
Find KTS Coffee and Sound on Facebook @ktscoffeeandsound while the KTS Radio Groove can be found at streema.com/radios/KTS_Radio_Groove