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On 13 April 2025, Indigo FM was very saddened to hear of the passing of one of our founding members – Yackandandah’s Phil Buerckner – aged 79yo.

Phil was one of 3 founding members of Indigo FM, the other two being Shayne Soall and Paul Fitzgerald. He answered an ad in the local paper from Indigo FM’s first President, Paul Fitzgerald – and with Phil’s enthusiasm and drive Indigo FM was born.

Words can’t adequately describe what Phil brought to Indigo FM. His contribution was enormous and multi-faceted. He was Indigo FM’s Treasurer for the first few years and then did a short stint as Vice President.

Phil hosted a regular radio show for many years and would encourage anyone he came across to join up and become a presenter. He oversaw our first Yackandandah site – a spare room at The Star Hotel and then shortly later a move across the road to our long-term home at the Yackandandah Community Centre – or YCEN as it was known back in the day.

Around 2010, Phil was famous for his Friday night pass the hat around fund raisers at Yack’s Star Hotel. On one such occasion he raised over $1,500 largely due to the generosity of an impressed patron who was passing through and wrote out a cheque for $1,000 on the spot.

In 2014 Phil negotiated the current successful annual partnership between Indigo FM and the Yackandandah Folk Festival. He arranged liquor licences and ran the bar as an Indigo FM fund raiser at the folk festival as well as local functions.

Those who knew Phil, will recall how proudly passionate he was about his home town of Yackandandah. Indigo FM was very fortunate to have had Phil step into our orbit as were other community groups such as the Lions Club, the Yack Community Centre and the Yackandandah Museum to name a few.

We send our deepest condolences to Phil’s family at this time, whilst also acknowledging the huge, very positive legacy he leaves for others to enjoy and build upon.

Our latest Playlist is now on your airwaves here at Indigo FM and true to form it’s unlike any other radio playlist you’re likely to hear – as we champion Australian and Indigenous artists.

This is the 23rd Playlist we have curated and delivered in the past 10+ years. It boasts 900 songs – 73% (659 songs) by Australian artists and 15% (135 songs) by First Nations artists. The majority of these are recent releases from 2024.

You can view Playlist 23.0 here.

To view the Indigenous Content Playlist click here.

As we cap the maximum number of songs per artist at 2, this allows for 650-700 different artists. The Indigenous content contains 135 songs by over 90 different First Nations artists.

Indigo FM President Scott Landells outlined that setting such ambitious targets, means the volunteer-run radio station’s energy is always focused on an exhaustive exploration of what music is available.

“We receive great support from many record labels that send through their new releases on a regular basis. We have a couple of volunteers who work diligently behind the scenes to gather those new releases and vet them for our Playlists. One of these volunteers is Doug Wallen who I have spoken of previously. Doug’s contribution to Indigo FM across the past 8 years has been immense.”

Indigo FM Playlists are renowned for celebrating loooonng tracks. While commercial radio stations seem scared of any song over 4 min running time, we embrace it all. Across 900 songs we believe there is room for everything! It’s quite usual to find tracks clocking in at 7 minutes plus on Indigo FM. This Playlist has a whopping 34 songs with a 7 minutes + run time including 10 that run for longer than 10 minutes!!

Unsurprisingly Cincinatti jammers Goose come in with the longest track – a live version of Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman” (16:05). Interestingly Simone’s original studio version, topped our previous playlist at a fairly stock standard 10:21. Hot on the heels of Goose’s “Sinnerman” we have “Merry Christmas Baby” by Gov’t Mule (15:12), “Driftin and Driftin” by The Butterfly Blues Band (13:44) and a live version of “Dr Feelgood” by Mötley Crüe (13:23). Goose have a second 10 min + track on our playlist with their live cover of the Sergio Mendes 60s classic “Mais Que Nada”.

Once again we have hit an impressive 15% Indigenous content, a quest we set out on in 2021 which started at 5%, was raised to 10% in 2022 and upped further to 15% in 2023.

A few special compilations albums provide some of our Playlist 23.0 content. These include:

• Cardinals at the Window – benefit album featuring 136 tracks that you can grab for just US$10. All funds raised aid victims of the 2024 Hurricane Helene that hit Asheville, North Caroilna in September 2024; and
• Palestine Solidarity Mix – benefit album to aid victims of the Gaza War put out by Music for Iran.
• Wantok Musik Vol. 3 – The third compilation album by not-for-profit organisation and record label, Wantok Musik, released in 2022 which represents a diverse range of First Nations artists from the Oceania region.
• Demos from the Ngaanyatjarra Lands and Esperance – West Australian Music’s fifteenth regional recording compilation – a 23 track double album released in 2022, showcasing the stunning juxtaposition of stories, song and landscapes between two music communities on either sides of WA’s expansive Goldfields-Esperance region.

You can tune in to our latest Playlist each weekday whenever we’re in between live shows as well as overnight 7 days a week. Tune your FM dial to 88.0 in Kiewa-Tangam, Beechworth or Yackandandah or live stream it here.

AuthorScott LandellsPosted onMay 12, 2024Edit”Our New Playlist 22.0 Has Arrived”

From the team at Indigo FM we’d like to say Merry Christmas and thanks for your support throughout 2024. Feel free to tune in any time to our 88.0 FM sites, our stream @ Indigo FM Online or one of our many podcasts which you’ll find here.

2024 was another busy fun year – our 14th since we kicked off in 2010. Our podcasts were again very popular and received thousands of plays and downloads. Many of our long-term “career” presenters turned in another magnificent innings whilst several new presenters hit the airwaves.

As we now celebrate a 3rd year of live streaming we can begin to feel that it is no longer a “new thing” – it’s the standard. In 2025 we’ll be looking for new challenges to connect with our audiences.

Xmas Playlist On Air Now!
From 18:00 Monday 23 December we have switched across to a Xmas Playlist of around 270 songs that will run for the next five days. It’s on air at each site as well as @ Indigo FM Online. You can view it here Xmas Playlist 2024.

Rather than traditional cheesy, cliched Christmas Carols, we have selected the many fun and quirky songs that have been written and recorded about Christmas over the years. 

Many presenters will be re-charging their batteries although a few will opt to continue through the festive season. These next few days we have a special program schedule – see below or by clicking this link. It includes a mix of current and shows from our archives for your enjoyment. These include:

• A Funky Christmas with Chris and Lauren (2014)
• CLAP (Chiltern Players) Christmas Carol Special (2020)
• Eclectic Avenue Christmas Extravaganza (2021-23 and 2015)
• Tiff’s Christmas Special (2023)
• Bullfrog’s Roadhouse Stocking Stuffer (2022)
• Scott’s Everyone Deserves Music Retrospective (2019-23)
• Aussie Music Weekly‘s End of Year Special (2024)

Tune in here

Yesterday’s well attended Annual General Meeting held at Yackandandah Community Centre, saw members return the leadership of the previous year with one additional new face joining the Committee.

Elected officials to serve in the forthcoming year are:

• President – Scott Landells
• Vice-President – Greg Clydesdale
• Secretary – Bernie Jovaras
• Treasurer – Greg Bourke
• General – Tiff Ellis, Ian Redfern, Nigel Jones, Phil Fraser.

It will be Landells 12th year on the Committee, having served the last 10 as President. Greg Clydesdale has served the past 10 years in a variety of roles, more recently as Vice President. Bernie Jovaras has been a committee stalwart since Indigo FM’s inception in 2010, with the occasional intermittent break. Greg Bourke heads into his second year as Treasurer.

Ian Redfern is a new face to our Committee. He has been a very keen listener since 2020 via the traditional FM radio option, and the Committee looks forward to Ian’s thoughtful input.

Tiff Ellis, Phil Fraser and Nigel Jones have been familiar Committee faces for the past few years, bringing valuable community insights, music knowledge and general perspectives.

“I am humbled to again be voted in as President”, Landells said.

“Our stability in leadership is a feature and has been important across the past handful of years, however, we do recognise that Indigo FM has to plan for a future where new leaders are identified to take our organisation forward”.

“We are indebted to our amazing band of volunteer announcers who continue to creatively explore their interests. In addition to a wide range of music themed shows, we actively have shows presented by garden clubs, book groups, schools and women’s shed groups. And we promote community events”.

“Our committee members are involved in a range of community, business, environmental and arts groups from right across the Shire, which is a valuable foundation for planning”.

“We did speak at length at our AGM about some of the opportunities and challenges going forward , which we expect to further explore in 2025”, Landells said.

Indigo FM is holding it’s 2024 Annual General Meeting.

Date: Sunday, 6 October 2024

Time: 4pm – 5pm

Venue: Yackandandah Community Centre

We welcome your attendance and strongly encourage anyone with an interest in helping with the running of Indigo FM to nominate for our Committee of Management. Written nominations on the form linked below may be scanned and emailed to [email protected] or mailed to The Secretary, PO Box 64, Chiltern VIC 3683. Nominations may also be lodged at the AGM.

If you can’t make it to the meeting and would like another Indigo FM member to represent you by proxy, you may like to use the Proxy Form via link below.

Along with adopting Minutes from 2023 AGM, election of Committee of Management and confirmation of Membership Fees for 2025, these are the only items of business permitted at an AGM as set out in the Model Rules – see page 10 on the link below.

An Agenda, our 2023-24 Statement of Income and Expenditure and Balance Sheet plus President’s Report can be accessed via these links.

We will hold a brief informal General Meeting following the AGM for those members who wish to participate.

Bernie Jovaras
Secretary

Model Rules

AGM Nomination and Proxy Form 2024

2023 AGM Minutes

Agenda

2023-24 Statement of Income and Expenditure and Balance Sheet

President’s Report

One of our proudest partnerships kicked off all the way back in 2013. It’s with Yackandandah Primary School and it now enters it’s 12th year with 6 eager new announcers ready to roll.

This year we have Year 5 students Grace, Hunter, Lenny, Max, Peter and Raff on board.

You can tune in to catch them from 4-5pm on Wednesdays and Fridays via our website audio player or on the 88.0 FM dial in Beechworth, Kiewa-Tangam and Yackandandah.

They bring news from their community, from the school and also insights into their personal lives such as activties they enjoy on weekends or after school. And of course musical choices!

2024’s intake are once again trained and overseen by Angela Bishop and Scott Landells.

“We’re very excited by this year’s group of students who have shown an eagerness to explore this unique radio opportunity. Our Friday afternoon trio – Raff, Peter and Hunter hit the airwaves in mid-April with a surprising level of confidence and fun ideas”, said Landells.

“Our Wednesday trio – Max, Lenny and Grace – came together as a pair with Max and Lenny initially training together. They were then joined by Grace in early May. Grace and Max did that show as Lenny was unwell. Now the trio are ready to roll from hereon in.”

As part of their training, the students are taught how to prepare a one hour show, from choosing the music, to deciding on discussion topics and then blending those two elements together.

You can take a listen to the podcasts available below or tune in on Wednesdays and Fridays from 4-5pm.

Recent podcasts are here:

• 3 May – Hunter, Raff and Peter
• 8 May – Grace and Max

Our latest Playlist is now on your airwaves here at Indigo FM and true to tradition it’s different. Very different to any other radio playlist you’re likely to hear – but that’s how we’ve been rolling here at Indigo FM for a while now.

This is our 22nd Playlist we have curated and delivered in the past 10 years. It boasts a whopping 900 songs – 73% (655 songs) by Australian artists and 17% (152 songs) by First Nations artists.

You can view Playlist 22.0 here.

To view the Indigenous Playlist click here.

As we cap the maximum number of songs per artist at 2, this allows for 650-700 different artists. The Indigenous content equates to 152 songs by over 100 different First Nations artists.

Indigo FM President Scott Landells outlined that setting such ambitious targets, directs the volunteer-run radio station’s energy to an ongoing exhaustive exploration of what music is available.

“We’re incredibly grateful to the many record labels that send through their new releases on a regular basis, and to our volunteers who sort through them and put them forward for each playlist. One of those volunteers is Doug Wallen who has undertaken this super important and time-consuming voluntary”behind the scenes” task since 2017. Doug is an absolute gem and we are extremely grateful for the work he has done here over the past 7 years.”

Indigo FM Playlists are renowned for celebrating the unique and quirky. For example it’s quite usual to find long tracks clocking in at 7 minutes plus on Indigo FM.

This Playlist has 27 songs 7 minutes or longer headed by Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman” (10:21), The Allmann Brothers Band’s “Who’s Been Talking” (10:09) and Akiko Tsuruga’s jazz track “Frame for the Blues” (10:02). As for current artists, Melbourne jam rockers Sand Pebbles check in with their track “Field Of The Lord” (7:24) from their latest album “The Protagonist”, Even’s Ash Naylor has the psych guitar instrumental “Hazel” (8:03) from his latest solo album and The National have their experimental stream of consciousness track “Smoke Detector” (7:47) from last year’s “Laugh Track” album.

At the opposite end of the scale we have a couple of Punk tracks – “Victim” (0:42) by WA 70s legends The Victims (two of whom – Dave Faulkner and James Baker – would go on to form the Hoodoo Gurus) and “Powerball” (1:04) by Snõõper who hail from Nashville.

A few special compilation albums provide some of our Playlist content. These include four First Nations albums

• Wantok Musik Vol. 3;
• WA Music’s – Demos from the Ngaanyatjarra Lands;
• NIMA Presents: The Sound of Indigenous Australia – Now & Before; and
• UPK 6

Additionally the following compilations also have several tracks on our latest playlist:

• The Bridge – Class of 2020 (Sydney Community Radio station FBi Radio compilation);
• Blossom Buddies II (a 2024 compilation from local indie label Blossom Rot Records);
• Searchlight Moonbeam (a 2023 narrative compilation from Time Is Away duo – Jack Rollo and Elaine Tierney – who host a monthly show on UK internet radio platform NTS); and
• Touch – The Sublime Sound of Yuji Ohno (The space funk, jazz and disco sound of genius Japanese producer Yuji Ohno).

As well as embracing diversity, several local artists have songs on this playlist including Benny Walker, The Northern Folk, Buddy Dingo, Davesway, Empress + Aces, Lucey, RIFF, Matt Sier, Ben Chan, John Memery, This Way North, Angie Brauman and Brent Shirley.

A host of artists to have toured NE Vic in 2023-24 are also included featuring RVG, Anna Smyrk, The Woodland Hunters, Ausecuma Beats, Little Quirks, Sadie Mustoe, Riley Catherall, Valley Road, Ernest Aines, Jazy Jade, The Royal Belgian Conspiracy, Oceanique, Ruby Gill, The Weeping Willows, Eastbound Buzz, Gangar, Frank Yamma, Minor Gold, Matt Katsis, Andrea Kirwin, Charm of Finches, Scott Cook, Georgia Knight, Straight Arrows, Folk Bitch Trio, Ricki Wood, Phil Jamieson, Matt Joe Gow & Kerryn Fields, Anna Scionti, Hussy Hicks, Caitlin Harnett & The Pony Boys, Corn Nut Creek, Cool Sounds, Daniel Champagne, Girl Friday and the Sepia Tones, Guanaco Trío, Hannah Schmidli, The Humbuckin’ Pickups, Quivers, Jarrod Shaw, JC & The Tree, Windborne, Jenny Don’t And The Spurs, Leah Senior, Lorraine Nash and Surprise Chef.

You can tune in to our latest Playlist each weekday whenever we’re in between live shows as well as overnight 7 days a week. Tune your FM dial to 88.0 in Kiewa-Tangam, Beechworth or Yackandandah or live stream it here.

Three of our young (quiet) achievers are racking up their on-air experience despite their young age. Charles Wallen (Year 9), Ada Tracy (Year 8) and Nyssa Overall (Year 8) are entering their 5th, 4th and 3rd years respectively .

Charles started on air in the second half of 2019 aged 9 years old. His show is called Monthly Music and generally runs for 45-60 minutes, airing every 3 months live from our Beechworth studio, a frequency he has kept up for around 5 years now. He fondly recalled interviewing a fave band at the time Mighty Duke and the Lords at Beechworth Spring Music Festival in November 2019 when just 9 years old.

Ada and Nyssa each started off as Yackanadandah Primary School students, Ada in Year 5 and the following year Nyssa joined her. The girls enjoy sharing their love of reading and all things literature with their audience.

In 2022 they graduated from Primary School and headed to different Secondary Schools. Ada attends Marian College Myrtleford, whilst Nyssa is at Beechworth Secondary College. Despite attending different schools, these great friends collaborate on their radio program throughout the fortnight and present Ada and Nyssa’s Book Talk live from the Yackandandah studio every fortnight – a show they commenced in Term 2 2023. Their show is gathering some impressive momentum as they have explored themes such as fables, memoirs, Greek mythology and the horror genre, to name just a few.

Indigo FM President Scott Landells caught up with Charles, Nyssa and Ada recently to get the lowdown on their radio experience.

Thinking back to when you each first started on your radio journey, can you recall what you expected from those early shows? How does it feel to have been hosting your own radio show for the past few years?

Charles: “I think my major motivation or inspiration was probably my Dad Doug, since he had a show and I often came to the station with him to see how everything was done, so I thought it would be a great idea for me to do one myself.”

Ada: “Honestly I was really nervous, cos I thought I would have nothing to talk about. I remember the first radio show and I was prepping and I thought ‘OK, I have all these things that I have to talk about’ so then it was just like an easy conversation with a friend.”

Nyssa: “I remember the first radio show that I did was with four of my friends and it was very chaotic and I can’t believe that I’ve been hosting it for two years.”

What aspects do you enjoy most about it?

Charles: “I enjoy being in the studio, letting people listen to what I’m listening to, sharing the music that I like, cos some of it’s unknown stuff that I hear about through particularly my Dad and there’s some more known stuff and I just like to spread around different genres.”

Ada: “I really like talking to other people (ie the invisible audience) and not knowing who they are.”

Nyssa: “Talking to Ada cos she’s my best friend.”

Do you have any tips for other young people out there when it comes to exploring their interest in music via radio / podcasting?

Charles: “Don’t wait and think about it, just go straight into it. You are guaranteed to enjoy it. Just do it however you want to and make it as good as you can to suit yourself. If you enjoy it, then keep doing it.”

Ada: “I think just follow what you love.”

Nyssa: “Just start it. Start it early and you can learn along the way.”

What music should we be checking out in 2024?

Charles: “Oooh this is a hard one. I reckon less known indie rock because it’s been getting a lot better from what I’ve heard, getting to a few gigs and stuff. I’ve been really enjoying what I’ve been listening to so I might play some more of it on Monthly Music cos I think everyone else will enjoy it as well.”

What books should we be checking out in 2024?

Ada: “I’m reading ‘June’ right now and I really recommend that and if you’re into Horror then I definitely recommend ‘It’ by Stephen King. That was a really good book.”

Nyssa: “‘Heartstopper’ that’s a really good book and Katrina Nannestad, the author, she does a lot of really good books.”

You can catch Ada & Nyssa’s Book Show every Friday from 4:30-5:30pm via our website audio player, where the show goes live each fortnight and is repeated on the alternate fortnight.

Recent podcasts are here:

• 24 May 2024
• 26 April 2024
• 1 March 2024
• 9 February 2024
• 1 December 2023
• 25 August 2023

You can catch Monthly Music with Charles on the first Sunday of each month from 11am-noon via our website audio player, where the show goes live approximately each quarter and is repeated on the alternate first Sunday of the month.

Recent podcasts are here:

• June 2024
• January 2024
• October 2023
• July 2023

Indigo FM is very excited to announce a three year extension of their sponsorship with First National Beechworth – Bonnici & Associates.

First National Beechworth’s support back in early 2021 was critical in enabling the 100% volunteer run radio station to set up live streaming. This latest extension is also earmarked for “tech tools” – specifically a website refresh as well as undertaking exploration into the world of radio apps.

Current Indigo FM President Scott Landells was very enthusiastic about the tremendous support from First National Beechworth Bonnici and Associates.

“The team at First National are big fans of the opportunities it provides for local primary schools to engage with radio. Indigo FM has developed programs with Yackandandah and Wooragee Primary Schools and will be introducing Chiltern Primary School to the programming in 2024. Indigo FM has plans to expand this program through the next couple of years with the use of a mobile podcast unit,” Landells said.

“They also understand that in 2024, technology is critical in accessing and connecting with our radio audiences and does come with some considerable overheads. Their 3 year sponsorship extension allows us to enthusiastically pursue our opportunities.”

Live streaming has been a big boost to assist Indigo FM to overcome it’s FM transmission signal limitations, which are a direct result of it’s licensing conditions from ACMA (the Australian Communications and Media Authority).

Tony Stockdale from First National Beechworth is very keen to bring their strong brand on board to support Indigo FM.

“Here at First National Beechworth, we love the opportunities Indigo FM provide for our community, including allowing our local primary schools to dip their toes into radio presenting!,” Stockdale said.

“From a marketing viewpoint they also offer considerable reach across both FM and digital platforms through North- East Victoria, to cut through to our community. We want to spread the message that we’re local, we go the extra mile, and we offer a genuine, no-stress real estate experience throughout the entire Indigo region.”

Indigo FM offers a fresh local sound, now live streaming globally via our website. You can listen online at indigofmradio.com or tune into Beechworth, Yackandandah or Kiewa-Tangam on 88.0 FM.”

We’d like to say Merry Christmas and thanks for your support throughout 2023. Feel free to tune in any time to our 88.0 FM sites, our stream @ Indigo FM Online or a podcast. You can find them here.

2023 was another busy fun year. Our podcasts were again very popular and received thousands of plays and downloads.

And we now celebrate a 2nd year of live streaming under our belts which we offer in addition to each of our 88.0 FM sites.

Xmas Playlist On Air Now!
From 00:01 Saturday 23 December we switch across to a Xmas Playlist of around 270 songs that will run for the next five days. It’s on air at each site as well as @ Indigo FM Online. You can view it here Xmas Playlist 2023.

Rather than traditional cheesy, uninspiring Christmas Carols, we have selected the many fun and quirky songs that have been written and recorded about Christmas over the years. 

Many presenters will also be re-charging their batteries although a few will opt to continue through the festive season. These next few days we have a special program schedule – see below or by clicking this link. It includes a mix of current and shows from our archives for your enjoyment. These include:

• A Funky Christmas with Chris and Lauren (2014)
• CLAP (Chiltern Players) Christmas Carol Special (2020)
• Eclectic Avenue Christmas Extravaganza (2023, 2022, 2020 and 2015)
• Tiff’s Christmas Special (2023)
• Yackandandah Primary School Year 6 graduates – Viv, Gabs and Jack (2023)
• Chiltern Street Party (Dec 2023)
• Yackandandah Christmas Fair (Dec 2023)
• Bullfrog’s Roadhouse Stocking Stuffer
• various end of year reviews from D3aN0 (Callisto Rising 2023), Scott (Everyone Deserves Music 2022) and the team at Aussie Music Weekly (2023).

Tune in here