FERNWOOD — They say we spend too much time online, they call the internet a corpse. But they insist radio is living and breathing. So at the top of a ladder outside a Fernwood home late last year, in the dark, a pirate radio station is born.

“Hello, hello, this is Joey Chaos giving you Fernwood Autonomous Radio….Victoria’s only pirate radio station, 12 watts of pure FM power, sludging its way toward your stereo system.”

The signal from Victoria’s only pirate radio station reaches from about Fort to Hillside, but it’s strong enough to pay tribute to the counterculture of the 1960′s. “What the local groups are doing is almost an homage to a time when pirate radio was really subversive, associated with subversive movements and the left, to get out a message” says Royal Roads University Communications and Culture Professor Gil Wilkes.

Their potential audience all lives in the same neighbourhood, a very different approach than what’s going on in one living room in Sooke.

Stan Schinners has setup a 24/7 online heavy metal station that can be heard around the world.
“I was actually applying at a different radio station, and I was being denied for whatever reason. My son saw my frustration, and said hey why not start your own” he says.

And so he did six months ago to the delight of headbangers in more than 100 countries, good news for unsigned Vancouver Island talent like group Rotten Rails.

Schinners hopes his favourite pastime can become a career. Gil Wilkes at Royal Roads University says online copyright law could be a buzzkill. “As long as it’s a hobbyist, or someone who really loves what they’re doing, with their niche, everybody’s happy. Once it becomes commercially viable, those already in business will have a problem with it.”

For now the people behind Fernwood Autonomous Radio and Broken Neck Radio are just having a lot of fun.

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