Stereo Underground: From a little local radio slot to 20m listener minutes, TV and now a Vapors gig

SU and its host Richard Latto have flourished since a switch to Mixcloud and a range of community radio stations that now broadcast the show, while a TV spin-off has followed – and next month comes the first live Stereo Underground gig, starring The Vapors.

So in a few precious moments between him shouting “THIS ONE” in answer to the queston ‘what’s your first record?’, writing the next virtual pub quiz and doing a pathetic drum-roll to announce his next featured artist, we caught up with the host to ask him about how a programme that started as something to keep people listening after a Saturday afternoon of football on Radio Solent and then across Sussex and gradually farther afield has taken on a life of its own and gone on an upward curve that’s not stopping any time soon...

Richard, it's been a long time since we spoke to you about Stereo Underground - so much so that when we did, you were still (just) on the BBC. Tell us about the switch from the Beeb to Mixcloud and the community radio stations where the show can now be heard....

I was delighted to have had 10 incredibly successful years on all those BBC radio stations, and the support of the listeners was fantastic, which saw the show occupy the most downloaded status for the entirity of BBC England for many years.

At one point a BBC colleague pointed out that we were getting more listeners per episode on BBC Sounds than some BBC local radio stations got on-air in an entire week.

The experience I had at the BBC is something that I'll be able to talk about in great detail later this year. but the time had come for not just the programme, but the whole SU experience, to grow further.

Many community and commercial radio stations around the world now take the programme, and the loyal digital listenership has enabled us to now break global records on MixCloud, where it is often topping the indie, punk and new wave charts across the world.

Was it daunting moving to a whole new platform or were you always confident you had the listener base to make it work?

As I often say on the programme, I'm just the idiot that breathes, talks and plays the records. It's the listerners who make the SU experience so unique. The volume of requests and shared stories has continued to grow exponentially since the move to MixCloud.

Every week I get a deluge of emails from not just the ever-faithful requestees who have listened for years, but many people who have only just discovered the programme, whether that's thanks to listeners spreading the world online, or one of the many stations around the globe who now broadcast the show.

Any figures on how many people now listen, or how many have listened since you went over to the new platforms?

We have just passed over 20 million minutes listened-to on MixCloud. That is such an extraordinary figure and I actually had to check it several times before I was sure it was correct. As far as individual people, we had over 65,000 a month on BBC Sounds and have now easily doubled that on MixCloud in the past two years.

And we hear you are now a bit of a small screen pin-up too - Stereo Underground on the TV - tell us how that has come about and how it's gone…

Rewind TV is a fantastic channel to be a part of. We're a small team, but with big ambitions. The feedback for the station overall continues to be extremely positive, and believe that's because viewers can tell it's a station that's programmed by people with passion, and not an automated archive jukebox.

I was delighted when the bosses agreed that Stereo Underground would be welcome on the schedules and it's picked up an entirely new audience, many of whom have now discovered the MixCloud show too.

The figures for the station are impressive and I'm being stopped in the street, at events and even on dog walks, by people who recognise me from Rewind and want their indie request played on-air.

Not only TV, but live gigs, too - the first Stereo Underground gig is coming up and headlined by an SU favourite, The Vapors - tell us where and when, and how excited are you by that?

For many years listeners have been asking me to do an event, and as soon as the programme migrated to the mighty MixCloud I started thinking about when we could make this happen. Then I had a conversation with The Vapors, who are a fantastic bunch of guys, and they were delighted to accept my invitation to headline our first ever SU Live event.

We also have a very talented DJ coming over from the "Dark Disco" – who have been listening to SU for years. They'll be a quiz, and even Mrs Latto will be there with some very special exclusive SU Live mystery boxes to buy.

It's taking play at the beautiful Concorde Club in Eastleigh on the evening of Saturday, May 30 and you can get your tickets now on their website at https://www.theconcordeclub.com

Right – stand by – some quickfire ones to end with...

Your own favourite SU artist that you can never resist playing?

Hard to choose just one - I would have to say 999, The Slits … or The Vapors of course!

First records you bought?

I genuinely can't remember the first single I bought, but I do remember my first CD was The Heavy Heavy Hits by Madness.

Name one artist you'd NEVER play on SU...

Mr Blobby

Favourite Vapors song that you'll insist they play?

News At Ten

Favourite gig you have ever been to?

Tricky - one of these three: INXS at The Hammersmith Apollo, The Rolling Stones at The Millennium Stadium or actually Duran Duran at Birmingham City Football Club!

So you’re a Duranie – the secret is out!! Anyhow, finally, just remind us where people can listen to and watch SU, and where they can get Vapors gig tickets?

You can get the radio/audio show anytime and anywhere via the Stereo Underground MixCloud channel at https://www.mixcloud.com/stereounderground – plus you can catch the TV show at various times (currently 5pm weekdays and with a late night repeat) on Rewind TV across the UK on Freeview 81, Sky 182 and Freely 141.