When Aakanksha Sidhu was a 12-year-old in New Delhi, India, her uncle gave her a collection of jazz music that changed her life.
"I remember thinking that I had a sense of identity, and a new ability to articulate myself," she said.
Now, six years after she made Canberra her home, Sidhu and co-founder Jordan Harrison have started Trust FM, the capital's new underground radio station.
Harrison, a Canberra native, traces his interest in music back to the moment his older cousin introduced him to Raw FM, a dance music radio station broadcasting in the capital.
"I swapped from listening to the Hot 30 to always listening to Raw FM ... that's how I got into electronic dance music."
Broadcasting online from its headquarters inside the Blank Cultural Platform, the Civic arts hub that opened in March, Trust FM features a vast array of genres and artists, 24/7.
Sidhu and Harrison say the radio station fills a gap in "underground" radio in Canberra.
"We define 'underground' as non-commercial music that prioritises independent artists who release the music themselves," Harrison said. "It's stuff that's not on Big Three [Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group] labels."
The pair were inspired by Sydney's FBi Radio, as well as Skylab and Area 3000 in Melbourne.
Sidhu cites international underground stations as influences as well, including NTS Radio in London and Box Out FM in New Delhi.
"Canberra has a great music culture ... [but it's] lacking infrastructure to support underground artists' careers," Sidhu said. "Canberra feels transient, because of this dominant APS and university culture, so it's hard for creatives to stick around and feel rooted here."
Trust FM aims to build arts infrastructure so that independent musicians stay in the city, feeling that they belong in an established music community.
At the Trust FM launch on Sunday, June 21, more than 150 local musicians and listeners met at the headquarters to dance and network.
"People from different underground [music] communities met up ... people in the punk scene, or the hip-hop scene, or the young and old techno crowds," Harrison said.
Trust FM is self-funded by Sidhu and Harrison and supported by a team of more than 30 local volunteers, providing both experience and equipment.
The founders credit the Blank Cultural Platform, as well as its sponsorship by the City Renewal Authority, with providing the premises for Trust FM's headquarters and its "artistic cross-pollination".
"The CRA's investment in this space is crucial for the longevity of culture here," Sidhu said.
The long-term vision of the radio station is to promote local independent artists to the rest of Australia and beyond, as well as establish Canberra as a music destination.
"Instead of, 'Oh, let's throw in a weekday show in Canberra between Sydney and Melbourne dates', I hope that music artists who travel to Australia request to be booked in Canberra," Harrison said.
"And on the flip side, all of our artists are getting booked there.
"Hopefully, there's a lot more representation, and an understanding of the quality of music and culture that comes out of Canberra."
