Humans of Frome-Phil Moakes-by Ciara Nolan

The threat of losing a childhood friend to the private school system was the catalyst that thrust 10 year old Phil Moakes into the world of self-reliance and promotion.

A young student in the town of Westbury, Phil was devastated at the news that his best friend was leaving their shared state school and heading off to the fee-paying Dauntsey’s School the following year.

Phil, undaunted by the prospect of taking on the imposing private educational institution, sent a letter requesting that he should be able to attend their school alongside his pal.  Of course, he didn’t care to discuss this school application with his parents, their first knowledge of their son’s actions was when they got a letter requesting his presence for an interview.   He was offered a place at the school where he convinced the board to give him a full  bursary to boot.  Not bad work for a determined 10 year old!

In his early years at the school, Phil was drawn to the music department where he explains they had a very ‘can do’ approach to everything.  At one point he requested that they get  a harp for him to play, and they located the hugely expensive harp, but not a suitable teacher, so that plan had to go on hold sadly.  His time at Dauntsey’s was a time of great musical exploration where his mind was opened to different eclectic musical styles that he wouldn’t have heard anywhere else.  It was back then that he first knew that music would feature heavily in his life.

Phil, drawn towards the avant garde, jazz, krautrock and  electronic musical world gravitated towards other budding musicians and eventually formed a band called ‘The Replacements’ .  Influenced by the brilliance of Steve Hillage and Gong, he and his band enjoyed sonic adventures and musical growth together.    Roxy Music were in their ascendant at the time and Brian Eno became a big influence.   At the tender age of 17 and with a tiny bank balance, Phil walked into Duck Son and Pinker’s musical instrument shop in Bath and convinced them to let him walk away with his first ever synth.  Back in 1977 a synth was a sizeable investment, so how the penniless youth convinced them to give him a HP deal is beyond me, but then again, it wasn’t the first time that he persuaded people to trust and invest in him and it wouldn’t be the last.   

1980 was the year that his life-long interest in computers was peaked; it was a time where they were beginning to become more  accessible and affordable and he could see a future for himself in that world.    He did lots of temping work at the time, balancing his life between being a musician,  a computer geek and even an undertaker’s assistant at one point in time.   

He developed his knowledge base by securing a job soldering and wiring  for a guy who designed and sold graphic equalisers to the BBC and a South African broadcasting company.  His employer was also a studio sound engineer, working on Jethro Tull’s former mobile, which led to live music recording adventures for the young enthusiastic Phil.  Those mobile recording sessions were enough to whet his appetite for that world, and he speaks fondly of how they overcame certain challenges presented by working on location, such as fishing wires through windows and standing side-stage, ready to run on to replace mics that might have fallen off actors or musicians.   They also had a stint at Decca studios where they were employed to strip out the control and drum room and take old tapes to the bank.   This kind of experience was invaluable to him and further pushed him in the direction that he wanted to go.  Following that, he took a year-long electronics course in Bristol, which positioned him well for computer jobs.  He graduated and started computer work doing servicing for a small company and then started to move up the ladder,  moving to a bigger company where he stayed for a number of years.  In this time he continued to dabble in music, recording demos for bands in his garage.

In 1990 he made a bold move into the world of PA systems and lighting,  and he gradually built this business up, doing a few gigs here and there.  An offer of voluntary redundancy was enough to catapult him into his new venture full time and his  earliest bookings came from none other than present Frome Festival director, Martin Dimery, (who back then was a drama teacher at Frome College).   One of his first jobs was providing sound for the ambitious school production of Tommy (which was so good that apparently Pete Townshend’s daughter came to see it).  The following year they mounted ‘The Wall’ and the year after that, The Beatles’ show ‘All You Need is Love’ – heady days indeed.  The work was fulfilling but the hours gruelling, so in 1997 Phil decided on another path, something less taxing and arduous.

In 1999, he was elected to Frome Town Council; they had established The Cheese and Grain a few years earlier and he was interested in getting involved in its development.   In  2003, and under Phil’s guidance as chair of the venue, they made it into an independent trust to secure its future.  Following his town council work, he then became elected for the county council based in Taunton, where he remained for 8 years.  That role gave him the opportunity to continue developing arts projects, which was an area that he was deeply invested in.

Many good books or chapters start with a knock on door.  This is what happened when his neighbours popped round to tell him that Frome College had started a community radio and had ran it for a month during the 2006 festival, but that sadly the college couldn’t sustain it.   So he was asked to do something about keeping it going.  He ran with the ball and started the second wave of Frome FM.  The first meeting of interested people was about 25 people strong, some of whom still work for the radio.  They applied for a temporary licence for a short burst of broadcasting during the next festival, which they ran from the Cheese and Grain.  Just as they were into full flow, the licence was at an end, which seemed a shame.   So they did it in November – wrapped in duvets in the upper reaches of the Cheese and Grain building.  Eventually they moved into the Old Fire Station.  They signed a lease before they even knew where the money was coming from, but as ever, that didn’t stop him.  Frome FM is now a fully licenced radio broadcaster, with regular shows recorded and streamed worldwide every day.

By 2012, Frome Fm took up every waking moment and the radio station’s volunteer staff had to be inventive and creative to keep it running. Fortunate then that amongst their number they had use of the not insubstantial skills of Andrew Bryant, who had worked at the BBC as a maintenance manager; Peter Beard, who had worked for ITV and Sky; Mike Adams, who had worked for disaster radio for a broadcasting company; and Will Angelero, a recording engineer.  It was an incredible group of people who amongst them had a host of relevant experience to keep the station alive.  It was a time of great energy, if people had an idea for a show, they could just go for it.   

One of their greatest coups was when Jenson Button turned on the Christmas lights. Frome FM were up there on the balcony with ITV and Sky crews vying for prime spots, but of course the Frome crew had been there straight from the off, so were well positioned for the event.  They managed to secure an interview with the man of the moment too, against all odds, and it’s a little known fact that when one of the street cleaners knocked an essential PA cable out in the town centre, Phil and his team of old hands managed to improvise a system that would link the PA in various parts of the town despite the broken cable, so the show went on without any obvious hitches, thanks to them.

A holiday in the Caribbean ended in a detour to hospital in Paris where Phil raged in a dengue fever.  Six weeks of hospitalisation is more than enough to make you reconsider certain aspects of your life, so he decided to step down from Frome FM but to continue on doing what he loves best.  This was when Visual Arts Radio began, still located at the Old Fire Station, and Phil can now bring all of his skills together to give voice to the musicians that he so loves, producing a show on Facebook Live called Soundcheck.  Bands are invited to come and play a 45-minute set, intercut with an interview and all filmed and broadcast live over the internet.   The production quality is fantastic and it’s such a wonderful opportunity for bands to hone their live performance skills.    To date, they have broadcast over 70 live shows, with another 50+ sessions booked for the remainder of 2018. The show features all genres from rock to punk to folk to electronica to jazz to blues, and all stations in between. Soundcheck has featured artists from all over the South West and beyond including the fabulous Rita Lynch from Bristol, Craig Fortnam of North Sea Radio Orchestra and multi-award winning folk artist Ange Hardy.

Visual Arts Radio is a thoroughly inclusive and eclectic mix of creativity brought to the viewer through the prism of a man with a ‘can do’ attitude, born out of a lifetime of experience, pure enthusiasm and passion for what he loves best – music.