Dan Morris just wanted to share his love of reggae music with the world.
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The 36-year-old never thought it would land him in hot water with the nation’s broadcasting watchdog nor did he expect investigators to storm his West Wollongong home armed with a search warrant.
“I felt violated, intruded upon; it was horrible,” he said.
Now the unemployed chef is trying to get back on his feet after being slapped with a $3000 fine by the Australian Communications and Media Authority for possessing and operating radiocommunications devices without a licence.
“Occasionally I would get out of work and go to the car and it wouldn’t be on, and find a cat had sat on the laptop.”
The “duct tape operation” came after years of trying to score a gig as a DJ, but no venue wanted to house reggae or rasta dub according to Morris.
He even became a member of Illawarra community radio station VOX FM but was unsuccessful in snaring some much coveted air-time.
Frustrated with his situation, the self-described ‘Rastafarian’ hunted down a radio transmitter on Ebay and set-up a home studio in West Wollongong in mid-2015.
“I had all sorts of earthing issues … I didn’t understand the science behind it,” he said.
He quickly learnt the basics of how to rig his setup through Google and ringing antenna installers for information.
His small Chinese transmitter was ditched for a larger 150 watt beast, which was able to broadcast across most of the Illawarra.
Morris’ DJ mix-ups and shout-outs were pre-recorded and live via iTunes to allow the station to run 24 hours a day while he worked.
“Occasionally I would get out of work and go to the car and it wouldn’t be on, and find a cat had sat on the laptop,” he said.
IRIE FM ran for seven months out of Morris’ humble lounge-room, until finally ACMA shut him down on February 29 2016.
Morris and his reggae station’s popularity had grown with hundreds of fans on Facebook, a guest DJ appearance on national radio station Triple J and coverage in Vice Magazine.
“It seems the first Vice interview I did is what brought me undone,” he said.
Morris doesn’t think he is a criminal and believes avenues to access community radio are biased and unfair.
Since his day in court he’s found new support from the community, including Illawarra radio station i98 giving him a one-off time slot to bring his beloved reggae to the people again.
He’s currently working to get IRIE FM running legally, via internet streaming.
Dicey Riley’s supports DJ Dan
Wollongong’s Dicey Riley’s will host a fundraiser to help Dan Morris with his legal bills after he was penalised for operating a pirate radio station.
The August 6 “reggae clash night” is asking for gold coin donations in exchange for an evening of floor stomping music from a selection of DJs and live band.
Venue manager Natalie Dowey said they were happy to help Mr Morris as he was a music lover just like them.
“He wasn’t trying to do anything particularly wrong… He’s an avid reggae lover who lost the plot a little,” Ms Dowey said.
She said the pub wanted to continue supporting live music in Wollongong but found it difficult to quash the stigma it’s a “real dive and a rough pub”.
”It’s just not the case now. It’s got good music and a really good vibe.”
IRIE FM fundraiser: The Freedom of Beats Movement, Dicey Riley’s, August 6 from 8:30pm.
Featuring live music and DJ sets by:
Limb by Limb
Mad Boi Dubby
Roots Ting Sound System UK
Rock steady Dub Militia
MC Seth Topia
There will also be raffles and merchandise for sale.