People ask me about the Kpopalypse radio show from time to time, and how they can listen.  Since this blog was originally created by me as a companion to the radio show before it took on a life of its own, I think it’s time I got off my ass and put some radio information up here.  This post therefore has all the facts that you need to know about the Kpopalypse radio show.

KPOPALYPSE is a Korean pop radio show which broadcasts weekly on Three D Radio, a radio station in Adelaide, Australia.

I am the DJ of this show.  I started DJing this show in early 2012, before I started blogging, because I realised that there was no regular Korean pop program on radio in my city.  Since I was liking k-pop at the time (and still do), and I had the power to change that reality, I did!

There are five ways that you can listen to this show:

• FM radio in Adelaide, Australia (93.7 FM)
• Digital radio in Adelaide, Australia
• Through the livestream at the Three D Radio website, from anywhere in the world
• Through the Three D Radio app, from anywhere in the world
• By accessing sneaky caonima “Kpopalypse bootlegs” that exist on the Internet

The show broadcasts at 4pm every Monday, Adelaide time (GMT+9:30 in Northern Hemisphere summer, GMT+10:30 in Southern Hemisphere summer), for one hour.  The Internet stream from the Three D Radio is only a live stream, it doesn’t store the shows as “podcasts”, but you can access previous shows through the Three D Radio phone app, and also through online bootlegs and recordings, which exist.

The show focuses on Korean pop.  Here’s what gets played:

• Korean pop music – new releases, requests and older tracks.
• Japanese, English or other language music made by Korean pop artists are still considered Korean pop, regardless of the language used, these will get played.  People don’t call American pop artists “English pop” because they’re singing in English, do they?  No, they’re called American because they’re products of the American music industry.  Same logic applies here.
• Other music styles by Korean artists will get played occasionally, just to mix it up a little.  Korean hip-hop, trot, rock, metal, punk, reggae, classical and traditional music have all been played on various occasions.
• Your requests, if they fit into one of the above categories.

Here’s what does not get played:

• Japanese pop or other Japanese music by Japanese artists
• Asian music from other Asian countries besides Korea, unless the Korean music business is also involved in some way or it’s in some other way directly relevant to k-pop
• Covers of western pop songs by Korean pop artists
• Western pop by western artists
• Anything else

Making radio show song requests

I do take requests on most shows.  The main exception to this is if the show for that week is a “themed” show where every song fits a particular theme or idea.

You can request songs via Twitter or the Facebook group at any time, but just before the show starts is best, or I may forget your request when the time comes!

People who live in Adelaide can also ring the station but it’s generally a very bad idea as the receptionist will usually answer the phone instead of me (because I’m talking between every song I don’t answer phones while I’m on-air because there’s literally no time to talk) and good luck trying to convey a Korean group and song title to some poor receptionist who has probably only ever heard of PSY.

Don’t send requests via Curious Cat or other anonymous methods, they will always be ignored.  I am not anonymous (contrary to a weirdly-held popular belief, I don’t have a secret identity!) and therefore I don’t ever accept requests from anons.  If it’s good enough for me to be public, it’s good enough for you.

Request rules:

1. No Gangnam Style, Gentleman or Gee.  Nothing against those songs, I just think they’re overplayed.  You can hear them anywhere.
2. I generally have no issue playing songs I personally dislike as requests so just because something might have made it into my most hated songs lists doesn’t mean you can’t request it anyway.
3. Swearing in songs, adult themes etc is fine, and given the choice between a “clean” and “dirty” mix I will always pick the dirty one if available.
4. One request per person, per show – to give everyone a chance.  If you make more than one, I will pick one.
5. I generally won’t play more than one song by the same artist, per show – so fans of certain artists don’t unfairly dominate.
6. There’s not much point requesting anything just released in the last week or so because chances are that in most cases it’s getting played anyway.  I spend a lot of time playing new releases.
7. Requests are always at my discretion, I have no obligation to play any requests at all, but I’ll usually do my best to accommodate people if I’m taking requests.
8. Don’t request Little PSY or you will make the DJ cry.

The Kpopalypse radio show playlist post has playlists of each show, these are updated shortly after each show ends.

A Kpopalypse roundup post is made after every show which lists all the new releases played on the show that week and what I think of them.  For those wondering about my “thoughts?” on the latest new k-pop material, wonder no longer!

KPOPALYPSE is the only radio show that I am aware of anywhere in the world to have its own official drinking game so if listening is getting boring and you are above drinking age pour yourself some of your favourite beverage and get completely smashed and choke on your own vomit and die like a rock star drink responsibly!

Every so often I might give something away on-air.  Giveaways can only be won by station subscribers, or those willing to subscribe.  (You can subscribe from anywhere in the world and the Three D Radio website has more information on this.)  I don’t do this very often, because I’m usually giving away stuff from my personal collection and I like my collection to be bigger rather than smaller.  If you win something from Kpopalypse you are truly one of the privileged so give yourself a round of applause!

Hopefully this post has been helpful, sated your curiosity, and maybe you might even enjoy listening to the shows!  But if not, that’s okay – just enjoy this blog and my continued tangenital postings!