Over to you: Glenn Goodwin
In this new series, each month we throw the spotlight on one of our readers who is embarking on a new challenge, preparing for a special event or simply has an interesting story to share. First up is Glenn Goodwin, originally from the UK and a Metropolitan reader for two years. Here we discover his new internet radio station project, Spoon FM and his recently-launched weekly DJ night, Funky Dancing Barcelona in Diobar.
Born out of a desire to share some of his enormous music collection (14,000 songs and counting), UK-born Glenn Goodwin came up with the idea of a new internet radio station based in Barcelona to provide a varied soundtrack for listeners’ lives. A graphic designer by trade, Glenn was inspired by other radio stations he had listened to when living in New Zealand and wished to create something similar with Spoon FM, which will launch this month. The simple idea is to create playlists suited to each day of the week, which are available to listen to as and when you want. ”The idea is you can be listening on a Sunday morning to a chilled Sunday session whilst you read the papers or to a live DJ set when you get ready to go out on a Friday night.”
As many of us know, the listening choices in Spain can often leave a lot to be desired: M80 is only bearable up to a point and lots of the other music stations seem to have just 20 songs that they play on loop. Aiming to solve this lack of variety, as well as the playlists, Glenn hopes in the future to enlist the musical skills of guest DJs and include some talk programmes. “We want to create compilation CDs and a blog with comments, and encourage people to make their own musical suggestions.”
And not happy with improving the auricular options on the radio, Glenn is also showcasing his seemingly endless musical knowledge at his new DJ night, Funky Dancing Barcelona, every Thursday at cellar spot Diobar. From 10pm until midnight, expect to dance to funk, soul, latin and electronica—all of which will be recorded to play back on Spoon FM for those who missed it or want to enjoy it all over again.
www.facebook.com—search for Funky Dancing Barcelona
Take my advice
Glenn suggests venues around the city and beyond:
BAR
“Dusk Bar, Barrio Gothic, Calle Mercè...very easy lounge bar...really nice friendly staff and owners...great to meet other English-speaking people.”
Mercè 23, tel. 93 315 2542, www.duskbcn.com
RESTAURANT
“11 Virtuts, amazing creative tapas bar, great to take people who like something more different than the norm in the evening.”
Ataülf 5, Tel. 93 310 6943
SHOP
“Great ladies clothing shop in l’ Avinyo with a big pair of lips outside...they sell good funky clothes and not too expensive.”
TO TAKE VISITORS
“A great place on a Sunday afternoon is a place called La Caseta on the top of Montjuïc....good chilled jazzy music and relatively unknown.”
http://lacaseta.org
OUT OF TOWN
“San Pol de Mar is a great Catalan village with a lovely beach and only an hour on the train north.”
www.santpol.org
Interview by Katy MacGregor. Photos by Bartek Molga.