Let’s maybe start off with a bit of background: where did the idea of Gimic come from?

Robin: We found this place and we wanted to do a special space for the whole scene, you know. We also wanted to do a radio for our generation, for the young Indie generation of Brussels. Our city is quite small, but we have a lot of talent, so there was definitely some space to do it. 

Arthur: We also felt like there was a style of music that we wanted to push a bit more, something more Breaks and Techno influenced and that we felt wasn't represented enough in other radio-stations in Brussels. 

Robin: So basically we felt like between doing something for the new and younger generation and showcasing different types and styles of music, it felt like a good starting point for this project.

What was this place before? How did you find this location? 

Robin: It was a sort of ‘Beer Café/restaurant’ before, very much in the style of a lot of Horeca establishments that you can find here in the Marolles area. But we saw the potential in the space and we decided quite quickly to set-up the project within the space.

Arthur: We built the project in six months: We first took a couple of months to really think about the project in-depth, what our ambitions were and to really focus on our artistic direction and graphic design for which we contacted Amsterdam based studio Ozon. After that we assembled a crew of friends and volunteers, everything here by our hands with some friends and volunteers.

Robin: For the whole project we also tried to work with local actors and suppliers like our architect Léo Henault and Rotor DC and BC Materials for the building materials. The nice part was that along the way we met a lot of interesting people and suppliers because we also just had to improvise a lot. With the short time-span of the project and 

Arthur: It was a big challenge to get everything ready for the opening though: we did a lot of work on the building ourselves with volunteers. Three days before the opening, we hadn’t received confirmation from the fire department yet.. A quite crucial part as you can imagine. We’d already announced everything, everyone was talking about it. We had posters in the street, all that stuff, and then the firemen were like “We think we forgot to put certain things in the contract the last time we visited. So you have to fix this or you won’t be able to open”. You can imagine the stress 3 days before, but we managed to get it fixed just in time to get the approval, so all is well that ends well. 

How essential was and is the ‘bar’ part in the Gimic story? 

Arthur: We always had to keep in mind that we would have to find income for this project and a bar would be the way that we could have this revenue-stream for the project and just make a living from it. It is also a way to welcome people to come inside and to check what's happening in the radio booth. 

Robin. We worked on the radio and on the space separately at first, but we wanted the space to have the same level of quality that we envisioned for the radio. This was super important for us. Because the radio can live online without borders and be listened to everywhere in the world but the main idea was also really to create something physical for Brussels.

We have quite a few online radio stations in Brussels: there is obviously Kiosk Radio but also a string of more recent ones like microwave, .. and many more. How does Gimic fit into this puzzle in Brussels? I don’t like to use the word ‘competition’ in culture but do you feel like there is a bit of competition sometimes? 

Robin: Yeah obviously there is a fight for people’s attention-span with everything that is being streamed online but from the beginning we really tried to think about our project and how we can do it better and better. As you mention, competition is a weird word to use within the cultural context and I feel like with time we’ll define the project even more next to how all the other projects in Brussels are evolving. So we don't feel like there is a lot of competition: every project has its place and its specific identity within Brussels cultural network. 

Arthur: We're really trying to do our own thing: For example, when we build the booth, at first we were like ‘It really has to be different from Kiosk’ but then in the end you just focus on your own thing and we try not to compare to much to other radios, because they’re all special and they all have their worth. We did check with befriended DJ’s who played at other stations what their remarks were so we could take those into account while constructing the project. 

Well I guess reality really proves that there is enough space in Brussels for at least two radio’s with a physical dimension because every time I’m here or at Kiosk, there's always a lot of people in both spaces.

Arthur: Exactly. There's enough space for more of these projects and in the end everyone will benefit from their own project for their community.

Where did the name Gimic come from actually?

Robin: Arthur and I live together and we had this sort of board in our apartment where we would write down names and a lot of different things came to mind. But writing on that board I guess it also became a graphical thing, something that has always been super important to the project and GIMIC is visually very interesting. 

Arthur: We didn’t want something too dark or something that you can only say in one language so after a while GIMIC just started making sense. There is no real big significance behind it 

Robin: We did have a moment of doubt when our graphic designer, who is from The Netherlands, was pointing to the fact that in Dutch it sometimes has a bit of a weird or negative connotation but in the end we felt like it just worked. 

Arthur: And we’re still very happy with it!  

The Marolles is a quite unique space in Brussels with a big mix between an older population and I guess you could say a lot of gentrification is happening at the moment. How have you seen the development of the quartier over the last few years? 

Arthur: It is a very special neighbourhood indeed: this place is one of Brussels oldest  neighbourhoods with a very diverse population. In recent years a lot of stuff has been happening here and the neighbourhood has changed a lot and I guess we are also very much part of that change. That’s why from the beginning we tried to be very conscious about this and not create something too fancy or to ‘bobo’. We really try to offer something for the neighbourhood with democratic prices and with a lot of local suppliers.

Robin: In the beginning our direct neighbours were a bit scared of the project, so afraid apparently that we already had complaints with the police before we even opened. There are a lot of people living in this street, a lot of older people too and we get that they’re focussed on having a quiet space of course. Fortunately that’s all been smoothed out now but we stay vigilant to not make too much noise on the terras and we close our back terras at 10pm sharp to avoid noise complaints. 

Arthur: We really chose this location for its history and connection to electronic music as well: there is so much going on in the neighbourhood like Fuse, Crevette Records, Sono Ventura and even way before this has always been a hub for (electronic) music with a lot of artists living around. So it is very much an inspiring place for us to be in.

You are hosting a lot of events in the space as well like label markets,.. How important are those for the Radio?

Arthur: After opening we immediately felt that a lot of ‘industry’ people came to the spot to have meetings and to just hang out. It was great to see all these creative minds come together and I guess from them being here organically they saw the potential of the space to organise and create certain events here. 

Robin: Indeed: we’ve had a lot of these events in the meantime, from vinyl- and creative markets to label take-overs of the radio and even workshops. This really proves to us that this project really is much more than just an online radio and bar. 

Arthur: As an example: We recently started doing a workshop series with Oscar from Underdog. He’s really big on Youtube within the producer/synthesizer community and he's living right around the corner of Gimic. And one day he came to play a live-show and afterwards we started talking. He proposed to do three workshops on modular synthesis with a focus on prioritising Flinta and POC participants. Which is something that also aligns with the values of the project. 

The project is open to a lot of communities as you just mentioned: how would you describe your community here at Gimic? 

Arthur: It’s pretty funny because we are very conscious about the crowds we attract and how it’s evolving organically as well. Last year at the start of the project it was really very niche and like almost all DJ’s or people who are involved in electronic music somehow. It was really a hub for this industry first but over the course of our second season a much diverse crowd has started to come. On Thursday, you're still going to have all the DJs and industry regulars. Then Friday is gonna be more like the 20 year old Y2K style cool kids and then on Saturday it's gonna be the 30-35 year old techno-heads having a pre-drink before going to Fuse. Sunday it’s a more relaxed and ‘arty’ crowd mixed in with some tourists who visit The Marolles.

How many residents do you have and how do you go about selecting them? 

Arthur: So the first year it was 60, and now in the second season it was 120, so we’ve doubled because the project has also grown. The idea is however to keep the project fresh and to have a good revolving roster of residents. We’re not looking to keep residents for five years and more, so we can offer spaces to new and exciting artists as well. We also signed the Scivias charter, meaning that we really aim for gender equality when selecting the residents. 

Robin: Something we really focus a lot on is giving space to the collectives. We have real  ‘take-overs’ once in a while where a lot of collectives get a few hours of space to really do their thing. Then they really go all out and bring dancers and sell merch for example. We also opened the scale musically: We have more ambient music, more radio/podcasters too. 

That was something I wanted to touch upon too: Obviously people that just come in and play a ‘Dj-set’ is a big part of the radio but do you also aim at having more ‘talk’ and interview content on the radio? 

Robin: We really like this kind of content and shows and from the beginning we tried to integrate it in the programme. This too, was a sort of way to set things apart a bit from what other online-radio’s offer. 

Arthur: Indeed, we really like a more old school radio format as well to balance out all the DJ-sets. We also feel like it's something that a lot of people in this new generation of artists like making more talk-format radio. An example that I’m thinking of is Sam aka Violently Happy. He's doing Tea Time with Sam here and is just playing a lot of different records and talking about them while having a nice cup of tea. 

Robin: We really try to shift the focus away from the classic ‘club-sets’ but of-course we can’t forget that for a lot of young DJ’s this is also a promotional tool to get bookers/promotors attentions and to have some sort of online CV in the form of a Gimic set that they can send to relevant people. So we just try to encourage our residents to really switch it up enough to keep a nice balance. 

You have had some very big names pass through recently like Fred Again,.. How was that? 

Robin: The Fred Again show was set-up because he invited me to play support for his USB tour in Brussels. After talking a bit with him and his management they were like “Ah, I saw you have an online radio: Can we set something up?” And then after a lot of back-and-forth all of a sudden three days before he was like, "Okay, let's do it." From the beginning of this story we were very cautious about this because Arthur and I were thinking about how this was going to affect us afterwards. 

Arthur: Like all of a sudden this massive artist shows up and it will attract a lot of ‘hype’ crowd but we decided that it would also be a great way to have more exposure for the project and all other residents. So we closed off the radio for the show and just went for it. 

Robin: We never saw anything like this: Five security agencies, hundreds of people waiting outside just to catch a glimpse of Fred Again. There was a van waiting like during the whole show in case there was an issue and he had to make an escape. 

Arthur: Yeah. He’s like a real pop star. But in the end it certainly didn’t affect the radio in a negative way. Maybe we have some more random people coming in lately like "Fred Again was here last year right?" but in the end the project and the goal remains the same. 

Outside of the walls: last year you hosted a weekender at Fuse: how was that experience and how important was it to go beyond the walls of the radio/bar here?

Robin: It is something that we really put a lot of conditions on while we were thinking about it. Since the beginning we’ve aimed to make this project something special and we want to reflect that in what we do outside as well. So we choose to not do too much event curations the first year.

Arthur: We don't want to rush, and we want to really create something special for our community and give them the feeling that you can trust us to always do something special. With the first birthday we did find this synergy with Fuse so we decided to create something special there. For us, as Brussels-kids, this was really something special: the longest running Techno club and also our neighbours in the neighbourhood here. There support means a lot too us: We did a two day Weekender: two nights, and a concert during the second day during the evening with a whole scenography with some amazing guests. We were super happy with the lineup because it was super precise and really fit our project perfectly. 

You also started a label recently? 

Arthur: Indeed, we launched the label with a double vinyl compilation of  10 local & international artists. Same ethos as the whole project there: we wanted to do it right so it became a 180 gram double vinyl with a lot of exciting artists like Hadone, Canblaster, Dangermami, Darzack, Laima Adelaide, Trois-quarts Taxi System, NMSS, Jonnnah, Elsa, Dela Savelli

Robin: This also was really our own passion project, with music that is really close to our hearts and that we wanted to shine a light on. We’re really aiming to do this every year so it once again becomes something that complements the project and helps our residents and the project grow.

Where do you see the radio in a few years from now? 

Robin: We definitely want to improve but we also really want to stay true to the original vision of the project of including as much of the electronic music spectrum as we can. Our processes of running the radio are also evolving each year, we really see it as a living environment

Arthur: Yes like for instance in the beginning we worked with a lot of volunteers to run the bar and radio but after a while we just found the right motivated people to run the bar and we formed the bar-staff to also run the streaming. These are all little improvements that in the long-term will make Gimic an even better place.  

Arthur: One thing is certain though: We will not be able to manage everything by ourselves, but I feel like more and more people are surrounding us and taking on responsibilities in the project. 

Robin: I really see the project like an octopus with a lot of different arms flailing around but still all very attached to the core of the project. 

What are you preparing for the future? Any future plans you can share with us? 

Arthur: Yes we’re planning a free event on the 21st of June for Fête de La Musique with the Brueghel cultural centre here in the street. Something really linked to the neighbourhood and not only for our audience but also for everyone who lives in close proximity to the station. More news on that very very soon! 

Robin: We’re always on the lookout for more and new projects like our merch line that we’ve designed together with Ayasha Khan or our own beer FX that we’re brewing together with Brasserie Illegaal. All this again connecting back the local connection and the will to develop the local scene.