Welcome to Radio Hydrogen!

The ideology behind Radio Hydrogen is to make the world a better place. Without politics, without law and without being a formal “gingerbread” group.

We invite you to listen silently or to become involved proactively.

What Radio Hydrogen is All About

Not wanting to sound too “Miss Universe”, but we really DO want to make the world a better place. Our aim; to delight, inspire and augment human intellect and the human condition. We are not a movement, but about the discovery of amazing schemes and dreams and things.

To us, age and time are irrelevant. The music we play is from all eras and genres, we see all viewpoints and want to liberate everyone’s potential genius. Providing the tools everyone needs to evolve into who they should be.

We want people to realise the wonderful arcana (secrets and mysteries), of the human mind. So come and explore with us, such topics as repairing or terraforming the earth, creating full employment or ending loneliness and homelessness. Listen in, and discover more about liberation, freedom creation, and augmentation, which could be anything from eye surgery that enables you to see like a cat, to transcending our human form altogether.

We’re about science, technology and freedom creation, combined with magical entertainment, wonderment and usefulness. We don’t pretend to be an authority, more, a way to import and export ideas. Simply, we are the facilitators of passing ideas and initiatives.

Interestingly, Radio Hydrogen isn’t just for human beings; it’s for all sentient life. Instead of focusing on the tedium of mainstream, we’re searching for someone in their garage lab who’s discovered the cure for cancer, or AIDS! Or finding a kitchen table business concept that could end global unemployment forever. This is the concept behind Radio Hydrogen, to explore, facilitate and liberate.

How We Came to Be

Radio Hydrogen’s leading force is Rusty Burridge, a long-time romantic dreamer and radio show presenter.

The first inkling of the idea came to Rusty when he was in Valencia in 1987. While travelling, he had this somewhat naive impression that radio stations, similar to BBC Radio 4, existed throughout the world.  Sadly he discovered that in reality, they did not. Unfortunately for Rusty, this was his perfect type of radio station and he was very disappointed.

At that time, Radio 4 touched on science and art which interested him, but it was also filled with a lot of provincial “dross” and was dumbed down further during the Thatcher and Grade years. But the seed of the idea had already taken root in Rusty’s mind and he was determined to see it to fruition.

Over the following decades, there were many attempts to make Radio Hydrogen a reality, but they were fraught with bad luck and bad decision making. He admits he often tried to employ the skills of “Intellectual Derelicts” but they were more interested in the pub or the beach.

At the age of 23, Rusty completed a recording course in London, Battersea and tried to make it all happen then. Survival problems and more naiveite got in the way, along with his complete lack of business prowess.

Australian Magic

Nothing truly changed until Rusty moved to Australia in 2014. Finally, he could re-invented himself, and he told a few (white) lie along the way. Using his persistent Yosser Hughs (Boys from the Blackstuff) style approach “Gis a job, go on, gis a job, I can do that”, he finally landed himself the role of presenter, at a very hick community FM radio station. Such a move would have been utterly impossible in the UK, and at last, he had the break he needed.

Rusty became a huge asset to “Tribe FM” and together they grew and upped each others game, forming a beautiful symbiotic relationship and turning out innovative shows. The station essentially permitted him to do as he pleased.

“I’d let myself in at midnight, take the music and ads off the loop and do live, impromptu shows. I flourished! Every program idea I had, nobody would block me! There was no committee to block me and I had this fantastic free reign that you just wouldn’t get in an English equivalent commercial or community station. I invested in my skills there, gained experience, then I met Chris Doe and that’s the pivotal point really.”

Luckily, Chris Doe was the perfect complement to Rusty. Chris brought the business sense needed and provided the admin and techie know-how Rusty lacked.

Assembling the Team

Before meeting Chris, Rusty only knew of him by reputation. He went back to the UK for 11 months, and on returning to Oz found Chris installed as the new Chairman of Tribe FM. Nose out of joint, Rusty took a bit of a dislike to him, the rub being, Chris was everything Rusty wasn’t.

Chris loved rules, he thrived on organisation and he had shiny shoes! He was all for due process, correct procedure and playing the game within legal boundaries. What Chris brought to the station didn’t fit comfortably with Rusty at all. For eight months the pair were circumspect with each other, Rusty thinking that Chris was a bit too law-abiding, while Chris regarded Rusty as a bit of loose cannon, which, in reality, was a fair assessment!

The pair’s relationship didn’t change until early one morning, sometime between midnight and one a.m., when Rusty had just finished a late-night show and was making a cup of tea. Chris was also working late and joined him for a cuppa. He started telling Rusty about his humanist agenda for the radio stations he’d worked on in Australia, as a techie and admin man. Rusty’s Radio Hydrogen agenda was also humanist and finally, the two found some common ground. From that point forward the pair became firm friends, despite Chris still being a bit “shiny shoes” and Rusty’s rabid hatred for authority. Luckily, the overlap between their ideals was significant enough to make their relationship workable and they became real friends.

Collaboration

They started collaborating on an idea Chris had to develop a database, a kind of show library for hick radio stations throughout Australia. This collaboration prompted Rusty to tell Chris about Radio Hydrogen and he instantly fell in love with the idea.

Chris had a reputation. Rumour was, that he’d wander around obscure desert stations throughout Australia, augmenting their technology and broadcast capabilities to an extent well beyond anything they’d ever need. It was like he put an altruistic cherry on top of the cake, but the cherry was way bigger than the cake! The question was, why?

As Rusty visited radio stations around Australia, the folkloric aspect of Chris became more and more evident. Rumour was, that Chris had been employed by the government to upgrade all the hick stations, making them capable of spreading propaganda should any social or ecological disaster ever befall the country. Rusty loved the rumour enormously and gave it a bit of a turbo boost, spreading it far and wide.

Man in Black

One day, Chris challenged Rusty and asked about the rumours ‘Did you start that rumour about me being a Man in Black?’ Rusty replied ‘No Chris, those rumours were being spread about you well before I ever came to Australia, as well you know’. Next Rusty asked ‘So, are they true?’ Chris’ only response – a wry smile.

Once more Rusty returned to England, with Chris still sat as chairman for Tribe. Rusty continued uploading shows for the station directly from the UK and the pair began working towards making Radio Hydrogen a reality. While in the UK, Rusty recorded a science and electronic music show entitled, ‘The Laser Garden,’ and Chris spent time increasing the listenership.

In 2015 Rusty reignited a 25-year-old friendship, and Craig Bowles entered the Radio Hydrogen fold. Together they worked on producing a Christmas single, under the label of “Fracking for Fairydust”, but Rusty valued Craig’s ideals and his similar intellectual dreamer mindscape. Interestingly, their agendas ran parallel, often chicaning to become united. The hope is that these parallel tracks will ultimately unify to permanently become one.

The power trio remains assembled, with Rusty and Craig as the “ideas” men in charge of content, while Chris is responsible for all things administrative, technical and marketing related.

From Little Acorns

Today Radio Hydrogen is still in its infancy, but the little acorn has a big agenda and strives to become a mighty oak. Going forward, the station plans on adding new shows regularly and the team welcomes ideas from others, providing they sit within the landscape of Radio Hydrogen’s ideals – to be inspirational, entertaining, original and educational.

Rusty describes the station’s listeners as ‘Scientists, artists, vagrants, anoraks, dreamers, trainspotters and nerds’. The reality is, it’s for anyone who thinks the world could and should be a better place.

We are still just a fledgeling station, but we have big dreams of spreading our wings wide and taking flight. We’d love your help and support with this, either by suggesting content or by donating here.

The Crew

Russell (Rusty) Burridge – A gifted disenfranchised itinerant. He’s an experienced radio presenter used to hosting both talk and music shows.

Chris  Doe – An established IT and radio tech consultant. Chris also has a background in administration, marketing and business.

Craig Bowles – Audio Book Narrator and sometimes Actor. He has a BA in Acting from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. He is a dreamer and intellectual, who describes his role in Radio Hydrogen as “Tea-maker and daydreamer”.