Flex FM, through its long and occasionally turbulent history, has truly cemented its place as one of the greats of the London pirate radio scene. From the artists whose careers started with Flex, to the innovations of the station in terms of internet broadcasting, from the characters, stories and politics that contribute to Flex’s incredible story, to its return to the airwaves in 2009 after a 6 year absence, the tale of Flex FM takes us through two decades of broadcasting, music scenes that have come and gone and sea changes in youth culture and technology. Throughout all of this, Flex remained a constant presence (well, as constant as the DTI would allow) in the lives of its DJ’s and artists, and a friend and provider to thousands of young Londoners.

Flex has always been, and will endeavor to continue to be, a station the extols peace in the communities it serves – something particularly relevant in today’s climate – and believes that, through a shared love of good music, we all have a little something in common. Flex is proud to be returning to the airwaves once again, spreading the same messages it always has, and providing a music based backdrop to the lives of our beloved listeners. That’s ultimately why Flex exists at all.

A short history of the Flex story follows. This is simply an overview, and many goings on, characters and stories have been lost over the passage of time. If any of you – whether a listener or involved in the station in any way and at any point, have things to add, we’d love to hear from you….

So…

Flex started as a breakaway station from the infamous Don FM in 1992, just as Don was making its drive to secure a Restricted Service License, and to therefore broadcast legally. The station was run from the same area in SW London as Don, broadcasting from the same roof tops. The original founders of Flex were Easy D, Ruffneck and Pucker P, with the majority of DJ’s on the newly formed station having moved over from Don. Easy D and Kappa managed the station for several years, catering for all forms of dance music – hardcore, house, and latterly, jungle and garage.. DJ’s of note on the station over this period include Ed Rush and Optical, Funky T and many more. Do any listeners out there have any recordings of these or other DJ’s from this era? Please get in touch if you do!

In 1998 Easy D and Kappa retired from station management, though were understandably keen to see the station that they had worked so hard to build continue to grow and thrive. The management role was passed to DJ's from the station with ‘fresh legs’, that possessed the enthusiasm (and initial capital) to move it forward into the new millennium. The baton went Deekline and Billy Whizz, and a new era in the Flex FM story began, leading towards arguably its most successful time.  

It was during this period that some of Flex FM’s largest and most memorable events took place, further cementing Flex’s position as one of the leading London stations at that time. To put it simply, the Flex FM name filled venues to bursting point. Raves took place all over London including Adrenalin village, Cloud 9, The Coliseum, Chunnel Club, Bojangles, Gass Club, and many more. The ‘Panache’ nights, run by Flex’s own Danny Masters, were a huge success also, taking place all over London.

Further individuals were brought in to the Flex management strata over time. Richie and Rob ‘Disaster’ Loe provided support for Deekline and Billy in the early 2000s. Outlaw and Wize of Outcast FM joined the management team in 2000, bringing a wealth of technical experience (and in Wizes case, a wealth of sexually transmitted diseases) to Flex, as well as re-igniting drum and bass as a music genre on the station, which at that time was very much overshadowed by UK garage, the predominant underground scene of that period. Indeed, several artists on the station achieved huge success in the garage scene, with their Flex show’s often providing the springboard for this. In 2000, Deekline’s ‘I Don’t Smoke (The Reefer)’ entered the UK Charts reaching number 11, leading to one of the most surreal performances on the BBC’s Top Of The Pops, ever. Sean T and Trimmer’s ‘Genuis Cru’ also reached the UK top 40 with ‘Boom Selection’, and Rob Loe & Kins’ track ‘Bounce’ featuring NJ Fever was a huge track in the garage scene.

Pure SX was invited to join the Flex management in 2001, and his input took Flex up another notch with the introduction of FlexFM.net. After it was launched, the site achieved over 100,000 hits in just 6 weeks, bearing in mind that the web was still in it’s teenagehood – there was no such thing as MySpace or Facebook, few people had heard of a company called Google, and broadband was not available in homes. Flex was one of the first pirates to have a website, and was the first radio website (pirate OR legal!) that offered users the chance to listen via an audio stream. Flex’s popularity went worldwide at this point, and now had regular listeners in Brazil, the USA, Japan, and across the globe, as well as now reaching across the rest of the UK. For its day, the site was far ahead of its time, with one of the busiest forums of any website at the time, and who can forget the awesome ‘Listeners Wives’ gallery…..

Flex reached its 10^th birthday in 2002 – an impressive milestone for any pirate radio station. However, by this point, the cracks were appearing, and some of the magic that imbued Flex and everyone to do with it, began to wane. Arguably. Flex was this a victim of its own success. The high profile that it achieved meant Flex attracted a lot of attention – most of was good attention from an expanding, global listener base, but inevitably some was bad. Pressure from government agencies, and rather more sadly, other, jealous pirate stations, created an unpleasant climate in which to be operating. Flex eventually shut down in 2003. Although a number of people attempted to revive it over the years in various guises, none were able to recreate the vibe and the magic that coursed through the veins of Flex FM throughout its most golden of eras. None….until now.

Welcome to Flex FM 09. We’re back….