On the east side of Toronto, on a one-way street away from the usual downtown commotion, on the greener side of an unlocked gate, down five steep steps, in the basement of a decrepit house, a depreciated but still functional computer sits in the corner of the dimly lit room.

Dwarfed by the expensive recording equipment and better-quality computer system next to it, that computer is the key to transmitting hundreds of songs by musical artists of M?tis descent to the internet radio station metisradio.fm every day.

“It’s not your typical radio station setup,” says Jordan O’Connor, officially the station’s playlist monitor; unofficially the brain responsible for transferring the music from CD onto the computer, uploading songs to the internet, and making sure they are streamed online and easily accessible by people with both slow and fast internet connections.

Metisradio.fm is hardly the first internet radio station, but it boasts that it is the first online M?tis radio station. It is home to a library of hundreds of songs, played in rotation on the site every minute of the day.

Tony Belcourt, president of the M?tis Nation of Ontario, came up with the idea about four years ago, and hired his son, Shane Belcourt, to run the station.

Broadcasting over the traditional radio airwaves was never an option; it is too expensive, and more importantly to them, not as accessible.

“Anyone can access it and the beautiful thing about that is that the FM dial is only good for a certain amount of square miles,” Shane says.

The station has few costs (mostly related to the upkeep and maintenance of the web site), which eventually will be covered by advertising once the site builds up more of an audience.

The M?tis Nation of Ontario is covering all the costs, so far with no help from the government, although Tony will be looking into what funding programs might be available.

Since the site’s launch a month ago, Tony says metisradio.fm has been visited daily by an average of 10,000 people?mostly Canadians, but some from such locations as Africa, New Zealand and Chile. Indigenous groups in Sudan, Kenya, and Brazil have approached the M?tis Nation of Ontario seeking assistance in starting their own internet radio stations.

“Having a station is vital to creating a society’s dialogue,” says Shane.

And that dialogue can begin by accessing this portal that can host all types of music from M?tis artists, as well as some talk shows related to the M?tis culture.

Tony and Shane don’t believe that radio stations discriminate against M?tis artists, but they do feel that mainstream stations won’t play some M?tis artists because they may not fit the mould of what they are used to playing.

“You won’t be marginalized if you sound like everyone else,” says Shane. “But how many M?tis artists are in that fortuitous position? Not many.”

Shane explains that there are three types of M?tis artists:
-those who play traditional M?tis music, “like fiddle jigs,” he says;
-those who combine First Nation’s M?tis and contemporary art forms, like Juno nominee Jani Lauzon;
-artists who happen to be M?tis, but signs of their heritage in their music are subtle if not absent.

The traditional music will never be played on mainstream radio stations, Shane says, and preserving it on the online station is one of its main goals.

Nicholas Vrooman, a folklorist from Montana, donated 60 hours of traditional music and spoken word material that will soon be archived online. Without a site like metisradio.fm, the material would not be able to be accessed as easily.

The artists who combine traditional and contemporary music will have the hardest time getting their music heard because they are creating a new sound.

“Mainstream radio stations are not a champion of new. They’re a champion of the same,” Shane says.

The last group will not be ignored on radio stations because they are M?tis, he says, but will have just as hard a time to get heard as any other artist. Shane, also a rock musician, would fall into this category.

What’s great about the station, Shane says, is that the accomplished musicians are eager to help out. If their music is in rotation, the hope is that people would listen to hear them and at the same time be introduced to new artists, or artists who cannot find a place on other radio stations. One such noteworthy artist is John Landry, the Canadian Country Music Association’s Independent Male Artist of the Year, who appeared at the launch party for metisradio.fm in Toronto in March.

“Those who aren?t marginalized are allowing their celebrity?so to speak?to bring in the marginalized voice,” Shane says.

Rayne Delaronde, a country artist from Winnipeg, hasn’t been turned down by radio stations because of her heritage. But she rarely approaches radio stations, feeling that it is probably a waste of time.

“I don?t have time to concern myself with the radio part,” she says. “Trying to get into the mainstream radio isn?t something I’m too concerned about at this time.”

Her music may not fit the precise standards that some stations are seeking, so she is altering her style on her next record to get closer to that model.

“There’s that certain mould you have to fit,” says Delaronde, a mould she thinks she now fits. “I can write, I play my own instrument, I have good stage presence, I have a business background, I’m working on a video; I’m moulding myself.”

She believes metisradio.fm can help spread her music to other Canadian territories where she has not yet established herself. She is well-known in her home province but has not promoted her music much to the rest of the country. With metisradio.fm, she has an opportunity to reach a targeted audience.

“I hope one day someone calls and says they heard me on the stations and they want me to do a show in Ontario,” she says. “I would jump.”

To get such attention, the station would need more listeners, and Tony hopes that the station can draw 100,000 people daily by next year.

By that time, metisradio.fm could be changed drastically.

Broadcasting the station online is cheaper and more widely available to the rest of the world, but more people?especially older people?have radios than have the internet.

“(Broadcasting using the radio) would be ideal,” Shane says, “but how do you get that signal outside of Toronto?”

How? Satellite radio. The relatively new radio service would allow the whole country?perhaps the whole world?to access the same stations. Several auto manufacturers are installing satellite radio devices in their new cars. Satellite radio is not yet legal in Canada (even though thousands are already using it), but if is it is approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Tony sees a new opportunity.

“We very definitely have our eye on that,” he says. “But one step at a time.”

For now, Tony hopes the M?tis people, as well as other Canadians, will visit the site to listen to the different types of music available (there are three streams from which listeners can choose). At the very least, he hopes M?tis artists will take advantage of the station by sending in their music to add to the playlist.

And that’s what the artists are doing, judging by the two large stacks of CDs from M?tis artists in O’Connor’s basement.






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