"I want to know about people doing and not just thinking about doing. It really helps drill into me that failure is better than inaction."

East London, Hackney. Beyond the town houses and offies, the pockets of green space, the lido, buses and fixie bikes, is the potent pink frontage of what looks like a shop. In the window a figure spins tunes and chats into a mic. This is Do!! You!!! Radio, an independent station funded by its listeners, most of whom can be found in a popping chat room. Do!! You!!! is run by Charlie Bones, former host of the NTS breakfast show and a veteran radio, club DJ and designer. Presiding over a team of beloved residents, Charlie has built a platform for everyone from graffiti artists to record shops, from foraging and field recordings to interviews with music legends and anyone who walks in from the street. We talked to him for this month’s 5 Good Things.

You started out in college and commercial radio, then became a pirate DJ before graduating to the NTS breakfast show; now you run your own independent station. You’ve been a staple of the music subculture for a long time — part of the architecture of people’s daily lives. How does that feel? How has your perception of your role changed over time?

To be a part of people’s morning routine is a great honour and has been a joy almost continuously for over 10 years now. At its best, it’s a very happy bubble to escape into — away from life’s everyday nonsense. It’s hard, if not impossible, to see it from the outside, so I wouldn’t know about being a part of a subculture, but it definitely feels like it’s become more tangible to deal with; it was really very surreal for a time. The jump to becoming a station owner is certainly challenging in comparison to purely doing the radio DJing. Balancing the two is an art I’m learning daily. Generally speaking, my journey has been a case of exploring every avenue and becoming more present and natural gradually over many years.

I guess you’re part of the last generation of DJs who grew up without the internet. You had a front row seat for the arrival of social media, streaming and mass musical access. How do you think this has shaped the way music communities are built?

The culture has been impacted massively and the pros and cons are equally significant. It was extreme hierarchy in all cases when I was growing up, in terms of access to equipment, information, records, radio, gigs — everything. You had to really go after things and make connections and put the hours in which made it all very conscious. For example, I was having to get a train to London to find a record or a white label that had been out that week. This forced interaction, connections and familiarity, the irony now being that in our current age of social media and hyper-connectedness, you can do almost everything from your laptop and that has stripped away the integration.

The time and energy it took to build music communities gave them a lot of strength and momentum, whereas now things seem to come and go very fast. On the other hand, you have so many more opportunities to start your own thing and be less reliant on the old systems which leads to a lot of freedom. Its good and bad, but I feel (or hope) the two extremes of communities and independent creativity will start to meet in the middle again. Meaningful independent networks and communities need to grow and function together because isolation is no fun.

That idea of community seems central to Do!!You!!! Whereas some digital stations have endless DJs and shows, you work with an intimate roster of regulars that gives everything a distinctive family feel. Why does that matter?

Yes, community is key. It’s what music has always been about for me and it’s why I’m involved in it; every idea I’ve had regarding radio has been about other people. I started because all the people I wanted on radio stopped, or the stations I listened to shut or sold out, so I thought I’d build a show or a platform where I could have my favourite DJs guest or do takeovers.

The Readers Wavs was about supporting bedroom producers and weird music. Jukebox is about giving my show to listeners so they can play their favourite track of the moment, or I’ll invite guests on and hope they’d like to do a regular show themselves. Letting people come in off the street to chat or freestyle a song has been amazing, doing the chat show with performers and guests too. To me that’s where all the fun and chaos is, supporting people to DO YOU, believing that people are essentially fascinating characters deep down under all the layers we put on.

When you and someone take a leap in trust with a sense of seeing the best in each other and an attitude of adventure and risk taking, it is so much fun, and magic can and has happened on my show. That is what I enjoy the most. The status quo of how energetically isolating radio, DJing, the industry and the nature of success can be is very draining. It’s something in which I continue to work very hard to keep fighting against.

What makes a good Do!!You!!! DJ? Do radio DJ’s make good club DJs?

People who express themselves both musically and as a person in an honest fashion is really all I’m looking for in a DJ, and yes, radio DJs make good club DJs. I listened to tons growing up. I actually think it’s more difficult the other way round. Out to DJ Hype!

One of the other great things about Do!!You!!! is its spontaneity and eclecticism. Some weeks the music does the talking, other times its joyful chat, sometimes it’s so lo fi you can practically feel the hangover through the mic. Can you describe the Do!!You!!! approach to anyone who might not have tuned in before?

It was or maybe still is a very honest reflection of where I’m at. I’m an anxious, ADHD-type person who experiences music and radio as a sanctuary and as a means of catharsis, and I want to share that and ideally encourage the guests, the chatroom and anyone interacting with it to see the best in each other within that show time, to get on with life in the present — with as much humour and resistance to day to day shit as possible. Do!!You!! is a little bubble to escape from the grinding nonsense of everyday life and assholes. It’s saved me more times than I can think and has saved other people who’ve been in touch too. That’s what it is at its core.

Can you tell us how you turned Do!!You!!! from an NTS show into a full-on independent station? Was there anything you particularly wanted to achieve from the outset, learnings you took into the endeavour? What would you do differently if you could?

I think really radio was an outlet for me to experience and enjoy the potential for real happiness and fun amongst a sea of anonymous strangers. It was powered by a will to believe that we can be happier and purge the nonsense. I come from a place where I was subjected to people behaving nonsensically and negatively, so it was very important to me to prove that this wasn’t a necessary mode of living, and a lot of the times I witnessed that it wasn’t. When the time came to move on and start my own thing, the good will that was built up was incredible and it allowed me to go fully independent, which I still am to this day.

What I always wanted to achieve with my life was a studio where I can create and interact with different artists, designers, musicians, building a community that is dynamic and vibrant. The simple learnings I took into it like treating people how you’d hope to be treated didn’t really apply in many cases; management is very tough. You just need to cling hard to the reason you are doing it and not let go and work hard. There is always so much to do. 

What I’d do differently? Nothing. This whole endeavour was about pushing myself and learning about myself and keeping on exploring. I am very proud of it and with myself and the realisations that it’s brought me. I have learnt so many valuable lessons. In DOYOUing YOU, you gain a much greater sense of self. That is what I hoped for and that is what I got.

What’s the best thing about what you do, and how do you plan to keep nourishing that in the days to come?

My show can be anything at any time. It’s up to me and the audience and how much we want to go for it, and that’s what keeps me interested — it’s very exciting. Outside of my show, I’m working hard on finding the best way to deal with the endless amount of admin and management needed to make it run well, so I can continue to invest my time in making ideas happen. I have so many ideas in so many areas. I love that surging feeling of anticipation in just thinking about seeing them made.

Why is radio important? Both to you and listeners.

At its core, radio is a familiar, soothing and deeply personal listening experience that creates deep bonds among people. When it’s functional and healthy, it is a great honour and a joy to create and be a part of, however, when you see the shadow self of the internet anonymous, it can be very tough.

You’re a maker too, aren’t you? What do you make and why? What makes it worthwhile?

Making for me is more important than anything because it is concrete and in the world. Radio is ephemeral and hard to quantify — it vanishes. I love DIY, inventing things, fixing things, making clothes and bags, trying out ideas. Radio has been one part of the bigger vision to building a functioning ideas factory where I can interact with people, grow and create. It helps me find myself and accept myself too. I have an extremely harsh inner critic, so it’s good to beat that down and make something, embrace the mistakes and use it, see its beauty and utility, or see it bring happiness to someone else. I find making extremely therapeutic.

Finally, a quick one about your personal style. How would you describe it? Is there a method in your dress sense, anyone or thing that informed your look?

When David Lynch died and all these clips of him were circulating, I saw one where he said he’d spent his whole life looking for the right fit trouser. I really felt that. I’ve always been very tall. Nothing quite fit me right and I don’t feel comfortable at all in the wrong thing; cut-wise, colour-wise, length-wise, so it’s been a constant mission to find the right fabrics and silhouettes.

I went to college to make stuff. I love military stuff/camo/ripstop; the strict laws between form and function. I love the efficiency of Japanese design, kimonos. and womenswear colours. Girls get all the best trainer colourways — it drives me crazy! Basically, I’m not a fan of navy brown, black or grey, which is often all you get as a man. As my tutor at fashion school always said, the devil is in the detail, and I love a nice fabric, seam detail or some sexy technicals.

I think you just know when you see someone who dresses well. I’m not sure you should try and totally copy it, but you log it in your brain. For example I always thought clothes hung well on John Lurie. 80’s fashion designer Patrick Kelly’s style is perfection to me, and Billy Ocean on the cover of his Nights 12’’ are indelible marks on my mind. There are endless influences, but mostly I love flowing, hard-wearing fabrics, simple geometric shapes, beautiful colours and technical details.

This last part is where we ask you to send some cultural inspiration out into the world, recommending 5 Good Things and the reasons why you chose them.

A restaurant or cafe you like in your city

Hai Cafe right next door to the Do!!You!!! studio in Clapton is deeeecent! It’s run by a lovely family, incredible food.

A film everyone should watch

Network (Sidney Lumet 1976). '70s Hollywood is the best Hollywood.

A book everyone should read

I read a lot of autobiographies, mostly of musicians but of other people too. I find them really inspiring, people just pushing, trying things and failing, lots of disasters and funny stories. I want to know about people doing and not just thinking about doing. It really helps drill into me that failure is better than inaction. At the moment it’s John Cooper Clarke. I’m reading his book I Wanna Be Yours, which is hilarious and amazing.

A musical album or artist who means something to you

Argh! So many! At the moment I am powerless to say anything other than Pinegrove, which I find mind-blowing.

Where you’d send someone if they were visiting your city or hometown for the
first time

Essex. Get in a car and get lost in Essex. Watch Johnathan Meades The Joy Of Essex then go for a drive.

You can listen to Do!!You!!! Radio through the Do!!You!!! app or directly via their website. Do You is a free, independent station that's reliant on donations, so do consider becoming a subscriber.

Charlie Bones wore our 7001 North West Wax Jacket, the 3001 Overshirts, some 5020 ripstop utility pants, and a 7005 sweatshirt in ultra blue.