George ‘Max’ Duchow at home in Brazil holding the Hugs Radio Top 20 chart with his single Without You at number one. He is a loyal follower of Dot Hammond’s show Mondayitis on EMFM every week.
EMFM’s Mondayitis – hosted by Dot Hammond – is in a world of its own when it comes to listeners.
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Because even though the station’s transmitter only has a reach of around 30km, Dot has someone who rarely misses her weekly show.
And they live in Brazil.
More specifically in Araç atuba, a ‘small’ Brazilian city of more than 200,000 about a six-hour car ride north-west of Sao Paulo and its 20-plus million.
Home, since 2006, to US born musician George Duchow, who performs under the name Maximilian (also his middle name).
His connection to Echuca-Moama in general and Dot Hammond’s show in particular is a symphony of long-distance communication.
“I found out about EMFM community radio about three or four years ago now, I believe,” Max (as Dot calls him) said.
“As an independent singer/songwriter, I researched stations from around the world and emailed them, asking if they accepted music submissions.
“Dot took the time to answer my inquiry – and a lot of stations don’t – so that was when I started sending my music to EMFM and started listening in to Dot’s Mondayitis show.
“I’ve been listening to almost every show since then, I like to support the stations which support me, it’s my way of giving back for the privilege of having my music heard on those stations, as well as posting about the stations and shows on my Maxmilian Facebook page.
Dot Hammond, of Mondayitis fame, with EMFM life member Maree Harris at the station.
“And yes, I've sent Dot something like 14 or 15 songs to date, and she does play them sometimes, which I appreciate, but I don't listen to her show to specifically hear my music.
“If she plays a new one on her Dot's New Music Show, I'll get up at 2am or 3am to listen to the show, which makes for an interesting next day of work.”
But Max doesn’t spend all his time listening, he is always working as well.
Right now, he said his second collaboration with friend, Chuck Bechard, based out of Dayton, Ohio who plays with the band Something Picaso, has been released and is getting airplay around the world.
It came out in August and has just gone to number one on The BandWagon Network Radio in the US, and number six on My Indie Radio in France.
Max said it was also briefly in the top 100 on the World Indie Music Charts, which is compiled from play data across 700 stations around the world.
“Next up is a full-length project to follow up a four-song EP,” he said.
“I do try to listen to Dot's Mondayitis every week and before your switch to summertime it would start at 9pm here in Brazil and go to 11pm, but now will run from 8pm to 10pm since Brazil doesn’t change its time.
“Although that does get to be a bit late since I do need to get up for work early – music doesn't make me enough money to live on, but there are times where I am a bit tired, or our family has an event, but I reckon I catch about 95 per cent of her shows every year.”
Max said a lot of factors keep him coming back to listen.
First, as he said, he tries to support the stations and shows which give him the privilege of playing his songs.
He said a lot of artists feel it’s their right, but not him.
“I wish I could listen to them all, and I still get in 40-50 hours a week, but still have to work and record,” Max said.
“Another reason I listen is the show is live – and live radio isn’t easy. At times things go wrong, and most of the time they make me chuckle, remembering those little problems I went through as a DJ at university.
“But live radio is always interesting, and Dot plays a lot of songs I've never heard before, especially the Australian songs so common for you.
“I did know a lot of Australian bands before tuning in to Dot, but she plays a wide variety of genres, and from so many different eras, which I also like.
“Most people hear a song on a radio and don’t realise how much work goes into that song; they don’t just get written and recorded in five or 10 minutes (in most cases). They can take up to hundreds of hours.
“I doubt many know (and may not even care) artists get as little as .0001 cent per stream on your favourite streaming site, which means one of my songs has to be played 10,000 times to make one cent.”
Max said he had learnt how important community radio was in Australia.
He said most terrestrial stations in the US were owned by huge conglomerates, and it's much less personal.
Instead, he said our community stations were like Public Broadcasting Service stations in the US.
“They were funded by the US government until the current administration and many programs focused on the communities they were located in,” Max said.
“That made them special, but now they are struggling financially, and community stations are important.
“They create a unity which is worth so much, and is badly underappreciated, in my opinion.
“So, helping them with your donations is really important, if you're financially able to do so – and participate in, and with, the station.”
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