The history of VPR Audio Club…

It began in 2014, as an offshoot of Matlock Record Club – a monthly gathering in the county town of Derbyshire, UK. And it began under the name… Radio Free Smedley Street.

After a few years as an ultra-local station, broadcasting a few shows online each week for the residents of one small part of Matlock, in 2018 we made the decision to spread the word further and expand the station’s line-up.

The team grew. The station’s reputation grew.

Staying financially independent, we were free to include many super-niche shows, as well as more general musical output. Some of those niche shows actually became some of our most popular.

We changed the station name to Radio Free Matlock, to reflect the station’s growth. But as well as gathering a dedicated local listenership, the station’s new specialist shows began to pull in listeners from much further afield.

In 2020, we found ourselves in a position to help people stay connected and keep a routine during the Covid-19 lockdown, broadcasting every weekday morning, and Saturday mornings too. As a result, listeners to the station’s live broadcasts quadrupled, with a similar growth in ‘listen-back’ numbers on the Mixcloud page.

In 2023, station organiser Corey Lavender acquired an annexe to his shop, Vanishing Point Records in Chesterfield, UK. So we built a studio in it with everyone’s spare audio and office equipment – plus some cheap-but-awesome LED mood lights we inherited from the previous occupiers. Something of a game-changer for the station, this opened up new opportunities for welcoming guests, bringing in new presenters and doing more ‘social’ shows. It sowed the seeds for 2024’s major rebrand.

On October 27, 2024, the new name – VPR Audio Club – was unveiled. We all remain deeply proud of the station’s roots in Smedley Street, Matlock. And the Radio Free Matlock years saw us grow, improve and achieve things well beyond our expectations. Now, we have a freshly redecorated studio/HQ inside Vanishing Point Records, a new set of webcams, a dedicated band of listeners spread not just across the UK but around the globe, and a bunch of new ideas.

VPR Audio Club is for anyone who is open minded about life and music. Tune in, join in… welcome to the club.

VPR Audio Club’s core team...

Corey Lavender
Lucie De Lacy
Ashley Bird
Prof Pop
Rob Hardy

Thanks so much to all the other presenters who make shows for us and help us make VPR Audio Club happen…

Lippy Kid, Andy and Don Inns, Chris Cammack, Gary Sitlinton, James Waring, Arran Day, The Little Canyon Collective, Liz Mullins, John Redhead, Clive and Carol Clemens, Tam Marsden, Chris Challoner, Oli Bevan, Billy Edwards, Katie Spencer, Bubble Rob, Pat Megginson, Ian Rose, DJ Su-Ki, Steve Williamson, Mixless, Phil Kirkley, Nick Wilkinson, all those who’ve previously made shows for us, those who do occasional guest shows and those who make regular guest appearances.

Special thanks: Many Elephants and Simon Tucker for your generosity. Max Hall for teaching us that ‘super-niche’ could be ‘super-good’ and ‘super-popular’! Jono for all the gravel.

Thanks always to Radio Free Smedley Street’s founders: Martin Lockett, Alice Lockett and Rob James.