When it comes to making a success of yourself on Mixcloud, Alyx Holcombe has defined her own path. The Brighton based-DJ and radio host is a Rock music head through and through and was able to translate her passion into a successful career. Joining the platform in 2019, she launched ‘Alyx Plays Punk,’ a weekly show playing the latest and greatest Rock, Punk and Metal tunes from the developing underground scenes. Her consistency and dedication to representing newer bands would eventually lead to her landing her own show on BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing Rock, in 2022, bringing her philosophy to broadcast radio.
Holcombe is an important conduit between the underground UK Rock scene and national radio, giving artists and bands valuable air time for their music to be heard. Her Mantra platform also allows fans the chance to meet their favorite new bands.
We spoke to Alyx about her Mixcloud experience, her Radio 1 show and how her incredible career took off.
“I used to pretend that my systems were broken at work and then be at home uploading stuff to Mixcloud and creating radio shows!”
How did you get started as a DJ and radio host?
Alyx Holcombe: I was in an underground Punk band growing up and I played bass guitar. There was a point where we were doing all these small gigs and I was getting really frustrated. I was like, ‘there’s no person in the Rock and Metal world that is kind of in the middle, connecting bands to radio and letting them grow in that way.’ I wanted to be that person to help push bands onto other people and build that network. But I had no experience in radio and I had no idea what I was doing. One day, a friend of mine told me they use Mixcloud to upload all of their shows. So, I had a look at it.
I joined Mixcloud in 2019, just before the pandemic. I bought a microphone from Argos that was like £5 and told myself I was going to learn how to put a radio show together. The first few were horrendous, but you’ve got to start somewhere, right? I really enjoyed helping support underground artists and musicians and I had a loud voice. So, I just put the two and two together, created ‘Alyx Plays Punk,’ uploaded it to Mixcloud and hoped for the best.
How did you find it learning how to make a radio show and using Mixcloud in those early days?
I think my first ever guest was a girl from my band. We still did it. When the pandemic hit, I obviously had loads of time to focus on Mixcloud. I was working from home at this job that I didn’t really like and I remember I used to pretend that my systems were broken at work and then be at home uploading stuff to Mixcloud and creating radio shows. That got me to where I am, but I was just trying to figure out Mixcloud and speak to the listeners. Which is really quite funny looking back on it now.
I had an old laptop at the time, one of those ones that if you unplug it for 3 seconds, the power turns off. So, I was using my iPad, uploading all of the music onto there, recording my voice, putting it together with any free program I could find, and then just uploading it onto Mixcloud. It’s really botched, there’s nothing technical about it all [laughs]. I went on Fiverr one day asking, ‘can anyone do some jingles for my radio show?’ Some guy came back and did some legit jingles that sounded like I was a professional. I wasn’t! They were also being imported onto my iPad to make it sound like I knew what I was doing. It was all kind of fake it till you make it, but it seemed to work.
What drew you in about Rock music in the first place?
When I hear heavier music, it either makes me want to get on with my day or I just feel like I can get a proper stomp on. Have a good solid walk if I’m angry or if I’m stressed. It soundtracks the way I feel. I don’t get that with singer-songwriters or Jazz music or anything like that. Rock, Metal, Punk, that was the music that really spoke to me. I felt like it was perfect for letting my frustration out or getting me hyped up and stoked about the day.
How did all of this lead to getting your own show on BBC Radio 1?
Radio 1 does this thing every Christmas called the ‘Christmas Presenter Search’ and you can choose a show that you apply for. I did that for three years. In the third year they asked if I wanted to cover Daniel P Carter’s Rock show. When I covered his show, I really wanted to interpret the stuff that I was representing on Mixcloud. The underground bands and stuff. The producer was like, ‘OK, you got half an hour at the end to do your ‘Alyx Plays Punk’ stuff, all the artists that you want to represent, you can get them on there.’ I had free control of the show and it was just amazing.
It was a really nice full circle moment because everyone was stoked and I felt like in that moment I’d done what I set out to do. So anything that came after that to me was a bonus but that I finally got the heavy small bands that I loved on Radio 1 was so cool. It really kicked off on socials. Then, I pitched the idea of BBC Introducing Rock with the analytics and the audience I had for my show on Mixcloud to Radio 1 and they were like, ‘yeah, that makes perfect sense because we don’t represent that area.’ I made this really nerdy PowerPoint presentation with all my Mixcloud stats! I got my own show after that. So, in short, that’s how it happened.
How would you say your relationship with radio has changed since you’ve been in the industry?
I always loved listening to radio when I was a kid. When I was doing my Mixcloud show, especially in lockdown, I felt I grew that connection with other people as well. Now, I still love my early connection, but I now realize the power that radio has. How many people it can get to and the importance of the path of radio for specialist bands. I think especially because they can start on my show and then I can shout about them to another host on Radio 1 and they can then kind of carry that band through. I didn’t actually realize that that was a thing before I started on Radio 1; I just thought, ‘we’re in our separate segments.’ So, I think I’m even more passionate about radio now than when I started.
I imagine it’s such a big coup for the underground scene that broadcast radio is paying attention to them because of conduits like yourself.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t shut up about the bands. You know in Mean Girls when they do ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ and the mums are in the audience with the camera? That’s how I feel with these bands! I don’t shut up. Even the other presenters laugh, they’re just like, ‘you don’t shut up about them, but you have got good music taste and you do bring forward the good ones.’ It’s just exactly why I started it in the first place. So, when I still see that happen now on a larger scale, it’s so lovely. I feel like I’ve achieved something. I’m a momager for these bands!
What are some of the biggest successes of your time with Radio 1 so far?
Getting the show off the ground. Bringing a Rock element to BBC Introducing and also the rise of heavy bands that didn’t have a chance with BBC Introducing before. It just shows me there’s more trust and belief in their music. Now if you’re really heavy, there’s a chance that you’re going to get played and that is an avenue bands can use.
And then getting bands on the BBC Introducing stages at Glastonbury and Reading and Leeds. A band called South Arcade is doing amazing. They’re the one band recently that seem to really be going from strength to strength. I got them on the Introducing stage at Reading and Leeds. Now, even bigger bands will ask me who should support them on tour. One band came up to me last year and told me they supported Limp Bizkit because Fred Durst heard them on my show. I was like, ‘sorry, what?’ That’s still nuts to me. Just seeing the representation I think has been my proudest achievement.
When you look back, what were some of the most satisfying elements of your Mixcloud experience?
I love that you could search by genre and your show could chart. That was really really good because it meant that I knew it was working for that group of listeners. It was really helpful for me to see where it was in those rankings; I think it was Post Punk and Emo where it did really well from memory. So it was like, ‘OK, I’m going to carry on tagging that thing because it speaks to that group of people.’ Then these bands would be inspired to make more music for me to play on my show. So it kind of built a community for me.
You could check your Stats and see where people stopped listening to my shows. That allowed me to arrange the show by genre to make people listen to even more music because I normally started my shows quite light and then you go a little bit heavier. You can see where people kind of tapped out. So that was really helpful.
“I pitched the idea of BBC Introducing Rock with the analytics and the audience I had for my show on Mixcloud.”
All things considered, what are some of your golden rules for creating a tiptop radio show?
You need to really care about what you’re speaking about. If you don’t really really care, you won’t be bothered to do it, and it’s a lot of work. Make sure you care about the subject of the radio show and be yourself. I know that’s a broad thing to say, but if you want to say something and especially if you’re trying stuff out on Mixcloud, be yourself.
People want to hear what you have to say about the music. If you just read off like a plugger’s email, anyone can find that on the internet anywhere. Don’t be ashamed to promote yourself hard, even if you think it’s an ick. I remember with Mixcloud, I made assets for my page and sent it to bands and I made sure they posted it and I treated it like a full-on radio show. Take that ick and throw it out the window.
What are some of your tips for creators on Mixcloud who want to follow in similar footsteps to you?
Don’t be afraid to bug people. With respect. Do it nicely. Don’t hit up their DMs and be rude. Try new things and send that out and ask for advice. Not everyone will reply to you but it’s not that people are being rude if you don’t hear back. My inbox is absolute carnage, I’d love to set it on fire!. But just keep trying. That’s one thing that I needed to know quite early on because I felt really rude chasing people up or trying something else. Make a demo of all of the best stuff from your Mixcloud page that you’ve got or send them your favorite Mixcloud show and ask for advice. Find something that someone else isn’t doing and then pitch why that’s a good idea and why you are the person for it.
Switching gears a bit, what are some of your favorite tracks to play when you’re doing a set or a radio show?
It depends. Everyone loves the classics. So if you’re just playing a normal DJ gig night, the classic Limp Bizkit, Korn, Papa Roach always goes off. But if I’m doing a festival, I like mixing in dance music or samples from artists like Pendulum and The Prodigy. You can get away with mixing in bits of newer artists or more modern rock artists. An artist called Poppy who’s quite big or Wargasm or Vukovi for example. You can kind of use those artists to get people hyped and then introduce them to something new as well.
Tell us about Mantra and how that came about?
I was watching a K-Pop documentary and there were meet and greets for all of these artists and I thought there’s nothing like that anymore for Rock and Metal bands. The connection you get from meeting someone face to face is so cool. So I wanted to do something similar but with artists on the rise, where people can pay for a ticket but also meet the bands for free. We’ve had two of them so far and they’ve gone really well. Everyone had their merch signed, bands got new fans and it was a nice environment that actually felt really social.
If you could sum up your career so far in three words, what would they be?
Rewarding, insane and intense. I feel like I was given this green light to be this person for upcoming bands and I won’t stop until every new band is represented. I love it!