A NEW radio station goes live next week.

Decadance Radio will be broadcasting to Brighton and Hove and the surrounding area on digital radio from Friday, August 7, at 7am.

Founder Anthony Nichols has worked with the BBC, Kiss FM UK and the Capital Group across 18 years in radio.

He said: “We want to support local DJs and musicians and deliver what Juice 107.2 was doing and more.

“There will be a traditional radio sound but it will be a crossover between the music you recognise and the stuff you might not have heard.

“The station won’t be like Kiss where there is a heavy rotation and you hear Rhianna every hour, but also not as obscure as Radio Reverb.

“Our aim is simple: to bring great programming to the city with music, a professional platform for local artists and opportunities for the business community, on a level not being done by anyone else currently.”

The station is being launched by the team behind music events company Decadance, which was awarded a local DAB licence earlier this year.

Decadance Radio will be broadcast on digital radio as far as Newhaven, Worthing and up to Burgess Hill.

Anthony is set to host the live breakfast show between 7am and 10am from the station’s studio in Devonshire Place in Kemp Town.

Programming will also include a show hosted by current and former students at BIMM Brighton music college on Sunday afternoons, with live sessions and a focus on local bands.

Anthony said: “The evening shows will all be local DJs and on Sunday evenings we’re going to have an hour of discussion about music and culture in the city and how it could be improved.

“We’re also going to be running ‘Future Selection’, where anyone who has never been on the radio can submit a mix and we will play it every night from Monday to Thursday.

“We want to find fresh new talent and give people a platform to share their music and we’re going to be offering music production workshops and working with Brighton University and BIMM.”

Decadance will also be one of the first commercial stations in the UK to launch as a “non-advertisement” station, and will rely purely on

sponsorship and partnerships.

Anthony, who has been running events through Decadance since 2006, said the radio station was “the last piece of the puzzle” and will give the music community in Brighton a boost.

He said: “Brighton as a city is very musical but I think we’ve lost our way a bit. Everyone looks back to the days of Fatboy Slim on the beach. Anything we can do to put Brighton back on the map musically is a good thing.”

Decadance is currently streaming recorded shows at decadanceradio.com and will launch live on August 7 on DAB radio.