The shadow puppets of hundreds of silhouettes in a trance stand out against the declining day, under the gaze of the cows grazing a little higher up. At the start of the evening of July 19, at the Etale mountain pasture, perched at 1,500 meters, about ten kilometers from La Clusaz, a village of 1,800 souls in Haute-Savoie, a country and psychedelic festival beats its full. On the turntables, against a backdrop of rows of fir trees and under the disco ball, Kornelia Binicewicz distills her oriental electro.
Behind the Polish DJ, stands the discreet Philippe Thévenet, known as “Phil”, Bermuda shorts, fine mustache and laughing eyes under his cap. His T-shirt bears the image of the radio station he created in 2007: a cow’s head wearing headphones, the Radio Meuh logo. A few hours earlier, in the middle of the field transformed into a giant picnic area with refreshment bar, parasols and tangy mats, the 49-year-old man, son of a hotelier and former restaurateur, was busy with the final preparations for this new edition of the Champ des platiniques, a good-natured and free event organized by Radio Meuh, which, four times a summer, brings together a thousand people.
“I never thought I would have such success. I was really starting from a blank sheet”, always surprised Philippe Thévenet. The success of these evenings (the next ones will take place on August 16 and September 9) reflects the success of the radio, which boasts “the good sound of Reblochon”. Either a subtle underground mix of groove, pop and electro.
1.7 million active plays
Radio Meuh is the leading independent music web radio station in France, with 1.7 million active listeners (number of listening sessions lasting more than thirty seconds) in June. It is ahead of Radio Nova, for its digital part. ” Of the 2014, we were the only web radio station to reach audiences close to FM radio stations,” says its founder. The eclectic musical selection mainly appeals to urban dwellers between 25 and 45 years, 80% in France and 20% abroad, from Switzerland to the United States via England.
Not much predestined this pure Clusien, flugelhorn player traumatized by this hated instrument, to make the mountain vibrate. If not his unconditional and thwarted passion for music. “I was the guy who made compilations for friends, but in the mountains, at the time, I rowed: no radio, no Internet. We picked up a little Radio Nova, and the Swiss radio Couleur 3 when the weather was nice ! When ADSL was democratized, around 2007, I was lucky enough to have a computer scientist buddy thanks to whom we were able to get started. »
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