The book was borne during the first UK lockdown, announced on 23 March 2020, and conceived around playlists from 80 Worldwide FM and BBC6 Music radio broadcasts created by Gilles. These playlists provide the structure of the book, which resultantly brought in other contributions from creatives such as British jazz and soul singer Zara McFarlane, British guitarist and musician Jean-Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick and record producer Simon Emmerson. Other contributors include Rob Gallagher, Emily Moxon, Louie Vega, François Kervorkian, Brian Bacchus, Adrian Younge, Kassa Overall, Jazz Re:-freshed, Damu The Fudgemunk and Raw Poetic.
“Gilles Peterson delivered 80 radio broadcasts and Lockdown FM is a musical and visual feast – an alternatively sobering and celebratory response to Lockdown,” states the book’s editor Paul in an announcement. The book, in this sense, is a celebration of the industry greats and honours the birthdays of those closest to Gilles, such as Stevie Wonder and Dee Dee Bridgewater. But equally, it’s also a commemoration of the many lives lost to Covid-19, which includes artists and musicians like McCoy Tyner, Manu Dibango, Tony Allen, Ty and Mike Huckaby.
Gilles Peterson – a London-based DJ, broadcaster and record label founder also known as Gilles Jérôme Moehrle – has launched a new publication titled Lockdown FM: Broadcasting in a pandemic. A 600-page documentation of life over the course of the pandemic, the book is published by Worldwide FM, featuring design and art direction by Hugh Miller plus edits by British music magazine Straight No Chaser’s Paul Bradshaw.