Paradise Under the Sun: the Dawn of Alternative Radios in Bali
On the brink of the 2026 New Year, headlines of MTV shutting off their music-only channels after 44 years broke the world into a frenzy of nostalgic archive revisits. Some sentimentalists wiped the dust off their buried copies of Trax, while the most enthusiastic set out to create eternal time capsules. Most notably, within 48 hours of the news, coder Flexesaurus Rex developed MTV Rewind, a digital time machine with MTV archives dating back to the dawn of MTV’s alternative radio in the 1980s.
Now, we know that the news of MTV’s “shutdown” was hyperbolic, and it is, in fact, still operating under the wing of Paramount. Nonetheless, the allegorical collapse of this pivotal music empire prompted us to dig into the landscape of alternative radio and musical archiving that is closer to home.
On our own Paradise Isle, a collective of six multi-disciplined pioneers planted a vital seed to Bali’s alternative culture. When Cahaya, Eka, Denis, Ferry, Donny and Danika come together in a booth on the nook of Denpasar’s high street, they become known as Paradise Under the Sun.
Three months after their first airing in October 2025, we sat down with Eka, Danika and Denis and explored how independent music distribution in Bali serves a broader purpose than broadcasting.
The Real Paradise is the City Center
Out of the eight regencies in Bali, it was a no-brainer for the team to choose the capital city, Denpasar, as the home of their radio booth.
Arend (A), Danika (Da), Denis (De), Eka (E)
A: Is Paradise Under the Sun the first of its kind in Bali?
Da: Others have certainly come before us, but we could say we are the first independent alternative radio in Denpasar. The hope is that Paradise can become a bridge for friends coming from outside of Bali. We weren’t sure how to connect with those communities because the bridge didn’t really exist yet. From the beginning, we envisioned it as a way to blend into one community.
A: Since you mentioned opening in Denpasar, why did it have to be Denpasar?
Da: From my perspective, to move away from the idea that Bali is only about places like Canggu. I wanted people to look at Bali starting from its city center first. Where the government is. Where the capital is. If we want to talk about truly local roots — roots that actually encompass everything that exists in Bali — then we have to look at Denpasar first and understand what its ecosystem is really like. It’s a place that not many people visit, yet there is a real industry here.
Putting Denpasar’s Music Journey on the Record
The group elaborated that the community's enthusiasm for their opening went beyond their own expectations.
De: Since Paradise Under The Sun launched, so many people have submitted, and it had me going like, “Wow, are there this many DJs in Bali?”
Da: We didn’t expect there to be that many. We got around 100 submissions.
E: So there’s a real sense of enthusiasm between the community and us. It sparks a lot of conversations about constantly developing, constantly growing. Like “Oh right, there’s a lot that we don’t know, that we eventually find out through these spaces.”
Da: It makes Bali more fun; someone’s playing boom bap, someone’s playing 90's, someone’s playing hardcore hip-hop. The fact that that all exists, but…
A: The exposure isnt there yet?
Da: The exposure is there, but to remember these moments, the video archiving isn’t. We actually want to archive that this is the journey of music in Denpasar. We’re honestly a few years late, so maybe the archives are there, but we don’t know who has them. Now, we want to re-archive these [moments] because, from a media standpoint, there are a lot of platforms that people can watch from, so we can get reactions like, “Whoa I didn’t know there was something like this in Bali!”
A Community-Driven Approach to Sound Curation
With so many submissions, it becomes imperative to narrow the artists down to a representative selection. Paradise Under the Sun take a community-driven approach to music curation, preferring artists with a sustainable vision over a trending setlist.
E: To put it bluntly, playing music isn’t just about showing up for fun or simply wanting to perform. It’s about whether you actually understand the music you’re bringing — whether there’s a story behind it. In the end, it becomes your portfolio, your way of presenting yourself as a musician or a DJ in the future. It’s not just about saying, “I know how to use a controller, so I’ll just play.” It’s about how you build a flow, how you carry the set forward, so people can understand what you’re trying to say.
I believe that everyone who DJs has a responsibility to the audience. What I’m afraid of is the stigma that anyone can be a DJ — that people stop learning because of that. I’ve even tried DJing myself, and I failed. I reached a point where I realised I couldn’t force it.
Artist Spotlight
A: In your opinion, who have been some stand-out guests so far?
E: Definitely Terry McKassey, Sector66. Why? Because the way he does it feels like someone just chatting – kind of like a radio show. People get curious about what he’s actually talking about. It’s light and simple, so when he talks for an hour, it doesn’t feel long at all. While that’s happening, he plays music however he feels like. That’s what I like; it doesn’t feel stiff. The topics aren’t too serious.
De: I’d say Fullfill. One of the artists played a live set using modular gear and stuff like that. What really stood out is that at the time, Daniel Caesar had just released a new album, and she was already remixing it live when she played here. I thought that was sick, especially female DJs, which I rarely see, came out not just to blend tracks, but to mix them too
A: Okay, Eka has given one, Dennis has too. What about you, Danika, if you had to choose just one?
Danika: Skvllragg’
The future of Paradise Under the Sun
At the end of the day, where Paradise Under the Sun stands now is already much higher on the horizon than where they stood at dawn:
Danika: At first, we just wanted to make a studio for Eka to stash his bike before and after work hahaha
When we asked what’s in store for Paradise Under the Sun in 2026, they shared a desire to upscale intimate performances, reiterating their dedication to serving the community.
Da: I want more live sets as a band
De: Yeah, that’s true, just simple sets
E: Like Tiny Desk
De: Maybe even stream some of our friends’ band performances from here. Reminiscent of MTV Unplugged.
Ultimately, from The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” in 1981 to Paradise Under the Sun’s first airing in October 2025, we are reminded that alternative radios are timeless for uniting listeners of independent sounds. With the hands of Paradise Under the Sun steering the future of Denpasar’s music scene, local talents are finding both a platform and a lasting record.
