
For more than 10 years Sheppard has been broadcasting live radio shows from various clubs in
and around Toronto, an innovation that changed the role of dance music on radio forever in
Canada. With music geared towards making listeners get off their butts and dance rather than
just provide sonic wallpaper for homebodies and shut-ins, Sheppard's original live,
commercial-free broadcasts changed the partying habits of a whole new generation of dance
addicts. For the first time kids, who were too young to get into clubs or those unable or unwilling
to brave the long line ups and packed dance floors a Sheppard appearance guaranteed, were able
to enjoy real dance music at home. Not just the tarted-up remixes of popular Top-40 fare that
commercial radio clung to, but the real, ground-breaking, earth-moving, booty-shaking
independently released dance tracks that set the club scene both apart and aflame.
In 1995 Sheppard broke new ground. With the premiere of Pirate Radio,
Sheppard's syndicated radio
show, Canada's disparate dance scenes are linked together for the first
time. Never before has a single DJ been able to exert his influence so
directly on so wide an audience. For decades dance communities across
the country had functioned independently of one another, discovering new music and trends only
as quickly and unpredictably as records found their way into individual DJ's hands. Now, on the
wide-reaching strength of Sheppard's weekly Pirate Radio broadcasts, dance fans from the
Maritimes to Vancouver Island can tune into the latest sounds.
Chris Sheppard is the leading dance radio D.J. in Canada with a #1 rated syndicated four hour show
running each week from coast to coast in Canada on all of the major CHR stations.
Through its syndicated radio show, Pirate Radio reaches a wide dance and pop audience, both on the
airwaves and in print ads. This show reaches the seven major markets in Canada each week, including
Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.
"I never underestimate the intelligence of the audience. I manage to walk the fine line between giving the people what they want and shameless pandering to trends of the moment. I also take pride in leading them into new pastures."
from The Toronto Star, August 1996
"We put up too many walls in this business. I want to break the walls down."
from The Record, August 1996
"... it's better if everyone came together and worked together in dance culture. This is the thing that I fear the most, that there are separations and factions and egos -- these things can only slow the scene down. The one thing about club culture is that it reaffirms your faith in dance music, its ability to lift, its ability to take you to a higher ground -- it's a positive energy."
from eye Weekly, Septermber 1996
"I'm just there to rock the party."
from DJ Times, January 1997
PIRATE RECORDS