Young voices
UnderTonen makes room for young voices that are rarely heard in established media. Participants work with their own stories, experiences and perspectives and learn how to bring them to an audience.
UnderTonen is a community for voices from the underground. We use media, music and communities as tools for creative expression, communication and active citizenship.
Short intro
Culture, media and democratic participation
UnderTonen works where culture, media and democratic participation meet.
Through podcasting, streaming, music and events, we give young people tools to develop their own stories and bring new perspectives into public life.
We believe democracy is not only about being heard, but about having the chance to take the floor yourself.
That is why we create spaces where young people can produce, present and share their perspectives, digitally and in front of an audience.
We also work with emerging musicians and underground voices through interviews, studio performances and live formats that connect music, storytelling and society.
Why UnderTonen?
Many young people have something to say, but lack access to spaces, tools and networks.
UnderTonen gives young people the opportunity to develop their own voices in practice. Not through abstract teaching, but through production, conversations, feedback, events and public presentation.
This strengthens participants' digital skills, creative confidence and ability to take part in conversations about culture and society.
Our approach
We work with access, community and production as paths to participation.
Digital literacy
Podcasting, streaming and social media are used as tools for reflection, production and responsible digital communication.
Citizenship
When young people produce and share their own stories, they become part of the public conversation and gain experience speaking up.
Community and anchoring
Participants develop projects together, give each other feedback and become part of a creative environment that can continue after the programme.
Music and emerging artists
UnderTonen Radio gives upcoming artists from the Danish underground a space to tell their stories, present their music and meet new audiences.
Practice before theory
Participants learn by making. The method starts from concrete productions, real formats and public presentation.
What we work with
Podcasting and streaming as tools for democratic participation
UnderTonen Voices
UnderTonen Voices is a competency programme for young people aged 15 to 25, where participants develop their own podcast and streaming formats based on their experiences, environments and socially relevant themes.
The programme combines idea development, practical production, mentoring, feedback and public presentation. Participants work with their own stories from first idea to finished format and gain experience taking the floor in front of others.
Key facts
- 12-week competency programme
- podcasting, streaming and digital media
- own formats from idea to production
- final live events
- access to studio and equipment
- focus on digital literacy, citizenship and community
Interviews, studio performances and new voices from the underground
UnderTonen Radio
UnderTonen Radio produces and shares new Danish music from emerging scenes through in-depth interviews, studio performances and live formats.
We work with artists on their way up and create professional settings where they can tell their story, present their music and reach audiences, industry actors and venues.
The format brings production, storytelling and distribution together. Content is not only produced, it is actively put into play so artists gain visibility, momentum and new opportunities.
Formats
- in-depth interviews
- in-house studio performances
- live events
- artist development
- digital distribution
Programme formats
UnderTonen develops practice-based programmes in podcasting, streaming and digital communication that can be adapted to different target groups, settings and partners.
The programmes start from young people's own perspectives and combine idea development, conversation, production, feedback and presentation.
The goal is to give young people concrete tools to express themselves, collaborate and participate actively in conversations about culture and society.
One-day workshop
A practice-based introduction to podcasting and streaming as tools for communication, reflection and democratic participation.
Six-week programme
A compressed programme where participants develop their own ideas, work with conversation and production and create a short pilot or conversation sequence.
Twelve-week competency programme
An in-depth programme from idea to finished format, where participants work with research, interviews, production, feedback and public presentation.
Results and learning
PLUSS has produced a summary of experience for UnderTonen Voices through participant interviews. The summary shows that the programme gives participants concrete media skills, stronger community and motivation to continue.
80% completion
The first cohort had high retention, and all completing participants presented live.
30+ productions
Participants have produced podcasts, livestreams and episodes based on their own ideas, experiences and perspectives.
400,000+ views
UnderTonen Radio has created significant digital reach for emerging artists.
PLUSS’ summary
Participant interviews point to learning, community, motivation and a desire to continue.
What the experience shows
From idea to finished product
Participants highlight that they learned the full process from idea development to finished format.
A safe and motivating learning space
The teaching is described as inclusive, meaningful and well structured.
Community and network
Participants describe an environment where they get to know each other, support each other and take networks with them afterwards.
Courage to stand forward
Participants presented their work in front of an audience. This strengthens confidence and the desire to continue.
Desire to continue
Several participants say that after the programme they want to continue with podcasting and streaming.
Our method
UnderTonen works through practice and relationships. We combine access to equipment, mentoring, community, production and public presentation.
The method is built around five moves:
Relational access
We recruit through trust, networks and actors close to young people.
Mentor-based learning
Participants meet teachers and role models with experience from the environments and formats they work with themselves.
Practice-based production
Young people work with their own ideas and produce concrete formats from the beginning.
Differentiated support
Programmes are adapted to participants' experience, pace and needs.
Public presentation
Participants gain experience sharing their perspectives in front of an audience, digitally and live.
The method can be adapted to different settings, from short workshops to longer competency programmes, and shared with schools, youth schools, FGUs, municipalities, cultural houses and civil society actors.
UnderTonen in practice
UnderTonen's work is strongest when young people get the chance to develop their ideas and meet an audience.
Here are two examples from our work with podcasting, streaming, music, conversations and live events.
Urban 13 Takeover
Urban 13 Takeover was created in collaboration with GAME Streetmekka Copenhagen and brought together podcasts, concerts and DJ sets in a shared space for youth culture, music and conversation.
UnderTonen contributed by curating conversations, young voices and music. On stage, participants' own formats were brought in front of an audience with conversations about topics including the role of rave culture in Copenhagen and social assumptions between young people from different housing areas in Nørrebro.
The artist programme drew on the network around UnderTonen Radio and presented promising emerging names within rap, hip-hop and afro-swing.
UnderTonen Live
UnderTonen Live took place in June 2024 in collaboration with Turning Tables Copenhagen and brought together young people, artists and audiences around music, culture and life as an upcoming artist.
The evening included a shared conversation about mental health in rap and hip-hop, an in-depth interview with Zuloo and a final concert.
The event became an important early moment in Zuloo's further development as an artist. Later, he appeared on UnderTonen Radio with a studio performance that received significant attention online.
About UnderTonen
Our story
UnderTonen started as a community radio created by young people with a shared interest in conversations, music and new voices from the underground.
In the first years, we helped build the studio community at Union and contributed to creating the studio that today frames our work with podcast programmes, media production and young people's own projects.
It became the beginning of an environment where young people could meet, develop ideas and use media as a tool for expression.
Since then, UnderTonen has developed from a radio community into an organisation working with podcasting, streaming, music, events and creative formats to strengthen young people's voices, digital literacy and opportunity to take active part in culture and society.
Today, participants in our podcast programmes use the studio to develop and produce their own projects, and the ambition remains the same: to create space for new voices and take young people and their stories seriously.
Team and organisation
UnderTonen is a small local association with a daily project team, a board and an active network of former participants, volunteers, artists and partners.
We work in a community-driven and relationship-based way, with a clear division of roles across project management, teaching, production, communication and board responsibility.
UnderTonen's board has overall responsibility for the association's management, finances, strategy and organisational development.
The association is continuously working to strengthen its board structure, member base and organisational grounding as the projects develop.
Charles Andrew Hviid Nielsen
Founder and daily lead
Responsible for project development, partnerships, funding applications, coordination and the daily development of UnderTonen.
Ibis Osmani Junior
Lead teacher and mentor
Responsible for practice-based teaching, mentoring and the development of participants' podcast and streaming formats.
Singeh Mbianda Kwankam
Production and communication lead
Contributes to visual documentation, video content and communication around UnderTonen's activities, productions and events.
Farah Ihsan
Board member
Bille H. Andersen
Board member
Charles Andrew Nielsen
Board member
Contact
Do you have questions about UnderTonen, collaboration or upcoming programmes?