The Decemberists’ sell-out show at Radio City Music Hall on June 10 is proof of how far the band has come. They took the stage at the historical hall after a charismatic performance by heavily-accented British singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock and his supporting accompaniment the Venus 3. Hitchcock’s half-hour opening set included the ground-shaking song “Up to Our Nex” from the soundtrack to Rachel Getting Married, and the title song from his latest album Goodnight Oslo. Colin Meloy, lead Decemberist, joined Hitchcock on stage to shake the tambourine during the ‘70s rock-era tune “Saturday Groovers” and the beautifully melancholic track “Hurry for the Sky.” By the end of the set, Hitchcock And The Venus 3 may very well have been the sole cause of the smoke emanating from behind them.
After the opener, the Decemberists played two sets. The first earned them an A+ on the musical endurance test, seeing as how they went through the entire Hazards Of Love album with nary a pause or break. Though the first set offered the audience very few personalized touches, the tight tones and sensational melodies made it obvious why the Portland indie rockers have come so far. The set declared that the Decemberists are not an underground sensation any longer and have transitioned gracefully into the mainstream.
Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark, clad in a flowing white maxi dress, added an operatic edge to the Decemberists’ trademark indie sound when she joined the band for the first and some of the second part of the set. And another jem, pixie-haired Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond, guest-starred as well, complimented Meloy’s warble with her sultry-sweet tones. The ladies danced, crooned and accompanied the five-piece instrumentally in front of a kaleidoscopic background that gave the viewer the feeling of watching a group of fanciful elves play at the fairytale forest bonfire.
After a short break, the Decemberists came back on stage to play some of their greatest hits. Though the audience had stayed sitting for the theatrical first set, a dance party ensued once the first few chords of “Billy Liar” were strummed. Meloy divided the theatre into a vocal harmony by crowd section, which thrilled the balcony to no end, and created an audience-driven a cappella version of the song.
Because of Radio City Music Hall’s curfew, the Decemberists chose to keep the banter to a minimum and the music to a maximum, hitting crowd favorites like “The Crane Wife 3,” “Sleepless” and “Dracula’s Daughter,” which Meloy declared his “worst song ever” because of its “douche-y chord progression.” The concert’s last segment had a more intimate feel and rawer sound than either of the first two sets, giving the audience the feeling that they were witnessing something that wouldn’t (or couldn’t) be recreated. And the lone encore, during which the audience sang along with “Sons and Daughters,” left the evening on a poignant, memorable note.
You used to DJ on WRAS. How did that help you get started with Dust-To-Digital?
I view college radio as a great opportunity to learn about music—it just happens to be in front of a live, listening audience. My fondest memories of being a DJ include digging in the record library late at night when I would have the station to myself, doing Sunday afternoon free-forms on artists I enjoyed and interviewing artists coming through town for my show.
What is Dust-to-Digital’s musical specialty?
Dust-to-Digital is a reissue company, which means we’re looking into the past for music that might be buried or unheard for many years and presenting our findings to today’s listeners. We have issued gospel, jazz, country and blues, as well as music from Africa, Asia and Europe. Most of the recordings we issue were made before World War II.
You just won a Grammy, Congratulations! What went into this box set to earn the award?
The release that recently won the Grammy Award for Best Historical Album is Art Of Field Recording Volume I. It is a four-CD box set of field recordings made by Art Rosenbaum of Athens, Georgia. He spent the last 50 years going around recording musicians on location: in the church, on the back porch, at fish fries, etc. Art and I spent more than two years going through all of his recordings, which are archived at the University Of Georgia. For the 96-page book Art wrote the liner notes, his wife supplied the photographs, and we designed the package and had the audio remastered.
You plan to release the first recording of the human voice. Tell us a bit about that.
On April 9, 1860, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville used his invention called the phonautograph to capture an excerpt of the French folk song “Au Clair de la Lune.” In March 2008, the recording was discovered by a group of American audio historians in an archive in Paris and taken to California where scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory were able to convert the squiggles on the phonautograph into sound. The audio is less than 30 seconds long, and we will be issuing it on a one-sided 7-inch record with an etching of Scott on the B-side.
Diamond Dave Plotkin
General Manager, 2008 – present
Anthony Mennuti
General Manager, 2004 – 2006 WMSC
WMSC is hosting an Alumni Takeover. What is that?
Plotkin: Alumni week is an event taking place at WMSC where alumni of the station ranging from the 60’s to 3 years ago take over our programming and go on the air just like they did when they had shows using the same content they did back in the day.
Mennuti: You can blame the internet for this. We started a group on Facebook called “Friends Of WMSC” and before long we had alumni from 10, 20 years ago joining the group and sharing stories from their time at WMSC (and it wasn’t always 90.3 WMSC, the station was at 101.5 for a while and started out as WVMS 590AM back in the ’60s). It turns out a lot of them still live in the area and a common sentiment was that they’d love to do a show again. I just pitched the idea to the current staff at WMSC. Diamond Dave, the current GM, gave us the green light and thus the “Alumni Takeover” was born. It fills two main purposes, the first being to help build a strong alumni base and the second to get some really unique programming on the air.
Plotkin: We’re starting up an alumni association that will hopefully lead to more events.
Did current students mind giving up their shows for the alumni?
Plotkin: For the most part no, we have one show that is expecting Will Ferrel as a guest who requested at least a portion of his time slot be saved for him. Other than that, the DJs and staff are very excited about it.
How many alumni are returning to the airwaves?
Mennuti: Currently there are approximately 50 alumni confirmed to do shows. Some are co-hosting with others so we have slightly fewer shows than that. But demand was high enough that we had to trim most shows from three to two hours and we managed to fill every day, at a minimum, from noon to midnight. Our DJs for the week go as far back as the class of 1972, with a lot of representation from the early ’80s and 2001 and beyond. The group represents every era and incarnation of WMSC.
A lot has changed in the past 40 years, how are the alumni DJs going to man the board?
Mennuti: Some of our DJs haven’t been in the studio since before WMSC had CD players but some old FCC regulations may actually be working in our favor. Formerly, in order to be on the radio, a DJ had to obtain a certification from the FCC, which is a lot different than it is today where you can pull anyone off the street and sit them behind a soundboard. So since there was a more formal training process established in the past, and since many of our alumni are still working in the field, most of them are familiar with current equipment, which is much easier to operate than CARTS, POTs and reel to reel. We’re also holding refresher courses for anyone who feels they’ll need it. I know a few alumni have stopped by recently to get a feel for how the place is currently configured, but the general concepts are largely unchanged.
Caroline Shadood Music Director WMUH WMUH turned 60 last year. Happy late anniversary! Can you tell us a little bit about the station?
Thanks! The station is split 50/50 between community and student DJs, making the programming fantastically diverse. We broadcast primarily rock and indie rock, as well as jazz, blues, metal, punk/ska, electronic and world music. Right now we chart Radio 200 and Loud Rock at CMJ, but there has been an increasing demand for Hip-Hop and RPM at the station. I’m trying to work some of that into programming before my time at Muhlenberg is up. We’ve taken a lot of strides since 2005 when I first became a DJ, now we all live together under one ridiculous radio-obsessed roof. We dressed as KISS for Halloween. It’s pretty serious.
How does it feel to be ranked on the Princeton Review’s top station list? Does this attract a lot of new DJs to the station?
It feels great, like all the effort we’ve put in for the last few years will continue to amount to something. Most student DJs are happily
oblivious towards WMUH’s rankings and awards. Rather, we are each in our respective heads on a simple mission to find good music and share it.
You recently hosted a cut-a-thon. What is that?
We’re constantly looking to have creative fundraisers, but this one was epic. Last spring, WMUH hosted a haircut-a-thon in which three Eskandalo Salon stylists (one of which is a DJ) came and gave haircuts to listeners, DJs and students alike. We charged five dollars per cut, and all the proceeds went to fundraising for the station.
WMUH didn’t make much money, but the Muhlenberg campus looked a bit edgier after that event. It was great for exposure. DJs playing music and giving haircuts in the student union is not something you see every day.
Do you book all concerts on campus, or do you have other organizations that handle this?
We book concerts on campus, but rarely are they sponsored by other event-planning organizations. Although we wish we could have more funding for events, WMUH takes pride in working independently to bring bands to Muhlenberg. I go about booking shows in a very grassroots kind of way, usually by chance or on a whim, asking bands as a fan at their own shows. I am honest about who we are, and the artists quickly become enthusiastic about our station and the people here. In the last 14 months we’ve had Tim Williams, Jordan O’ Jordan, TV Coahran and Pretty And Nice play shows alongside student bands and WMUH DJs. It’s satisfying to bring people together via good music on a small campus. Everyone is fascinated by one another.
Mona Dehghan Director of Radio and Video Promotion/Project Management Domino Records So, how are things at Domino today?
Kinda hectic! We had a snow day yesterday, which rules, but now I’m super behind, trying to do a million things at once! I’m currently working the Animal Collective, Psapp, and Benjy Ferree radio campaigns while also putting together the Junior Boys album and preparing for the upcoming Cass McCombs and Dirty Projectors releases.
Animal Collective has been topping the CMJ charts for a few weeks in a row now. Did you do anything special for that campaign?
As far as sales went, we decided to release the vinyl early before the actual CD release date. I think that helped build up a ton of momentum because the vinyl sold out the first day, and by the time the CDs were sent out to stores and radio (AAM and Terrorbind did a great job with the album), the anticipation was bordering on hysteria. But at the end of the day, I think the #1 status comes down to Animal Collective making a truly brilliant album.
Did you involve radio in the vinyl release?
We had a ton of stations all over the country help us promote listening parties, so a lot of stations were working in conjunction with stores or venues all over. It was super fun to be able to involve so many stations and fans at once… I feel like a big part of Animal Collective’s charm is that their fanbase, though large, still has a strong sense of community.
Domino is a really diverse label. How do stations with different formats relate to your releases?
Well, we treat each release with the individuality that it demands. We won’t just do a blanket servicing of our albums to the full panel and hope it does well. We will make sure to target stations that we think will appreciate a release. Thankfully most college stations have formats as diverse as our roster, so they appreciate almost everything.
Do you find that Domino bands that have had commercial success, like Franz Ferdinand, see the same type of college radio support as lower-profile acts? How do you balance the campaigns?
Well, for example, right now Franz Ferdinand’s campaign is about the same, timing wise, as Animal Collective. And Franz is definitely doing well (top 10), but Animal Collective’s MPP is kinda blowing Tonight out of the water. Sony/Epic is handling Franz’s stateside campaign, and my guess is that college radio wasn’t a huge priority. That said, I think the Syndicate is doing a stellar job promoting it with the resources they were given. I think the way college radio goes though, commercially successful bands in general won’t do as well as some of the more indie standards.
Can you tell us a little bit about your upcoming records?
The new Dirty Projectors is going to blow minds, one day at a time. “Stillness Is The Move” is gonna be the first single off the album, and it’s so good. And the new Cass is another heartbreaking work of beauty too…more of those melancholy melodies that we’ve come to know and love from him. Those are both expected to be released in
June. Our next project that we’re sending out to radio is the latest from Junior Boys, which is amazing. It reminds me of Chromeo on Valium. Or as my roommate calls it, “Planetarium Jamz.”
Anything else?
Umm… this might sound dumb, but since I’ve started at Domino, I haven’t had as much time to call as many stations as I used to at Sub Pop. I kind of really miss talking to everyone! If anyone reading this hasn’t gotten a call from me recently, they should just call and bug me, because it’s been too long.
Machen Davis Marketing Director Radio K You are an AM station with an FM signal. Explain how that works. Machen DavisKUOM has been a licensed AM radio station since January, 1922, the tenth oldest station in the country and oldest in the state of Minnesota. Although we have substantial power on AM (5000 watts which reaches out 65-90 miles, depending on the direction), we are limited to broadcasting in the daytime. Throughout our existence we have tried to find a way to extend our broadcast hours. When streaming became possible in the late ‘90s, we started doing that very early. In 2003, we reached an agreement with a local school district station to share their low power (8 watts) frequency at 106.5 MHz. They only use the station on school days during school hours and we use it the rest of the time, which includes all night every night when the AM signs off. Over the last few years we have moved the joint antenna to improve our coverage of the original signal and added a
10-watt translator station at 100.7 FM to extend the signal towards St. Paul. We broadcast the same audio on all
our outlets, but the only outlet that’s available 24/7 is the web streaming. AM is still on only 6:00 a.m. to average
monthly local sunset. And FM (including translators) is on most of the time except when the high school is in session. In the next week or so we will add a second translator station at 99 watts on 104.5 MHz to provide an excellent signal in the center of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. It’s difficult to market the station with this crazy quilt of availability.
What are you doing for you SXSW remote broadcast? Dana Raidt:We are the only station from Minneapolis/St. Paul broadcasting from Austin this year. It’s our first time doing this and we’re really excited! We will be broadcasting live from Premium Recording Service, March 18-20, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The broadcast will feature us DJing, plus we’ll be hosting about 15 bands for live in-studios. We have a great lineup, including All The Saints, Sunset, Superdrag, Anni Rossi and a lot more. In addition, we’ll be blogging on our website, interviewing bands, posting audio (and hopefully video) of the sessions, and our news department will be putting together a special SXSW recap package using the content we
gather while in Austin. We’re sending myself, the assistant music/program director, marketing director, morning
show host and program coach. There are also some volunteers and members of the Minneapolis music community going down on their own who will hang out and help gather content for the blog. We’re really excited to be working with Premium Recording Service—that’s where Bill Callahan recorded his Woke On A Whaleheart record; and Okkervil River, Voxtrot and Sunset have also recorded there.
Tell us about the Stuck On AM series. MD:Stuck On AM is our series of music compilations made from live recordings in the station’s performance studio. It started in 1994 with a double-disc release featuring local artists that performed on our local
show, Off The Record. Since then it’s grown to include national acts as well. We recently just released the sixth edition featuring Fiery Furnaces, Dosh, Final Fantasy, Tapes ‘N Tapes, Land Of Talk, Nomo, among many others. Past compilations have featured Metric, Tegan and Sara, Spoon, Andrew Bird and more.
Justin Spindler National Director Of Radio Promotion Mute Records So, what do you do over at Mute?
Supposedly I’m in charge of radio promotion for the entirety of North America (at least the NAFTA countries). Sadly, I don’t get a ton of action south of the border. This saddens me, as I really love singing that Wall Of Voodoo song, but can find no professional reason to do so. It’s the “Whoaoh” part that gets me.
Wall Of Voodoo isn’t a Mute band.
This is true. I’m working on getting Liars to do an erratic, fuzzed-out cover. It will slay.
What’s your favorite Mute song with a “whoa-oh?”
Honestly, I’m not totally sure there is one. Or at least I’m blanking right now. This can be the CMJ challenge I suppose for the readers. They can find the Mute “whoa-oh” song and prove me wrong.
Can they Twitter you the answer?
We are on twitter. I think we signed up a short while ago. However, I’m not the keeper of the Twitter here. So unless the message gets relayed I won’t immediately see the answer.
Do any of your bands twit (or whatever the verb is)?
I believe we have a fully non-twitting roster of artists. If we have anyone step up to the plate I’d put my money on Polly Scattergood though, as she tends to update her MySpace with incredible regularity. She’s just a few steps away from twitting, or tweeting or whatever it’s called these days.
You have some pretty mysterious artists. Have you ever met the Residents?
If I have, I’m unaware. I meet countless people who claim that they know where/who the Residents are… but no two stories seem to be the same. People have latched onto them in a serious way though, which I find refreshing for an anonymous band. I was on the train the other day and saw someone with a Residents tattoo on their arm. Though they have remained faceless, people propagate them in other ways.
Have you seen other Mute tattoos or little tributes? Anyone wearing the Knife masks?
I’ve seen an Einsturzende Neubauten tattoo as well, which I imagine is an instant conversation piece when you walk into a party. The plague masks that the Knife wear are a bit dark, but I’ve seen pictures of folks wearing them out for Halloween.
What records do you have coming out this year?
This will be a pretty killer year for us in terms of releases. Fever Ray (Karin from the Knife) will be in March. We’ll have the debut record from Polly Scattergood shortly thereafter, and are expecting new records from Tiny Masters Of Today, Liars, Maps and a few others as the year goes on.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Hmm… I suppose I should shout out my old college station, WDBM in East Lansing. Without them, I’d likely not be doing what I’m doing now. And I’ll say I’m rather excited to see wi-fi getting placed in cars in the near future so that we can stream college stations who are online anywhere in the country. Soon we’ll have the good stuff everywhere.
What’s the University Of California Radio Network Conference?
The University Of California Radio Network Conference (UCRN) is an event that happens twice a year, once at a station in Northern California and once down south. We’re a big state. It’s a Saturday where people from all the stations in the UC system gather to hang out, meet each other, go to discussion panels, share ideas, eat some food
and have a good time. It’s kind of like a super-specialized version of CMJ’s College
Day, for a group of people who see each other more frequently. I’ve made a lot of good friends through UCRN, and it’s one of my favorite parts of college radio.
How did you end up being the host?
We were asked to host it this time because, well, we hadn’t in a while—and we’re definitely excited to! We made
some sweet LP tote bags to commemorate it. KZSC is a wonderful station, different from many others. We’re a little cabin surrounded by redwood trees on a very large, open campus in the woods. A cabin that reaches three counties at 20,000 watts, but still, a cabin that plays a lot of things no one else does.
Tell us about the Animal Collective listening party you hosted.
We were lucky enough to be asked by Domino and Terrorbird to help host a listening party for Merriweather Post Pavilion. We paired up with a wonderful local vinyl-only record store called Metamusic Records in downtown Santa Cruz, and we packed the place. They were able to sell all the copies of the album they bought for the party. Kids were piled up in the small store and on the street listening to the record.
It was great! In the iTunes era, selling out of a record, [having to turn] people away—that’s really odd and it’s kind of
nice. Demand is out there, and it’s cool that we can see this with our own eyes. We were able to raffle off cool posters as well as have a sign-up sheet for an exclusive presale for an Animal Collective show in Big Sur, CA. It’s this May, outside in the forest at night, and put on by folkYEAH!, who bring wonderful shows to our area and work with KZSC all the time.
Do your DJs play a lot of vinyl?
People are really getting stoked on vinyl at KZSC. We have lots of community members who’ve never stopped
using LPs, and we have thousands upon thousands, several walls worth at the station. We know digital releases are
here and growing, but we’ve got a soft spot for tangible things, at least I do. Whenever I get a real record, 12 or
7-inches, it says something—a lot more than a paper case and a glossy photograph. Colored vinyl? Count me in. People are into it, and that makes me real happy.
Mitchell Feldman Founder/Owner Mitchell Feldman Associates What’s the story behind Mitchell Feldman Associates?
It’s a little complicated. I started Mitchell Feldman Associates as a music PR firm in 1996. In 2004, I started a jazz
division at a music marketing company called INDIEgo, that doesn’t exist any more. In March, 2005 they decided to
focus on their core business—a digital downloading kiosk—closing the jazz label and INDIEgo. So in April, 2005, I
reactivated MFA and added jazz radio promotion to my services. So I’ve been doing radio promotions since 2004. And I love it.
What made you want to switch from publicity to radio?
I still do some publicity, but I find radio a more immediate and gratifying way to promote. It reaches more people; it
happens faster. If you’re lucky, you send out a CD and in two or three weeks it’s on the air; getting a review in print
can take months. My clients are mostly regional or emerging artists who produce and release their own CDs. My job is to raise their national profile. I love it when my clients tell me “I heard from somebody I haven’t heard from in 20 years. They were listening to their radio and heard my CD.” That’s gratifying. It’s getting harder and harder to get print coverage as news space is shrinking… things happen faster with radio and you can cover the whole country…with the internet, the whole world.
Did you have a background in radio?
I started out in college radio as the music director of WOUG in Athens, Georgia, in 1977. I started doing jazz radio in
1976 as a DJ there, then I was selected as a music director from ‘77-‘78. We’re talking when R.E.M. was still in high
school but the B-52’s were coming on the scene. That year was just incredible. I personally added the first records by Elvis Costello and the Police among others. It was a great time to be a MD. Today I produce and host two internet
radio shows—“Jazz Without Borders” that started on the George Public Broadcasting network in 2006 and moved to TaintRadio.org last year; and I resurrected this show I did [over] thirty years ago in Athens called “Crusin’ with Abdul.” I don’t play my clients’ music, but I do get serviced by other promoters, which keeps me up to date with
what new music is out there.
Which artists you have been working with?
The bulk of my clients release their CDs on their own labels. I am also retained on and off by several indie labels.
Most of my stuff ends up on the jazz chart, but I did get some in the world and Latin alternative albums chart… I
introduced a label from Caracas called Cacao Music that ended up being named Latin Jazz label of the year. I’ve worked for more established artists too like Alphonse Mouzom, Michele Rosewoman and Oliver Lake. I am particularly proud about my work for Anat Cohen and Organissimo. Anat was my first client [when] I started doing jazz radio on my own. She has a label, Anzic Records, that retains me when they use an outside promoter. I promoted the second album by the trio Organissimo, from Lansing, MI and established them nationally. I did their third album this year which was my first #1 jazz CD at CMJ. Anat’s latest CD, which is still on the chart, made #1 too…in fact I had the #1 and #2 CDs at CMJ Jazz for all of October. There were only two weeks of last year when I didn’t have something on the chart. I think I’ve built up the reputation that when programmers get an envelop with my return address on it, people will know that—well, the CD might not work for them, everything doesn’t work for everybody—but it will be worth checking out. I put a lot of time and effort into it, but I love it.
Bands at Bard can be divided into the following main categories:
1. Screamos who can’t play their instruments properly
2. I wish I were Bob Dylan
3. Minimalist sonar sounds over torturous howls/ We wish we were Animal Collective
4. All together now girls, yell about rebellion!
All pretty different. But the common thread that connects them is their good intention: they each try to emulate someone great, but fail somewhere in the process. Usually it’s because they try to overcomplicate things. Music becomes something to understand, to “get.” And because only some people “get it,” the great equalizer (besides death) becomes something elusive. Somewhere along the way it became a sin to play Pop, cheap even.
AARON HENRY Music Director Montco Radio What station events do you have planned?
Community Day, which was in early October, is our annual campus-wide festival includes all student
clubs. It’s a chance to reach out to our surrounding neighbors young and old. Also, we’ve recently begun weekly outdoor broadcasts, in conjunction with the music department. Students come together in front of our Advanced Technology building every Wednesday for the broadcast from noon to 1:30 p.m. It’s become so popular, that we move it indoors to the lobby during bad weather so that we can
keep it going year round. This spring, we are planning to hold an all-day outdoor music festival in conjunction with the music business class. It will include local bands from the area as well as some more established artists.
Why do you feel station events are important?
They are a great way to interact with your audience. It’s a thrill for us to have our voices heard on the radio, but giving the listeners an opportunity put a face with the voices creates a strong bond. And in return they will promote the station to their friends and family.
As in internet-only station, how are you received by the campus and student body? How do you get their attention?
When I first came to Montgomery County Community College, we were the least respected and one of the least visible student clubs on campus. The station was a bit disorganized and
undisciplined. But eventually we started promoting among students through the internet via MySpace and Facebook. Then Student Activities allowed us to broadcast in the cafeteria, which was huge! Now they have plans in the near future to expand our broadcast to the communications
building and the bookstore. And this semester we printed t-shirts for more visibility on and off campus.
What has been the most effective way to recruit new DJs and staff?
On campus events! Students are like moths to a flame when they see us playing their favorite songs and having a good time. We get at least five to ten applications each Wednesday when we perform in the communications building. We also began a class, “Campus Radio Workshop,” where students can receive school credit for developing their own radio show. And of course the free CDs, posters and concerts don’t hurt either.
Kerry Murphy Principle Free Yr Radio
Free Yr Radio is a program created by Toyota Yaris and Urban Outfitters, with the guidance of brand promotions company 206 Inc., whose aim is to publicize the importance of independent radio. Events like their annual concert series held at Urban Outfitters, in-stores and benefit compilation albums help give direct support to partnering radio stations across the country.
How did the Free Yr Radio program come about?
We were working with both Toyota and Urban Outfitters and saw a good opportunity for the brands to partner surrounding music, but needed to ensure that whatever they did together was genuine. Indie radio is such a vital part of our culture, and it seemed like a natural way for the brands to provide
real support to the community.
I know you were a contributor to Spin: Underground USA and have worked on numerous music related campaigns. But how else has independent music/radio/culture affected your life?
Can you image a world without independent art or media? It’s that simple—imagine it, and it becomes
immediately clear that we should do whatever we can to ensure that our independent media channels thrive. Independent radio provides an outlet in communities across the country which wouldn’t otherwise exist.
What else can be done to give independent radio a fighting chance?
Whatever your local station needs, you should give. Are they fundraising and asking for donations? Donate! Are they asking for you to put a bumper sticker on your car to show your support? Do it! The stations know what they need, and it is our obligation to help them however we can.
How has Free Yr Radio directly benefited the radio stations it supports?
Each participating station is given a package of promotional elements, opportunities and events, and all we ask of the station is that they leverage these elements to the hilt however they can to get the most benefit. We provide each station with a live show which we produce, and to which they can invite their listeners for free. We do PR in every market with a real focus on the story of the station and why the community should pay attention. Each station gets to award a Yaris to a listener, either as a boon to fundraising efforts or as promotion and listener appreciation. We have a benefit compilation coming out featuring our partner bands, and we divide the net proceeds among the stations.
How were the bands recruited?
In the first year we had a lot of explaining to do just to convey to the bands, agents and labels what we were trying to accomplish. Even so, we had an amazing lineup of bands. This year, the indie universe is pretty familiar with the Free Yr Radio concept, and booking came down to a combination of factors like touring logistics and pairing appropriate bands and stations. In some cases the stations asked for a particular band, and in others we made some suggestions.
Andrew Balcerzak and Brian Scavo RPM/IGE Music Co-Directors WBGU FM
Explain IGE. Andrew Balcerzak: IGE is a term which stands for “industrial gothic experimental,” and it was an additional music department which I founded back in 2002. But it had no proper CMJ chart, and most of that stuff really just charted to RPM because it was electronic in nature. Some of the gothic rock stuff… it’s more rock. So I was beholden to the RPM director at the time. And at the time the RPM director was not very interested in really working with us. A few years went by and the two departments were formally merged.
How did the two of you get involved together? AB: I was working with another DJ who became my co-director at the time (2002). The working and personal relationship was, how do I put this nicely, disastrous. And over the years, I’ll be honest, I was just not a very good music director. I was not able to keep up with all the work. Brian came on in 2008, this past spring. Brian Scavo: I had been a DJ in the RPM/IGE department since spring of 2006 and it came to the point where I wanted to get more involved in the station. We worked out a codirectorship, and since then… AB: We’ve seriously kicked ass.
How so? AB: Establishing more radio service by establishing and maintaining contact with all constituencies. Promotions companies give us radio service, and individual record labels give us radio service without the aid of promotions companies. Individual artists provide us radio service too. So we’ve developed personal relationships with these people, and provide our constituents with detailed information about our activities via our weekly airplay report—which I was not very
consistent with previously. Now with Brian on board it’s disgustingly fleshed out. I mean we just sent out our weekly airplay report, and it’s twenty pages long!
What kind of response have you got to your report? AB: Two responses: “Jesus Christ, this is so long, I’m never going to read this all” and “Holy crap, I want to bind this is leather, sit by the fireside and read it…” We’re really big on…what’s the word I’m looking for Brian, responsibility? Fairness? Following the rules? BS: Yeah, abiding by the structure that we’ve built up. One big example is that we don’t add releases to our rotation unless it has an official street release date. We get a lot of issues
with that because radio promotions companies or labels don’t want to give that to us, or they don’t actually have an answer. I think it’s been a little difficult for us to work with some people and get on their good side because we’re so stringent when it comes to following the rules. And we’re not going to put someone’s record on our top ten just because we like them or they ask us to. AB: Our chart is based on spin counts, as it should be. It’s not based on pushing some record that some promoter really wants to get in the top ten. For everything that is serviced to us… we’re going to tell you one of three things. Number one: if it was added. Number two: if it was
not added, we call that rejected. And number three: if it was rejected, why it was rejected. Well, number one could be rejected, because we do not deem that it fits the RPM format. BS: We feel like people bend the definition of RPM all the time, so we’re trying to stick to what we see as its true definition.
Rick Ross Managing Director Delicious Vinyl In 2007, Delicious Vinyl celebrated its twentieth anniversary, making it one of the longest-running independent hip-hop labels in history. Does that ever feel overwhelming?
Delicious Vinyl has always been one extended family of artists, producers, DJ’s and friends. Label founders Michael Ross and Matt Dike met in 1982 at the Impact Record Pool in L.A. Michael and I are brothers and we have continued to build the label together since 1989. Being one of the last remaining independent labels from the golden era in hip-hop is really an honor, and I always dig hearing which records meant the most to the fans and DJ’s.
How do you keep current while staying true to your roots?
From Django to Digitalism—and my favorites of all-time, Wilco—I’ve never been just into one musical genre. With hip-hop changing so much in the last 20 years, I have seen a lot of
different styles, and the bottom line is, it’s either good music or it’s not. With Rmxxology I took some chances having Hot Chip remix “Passin Me By,” probably the most sacred hip-hop song in the catalog. Joe and Alexis from Hot Chip took their love for this track and deepened its emotional core, creating
a gothic blues-infused religious hymn. Fatlip’s chorus brings us into the church and rapture is achieved. Same thing happened on Breakbot’s remix of “What’s Up Fatlip?” where a subliminal, emotional intangible is brought out.
How did the label celebrate its twentieth anniversary?
We began by putting together the Rmxxology album, than we had our friend Bobby Evans do a Delicious Vinyl Mixxtape with all the classics and a few of the remixes. We have begun to do parties in different cities worldwide. The parties always have a classic old-school vibe and some new-skool electric feel. It’s the traveling Delicious Vinyl All-Star show with lots of visuals, classic videos and
plenty of cake.
Delicious Vinyl T-shirts have become really popular. Why do you think they’re selling so well?
The logo is just one of those classic brands that make people happy. It’s really nice to see the shirts everywhere. LeBron James was wearing his at the Olympics this summer. We recently created a few offshoots of the logo, including a Gold Delicious Rmxxology shirt and of course the Delicious Gutter
shirt, and they’re all really fun.
Could you tell me about Delicious Gutter?
DJ Aaron LaCrate and I started a new division to release hardcore, club bangers, and bass music from Gutters Hi And Lo worldwide. The first release—after we kicked off with LaCrate and Samir’s ill remix of Young MC’s “Know How”—is the Don Rimini “Kick And Run” EP. Next comes the first B’more meets Jamaica firebomb from Mr. Vegas, “Oh My Gosh.” There is really no limit to where we will go to bring the finest Gutter music to your town. Expect to see the Delicious Gutter tour with Aaron LaCrate, Don
Rimini and many special guests this winter.
Thomas Lax Owner Siltbreeze Records Give me a general history of the label.
Originally Siltbreeze was a fanzine that ran eight issues [in the late ‘80s]. It garnered a lot of interest and enthusiasm from bands like Gibson Bros., Phantom Tollbooth, Halo Of Flies and more renowned zines like Forced Exposure and Conflict. First release was a Halo Of Flies 7-inch, then Dead
C, Gibson Bros., V-3, Monkey 101 and more. Most of these are represented on our CD sampler, Tard And Furtherd, which is still available.
It seemed to me like Siltbreeze was pretty inactive, or maybe even done.
The label was inactive, yes. I reactivated it for Times New Viking’s debut, Dig Yourself, in 2005, spent 2006 figuring out if I wanted to continue, then opened the floodgates again in 2007. The Little Claw 7-inch and Hank IV’s Refuge In Genre LP are just out. Forthcoming is a second Der Teenage Panzerkorps LP, and a LP from an outfit called The Love Is So Fast.
How do you think the label has changed over the years?
I don’t think the label’s changed, I think the audience for it has finally appeared. We always had a core of people who loved most everything we put out, and that remains intact, it’s just there are more of them now.
How do you discover new bands these days?
Mostly I guess I find things via the internet, word of mouth too, the occasional demo. And college radio, let’s not forget that medium! Lot’s of great DJs and stations, and with streaming you can listen everywhere. It’s fantastic.
Mac, co-kook of Siltbreeze, is known for his, uh, experiences. Craziest Mac story?
Oh man, there are so many! There was a night a few years back in Harrisburg, Ohio where we were hanging out with Mike Rep (lo-fi producer extraordinaire), and some gnarly woman who lived next door insisted on sitting on the porch with us and trying to hone in on our vibe. She was a jowly sort, with a sandy head of hair that looked like a Norman helmet. She also seemed to have about three
teeth, one of which stuck out the front of her mouth like a blunt spike. Maybe she was intrigued by Mac being a dwarf, who knows? Anyway, the night got darker, the vision blurrier, inhibitions much looser. Mac and this woman disappeared. She was going to take him to her place to see her baby (the husband was doing time in Orient state prison). Long story short, we get him the next morning walking down one of those odd streets they have out there, looking a little worse for the wear. As we were driving back to Columbus, I simply asked him, “Well?” All he said was, “I don’t want to talk about it, I deny everything, but toys were involved.”
Ocasr Zubia, Jr. Music Director Krux Radio What’s up at KRUX?
Well, I just started holding New Music Listening Parties. We sit in the conference room, I grab all the
adds for the week, and we listen and talk about each record that is up for top five. There is an ad in the school newspaper and I advertise what’s coming up that week so people can come prepared and
be ready to listen to some sweet new music.
Do you have people attending that are not DJs?
Yep! I’m trying to find people who could be future DJ’s or possibly have a future position here at the
station. We’ve also been doing a bunch of remotes around campus. I think we’ve had a bad rep in the
past, but we’re trying to build that up.
What kind of bad rep?
[The station] was seen as a kind of clique where they wouldn’t let people in and wouldn’t do anything
for the school or community. But we’re trying to show that’s what we’re here for. We’re for the students and the community.
Tell me about your Birthday Bash.
In the past we’ve had the Birthday Bash one evening, and we showcase local bands and have some contests. We also get a cake donated and it’s free for everyone who wants to come out. This year we incorporated it with the big rivalry football game. I think the reception this year was really good!
What is KRUXfest?
It’s our big event we hold in spring, April-ish. We get local bands for an all-day thing. We used do it
all week in different clubs aroundtown, but attendance was low and it was getting expensive. This year we’re going to try the one day thing, possibly multiple stages, and we’re going to try to get money for some national acts. Of course, mixed in with local bands, contests booths, food—just make it a huge deal [and] set a standard. Our student government hated us last year for spending a lot of money, then nothing really came out of it. But this year we’re working more like a team. We’re going to try and make this awesome. That’s why I’m looking forward to the College Day panel about throwing successful events. We have a lot of learning to do.
KRUX is so close to the US/Mexican border. Are you influenced by the music coming out Mexico?
Definitely. Our signal reaches out to El Paso… well, the outskirts but we’re working on getting it all the way out there, even to Juarez [Mexico]. That’s what we want to do with KRUXfest—get some out of towners in. It’s free for NMSU students and a minimal charge for non-students. And we also get Spanish music too, the scene is very [eclectic] here. We’ve even charted Kinky, Amigo Invisibles, Plastilina Mosh. The electronic scene is also great down there [Juarez], but what with the violence
no one really goes anymore.
Hot, sweaty young guys and gals with adorable accents? The Delancey was the place to be last night. The slightly out-of the way club was already tipping over when funnyman/host Rhys Darby (that’s Murray from the kiwi-in-New York hit Flight Of The Conchords) announced the upcoming (and up-and-coming) young New Zealanders slated to perform and the door staff had to turn away eager showgoers when poppy openers The Naked And Famous hit the stage. Audience flashbulbs on fire, youngsters Bang Bang Eche battled malfunctioning equipment with punk-rock panache. Packed in the basement of the club, Cut Off Your Hands played through a house kickdrum held together by gaffing tape and the new Hardly Art signees Ruby Suns gave strong a wild performance with their earthy jams.
Photos from the performance you wish you saw after the jump. (more…)
CMJ is proud to present the 2008 Station Of The Year nominees. These stations have successfully taken an active role in the community, provided innovative programming, and served as model stations. They are constantly raising the bar as to what can be, and should be, expected for college and non-commercial radio stations now and in the future. SOTY nominees, we salute you.
Bill Nguyen Founder Lala Lala is an ad-free music store/ social networking site that helps its members in discovering new music. The tracks are cheap (mostly 89 cents), the “websongs” even cheaper (10 cents to purchase a song kept exclusively on your browser). And with features like “CD swapping”
and “following” (finding new music by watching what your friends listen to), Lala is the next step in online music—or so says its founder, Bill Nguyen.
How did the idea for your social site—strictly for music, with filters to help search and options for things like CD swapping—come from?
One thing I thought about was, it’s so easy now to distribute. Before, some cheesy guy in a Cadillac would give you a check and then distribute your music. But now all of a sudden you just put your music on MySpace. So I just kept thinking, if people are making more music and it’s easier than ever to distribute it, why wouldn’t this be considered the greatest period of music history ever, right? When we thought about it we realized it’s a search problem. So my inspiration really with Lala was how do you bring all of this amazing music that’s available everywhere and put it onto the web where
people can discover it? The stuff that we’re launching pretty soon is going to be all about helping people discover new music, which we think is awesome. It’s kind of like a big giant version of all the work that CMJ’s been doing.
How do you get the artists’ okay to stream full versions of their songs on your site?
One of the things we said to the artists is there’s been this big move with MySpace Music and Imeem where music is free, but the problem is you sacrifice so much, because their business is based on advertising. So that means they have to stick a lot of ads and a lot of pages between you and the music. And so we built a business model where we let people try music, and if they want to discover it, they’re going to want to listen to it again and again. So we created all different kinds of concepts of lowering prices of mp3s, creating the idea of a web song, and we basically built a music site without any advertising. It’s just about the music. I’m really excited about [the websong] because it’s a tenth of the cost of an mp3, and I get to keep it forever in a browser.
Can independent artists get their tracks on there?
We’ve created a really cool program with Tunecore where basically if you’re an independent artist you just dump your stuff on Tunecore, and it shows up immediately on Lala. You can do Tunecore or CD Baby or The Orchard, all of the independent labels and all the independent aggregators that are involved in the network of labels that we’ve put together. The point with Lala is that if you’re really into music and you like listening to the radio, we’re going to build so many new, cool, crazy things to help you fall in love with music again. So that was our whole plan. That was the inspiration for us.
Lyzi Diamond Music Director KWVA Radio How did you and KWVA spend the summer?
KWVA spent the summer rapidly trying to fill the void created by the lack of student DJs! We were in the station all the time filling shows and using the empty studio time to organize and prepare for the fall. I was lucky enough to travel around the country for a month visiting promoters and other stations and gaining valuable information in regards to station improvement.
How do you get your DJs and station members to help with volunteer work?
All DJs are required to participate in the CD review process, and are required to review one CD per week. This helps the music department deal with the rapid influx of new music, and also helps the DJs get to know the music that is coming into the station. It has worked really well so far, and many DJs ask us for more than one CD per week!
Are you implementing anything new in the fall?
KWVA will be launching our new website in the fall, complete with show profiles, a way to chat with the on-air DJ, a calendar of upcoming concerts in the area, and an automatically-updating playlist to show what song is playing on the air. In addition, the fall will mark the launch of our digital library, a huge step as far as library organization for our station.
What else is in store for KWVA?
This year KWVA was approved by the University of Oregon for additional funding to remodel our
studios. Currently, KWVA is situated in an old men’s bathroom, an old women’s bathroom and an
old janitorial storage room. Although we will not be receiving these funds until June 2009, plans are in place and architects are being called to help us refine our plans for the new “integrated suite.” Another exciting improvement for KWVA this year will be our increased wattage. With the
purchase of a new transmitter.
Lance Ledbetter
Diamond Dave Plotkin
