I mentioned back when I was blogging on myspace that I'd eventually reach this topic, and today is that day. I will be talking about my short stint working for a college radio station. I won't explicitly state the name of the radio station, because I think it's unfair to slander the few hard workers that work for that organization. (However, if you follow the clues about where I go to school as well as look at the picture, I'm sure you could figure out who I used to take orders from.)
I originally assumed everyone that worked for the college radio station were pricks. I had spent a good deal talking to some of the DJs, and it always seemed like I wasn't the right "type." I'm pretty sure one radio talk show host absolutely hated me for no apparent reason. When I first went up to him and introduced myself, he seemed annoyed with me. He was an eccentric guy who would dress in fashionable clothes, walked around with a boombox that would act like "theme music," and his program featured a wealth of obscure indie and blues; I really thought we were going to be friends. However, it seemed like he wanted nothing to do with me. Other friends of mine talked to him, and he was exceptionally nice to them. However, to me, he said very little, and when he did, it was in a disgusted tone.
Needless to say, I originally wanted nothing to do with the radio station. It became apparent that the one guy who didn't like me was one of the upper management workers, and he, in turn, wanted nothing to do with me. To make matters worse, he was a general manager for booking shows, and it seemed like my musical act was banned from concerts on campus. Whereas the old general managers were my friends and were open to have me play a show, this general manager wanted more subdued, indie artists. The concert series under his management seemed to consist of more soft spoken, ambiant types, which is not my style of music or personality.
It wasn't until I was inspired from a fellow college radio show named "The Doing It Wrong" show that I felt like giving it a second chance. They were my friends, and I figured if they could get away with such a disorganized, yet entertaining show, I decided to give my own shot. The radio station was going through a transitional period in which a lot of their old DJs were leaving college, and so I applied. On August 2009, what I had thought would never happen had happened: I was hosting my very own radio show, "You Haven't Beaten Me Show."
With a name like that, it aptly set the tone for the entire semester of college radio program. I was finally working for the enemy, but there was no way they were going to control my voice.
I felt I was giving something different to the radio. I wasn't a Top 40 type, as my show would feature a mix of alternative music; Modest Mouse, Ween, Radiohead, Madvillian, The Flaming Lips, From Bubblegum to Sky, The Hives, waffles, The Pixies, The Mongols, Love, and Public Enemy were some of the ecclectic bunch I would play on the show. I would talk and sometimes be rather volatile (especially towards the show before me), but none of it was ever hateful in a "shock jock, 'Tom Leykis'" kind of way. Stimulating talk with a broad range of topics were at the core of the show; I never wanted to say anything on the air that did not have some sort of merit to it. I listened to the other shows, and without tooting my horn too much, I felt that I balanced having the right amount of energy, without letting myself go into "novelty" levels of broadcasting. I wanted to come off perfectly loud and clear, while adding a little bit of "edutainment" for good measure. The end of each broadcast would conclude with a live, acoustic performance in the studio to send the listeners off on a good note.
I am very grateful to say that I had spectacular guests co-hosts I had on the show. However, I will say that my expectations were usually "reversed" by the end of the day; often people that I thought would be talkative and entertaining on the mic tended to be the most quiet with the "on air" lights were on, and vice versa. I tried to make sure that we didn't get too distracted by making "inside jokes" that would distract from the broadcast. (Admittingly, I sometimes did not follow this rule, but I tried to keep it to the best of my ability.) The most notable help I got working the show was Chris Plummer on technical duties, a janitor named Frank who would let me inside the studio (because the station itself did not provide it's employees with keys to the studio), as well as recurring on-air personalities Patrick Delaney and Angelo Rivera.
The two most notable shows are the ones I dub: "The Extremely Pissed Off Thirty Minutes" and "The Last Show." The former of the two was a show in which I had to break into the studio after the guys before me locked the door, and didn't bother to stick around and help me out. This led to a series of throwing garbage cans and smashing two-by-four planks on the sealed door. Frank would eventually help me out, and the rest of the show was dedicated to putting him over as a person, as well as trashing the show before us. I kept my composure, but I made sure to let the listeners know that I was getting tired of some of the bullshit that came with working for this college radio station.
"The Last Show" was indeed the final broadcast. It had everything: great guests, awesome music, and superb talks. I let everything loose because I knew this would indeed by my final broadcast. I held no punches when it came to badmouthing the studio, but at the same time, never strayed too far from the original concept of creating a different kind of programming. I didn't want to be just another angry guy on the radio, so I made sure to say some kind words for everyone and even recited poetry from Freedom Writers just to give a change of pace on the show.
So now that I've recollected some positive memories from my radio days, what exactly went wrong? Plenty of things:
1) The station was going under transitional management. Everything was very disorganized. For the earlier shows, I was moved around a lot because they always mischeduled everything. I went from having a show at 2 o'clock, to having a show at 8.
2) FCC Censorship. Despite the broadcast being commercial free, we were limited on what we could say on the air. I always thought the spirit of "independent" radio was about freedom of speech, but the general manager did not see eye-to-eye with me on that respect. Originally I tried to make my broadcast devoid of swearing, but as the shows went on, I started to get more relaxed and natural.
3) Malfunctioning Equipment. I performed an entire show for two hours that ended up not being broadcasted. I wasted my co-hosts time, and felt like a jackass for even doing the broadcast.
4) Miscommunication. Aforementioned in the previous point, nobody bothered to tell anyone that the equipment was down. No one even had a hunch that none of it was working because everybody performed their show was if everything was normal. This actually happened quite often. The station would go weeks with misinformed employees not knowing that the transmissions were down.
5) New equipment. Whereas the old radio station equipment allowed you to use CD's, LP's, MP3's, and even casettes to do your show, everything was dependent on digital music on the new station equipment. Everyone had to upload their music on the official radio station's database, and everyone would be able to have access to whatever songs they find on the computer. This led to less variety on the shows. Whereas my broadcast was the originally the only one to use The Beatles' "Happiness is a Warm Gun," every show was now playing it.
6) Keys to the Station. Having access inside of the radio station was only open to an exclusive group. You were given the option of purchasing key cards to the radio station, but it ultimately never mattered being as they were eventually rendered invalid at some point. Often times, access to the station was determined on whether or not someone propped the door open for you to enter.
The biggest nail to the coffin to my radio station days was that I was a "company" man. I wasn't exactly the biggest ass kisser, but I was very polite to my peers. I was very well spoken when talking to the general managers, but I was always given the short end of the stick. Some of my friends who did work within the radio station seemed to just whine and complain, and I bothered to actually discuss with management with any problem that I had. Even if it was fruitless, I felt good that I actually tried to work with what I got by the end of the day.
However, there's no point of being a deck swabber on a sinking ship. Even though I was asked to do my show for a second season, I respectfully resigned my position, deeming myself as "unfit for commercial radio." They're trying now to be more like "commercial radio" as they're fighting towards sponsorship for an HD signal, meaning they'll need more "fitting" personalities. I have no regrets on what I've done on the show, and I do not have any wish to ever return.
