COMMUNITY
MD of the Month | Kim Ruiz, WRAS Atlanta
“WRAS was notorious when I moved to Atlanta for its 100,000 watt reach and known for being a great hub to discover underground artists from around the world, up and coming local Atlanta artists, in addition to fun quirky curated specialty shows all while sitting in traffic. I have fond memories of calling in to get tickets to shows– I remember winning a pair of Ty Segall tickets and getting squeezed out of the pit as everyone rushed the stage.”
Industry Interview with Lynn Tejada, Green Galactic
“Another life-long favorite experience was booking/producing/promoting (along with John, my now boyfriend, at the time) Autechre’s very first show in LA in ’96. They had just begun their debut North American tour. We somehow convinced the Troubadour to let us rent the venue to host this left-field concert, and even though we had the most torrential rainstorm in years that night, the show sold out and there were even scalpers selling tickets out front!”
MDs of the Month | Olivia Go and Eva Rodriguez, WOZQ Northampton
“As music directors our main job is finding new music for WOZQ DJs to play on their shows! That includes emailing promotional companies and smaller, up-and-coming artists. We also do a monthly newsletter telling DJs about upcoming concerts and what new music to look out for! It’s really simple to share this job! We alternate who submits the NACC Top 30 chart every week, but we both are passionate about music and we both love to scour the station’s inbox for new and different songs!’
MD of the Month | Douglas DuPont, KDUR Durango
“Our bi-annual Membership Drive is a good way to gauge our listenership. Beyond that, we host an annual Cover Night (this year was Dolly Parton), and attempt to bring in musical acts to throw “Thank-You” and ”Friendraiser” type events for members. Last year, KDUR hosted Mike Cooley of the Drive-By Truckers.”
MD of the Month | Janet Chow, WUSB Stony Brook, NY
“My favorite artist that I will never get tired of listening to is Giveon. His voice is incredibly rich and soulful. His performances (besides from the BET awards) captivates you and brings so many emotions throughout his songs. As an artist, you hear his heartbreak and even self-discovery. It’s so powerful to see through his music.”
MD of the Month | Raul Gonzalez, KAMP Radio Tucson
“I really love late 90s/early 00’s metal and nu metal. Limp Bizkit, Static-X, and Zebrahead are some of my favorites. These are bands that I’ve really liked since I was a kid and I would check out on early YouTube. I always enjoyed having that energy around even after discovering a lot of new music throughout the years.”
Programmer of the Month | Kaja Brown, KRDP Community Radio
“I host a syndicated specialty show on Saturday nights called HipRawk Nation where I spotlight a lot of Electronic and Dance music along with other genres. Over the past couple of years I’ve become a huge fan of Denver-based DJ/producer ILLENIUM as well as Dutch DJ/producer Martin Garrix, and South African DJ/producer Black Coffee.”
MD of the Month | Twyla Twang, KZUM Lincoln, NE
I maintain a very ‘hands-off’ approach to what our DJ’s play. We’re all volunteers, all very knowledgeable within our niches, with independent spirits. We just play music we love, determined by our tastes with no outside influences. My mantra is “let the music speak for itself.”
Industry Interview with Eric Martinez, Secretly Group
“I was fortunate enough to attend a Yeah Yeah Yeahs session in LA about a month ago. Utterly surreal because it was essentially a private Yeah Yeah Yeahs show for me and a handful of techs and DJs. Afterward, I told Karen O that I used to record music videos on MTV2 with my VCR in high school. She just said “whoa” and laughed. I nearly melted.”