You're an art major, right?
Yes.
Who's your favorite artist? Or what's your favorite style of art?
Whatever.
My favorite style of art is Postwar German Expressionism, which includes
artists such as Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, and Anselm Kiefer.
Super. So, give us a brief rundown on KSLU past, present and future.
KSLU started back in 1920 as WEW, a
faculty-run religious radio station which was the first radio station west of
the Mississippi. In 1949, KBIL was established, making the station student-run
in conjunction with the Communications Department, providing training for
students preparing for the radio profession and serving as entertainment
designed for the student audience. In 1983, the call letters KSLU were
established. We currently broadcast over a closed cable channel on campus and
stream online through itunes. While losing our airwaves in the 1980s placed
extreme restrictions on our radio station at first, we are now in a time where
this is not an issue, allowing us to reach a large listener base online. KSLU
continues to grow and evolve, with over 100 members currently, we have nothing
but high hopes for where we can be in the future.
What prompted you to get involved with college radio?
The annoyingly obvious answer, would be music. Duh. My freshman year, I had
some friends who had gotten involved with KSLU and it sounded like a really fun
activity to get involved in. I like music, I wanted to play music for other
people, so alas, I applied for a show and quickly became obsessed with KSLU and
college radio as a whole. I began assisting our Music Director at the time,
eventually becoming MD myself, and now they are going to have to kick me out of
my office at the end of this semester, kicking and screaming of course.
What kind of music do you as a DJ play for your audience?
During my show, I try to play a lot of new releases that I am excited about,
ranging through many genres including folk (okay, a lot of folk), psychedelic,
indie rock and pop. Additionally, I try to preview concerts we have coming to
St. Louis in order to promote the show and introduce the listeners to the
artists if they have never listened to them before.
What does KSLU do to increase awareness of the local music scene?
We realize that college radio is a great avenue for local artists to get
their music heard. Outside of having a special CD rack dedicated to local music,
KSLU is affiliated with our on-campus venue, The Billiken Club, which tries to
put at least one local act on every bill. Not only does this allow them to share
the stage with some great national touring artists, but gives them ability to
reach a new crowd that may not have heard of them otherwise.
What was your most satisfying moment working at the Billiken Club?
What about the opposite end of the spectrum? Anything that made you want to run
and hide and never go back there again?
Throughout my time at SLU, The Billiken Club has been my baby. So, to be
cheesy, I kind of have to say that every moment has been really satisfying. It
keeps getting bigger and better, and it is really gratifying to stand back and
watch how many people appreciate what we do. If I had to pick one moment that
was the most satisfying, it would probably be when the Riverfront Times named
the Billiken Club "Best Rock Venue" for 2007. Our staff works really hard,
without pay, to make some really awesome shows happen, and it was nice to get
some recognition. As for wanting to run and hide, there was one incident at the
club where a concert-goer got extremely angry at the slow bar service, picked a
fight with the bartender, threw things, and got kicked out. No one wants to see
that happen at their venue. But, all and all, The Billiken Club is the greatest
thing in the world, or at least St. Louis in my opinion. I love every minute
working there.
Please explain what a "quote attack" is.
A quote attack is an artform, really. It is fighting with words, but not your
words, those of others. You pick a good quote and exclaim it in the face of your
opponent while making quotation marks with your fingers. If need be, a quote
attack can take digital form as well. This can go back and forth for quite some
time, especially when you are dueling with Mr. Hector Montes.
If you had a choice between going to an awesome party or falling asleep in
front of a TV while watching Mulan, which would you be more likely to do?
Be honest.
As much as I would like to say "going to an awesome party, duh," I cannot.
During SXSW last year, my partying skills were way below par, and yes, I ended
up falling asleep at 7pm in my hotel room watching Mulan, only to wake up
the next morning and say "crap."
As industrial society continues its inevitable collapse, and our national infrastructure slowly but surely begins to unravel, a sense of regional identity becomes crucial to survival as tribalism makes its triumphant return. What ten CDs would you take with you into the Independent Republic of St.
Louis?
Oh lordy, here we go (in no particular order):
Les Savy Fav - Inches
Paul Simon - Graceland
Grizzly Bear - Horn Of Plenty
Phosphorescent - Aw Come Aw Wry
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
Talking Heads - Remain In Light
Michael Jackson - Thriller (yeah, seriously)
Talkdemonic - Beat Romantic
Joanna Newsom - Ys
New Pornographers - Mass Romantic
If you had to give up either coffee or whiskey, which would you
choose? Please phrase your answer in the form of a haiku.
whiskey or coffee
a tough call, but not the last
whiskey shan't be passed
At the 2007 CMJ College Radio Awards, KSLU won "Biggest Improvement"
for the second time in three years. What happened in the year between those two
awards? Did you just suck for that one year or what?
I think it is rather amusing that we received that award, again, in such a
short amount of time. I do not believe it is because we sucked for a year, then
stopped sucking again. Rather, when we received the award in 2005, we had made
some really great strides as a radio station after several years of, er, kind of
sucking. We were awesome and at the top of our game. In 2006, we reached a
plateau. We were happy with how awesome we were, and focused on maintaining that
status, nay, perfecting that status, before continuing with bigger and better
improvements. Finally, in this past year of 2007, we began to implement more
changes including, but not limited to, a new website, dependable specialty music
directors, new software for the studio, and a new production studio.
It took Hector a really long time to write these questions and send
them to you. Given the long wait, aren't they kind of disappointing?
No, not at all. You are here to make people happy, Hector. I am smiling right
now, really. Job well done.
One last question: you're afraid of birds. How can you possibly be
afraid of birds?
Okay, I know this is kind of weird. Not only am I afraid of birds ... I am
TERRIFIED of birds. During my childhood, I had some very traumatic experiences
with this species including being attacked by a peacock at the zoo, being dive
bombed by birds in my backyard while trying to protect my dog from them, and
pigeons just really grossing me out. To this day, I remain afraid. I hope to get
over it one day, but let's get serious, I don't know if it will ever happen.
KSLU
We at AAM
are of the opinion that, at heart, we are all Tim Kinsella. This is your chance
to prove it, and win cool Joan Of Arc stuff in the bargain.
