mr music man
Well, just a bit to say today about the radio show... So, I've been doing this bi-weekly radio show at WHPK for the last, what, 7 years? Its been a nice opportunity to play a lot of my favorite tunes, get to know my music collection and put it out there for the people.
WHPK is a rather humble affair. The broadcast range is minimal and the management of the station is flaky so there's not much progress in getting things upgraded or even repaired for that matter. They've been talking about broadcasting online for years and the (student) management just doesn't have the where-with-all to get their act together and make it happen. Despite these limitations, its generally been an enjoyable experience.
I've often felt let down when playing out in Chicago. At times I've put together events with the DJ doing the show after me, Mic Bill, in various locations around the city. We had a regular gig at "Some Like It Black" coffee shop, Orly's restaurant, and spun in places like Sinibar, The Note, King Solomon's Minds, and other Chicago spots. The problem from my perspective is that people just don't want to hear some obscure roots music out in the dance. They want to hear latest-greatest tunes or hip hop. This is what makes me enjoy the radio so much. I can get in there, do what I want to do, focus on what I want to, how I want to and let it ride.
Problem is, there just aren't that many people listening to WHPK at any one given time. There just can't be. Its a small station, and my show is on a Friday afternoon, so we definately have our regulars, but even a lot of people out around Chicago don't know of what we're doing on Friday afternoons. All of this has kind of made me lose inspiration for doing the show. I've always said that the main reason I do the show is for the recording.
Well, now I finally have a method to get these shows out to a broader audience. I recently put up a sort of hidden page on my website where I posted about 20 shows as MP3s. I posted messages on several message boards pointing people to the page and got about 500 hits in about a week. Soon after that, I discovered podomatic, and put up several shows there. So far I've gotten some nice response and I look forward to putting up many other shows there over the course of the next few months.
In any case, its all like a breath of fresh air for me musically. I finally feel like I have a real outlet to convey music to people. Most of my shows this year have been disorganized "throw away" shows, basically to pass the time on air, and now I feel the drive to put in the heavy focus that it takes to prepare a well planned focus show.
Now comes the question of what/who to focus on. I've done quite a few focus shows in the past and I really prefer that format. Frankly with the number of songs I have in my collection, picking random tunes is a mind boggling experience. If you have any suggestions, or focus shows you'd like to hear, let me know.
WHPK is a rather humble affair. The broadcast range is minimal and the management of the station is flaky so there's not much progress in getting things upgraded or even repaired for that matter. They've been talking about broadcasting online for years and the (student) management just doesn't have the where-with-all to get their act together and make it happen. Despite these limitations, its generally been an enjoyable experience.
I've often felt let down when playing out in Chicago. At times I've put together events with the DJ doing the show after me, Mic Bill, in various locations around the city. We had a regular gig at "Some Like It Black" coffee shop, Orly's restaurant, and spun in places like Sinibar, The Note, King Solomon's Minds, and other Chicago spots. The problem from my perspective is that people just don't want to hear some obscure roots music out in the dance. They want to hear latest-greatest tunes or hip hop. This is what makes me enjoy the radio so much. I can get in there, do what I want to do, focus on what I want to, how I want to and let it ride.
Problem is, there just aren't that many people listening to WHPK at any one given time. There just can't be. Its a small station, and my show is on a Friday afternoon, so we definately have our regulars, but even a lot of people out around Chicago don't know of what we're doing on Friday afternoons. All of this has kind of made me lose inspiration for doing the show. I've always said that the main reason I do the show is for the recording.
Well, now I finally have a method to get these shows out to a broader audience. I recently put up a sort of hidden page on my website where I posted about 20 shows as MP3s. I posted messages on several message boards pointing people to the page and got about 500 hits in about a week. Soon after that, I discovered podomatic, and put up several shows there. So far I've gotten some nice response and I look forward to putting up many other shows there over the course of the next few months.
In any case, its all like a breath of fresh air for me musically. I finally feel like I have a real outlet to convey music to people. Most of my shows this year have been disorganized "throw away" shows, basically to pass the time on air, and now I feel the drive to put in the heavy focus that it takes to prepare a well planned focus show.
Now comes the question of what/who to focus on. I've done quite a few focus shows in the past and I really prefer that format. Frankly with the number of songs I have in my collection, picking random tunes is a mind boggling experience. If you have any suggestions, or focus shows you'd like to hear, let me know.
posted by algoriddim @ 11:25 AM
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