If music is magic, then DJs are wizards and witches. And if mainstream-corporate radio plays music, then the DJs are robots. Granted, the world needs songs like Boston’s “More Than A Feeling,” but it can do without hearing it on a prescheduled basis numerous times a day, everyday, for eternity. Mainstream radio is like a Bill-Murray-in-Groundhog-Day kind of existence: endless repetition devoid of variety or escape. Although, in the movie, Murray attains a type of enlightenment and breaks the cycle; so, too, does college radio shatter the droning myopia of mainstream radio – empowering the wizard, conveying the magic, retaining the importance of music.
Mainstream radio delivers a product. It’s primarily and predominately music which has been determined to have marketable appeal to turn product into cash. As such, an endless reserve of phenomenal music is neglected by the popular world. And who will find it, listen to it, and share it? Certainly not a preprogrammed DJ whose only job is to press play in between commercials and agree with the omniscience of the top 40. Nay, but we can turn to our local independent radio station at Loyola Marymount University.
KXLU 88.9 FM Los Angeles is a student-run organization represented by students, alumni, and community members, providing 24-hour freeform programming, completely commercial free.
“How many commercial free radio stations broadcasting in an FM frequency in Los Angeles can you name?” asks Jen G., LMU graduate and host of Levitation Radio on KXLU. “By commercial free, I also mean underwriting-spots free, which is a term other stations like to call brief advertisements for large corporate donors. KXLU is important because it offers 24/7 diversified programming with a show for just about everyone, never off air and no repeat programming. We are freeform, truly independent, listener-supported radio in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the nation.”
KXLU is one of the most highly-regarded and beloved radio stations in the Los Angeles area, and the world. It stands as a beacon and sanctuary for the talent bubbling and swirling within society.
Says Program Director Alyssa Bailey, “KXLU’s function is to get freeform, unprogrammed radio onto the airwaves. We look to support new, underground quality music as well as [to provide] a place where bands and artists can come to have a chance to break into mainstream.”
Jen G. also describes KXLU as an educational community radio station that gives the underrepresented a voice.
“Think of it as a supportive community of music lovers whose goal is to share good tunes you probably never knew existed,” she says. “I would say we do a great job of welcoming artists that mainstream circuits or even semi-mainstream circuits don’t care much to pay attention to. We represent, in my opinion, that age of radio where the DJs were the real taste makers. Imagine that.”
DJs used to be passionate music-heads who would guide listeners in the direction of what they believed to be good (rather than pressing play for the preprogrammed set determined by corporate polls based on the taste of a demographic lacking in musical knowledge).
“I like to think of KXLU as a tastemaker, and love saying that we were one of the first ones there,” says Frank Higuera, music director at KXLU and host of The Frank. “Virtually every act out there has to start somewhere… We have provided a place for bands such as Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Beastie Boys to release their music over the airwaves before they were big names.”
Bailey adds, “We have been around for over 50 years and have quite a history to show for it. One example is that Kurt Cobain came up and premiered the first mix of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit.’ (Many of the people in the music video are actually KXLU DJs.) Another example is that the Beastie Boys came up to the station and did a freestyle rap along to “Beastie Groove” when they were first starting out and had only released a mix tape.”
Numerous South Bay affiliated bands have also enjoyed FM airplay on KXLU throughout the years, and many of them have performed there live. Locals on KXLU include Brook & River, Temporal Love, Vaudeville, Shirley Rolls, Fartbarf, The Leeches, Sourgrass, Cab 20, Hang Dog Expression, and The Terrapin.
South Bay resident and drummer of The Terrapin, Rufo Chan Jr. says, “A station like KXLU provides an outlet for a wide variety of artists that are complete unknowns, as well as up-and-comers. Few traditional media outlets provide that kind of exposure… Practically anyone can and does get played on there. I can’t think of any band or musician who wouldn’t be excited to get played on KXLU or to do a live performance on air.”
“We are all oddballs that found a place to share our passion for music in an awesome setting,” says Bailey.
Higuera says, “We want to give listeners a break from the crappy commercial radio…”
Collectively, the station offers and promotes music from virtually every genre and reach of the globe, while also specializing in the greater Los Angeles local scene. They represent anything from rock to classical, dance to punk, metal to opera, noise to theater… jazz, oldies, surf, kids, world, psychedelia, film, reggae, country… you name it. Jen G. says, “I still trip out when listeners get in touch to let me know they found KXLU on the internet and tune in from far away places like Germany, Australia, or Croatia! But, we have a loyal following among music fans here in L.A.”
And the whole thing is fueled by passion; DJs volunteer! And while the DJ’s sickness is only remedied by the listener, and the listener’s hopelessness is only relieved by the DJ, the station is sustained by the contribution of both.
“KXLU survives from listeners’ support,” says Bailey. “We have Fundrazor only once a year, for a week only, and try to get as much [listener] support as we can.”
“Without donations,” Higuera adds, “we wouldn’t exist.”
Fundrazor began Friday, Sept. 23, and continues through Saturday, Sept. 30 at 6 a.m. Donations can be made by calling (310) 338-KXLU (5958), or online at www.kxlu.com. You can tune in to Jen G’s Levitation Radio on Thursdays from 12-3 p.m., Frank Higuera’s The Frank on Fridays 3-6 p.m., and Alyssa Bailey’s garage and psych-rock program from 12-3 p.m. Wednesdays on 88.9 FM Los Angeles. You can always hear Brook & River, Temporal Love, Vaudeville, Fartbarf, The Leeches, Sourgrass, Cab 20, Hang Dog Expression, and The Terrapin streaming 24/7 on www.DirtyHippieRadio.com, an online resource for the independent music community. ER
