COMMUNITY
October MD of the Month | Ra’keem Simmonds, CKDU Halifax
“I love finding music that I may not have found on my own. Not only have I found so many Gems to add to the station but I also find so many songs and albums that I enjoy and they seep into my personal listening and I love it. I also love making the charts every week, and seeing the stuff we have in common with other stations and the stuff we might be playing first :)”
September MD of the Month | Sasha Goldblatt, WHUS Radio UConn
“The best live show I’ve seen has got to be when I saw ILLENIUM at Boston Calling. They had a huge setup of graphics and the beat drops were ridiculous.”
Industry Interview with Jerry Steller, Vitriol Radio Promotion
“Getting to promote an album for Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and meeting him was a real thrill. Being involved with promoting projects for artists I was a huge fan of before I got to promote them, like Metric, David Bowie, Kylie Minogue, Robyn, Phoenix, and Built To Spill has been very fulfilling.”
August MD of the Month | Crystal Bunch, KZMU Moab Community Radio
“Without our listeners and volunteers we wouldn’t be here. I love watching the enthusiasm of the DJs in the booth or chatting with someone who KZMU has reached in one way or another. Most importantly I love the family I have gained when I became a member of the staff. If I were to choose only one part of the job I loved the most I would be leaving so much out. KZMU is special and I love every single part of it.”
Industry Interview with Emma Toney, Beggars Group
“Working at Beggars is a dream come true! I raised myself on their roster growing up, all of the artists are so very important to me. I’ve been a huge fan of Lucy Dacus for years. ‘Brando’ was my first big radio release as radio coordinator, then ‘Home Video’ album release. It was so special to celebrate the success of the album with the Beggars family that I’m now apart of.”
Introducing Joey Letcher, host of the NACC 20 Countdown Show
“Sharing music with others is a big passion of mine. It’s crazy, because I used to make little curated new music playlists for friends and share them on Facebook. Now I’m getting to share new music with the entire NACC audience! So the best part for me is connecting people to new music, sharing my stories and connections to the artists.”
July MD of the Month | Jaden Amjadi, KRUI Iowa City
“I love finding cool artists in my inbox that I may never have listened to otherwise and meeting with my cool staff. This position in college radio is such a unique privilege because we don’t have to cater to what will turn a profit or appeal to the widest listenership. We are an educational laboratory. If you listen to a couple of hours of KRUI’s main rotation, you’ll probably run into some abrasive or strange stuff, and that’s beautiful to me.”
Industry Interview with Johnathan Swafford, Aqualamb Records
“…Music had shifted to streaming, and we felt we were living in the age of invisible music. Something was missing. Not everyone had a record player but had books. The idea came up, what if we launched a record label that would put out books for each release? Sort of like extended liner notes, but it was still something a fan could buy and take home with them. We wanted to have the same effect of sitting down listening to the music while staring at a cover as kids.”
Genre MD of the Month | Ellen King-Rodgers, KGLT Bozeman
“I love rhythm, great voices, instrumental layering and simple sounds too. Every country has artists sharing their special talents and I want to share them with the listeners. So, I’m in touch with promoters and labels and have developed great relationships all over the world. The collection was pretty vast at KGLT before I came along 20 years ago and I built on that.”