KVSC radio station keeps humming through summer
St. Cloud State University was noticeably quieter last week because the bulk of the students are on summer vacation. The university almost looked greener, with only one or two students per every 50 yards or so of lush-looking lawn.
KVSC-FM, however, is still buzzing, though. The university’s radio station is on the air 24/7, and during the summer the station’s community volunteers come out in force to keep content flowing on the airwaves. Twenty hours a day of original programming come from inside the building.
Station manager Jo McMullen-Boyer said during the school year students make up about 75 percent of the volunteers compared with community members. During the summer, the ratio is closer to 50-50.
The station that bills itself as “Your Sound Alternative” has been helping teach students and community members about running a radio station for almost a half-century. (KVSC celebrated birthday No. 48 on May 10.)
Although the station is often associated with its popular Trivia Weekend, it does far more, including concerts and the training and beta testing that come with being an educational operation. There also are KVSC News and KVSC Sports programs, as well as St. Cloud Somali Radio, which is accessible through www.kvsc.org. There also is RadioX-FM, KVSC’s ’90s alt-rock station that launched earlier this year.
KVSC has two full-time, professional staff members: McMullen-Boyer and Jim Gray, operations director. The duo gave a tour last week of the studio, which is in Stewart Hall. (The office is right on the Mississippi River, with a great view — unexpected since KVSC is in the basement.)
Not surprisingly, the KVSC offices have tons of vinyl and CDs. (There are 60,000 CDs; the number of albums is not known, but suffice it to say, it’s considerable, taking up several walls.)
People on the air have to master a multitude of skills, including learning about programming and understanding the emergency alert system. But most of all, McMullen-Boyer said, it means being able to make quick changes.
“It’s about thinking about what’s happening now, plus two steps ahead,” she said.
If you want to be on the radio, it’s not like you’re going to show up and immediately go live. KVSC does extensive training with its volunteers, and people can keep the training wheels on for as long as they need. As far as the age of the on-air volunteers, it has ranged from 60-plus to as young as 14 or so (that youngster was training with a parent).
Music on KVSC covers genres including progressive rock, hip-hop, jazz and more. It’s not the same as commercial radio, and it’s not supposed to be, McMullen-Boyer said. Like college itself, KVSC radio is supposed to expose people to different things and broaden horizons.
That worked for Trevor Klopp, 22, program director for RadioX-FM. His favorite music is classic rock, and KVSC introduced him to some new sounds. (“I’m all about the big hair and big guitars.”)
Klopp confirms the lighthearted-but-professional attitude at KVSC.
“People bust ass here, but it’s fun,” he said.
Samantha McIntosh said she likes interviewing musicians for KVSC and watching them perform in the studios. It’s an amazing experience for a music lover, she said.
“They come here for free. And we eat pizza. We talk about other musicians,” she said.
McIntosh hosts KVSC’s “The Morning Show” under the DJ name Sammich. (“People see me eating sandwiches and they’ll laugh,” she said.)
The camaraderie in the office is something many of the graduating seniors, such as Jesse Wheeler, say they’ll miss the most. They’ll debate the Beatles vs. Elvis and generally enjoy being part of the “Island of Misfit Toys.”
And they’re all there for the love of music and the radio station, said Wheeler, who was KVSC’s training director and known as “Scooter” around the offices.
“It’s been my saving grace,” he said.
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