The University’s radio station,88.9 WMCX, hosted a 12 hour broadcast in honor of College Radio Day from 9 am to 9 pm on Tuesday, Oct. 1. The event featured student radio shows as well as live performances from local bands.
According to Aaron Furgason, advisor of88.9 WMCX, the goal of college radio day is to let people know that college and high school radio exists while increasing awareness of the programming that is not available on commercial radio.
During College Radio Day, regularly scheduled student radio shows aired along with live performances from bands such as American Pinup, Wild Rompit, The Sunday Blues and Rick Barry,WMCXstation manager, Nicole Calascibetta said. Also, each of the bands were interviewed by new and returningWMCXstudents.
The88.9 WMCXradio show streams live to anyone with internet access all over the world using a website called Radio Flag. Calascibetta described the website as Twitter for college radio and small radio, and said that last yearWMCXwas trending at number one. Last week, Pat Layton and Jonathan Weisman, hosts of weekly radio show, “The Other Side,” also trended number one for DJs on Radio Flag.
Furgason said that the camaraderie between students was one of the greatest parts of College Radio Day. He was excited to see many new students willing to participate and get involved with the event and increase the overall awareness ofWMCX. He added that students also became aware of other students’ radio shows that they had not known about prior to the event.
The new student turnout was much greater than expected, Calascibetta said. “I’ve had an amazing amount of new students coming up to me asking whatWMCXis and how can they be involved with the station,” she added.
The bands that performed during College Radio Day came from areas such as New York and Philadelphia. A few of the bands plan to tour this fall season, while others have been featured on websites such asmtv.com. American Pinup has played at well-known music festivals including Vans Warped Tour, The Fest, SXSW, Move Music Festival and more.
According to Calascibetta, the entireWMCXexecutive board participated in the event, along with all general members and some freshman who wanted to show off their interviewing skills. The preparation for this event took over a month, she added. “I just took a lot of time kind of putting down the right bands for the radio station, who would be interviewing them, and setting up times, and setting up food and parking, preparations and promotions,” Calascibetta said.
TheWMCXduo, Layton and Weisman, hosted “The Other Side,” which features indie and alternative rock music. Weisman said their style of music sounds much like Green Day, Weezer and Nirvana. Their show, which is regularly scheduled on Tuesdays from 9 am to 11 am, was aired from 10 am to 11 am for College Radio Day.
The variety of radio shows onWMCXis what makes the station standout, said Layton. “What other station can you have that would have a rock show followed by a rap show, or a Spanish program show followed by news,” Layton said. “College radio really allows for multiple formats on one station and it’s really cool thatWMCXallows for people to have shows about whatever they want.”
Weisman said that hosting “The Other Side” with Layton has been a way to relieve stress. “This is only my second year of doing the radio. It’s probably one of the best decisions I’ve made here at Monmouth,” said Weisman. “I love every second of being on the air.”
Layton also encouraged students to get involved early. “If somebody is a freshman or just wants to get involved with The ‘X,’ just do it, as the Nike slogan says,” Layton said. “It’s really a great idea to get involved your first semester, even if you’re not a radio, TV major.”
PHOTO TAKEN by Casey Wolfe
