Molly ’15 and Emma ’18 Stevens

DJ of the Week: Rebkah Tesfamariam ’18

What is your show called?Spunky Rebkah. I forgot to fill in the name of my show online this semester, and in the show description I wrote that I was spunky, so the radio station wrote my show name on the calendar as Spunky Rebkah.
When did you first get involved with WBOR and why?First semester—I saw the posters and got excited because music has always been a large part of my life and I thought it was really exciting to be able to be on the radio and have control for a whole hour and play whatever I want.
Did you have any radio experience before Bowdoin?No, but if we had get-togethers with my friends I was always the first one to volunteer to make a playlist.
What type of music do you play on your show?I play everything. I change the genre or category every week. For example, a few weeks ago I did Valentine’s Week, which included all types of love songs. Sometimes I just figure it out while I’m there too.
What is your favorite type of music?Slow, chill rap and fun, upbeat indie rock. My favorite artists are Death Cab for Cutie, J. Cole, Drake, Local Natives and The Supremes.
What has been your favorite concert experience?My first concert was Coldplay, and I randomly discovered them on my own. They came to Pittsburgh when I was in eighth grade. I dragged my parents and best friend who never really liked them, and it was really fun and exciting. We played Coldplay the entire way there and back.
What else are you involved with on campus?I am a member of the African American Society. I work for the Women’s Resource Center, and I am a member of Obvious as well.
What is your major?Gender and women’s studies and I am also pre-med.
What has been your favorite class so far?I took Music and Everyday Life with [Assistant Professor of Music] Tracy McMullen. It was a great interdisciplinary class and I felt like I learned something every day that applied to my life. It was a cultural learning experience, and Professor McMullen is really exciting and engaging.
What is the best music to study to?It depends on my mood, but mostly chill, slow rap or upbeat dance songs because they keep me in a good mood while I’m doing chemistry homework.
What about the best music to shower to?Definitely belting songs like Mariah Carey or Pussycat Dolls—girl power women’s groups for sure.
What do you think people are doing when listening to your show?Mostly my parents or brothers are listening—probably when they are driving in the car or doing homework. Hopefully people are singing along.
Why do you want Bowdoin students to listen to your show?Because I am spunky and I change it up every week, so if you don’t like it one week, you might really love it the next week. I will keep your interest and I am super open to requests as well.
What is your overall goal for having a radio show?For me, to take some time to appreciate music and to look for new music. When I was in middle school and had a lot of time on my hands I spent a lot of time exploring new music and artists, and now that my life is so busy I don’t take enough time to do that. It’s very relaxing and exciting for me to prepare a new show. Also, my goal is to show people new music and share it all.
Anything else you would like your listeners to know?I’m really open to suggestions and I love when people show me new music, so feel free to approach me.
Tune in to Spunky Rebkah every Wednesday from 4-5 p.m. on WBOR 91.1 FM or stream the show online at wbor.org. To suggest a DJ for DJ of the Week, email Arts & Entertainment Editor Emily Weyrauch at eweyrauc@bowdoin.edu.

DJ of the Week: Seniors Stevie Lane, Amanda Maisel and Peter Nauffts

How did you get involved in WBOR?Peter Nauffts: It was during Ivies. It was one of those Ivies things.Amanda Maisel: It was a drunk Ivies promise that actually happened.Stevie Lane: It actually happened. I feel like I had ambitions to be better friends with both of these people, so this was going to be a way to do it.
What do you do on the show?PN: Just play music.AM: It varies. We’ve had a few thematic episodes where we talk a lot.SL: We did a special for Valentine’s Day, where we had our friends call in and dedicate songs to other friends. They could request limericks, so we would write love limericks and recite them.AM: Most of our show consists of Stevie and I embarrassing Peter exactly in the way that we are now.PN: That’s true.AM: And in between we play some music.PN: That’s true.
What kind of music do you play?AM: We play at least one song per show that one of our parents thinks is for them because it’s oldies. We play a lot of Fleetwood Mac.SL: We’ve started this new thing where we pull a CD off the shelf and play the first song that’s on the CD.AM: But before we got the CDs to work, we pulled a song and played it on YouTube, which is embarrassing.
What’s behind the name “Face of Radio?”AM: Radio is for ugly people, so Face of Radio is supposed to be funny.SL: Both ironic and incredibly unoriginal, which is maybe what our entire show is actually.
Who is your audience?AM: Most of our show is playing oldies for me and Stevie’s parents.SL: Also my aunt and uncle out in Minneapolis, they tune in, so we have a pretty wide, geographic—AM: Intergenerational—SL: Our geographic spread is pretty impressive.AM: Peter has not told his parents that we have a radio show, so his parents aren’t part of the audience.
Favorite moments from the show?SL: There’s a bathroom [in the radio station], and I’m really afraid of closed and tight spaces. I had to pee, so I went to the bathroom. And there are cinderblocks in there, and Peter and Amanda put a cinderblock outside the door, so I couldn’t get out of the bathroom, and I panicked at the time. Looking back, that was a highlight moment of our radio show.AM: I think any time that we speak and Peter is similarly uncomfortable with us making fools of ourselves, as he is now, is a pretty great moment.
Anything new you’ve learned?PN: We don’t play that much new music.SL: Two weeks ago I learned that Peter doesn’t like gummies.PN: What?SL: Two weeks ago I learned that you don’t like gummies.PN: Oh I thought we were talking about music.SL: Well we’re talking about what we learned in the show.AM: I feel like we all got to know each other’s music tastes a little bit, even if it’s oldies. Sometimes I learn of new music via Stevie’s parents’ requests.SL: Traffic. Every time we play Traffic, we do independently because we like Traffic. But my dad texts me “Are you doing this for me?” And I’m like “No, I guess thanks for listening…”
Any listeners or callers you know of?SL: We learned that the Brunswick High School girls’ basketball team likes to listen to us because they call in.AM: Occasionally friends.SL: We did get one guy from town who called in and requested a Paul Simon song, which is totally in our flavor, then said “good job, keep playing good music.”
Final thoughts for your audience?SL: Peter, want to take this one?PN: Nope.AM: Everyone should have a radio show.PN: That’s good, everyone should have a radio show, or try it.AM: It’s really fun. If there is any take-away from this interview, it is that you don’t have to be very legit to have a radio show. You can just be figuring out music along the way.
Tune in to “Face of Radio” with DJs Lane, Maisel and Nauffts on WBOR 91.1 FM every Tuesday from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. or stream online at wbor.org. To suggest a DJ for DJ of the Week or an Artist for Portrait of an Artist, email Arts & Entertainment Editor Emily Weyrauch at eweyrauc@bowdoin.edu.

DJ of the Week

Molly ’15 and Emma ’18 Stevens

April 3, 2015

Liam Finnerty

**SISTER ACT:** Molly (left) and Emma’s (right) radio show airs Sundays from 11 p.m. to 12 a.m.

How did you first get involved with WBOR?
Molly Stevens: I wanted to join since I was a prospective student. I ended up coming to Bowdoin and one of the first things I joined was WBOR. When Emma came I begged her to have a show with me.
Emma Stevens: She even wrote on her Bowdoin application that she wanted to be a DJ.

Tell me about your show, Sister Act.
ES: Well, Molly and I have very different taste in music. Mine is better, obviously.
MS: Not really.
ES: Molly listens to these obscure bands that everybody tries to “out-hipster” each other with and I tend to like pop and country. We thought of the idea for Sister Act on our way up to school together at the beginning of this year. We decided that we could each play a couple of songs as we were coming up but whenever Molly would choose, I would complain about her song choice. Our parents thought it was funny and suggested we start a radio show.

Who are your musical heroes?
ES: Taylor Swift.
MS: Somewhere between Joni Mitchell and Brian Transeau. I feel like there are some things that we can agree on, though…like Neil Young. Don’t tell me that doesn’t get you sentimental.

What kind of music do you listen to in your spare time?
ES: I listen to country and pop mainly. And Disney. I love Disney. Maybe I should have a Disney radio show.
MS: I think you’d run out of material eventually. If you do, just play the Tarzan soundtrack over and over again. I tend to listen to more electronica, more indie rock. Older stuff basically, more classic rock.

If you had to pick one genre of music to listen to for the rest of your life, what would it be?
MS: That’s hard. I’d have to say indie rock. It’s such a broad genre and it doesn’t really have a definition. If I want to get my dancing on I could listen to Hot Chip but if I want to sit and wallow and feel things, I could listen to Sigur Ros or Josh Ritter. They’re all in the same section of the record store, but they all have completely different sounds.
ES: I would say R&B. When do you listen to music? When you’re working out. R&B has that rap and hip hop component that you can definitely run to but if you want to get your feels on you could definitely sit and listen to some R&B. Also, if you want to make out with someone on a couch—R&B. You can do a lot with it.

What was the first album that you ever bought?
MS: “Flood” by They Might Be Giants. Excellent album.
ES: “Metamorphosis” by Hilary Duff.
MS: You can see the difference between the two of us right there. Although, I hate to admit it, but I secretly know the words to every single one of those songs.

What else are you involved with on campus?
MS: I’m the president of the Peucinian Society, which is our literary and debate society on campus and I’m a manager on the radio station. I do classics and classic archaeology so I hang out with all the classics people. I tend to stick to humanities.
ES: I’m more interested in science, like earth and oceanographic science and chemistry and I play softball. I’m still trying to find my niche and figure out what I’m going to do here.

Who’s your intended audience?
ES: To be honest, mostly our family and our friends. There are constantly members of our family calling in. A lot of my friends listen and call in and cause trouble.
MS: Some of my friends in Chambo 318 are pretty regular listeners. That being said, our intended audience is really anyone who wants to listen. Especially people who like “Car Talk.”

What is it like having a sibling on campus?
MS: Kind of relieving in some ways. It’s comforting if you’re having a bad day or you need someone to go to dinner with to know that you have someone around. It’s also great for life advice. Because we do very different things it never really feels stifling.
ES: I was so nervous the first time I saw her at a party. I kept on thinking, “Oh my god, this is my sister! This is so awkward.” But I like having her on campus. I steal her clothes all the time. I don’t want her to graduate.

Do you have any final words for your listeners?
ES: I am the better sister.
MS: You may be the faster and stronger sister, but my taste is better. That’s all you need to know.

Tune in to “Sister Act” with DJs Molly and Emma Stevens on WBOR 91.1 FM every Sunday from 11 p.m. to 12 a.m. or stream online at wbor.org. To suggest a DJ for DJ of the Week, email Arts & Entertainment Editor Emily Weyrauch at eweyrauc@bowdoin.edu.

Comments are permanently closed.