Laura Kerry '12

DJ of the Week: Emily Tucker ’15 and Matt Goodrich ’15

First years Emily Tucker and Matt Goodrich blazed into the WBOR scene this September with the debut of "Power Out Radio," an hour-long program on Sunday nights devoted to the best of contemporary alternative and classic rock.

DJ of the Week: Tom Roberts-McMichael ’14

Tell me a little bit about your involvement with WBOR.I’m a music director on management. I’ve been a DJ since the beggining of sophomore year and music director since the middle of sophomore year. I’ve had one show for a long time with a co-DJ, Jay Priyadarshan ’14, and I’ve had my own show for a couple years now.What does a music director do?I get new music from anyone who wants to be played on College radio, and I do little reviews for our DJs to show them what they might want to play on their show.What’s your show called?My solo show name is Thomder and Lightening. The show I have with Jay is “The Lazy Zoo with Tom and Jay.”How did you get involved with WBOR?I wanted to do a show all freshman year but I was a little indecisive about it, I didn’t feel like I had a lot to contribute. Sophomore year I was like, “Let’s do it,” and I got a show with Jay. Immediately after that, I started meeting management and they needed a music director, so I applied sophomore year.What kind of music do you play?So, genres are hard, as I’m sure you know. The college music journal is the way we chart a lot of our music. By their classifications I play rock, loud rock, RPM, world, and hip-hop. I’m definitely on the garage-y, soft-rock side.How do you come up with music to play on air? Is there an art to arranging songs?Often it’s what I want, although I’ve been getting better at starting with something softer and more widely known, and then I can move into a more specialized zone. My M.O. is to play stuff that’s just coming out or being charted—very new albums—because it’s good to showcase those artists and there’s some novelty there.What was appealing about getting a show?The classical appeal is you get to play your own music and people have to listen to it. You get to monologue and talk about what you care about. Like, sophomore year Occupy Wall Street was going on so I got to talk about that on my show. It’s a direct relationship with the community, more direct than I think a lot of the systems we have at Bowdoin are. How do you interact with the community?This is one of the bigger radio stations around that people listen to, so you have to cater to their tastes. People call in to my show. And we have a lot of community members who are DJs.What would you like to do with your platform on WBOR?When we talk, Jay tries to make jokes on the air. I try to mention things that are important to people. I prefer issues outside of the Bowdoin community because I think the majority—or at least our more permanent—listeners want to hear about that. I’ll let the other DJs cater to the Bowdoin issues.Now the fun questions: What’s your guilty pleasure song?“Gas Pedal”…I definitely like that song and I definitely feel guilty for that. Although maybe I shouldn’t feel guilty about my pleasures.Who sings that song?I don’t know. That’s part of why I’m guilty.What about a song you couldn’t live without?Tame Impala—“Half Full Glass of Wine.”What makes it so special?It’s so simple, but it’s everything I like. It’s drone-y, melodic. The song makes you familiar with itself.Does that song pretty well represent your taste in music?I think so, yeah.What’s the song that’s had the biggest impact on you and your taste in music?This takes me way back to high school, because that’s when I started getting in to stuff that I listen to now. I’ll go with “Street Spirit” by Radiohead.What is one thing about your taste in music that you don’t think people could guess based on what you play on WBOR?I feel like I do bare myself on my show. Maybe I don’t show enough about what I dislike. Maybe I could play a song and say, “I don’t like that because of x, y and z.” At the same time I’m sure people think I’m kind of pretentious based on what I’m playing, so maybe I should assert that I’m not.So, what are you working on at WBOR now?We want to do certain programming slots. We want no more dubstep on Sunday mornings, or talk shows in the afternoon when people will be driving around.Anything else you want people to know about WBOR?I want people to know that for campus clubs and organizations, if they want to do something on the air, we’re totally open to that.
Tell me a little bit about your involvement with WBOR.I’m a music director on management. I’ve been a DJ since the beggining of sophomore year and music director since the middle of sophomore year. I’ve had one show for a long time with a co-DJ, Jay Priyadarshan ’14, and I’ve had my own show for a couple years now.
What does a music director do?I get new music from anyone who wants to be played on College radio, and I do little reviews for our DJs to show them what they might want to play on their show.
What’s your show called?My solo show name is Thomder and Lightening. The show I have with Jay is “The Lazy Zoo with Tom and Jay.”

DJ of the Week

November 11, 2011

Senior Laura Kerry brings experience and sophistication to her three-year-old radio show, "The Village Green Preservation Society." Named after one of Kerry's favorite albums by the Kinks, the show features an eclectic mix of classic, contemporary and folk rock, as well as a healthy dose of electronic music.

Greatest musician of all time and why?

The greatest lyricist would have to be Leonard Cohen, but I'm too indecisive to choose the greatest musician.

Song that makes you homesick and why?

"Homeward Bound" by Simon and Garfunkel. The title itself explains why. These guys are easy to get obsessed with.

Most moving concert experience?

Besides Backstreet Boys in third grade—which was obviously life-changing—I saw Beach House while studying abroad in Dublin last year. They created an awesome concert vibe. It was in a small venue and they had these awesome blue lights. You could get really close to the stage and immersed in their sound.

Best song to study to?

"Roygbiv" by Boards of Canada. It's electronic music, it's ambient, and it's uplifting in moments of study despair.

If you were stuck on a desert island for five years, what three albums would you take with you and why?

"The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" by Bob Dylan for sympathy, "The Velvet Underground" by the Velvet Underground for nourishment, and "Teen Dream" by Beach House for company.

Guilty pleasure song?

I know all the lyrics to "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio and listen to it often.

If you could meet any musician, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

I think I would like to meet Bob Dylan...but he would be mean, which would make me mad. I mean he's sort of a curmudgeonly older man now. When he was younger, he was above his fans... I think he was against the whole fame thing. There's a great documentary about him called "Don't Look Back" where he doesn't indulge in any of it.

Most played song on your iTunes?

"Dance, Dance, Dance" by Lykke Li. It's just one of those rare songs you can listen to in any mood.

Favorite era of music?

Late-'60s and early-'70s. It was just a good time for rock. Right now, there's a lot of interesting stuff going on with folk revival and cool electronic music from that era...There's been a lot of talk about the Fleet Foxes—they came out with an album this summer that's straight folk.

If you were going into battle, what song would you want blasting on your iPod?

"Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)" by Jimi Hendrix. You feel pretty invincible. But I'm a pacifist.

Tune into "The Village Green Preservation Society" with Laura Kerry '12 every Friday from 11 a.m. to noon on WBOR 91.1 FM or stream online at wbor.org.

Comments are permanently closed.