How did Awkward Hour form?
Nick Benson: Well, it was my idea last year. I was hitting on Eva, and I wanted an opportunity to spend an hour with her without other people around, so I forced her to do a radio show with me.
Eva Sibinga: I was extremely nervous and I didn’t really want to speak. And I think the first day I probably said ten words. But after that it calmed down.
What’s behind the name Awkward Hour?
NB: I’m awkward. Eva’s awkward. We’re both super weird.
ES: We’re not that weird. It does a disservice to people who are actually really weird if we call ourselves very weird.
NB: I’m weirdly straightforward.
ES: I think the Awkward Hour is also nice because it gives us a lot of freedom. If you totally fuck up, you can just be like, “That was awkward!”
What do you guys do on the show?
ES: Mostly we play music. We just have a little bit of conversation every few songs usually.
NB: We fought for an hour today about whether or not I should wear a hair band. We play really sick music though. We’re probably really bad DJs, we’re probably really bad MCs, but we play great music.
What do you play on the show?
NB: Literally everything.
ES: Not literally everything. We don’t play contemporary country or contemporary pop. I’d say for the most part it’s classic rock, house, different forms of electronic music, low-key dubstep and soulful things like Ben Howard.
NB: You can’t box us in like that. We’re a box without edges, an infinite box.
Do you plan the show each week?
NB: That’s how we started, but now we just go in and do whatever comes to us.
ES: There are some ongoing themes. And a joke about how I never wear colors.
Who’s your target audience?
NB: My mom and dad.
ES: Yeah, same.
NB: My two friends who will actually listen to us. Crazy old people who live in the local area and call us up and say we are the heart and soul of America.
ES: That did happen once.
Do you have a lot of callers?
ES: We had two callers last year.
NB: Two quite religious listeners.
ES: And then some girl from his poetry class who said we were the best. That was pretty exciting.
Favorite moments on the show?
ES: I can’t call to mind a date, but I remember leaving the studio feeling like, “Wow, that was an incredible show. We just put on an hour of really good music.”
NB: Anytime someone texts me or tells me after that they were entertained for the whole hour is just a great time.
Favorite lyric?
NB: I have a lot of favorite lyrics, but the one that’s coming to mind right now is in “American Girl” by Tom Petty when he says, “God it’s so painful that something that’s so close and still so far out of reach.” He says it really great, too, though. I can’t say it like Tom Petty. It’s a really great lyric.
Favorite artist?
ES: Bach. He really informs the way that I listen to electronic music. It’s not reflected in the show though.
Favorite concert experience?
ES: The National, June of my senior year of high school. It was at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn which is a pretty large, impersonal venue... But my friend and I were standing in the general admission, and Matt Berninger, who’s the lead singer, came down off the stage and walked right by us and we touched him and he reached out his hand. It was just exciting, and on top of that, I love their music.
Final thoughts for your audience?
ES: When you’re chilling out, just put on WBOR and see what’s on. Even if you’re not listening for someone in particular, it’s really fun to just hear what people do on the radio.
NB: If we have an audience, please text me. My number’s 207-449-9890. I’d really like to know that someone listens to our show.
ES: You’re going to get no texts.
NB: I’ll buy you a lot of food if you listen to my show every week.
ES: We’re not begging though.
NB: No, not at all.
Tune in to “Awkward Hour” with Sibinga and Benson every Monday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on WBOR 91.1 FM or stream the show online at wbor.org.