Until mid-March, Hannah Avalos 鈥21 used to wake up in her room in Harwood Court, the tile-roofed 禁漫天堂 residence hall built in 1921, and walk across the street to DJ her weekly show on college radio station KSPC 88.7 FM.
鈥淩oll out of bed, brush my teeth and head straight over,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 was live in studio every Friday morning from 8 to 10.鈥
These days, Avalos is coming to you live from her home in Whittier, spanning the 25 miles to campus via a Zoom connection that gives her mouse-control access to the KSPC studio in Thatcher Music Building.
It is 10 a.m., you鈥檙e listening to KSPC 88.7 FM. I鈥檓 DJ Hannah and this is the 鈥淲eekend Warm-Up.鈥
Not much has changed except her new 10-to-noon time slot, other than being limited to music from the station鈥檚 digital library when she DJs remotely. The indie-folk mix Avalos plays includes acts like the Silver Lake Chorus, with their formal choral arrangements of popular music, and Joanna Newsom, the girlish-voiced singer-songwriter who turns a harp into a contemporary instrument.
The beat goes on at , despite the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic that sent college radio DJs home around the country.
Other than Avalos, student DJs are sending in their pre-recorded shows on MP3 files though Box or Dropbox. But for her, the high-wire adrenaline of being live sustains her in the stay-at-home era鈥攁ll through technology undreamed of when KSPC first signed on to the airwaves in 1956.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of like an outing for me,鈥 Avalos says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an activity, more than another task I have to do. It鈥檚 a really nuanced difference, but I think having it at a set time is more like having an appointment or a fun activity, rather than another homework assignment or a work assignment.鈥
Keeping It Going
When the world seemingly stopped spinning in March, so did the discs that students were spinning at KSPC. But the 24-hour music and programming never stopped, thanks in part to a heroic effort by Pomona鈥檚 director of student media, Erica Tyron SC 鈥92, and Dia Hakinna, the station鈥檚 part-time administrative associate.
Tyron started working at KSPC during her first semester at Scripps College in the late 1980s. She never left, and was hired to take over the station鈥檚 management and eventually oversight of The Student Life newspaper as well. In the early weeks of the pandemic after the students left, Tyron kept the station going round-the-clock by patching together pre-recorded or archival shows and public service announcements鈥攕ometimes from the studio and sometimes queuing up overnight programming from home before going to bed. Hakinna put together some of the archival shows and announcements, and also helped keep the station鈥檚 social media presence fresh. Later, student DJs and others began emailing in shows, and some of the community volunteer and alumni DJs began returning to the studio.
鈥淲hen everything was shut down, broadcasting was still considered an essential service as far as the governor鈥檚 order,鈥 Tyron says. 鈥淲e were granted access to continue to have live DJs in the studio.鈥 Social distancing is accomplished via time slots. 鈥淚f you have one DJ coming in for a two-hour shift, the next one comes in two hours after that shift ends,鈥 she says. 鈥淚n between the two of them, there will be a pre-recorded show.鈥
A Different Sound
As always with college radio, eclectic is the word. There is new music, of course, but also classic rock, reggae, a program of French music known simply as 鈥淟e Show,鈥 and a classical music hour that longtime College staff member Nadine Francis used to host on her lunch hour and plans to continue remotely as a community volunteer after leaving her job. The noted novelist Jonathan Lethem, the Roy Edward Disney 鈥51 Professor of Creative Writing at Pomona, is also a KSPC DJ, broadcasting remotely this summer on Sunday mornings under the on-air name JoJo with co-host Sam on their show 鈥淩adio Free Aftermath.鈥
Special offerings during the pandemic have included the 鈥淐oronavirus Blues Revival鈥 by a DJ with the moniker Boss Guy in Claremont that included the Elmore James tune 鈥淚 Can鈥檛 Hold Out鈥 and, more starkly, 鈥淒eath Don鈥檛 Have No Mercy鈥 by Reverend Gary Davis. A 鈥淒esert Island Discs鈥 episode from Pomona鈥檚 Humanities Studio served as an introduction to the format originated by the BBC during World War II featuring well-known guests playing tunes that sustain them.
Alumni, too, continue to keep the station going. Former students who typically did shows during holiday or academic breaks have been sending in pre-recorded shows more regularly.
鈥淎 lot of folks, of course, are stuck at home,鈥 Tyron says with a laugh.
One alumnus, Tim Wedel 鈥79, used to do occasional shows during Alumni Weekends or on winter and summer breaks. After the shutdown arrived, he started driving to Claremont each Friday from his home in Torrance, taking advantage of lighter traffic to do a show called 鈥淪helter in Space鈥濃攁 reference to both KSPC鈥檚 鈥淭he Space鈥 nickname and the times鈥攍ive in studio.
鈥淚t's a little strange how empty it is when I get there,鈥 Wedel says. 鈥淚'm doing it at noon on Fridays and a DJ hasn't been in there since Thursday evening, so everything is dark and a pre-recorded show is playing.鈥
In college, Wedel was a DJ, music director and for one semester, the KSPC station manager. His brother Terry Wedel 鈥77 was also a DJ and went on to a professional broadcasting career before teaching in the communication arts department at Saddleback College until his retirement. Over the last few years, the brothers have hosted a few shows together, most recently in January during winter break. Tim Wedel also recently retired from his career with an aerospace company and KSPC is his new hobby, a bookend on the far side of his college years.
鈥淥ne of the things I like to do now is look for new stuff,鈥 says Wedel, who went to college in the early days of rap, New Wave and punk. 鈥淚f I do play some older stuff, I'm trying to play cuts that weren't hits. or I'll play a live version, a demo version or a cover version.鈥
Making It Work
Jasper Davidoff 鈥22, is still in the midst of college and is continuing to work for KSPC this summer from his home in Evanston, Il.
鈥淚t definitely makes me feel closer to college, because the things I鈥檓 doing are related to the things I鈥檓 doing when I鈥檓 on campus,鈥 he says.
As one of three summer program coordinators along with Alan Ke 鈥22 and Graham Hirsch 鈥23, Davidoff has created a new podcast called 鈥,鈥 exploring methods to promote physical and emotional wellness in ways that work with staying at home.
His weekly interviews have included such topics as 鈥淟ife Athletics,鈥 featuring wellness tips with , professor of physical education and women鈥檚 softball coach, and 鈥淢ake Up Your Mindfulness鈥 on meditation and mindfulness with Paola Ruiz-Beas, assistant dean of students for the first-year class. He also has explored food issues and the sounds around us.
鈥淲e do a lot of work to provide access to music and information, and we already do a fair amount of messaging about the community. I was thinking this is a way to help people figure out what鈥檚 going on, be happier and do better while we get through this situation,鈥 Davidoff says.
鈥淓very now and then, I surf other student stations, and a lot are just replaying a lot of stuff, definitely not producing new sound to the degree we are. We鈥檙e doing what we can.鈥