DJ gets award nod for sexy voice
During this year’s annual award ceremony, Music Marathon, the College Music Journal may present a Portland State radio station DJ with one of its most attractive awards – best sexy male voice.
KPSU DJ Aaron Reyna left for New York City early Tuesday morning to attend the event, in hopes that he will come back having been selected as college radio’s sexiest male voice. Reyna is spending five days in the city, with all expenses paid by the College Music Journal (CMJ) and student affairs.
”I was surprised to hear about the nomination,” said Reyna, a junior who is majoring in geography. “My show is mostly a strange amalgamation of my musical tastes, of the stuff I’ve been listening to for a while. Some of it’s pretty good – but we also definitely get some really bad albums and promos.”
Reyna said he mostly plays rock from the 1960s and 1980s, but some experimental metal and tracks that CMJ sends to the station also make it on the show. He said he tries to pick the best songs and tells his listeners what he thinks about them.
Reyna has worked with KPSU for eight months, spending the majority of the time on the air, compiling playlists and answering phones.
Bekah Zietz, a press representative from Suicide Squeeze Records, is an active member of the College Music Journal and helped garner Reyna’s nomination. Zietz said she got to know Reyna while she was promoting her label’s music to KPSU.
Zietz said the CMJ does not have an actual committee, but bases award nominations on listener and industry response from promotion packages and songs played on college radio. She said Reyna’s voice is very sexy and that he deserves the award.
”I’ve talked with Aaron about the stuff we send him and there is no denying how incredibly sexy his voice is,” Zietz said. “I mean, he could use that ridiculously sexy voice to get out of any sort of trouble.”
Reyna will be running against Nico Leone (KDHX, St. Louis), Omar Husain (CJLO, Concordia University in Montreal), Pat Collins (KVCU, University of Colorado at Boulder) and Kody Wynne (WVVS, Valdosta State). The winner will be announced during the CMJ Music Marathon Awards ceremony in New York, held Thursday in the Alice Tulley Hall of the Lincoln Center at 12 p.m.
Reyna’s show, which runs from 12 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Thursday mornings, consists of tracks from his eclectic playlist and a running commentary on the music. Reyna uses the broadcast name “Saville Sax,” and archived versions of his show are available for download at KPSU.org.
”It’s really great, the support PSU offers its student media,” Reyna said. “Looking at the websites for the Vanguard, Rearguard and KPSU all prove that lots of people – not just students, but the Portland community at large – are interested in what’s going on around campus. We even have worldwide fans through KPSU.org, which is great, because I get some material sent regularly from a DJ in Germany, and international music is always cool.”
Reyna and KPSU station manager Myron Kingsbury will be in New York City attending the entire ceremony, which runs from Oct. 31 through Nov. 4. Other awards presented at the event include station of the year, best community outreach, most eclectic programming, and most likely to never sell out. There will also be a star-studded lineup of guest speakers, with featured radio artists George Clinton, Chuck D and Janeane Garofalo slated to make appearances throughout the event.
KPSU and Reyna have been getting even more recognition around Portland. The Willamette Week declared KPSU the best AM radio station in its Oct. 31 readers’ poll.
”He’s seriously hot,” said Elise Jacks, an 18-year-old listener of Reyna’s show. “His voice is really silky and natural and could put anybody in the mood.”
