Reviving dead air

Lately there’s been more sound than usual coming from the basement headquarters of KPSU—namely, the preparation for a complete overhaul of the station.

And while the standard of music we’ve come to expect from the campus radio station remains intact, these deejays are ready to spread their uniquely Portland perspective all across the city.

But, as KPSU Station Manager Jay Turk noted, Portlanders will need a few reminders first.

“People need to know that we still exist,” Turk said.

It’s all part of Radio Revival, a series of events dedicated to raising money and awareness for a much-needed FM signal for KPSU.

In the upcoming months the station will have the opportunity to apply for a Low Power FM broadcasting license, which would increase signal strength 50 times from its current three blocks of coverage.

With the first four Radio Revival concerts coming this weekend, the studio is firing on all cylinders, something that KPSU Development Director Gabe Granach expects for the future as well.

“Once we do go FM, the bar will be so much higher for what we have to accomplish,”
Granach said, going on to list a wide array of necessary steps toward their ultimate goal.

Both Granach and Turk realize the difficulty of maintaining a radio station that will compete with the other major players in the city.

“This isn’t going to be a [do-it-yourself] effort in the basement of Smith [Memorial Student Union] anymore,” Granach said. “This is going to be a legitimate business.”

It’s a daunting project, but KPSU hopes that the Radio Revival series will not only raise money but also the station’s profile.

“This pledge drive is not just focused on raising funds,” Turk said. “We’ve been focused on gaining friends. In order for this to really change KPSU into this new era we have to have the enthusiasm and support of the community, and that means here on campus and citywide.”

KPSU is coordinating with major players in the city’s music scene for a show this Sunday at the Hawthorne Boulevard Burgerville featuring White Fang and Boom!, two area punk bands that exemplify the station’s connectedness to local music.

“Burger Records reached out to us and were interested in collaborating with us,” Turk said. “That’s a dream match, to get Burger Records in there, because its really a label that fits the idea of the station and a lot of the musical tastes of many of our DJs.”

The concert demonstrates how a truly local station can maintain truly local partnerships.

“When you look at the radio stations here…the overwhelming majority of them are not based in Portland,” Turk said. “To the extent that you can turn on here in town and hear not just the same songs, but the same songs in the same order with the same DJs in the same order and the same commercials that you’d hear in Houston or Miami or Philly, et cetera.

“Portland is one of the most vibrant musical cities in the nation,” he continued. “These radio stations should be breaking local artists, not playing them on the decline of their career.”

Turk and Granach believe this commitment to seeking out music within the city will be the key difference between KPSU and the other stations in Portland.

“I think the quality of programming and the bands that get played on this station are really a testament to the quality of our DJs,” Granach said. “The fact that our DJs are so passionate about the musical scene…and that they go out of their way and take the time out of their week to volunteer so that that music gets heard is what’s going to make this station great in the future.

“The public will take notice of the fact that there is different music being played by somebody who is both knowledgeable and involved in that scene,” he continued. “And it’s going to be very different from someone who’s not really in touch with the music on the average radio station.”

With concerts and events planned for the next three weeks—culminating with a concert on May 10 aboard the Portland Spirit—students have ample opportunity to see what KPSU’s all about.

“We feel that we’re ready to surpass where we were before,” Turk said. “We’re ready for a much brighter future than the past ever was, so we need people to know about that and we need people to be excited about that.”