When you hear the word “library,” genre-transcending music and quirky banter isn’t the first thing that pops to mind (at least I don’t think. I’m not going to pretend I know what you’re about).
However, that’s exactly where senior Michaela Hoover and sophomore Fabrizio Lacarra Ramirez began their friendship turned co-hostship of KCR’s very own “Soundwave Transmission.”
“I was trying to get some papers done,” Michaela says of the reason she went to the library that fateful day when she met Fabrizio. “I literally sat down next to him and we started talking for like an hour. I got no homework done at all and we’ve been really good friends ever since.”
This fall semester was their first season of “Soundwave Transmission,” a music show that prides itself on not sticking to any one genre and never playing the same song twice.
“It’s just a ‘good music’ show. Any song that’s good, we’ll throw it on the show,” explains Michaela. “Any song that gets us excited, any song that makes us feel fresh and invigorated, it goes on the playlist.”
“It makes it kind of special because every time you listen in to the show, that’ll be the only time you hear a song for our show,” adds Fabrizio. “So it’s like if you missed the show this week, you’re not going to get those songs and you might miss out on some stuff that you really like. So listen, basically.”
Fabrizio is in charge of curating the archive of music. During their downtime, the two hosts add music to the general playlist and Fabrizio then creates the song list for a given week’s show. He’s found a system that efficiently does two things: provides musical variety and satisfies both hosts’ preferences. The former is a given. The latter may be trickier when you describe your music tastes as a “Venn diagram” as Fabrizio does. However, he’s mastered the art of song selection.
“I like a little bit of jazz and more hip-hop, some electronica and more indie music whereas she likes a lot of jazz, Spanish music or music in different languages.”
During the creation of playlists, Fabrizio consciously pulls one of his music songs from the master list, one of Michaela’s, one of his, one of hers, etc. etc. repeat.
Because this is their first semester hosting for KCR, they had to overcome some challenges that exist with starting a radio show. The biggest? Remembering not to swear.
“The first two or three shows, I was cussing at least twice,” says Michaela (Don’t worry Brett, she pressed the button). “I would beat myself up for it and I’m better at it. I don’t think I’ve cussed in a while.”
“We almost had a slip up today, but I caught myself,” Fabrizio laughs.
Michaela chimes in. “I totally set him up to say something gross.”
Another lesson they learned was embracing the uneasiness of transitions. Fabrizio says they now accept their style and are “awkward on purpose.” Michaela describes the duo as “pretty dorky” and says they were trying really hard to be cool the first few episodes, but eventually came to the conclusion that they were better off embracing their own quirky voices and using that genuine approach to have a better show.
If you, the reader, are thinking “Dang, this show sounds awesome. I can’t wait to listen to it next semester,” then get ready to have your heart broken. Go ahead, sit down, grab some tissues. I’ve got something to tell you.
Michaela is headed to Spain next semester, so the duo will become an uno for the time being. Fabrizio will continue the show in the spring and keep up the same style and concept, planning on bringing in different guest hosts each week. While he has no plans on experimenting with “Soundwave Transmission” because he considers it to be their “baby,” he will also be co-hosting another show in the spring called “AJ Squared.” It is there that he may try his hand at new risks and creative ideas.
The hosts’ biggest goal this semester with “Soundwave Transmission” was to introduce their audience to new music while hosting a safe space in the radio waves.
Their go-to order at Taco Bell?
Michaela: Cinnamon Twists
Fabrizio: Nacho Cheese Dorito Taco