Sounds of State

Behind the Mic: Soundwave Transmission

Monica Vigil

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

 

Written by: Monica Vigil
*Fabrizio doesn’t know what time the show will be next semester, but this semester it was Thursdays at noon. Follow their Instagram and say what’s up: @soundwave.kcr

Behind the Mic: Arvin Domier, Andrew Kaitcer, Gautham Dixit and Trevor Mass

Rica Perez

Known to keep fans on the edge of their seats, sporting events are high energy, competitive and passionate environments that bring all types of people together. KCR’s Arvin Domier, Andrew Kaitcer, Gautham Dixit and Trevor Maas successfully translate these epic moments onto the airwaves through their sports radio show, “Undefeated.”

Every Friday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., this quartet cover topics such as football, basketball and, most recently, baseball. At first, Arvin had no idea KCR existed until his guest interview on Weston Lowe and Ruairi McCann’s show. Following his appearance, he fell in love and proposed creating their own show to his current cohosts/roommates. Soon after, “Undefeated” was born.

In Fall 2017, Arvin, Andrew and Gautham took a more casual approach to their show format during their first semester as DJs. “Thirty minutes before we went on air, we would jot down notes and figure out what we would talk about from there. An example would be discussing our top five players in the NFL. We were still trying to figure everything out so it was very relaxed,” says Arvin. Now, since they’ve gained more listeners and added Trevor Maas as a cohost, more preparation is put into their content.

Each week, this group tackles huge topics covered on big name sources such as ESPN as well as events from SDSU’s intramural teams. In fifteen minute segments, the cohosts share their take on anything and everything sports related. Arvin focuses on football, baseball and basketball, and has even taken a keen interest on hockey. Andrew and Gautham concentrate on basketball and football whereas Trevor is the main man for baseball. Trevor, an economics major, admits, “The only professional sport I follow is baseball so KCR helps me to stay up to date with all of the players.”

One of their favorite segments was their Superbowl preview. Each cohost gave a break down of the coaching side and player side of both teams. In-depth predictions and analyses on team advantages were also brought up. By creating good sports dialogue, it keeps listeners engaged in open-minded opinions and perspectives. Their inspirations include Skip Bayless who is known for his raw and controversial viewpoints. Computer science major Gautham adds that shows like “Undisputed” and “First Take” with Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman are other influences.

In addition, changes in the show include a live-stream on their Facebook page and, according to Arvin, an unwavering hope to interview beloved former men’s basketball coach Steve Fisher. These four have big plans for improvement in order to create awesome content.

What sets them a part from other sports broadcasting shows? “Undefeated” is real and passionate.”My roommates and I decided to follow our love for sports and open up our daily living room talks to an audience,” says marketing major Andrew. One thing is clear: sports hold this dynamic team together.

Besides being DJs, Arvin, Andrew, Gautham and Trevor are third years who play on intramural teams like basketball, bowling, football, volleyball, softball and dodgeball. With their loaded course work, KCR has become a creative escape to unwind and speak their mind on a topic they all love.

Don’t forget to tune in to “Undefeated” every Friday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m on KCR college radio. You can also watch their live-streams on their Facebook page.

Featured image by Arvin Domier

Behind the Mic: Amal Younis & Angie Campos

Sabrina Basurto

For this week’s edition of Behind the Mic, I interviewed Amal Younis and Angie Campos, who host the music show, “And They Were Roommates.” Their show is on every Tuesday from 3 to 4 p.m.

On their show, Amal and Angie each play their favorite music. They play a lot of different genres because they both have different music tastes. Apart from playing music, they also have themes of discussion. For example, they have spoken about feminism, artists that have shaped who they are, Christmas, finals and dealing with stress. They also try to play songs that relate to the topic of the show. Angie and Amal explained that they try to show a mixture of seriousness and lightheartedness on the air. While they have talked about depression and anxiety, they have also told funny stories in order to keep the mood balanced. They try to make every episode not too silly or too serious.

They are always trying to grow as a show. However as Amal said, they want to make improvements, not changes. They plan on becoming more organized with the show every semester. Also, they want to start putting it on Spotify, and being more active on social media.

Amal is a second year, majoring in Journalism. She has been part of KCR since last semester. After joining KCR, she has become very interested in radio and wants to continue with it in the future. She explained that she likes the platform because it’s not as easy to censor or restrict as other platforms. Angie is also a second year, who is majoring in Communications, and minoring in Art. They have been roommates since their Freshman year. After, appearing on Amal’s show various times last semester, Angie decided to join KCR, and have a show with Amal. After being a part of KCR, she said that it is fun to play her type of music, and to hear that their listeners like their show. They also both enjoy blasting their favorite songs in the studio.

Amal and Angie describe themselves as Vine enthusiasts. On the first KCR meeting of the semester, they came up with the name of their show,“And They Were Roommates.” They were pressured to come up with a name for their show on the spot. Amal jokingly suggested “And They Were Roommates,” referencing the Vine. But it stuck, and actually ended up becoming the name of their show.

They believe that their show is special because they know each other very well and can easily have a flowing conversation on-air. Apart from that, the topics they cover on the show are things that are very important to them and to other people. They like being able to have a voice, relating to people and discussing things that they are incredibly passionate about.

Apart from their music show, Amal and Angie are very involved in KCR. Amal was part of the promotions department in KCR. She has gone to many KCR events. She described an event she went to where she got to DJ and play music. Now, she is in the video department. On the other hand, Angie writes for the KCR blog. She has mostly written about concerts she has attended, as well as other music related topics.

Make sure to continue following KCR’s social media accounts to stay in the loop, on all things KCR. Also, make sure to check out Amal and Angie’s Instagram account for “And They Were Roommates,” for updates on their show.