WJSC 90.7 Freeform Radio is back after nearly a year of awkward silence.
About a dozen students and other community members gathered in Stearns on Tuesday Sept. 4, to begin mapping the future of the college’s radio station.
Scheduling, rules, regulations, new equipment and training were all considered as well as new ideas and goals for the station.
Jeff Angione, Willy Library’s new circulation coordinator, is now at the helm of a rebooted WJSC. He said he wants to “offer diversity and solid scheduling, while bringing the college and community together.”
Angione, who replaces former circulation coordinator Walt Reeve, has a long history with music and radio.
He owned a record store in Johnson called Tones (where the Smoke Shop is now) that specialized in vinyl, and then opened a second store in Burlington. Angione also had an online business selling music world wide.
He currently DJ’s on WLVB 93.9 on Saturday morning offering an alternative to the top-40 country music usually played on that station.
He is also a huge music fan, catching shows all over Vermont, New England and beyond when he can.
The station is back on the air with a new slogan of “WJSC 90.7: “Your Serious Music Alternative” and is now streaming an iPod shuffle of almost 2000 songs, with the capacity to be picked up live all over the globe.
According to Angione, plans are in the works for pod casting with remote downloading to come soon.
Programming will go well beyond music however, including reconnecting WJSC with Pacifica radio next semester. That would enable programs like “Democracy Now,” “Hip Hop News” and more.
Important too is providing a forum for a variety of community groups and people. “If someone visiting the Vermont Studio Center would like to come up to promote or debut their work or do a poetry reading, we can accommodate,” he said, indicating wide possibilities for community-based content.
A re-energized WJSC could also play a significant role in the new Communications and Community Media major, according to Associate Professor of Writing and Literature Tyrone Shaw. “ I see WJSC as an invaluable resource for the college and wider community, and I think given a few years the station will be more vibrant , more responsive to campus and community needs, and just plain more exciting than it has been in my nearly 20 years here,” Shaw said. Jeff has a clear vision, one that I share…Community radio is huge –as a platform for the arts and public affairs and a window on local life – and we have a chance to excel here.”
As the station gears up, former DJ’s are training the newcomers on sound boards and equipment with new computers anticipated. “We are still waiting on the 6gb tower to run Scheduler, hopefully next semester,” said Angione. “Scheduler is a program that allows us to record shows or promos in advance or if a DJ can’t make their time slot, play their pre-recorded playlists.”
Important to Angione is the station’s potential for exposing listeners to a wide variety of music, something he intends to build into the programming. “A goal of the station for me is…to try to open your eyes to all the other things out there and make you realize there is a ton of music. You might find something you never knew about. I’m finding stuff all the time.”
Because of erratic student support, as well as other issues, the station is no longer officially a club. It still, however, will receive funding from the Student Government Association.
