WCBN Serves Up a Smorgasboard of Sound

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Turn on your radio and just listen for a while. Tired of what you're hearing? Has bubble-gum teen pop begun to rattle your nerves? Shania started not impressing you so much? Same songs, same play lists? Sick of it already? It might be time to switch dials and tune in to the University's very own campus radio station, WCBN, 88.3 FM. For those who want to catch fresh tracks or hear something different, this is the place.

What's aired on WCBN may sound unfamiliar, different, some might even say peculiar. The University student-run station is an alternative to mainstream music, specializing in freeform radio. It taps into a whole array of genres, broadcasting music taken from a vast collection of songs new and old. Jazz? They play that. Blues? Ditto. Funk, electronic, 50's oldies, country, reggae - it's all showcased. After all, said music director Chris Tusciuk, much of WCBN's intent is to introduce music of ma

JLJ LSA alum Joslyn Layne removes a record while Rackham's Chris Brooks waits to DJ.

ny faces to the listening arena.

"We want to open up the Ann Arbor community to new kinds of music," he said.

WCBN, whose license is owned by the Regents of the University of Michigan and is funded partly by University Housing, broadcasts on a daily, 24-hour schedule from a small studio in the basement of the Student Activities Building. Around for 27 years, WCBN has steadily built a following of loyal listeners, most of which consist of University students, alumni and the Ann Arbor community on a whole. On a day to day basis, the station features programs that consist of series like Jazz 'Til Noon, Crush Collision (which showcases electronic music), and Freeform, an open, anything-goes program where tracks are chosen from across all genres. And these are just to name a few.

Shelf after shelf at WCBN's studio holds both vintage records and CD's, constituting a music collection as diverse as it is eclectic. Selections within each category of music stretch from one end of a spectrum to the other. Constant exploration into the far reaches of a diverse music culture is what pumps the energy behind the station and fuels its members and constituents.

"The station is a whole hodgepodge of ideas and music," said General Manager Chad Williams. "We're very proud of what we do here."

The station is built on a large member pool, consisting of approximately 70 percent students and 30 percent community members, all of whom work at the station on a volunteer basis. "Everyone in here comes in because they want to, not just for themselves," says Music Director Chris Tusciuk. In fact, much of the research that goes behind WCBN's collection of music comes from individual effort. Members check out music magazines on their own time, listen in on other college radio stations, and dig around the area to acquaint themselves with the music scene that rapidly expands each day.

While the station is categorized into different departments such as Progamming, Music, Management and Engineering, the DJ's are the ones who bring the music directly to their audience. After all, they are the ones who select tracks, introduce a piece on air and throw in their two cents as to why one should listen to a particular track, be it a reminiscence of other artists, or simply that it's catchy. Ben Tousig, a DJ who runs Freeform Monday afternoons, peruses the shelves of the station's vast music collection before each show to select that day's program. He pulls out one CD after another, careful to select ones that haven't been played before.

"I try not to select the same ones over and over, although it's tempting. A lot of the music I do play depends on a lot of things, like my mood," Tousig said.

Rollie Tussing, another DJ whose show "Yazoo City Calling" airs Monday nights, is an Ann Arbor native. He grew up listening to the program, which features acoustic blues tracks. Eventually he took the reins into his own hands, and now spins his own acoustic blues selections. One of the best parts about working at WCBN, he says, is the wide variety of music he learns about every day, especially since different types of blues can be found within many cross-cultural blends of music.

"I learn about music here that I would never have been exposed to before. The music comes from all different parts of the world, and I sort of learn how each is connected to the other," he said.

While WCBN hires DJ's throughout the year who do not necessarily have previous experience, there is one thing that is a definite must to work on air.

"You need to love music," Tusciuk said.

That may sound obvious, but those who refuse to listen to anything but the same five CD's every day need not thinkabout stepping through WCBN's doors. The multitude of records at the station exists for a reason. According to Tusciuk, it is important to keep an open mind about music from any area. The willingness to try new tracks and open up new doors is necessary, as "open-mindedness is something our DJ's already come in with," he said.

Music is overwhelmingly the focus of WCBN. However, the station does run student-produced news programs and some syndicated alternative news programs. Other times, the station will showcase local bands live on air. Talk on WCBN is light, as most DJ's who run their own music programs will introduce a song and briefly talk about it, occasionally playing an entire album in one sitting. And when there's that much leeway given to the DJ, a case of on-the-air nerves comes infrequently. What they talk about is their passion, after all.

Tussing said his enthusiasm about a track will spill out as he addresses his audience.

"Just about every song I play on the air, I'm like, 'you got to hear this,'" he said. But there is also the sense of learning that he shares with his audience. It's not unusual for Tusciuk to play something he has never heard or come across before. It's not always good.

"At times, I go, 'I can't believe I just played that. That sucked,'" he said.

Tusciuk believes Ann Arbor is very receptive to the alternative style of WCBN and the unconventional approach it takes in bringing together music of all types under one roof.

"The people who listen to WCBN listen to it for a reason: because they want to," he said. "We want to introduce people to new things. For the tradition here is to be untraditional."

09-23-99