College Radio Day is just around the corner and Mia Towne, Program Director for SXU’s radio station WXAV, says she is looking forward to the worldwide event.
“I’ve been with the radio since I was a freshman, and now I’m a senior. So, a long time! I have my own show on Mondays at 5:00. It’s called “All that Jazz with Mia Towne.” I play jazz, sometimes soul or Motown.
“Every once in awhile, I’m like, ‘hey I feel like listening to Kanye.’ I also give my listeners Broadway updates, and so I play a lot of show tunes too. I just love sharing my music with my listeners.”
It was the idea of sharing her music with others that originally drew Guevara Morgan into WXAV in the first place.
“I first heard about WXAV at FOCUS freshman year when my friend was like, ‘hey sign up for the radio station with me. If we’re cool and keep up with it we can get our own shows and play our own music.’
“And I just got really excited and was like ‘I could play my jazz?!’ and he just goes, ‘you can play whatever you like.’”
Guevara Morgan continued, “So, we signed up, kept getting the emails, took people on tours, basically, whenever we had time we’d hang out in the center and always talk to Pete Kreten because we just thought Kreten was so cool. I went to every staff meeting and shadowed DJs and all that stuff. It wasn’t something I thought I’d be so interested in, but I was, and I guess Kreten saw that and so, here I am as the Program Director.”
Being part of WXAV has allowed Guevara Morgan the opportunity to grow and come out of her shell a little bit.
“Oh my god. We don’t have enough time to go over how much I’ve grown since joining radio. But freshmen Guevara Morgan who was offered the job of Program Director was very scared.
“It took a little while to get used to talking on the radio; honestly, my first show was horrible, and I couldn’t figure out how to put on the next song and it was just bad!
“But even then, I always try to talk with a smile because you can hear the difference.”
As Program Director, Guevara Morgan says there’s a lot of stuff happening as WXAV prepares for College Radio Day.
“On College Radio Day, most schools will try to do something a little different to try and get people to tune in. So, instead of the usual Friday schedule, we’ll try to get bands to come in and do interviews or have them perform live in the studio for an hour or so. And then you get to know this new band! And they play some of their music. It’s so cool because you’re in there and just like, ‘wow, this band is just here playing in front of me!’”
College Radio Day was founded in 2011 by Dr. Rob Quicke.
Although the day was originally a day meant to take place in the United States, it soon expanded outside of the country.
Now, College Radio Day is a worldwide day of cultural connection as student-run radios around the globe share their stations with communites across the world.
One of the artists WXAV has done interviews with in the past for College Radio Day is electronic dance musician Moby.
This year, WXAV has a multitude of artists lined up for College Radio Day. For the event, WXAV will have a set up in the SXU Diner with speakers so students can listen to the bands in the studio during their lunch.
WXAV will be having CD giveaways for the event as well.
In closing, Guevara Morgan says, “Give WXAV a try. You can discover new bands, and you can learn something from each show and each DJ. There’s so many different personalities on WXAV, and they each have something to bring to the table. Like Sean. Sean Anderson is awesome.
“And remember: you can listen to All that Jazz with me, Mia Towne, on Mondays from 5pm to 7pm. College Radio Day is October 6, it’s a Friday. Be there or be square!”
For more information on WXAV, check out wxav.com.
Cheyanne Daniels
News Editor