Freedom of speech
By Andrew Wenzlaff
June 26, 2004 9:00 p.m.
Broadcasting live from Ackerman Grand Ballroom, but without a
signal tower, is KLA, UCLA’s student-run radio station.
It’s a promising ““ albeit
lesser-known ““ campus community that provides
resources for local talent to get exposure and plenty of
opportunities for students, staff and alumni to get involved.
Listeners tune in not by riding the radio waves, but by surfing the
Internet at UCLAradio.com.
KLA is one of the only free-format radio stations in Los
Angeles; it’s up to the DJs to play whatever they want.
Without the hindrance of Federal Communications Commission
regulations, the music doesn’t have to be censored for foul
language, so underground punk and hip-hop flows freely. But DJs are
encouraged to keep their language clean.
“There is a lot of really good music and a lot of
interesting, funny, weird DJs who are doing really cool
cutting-edge stuff,” said KLA music director Eric Rice. Rice
is a UCLA graduate and the host of the underground hip-hop and rare
funk show “Soul-Fu.”
“Since we don’t have an FM signal, we can get away
with things that the FCC would usually have a problem with,”
said third-year philosophy student, DJ Raul Panzar, “El
Vatoloco,” co-host of “The Midnight Yell, UCLA’s
Most Ineptly Named Radio Show.”
Last year’s “Midnight Yell” shows included
satirical political skits, like an Osama bin Laden gangsta rap, and
a sarcastic public service announcement which encouraged kids to
start smoking.
But Panzar’s show also included serious debates, including
ones about gay marriage and the UCLA cadaver scandal. In this way,
KLA can serve as a forum for the UCLA community to discuss
important issues.
KLA includes three sports talk shows. “The Huddle”
features live broadcasts of UCLA men’s basketball, football
and baseball. Larry W. Brown, sports department manager and one of
the hosts of “The Huddle,” sees Internet radio as a
resource for UCLA students who want to keep up with local and
nationwide sports while studying abroad.
Another show which connects UCLA’s resources to the world
is “Sounds from the Vault of the Ethnomusicology
Archive,” hosted by graduate of the ethnomusicology program
and current archivist, John Vallier. In his program, Vallier plays
music from the Archive’s 100,000 recordings, including
unpublished field recordings from Taipei and Taiwan and pop, folk
and classical music from Indonesia, Afghanistan and Africa as well
as Japanese progressive rock.
Vallier likes to invite professors, visiting artists and
graduate students into the studio to play music live or talk about
their field of interest. He said that one of the benefits of the
Internet medium is that his music can reach the worldwide
ethnomusicology community.
But since it is only available online, KLA suffers from
underexposure. Rice said that out of a worldwide audience, the
webstream receives a mere 200 logins per day. And affording an air
signal is out of the question.
“A lot of it is just that people don’t know that
we’re here, it’s hard for us to promote it and
it’s tough for people to listen because they have to be at a
computer to hear it,” explained Rice.
But the small size of the audience makes it easy for listeners
to interact directly with the DJs. Second-year anthropology student
Gilbert Ramirez, also known as DJ “Gilby Dillon” enjoys
talking to listeners via the BruinRadio instant message account
while he’s on the air. He takes song requests, promotes
friends’ Web sites and gives exposure to local artists.
“I’m always looking for local talent or any talent
that’s struggling to get their music out,” said
Ramirez. “I’m not going to close the door on anybody.
You could even be a country music artist playing some honkytonk
stuff, I don’t care. If you’re trying to get your music
out, I’ll play it for you. That’s my job as a
DJ.”
Ramirez recommended that anyone with an interest in music or
broadcasting get involved with UCLA Radio. In his first year,
Ramirez started off at UCLA Radio just because he thought it looked
like something fun to do, and in a little more than one quarter he
had his own show. This was a conversation starter at parties, where
he would inevitably meet amateur musicians who were eager to give
him demo CDs. Although Ramirez didn’t know anything about
radio when he started, he’s now considering a career in
broadcasting.
Due to a lack of DJs, KLA currently can only broadcast live less
than 12 hours per day. So, there are plenty of openings for
interested students, staff and alumni to get involved.
