Alien
Worlds
Something
Good in Connecticut?
Inspiration
and Reclamation
Back to NCE Home
The year 2000 saw me leave Chapel Hill, and move to New Britain, Connecticut. Why on earth would anyone do that, you ask? Well, let's just say I was misinformed. I made the move at least partly based on the assumption that a larger population base would prescribe greater diversity in the music scene--that is, there would be no problem finding a radio station like WXYC with a free-form, non-block format, and likewise, there would be at least as much live music to choose from as I had seen in Chapel Hill, and likely more. Ditto those assumptions to art and culture, in general.
Hah. No such luck. I found myself in the middle of what amounted to a cultural desert. True, two hours to the west was New York City, and two hours to the east was Boston, but I had spent the last 13+ years within walking distance to a wide variety of musical options in a town with a population less than 40,000. I was in shock to say the least. There were a number of NCE stations, but sadly, they were all heavily block-programmed. Suffice it to say that suddenly, I fully and completely recognized the salience of WXYC's webcast!
Something Good in Central Connecticut?
In a word, yes. There is one good thing in Connecticut: WRTC, Hartford, 89.3FM.
The details of how I found myself in New Britain, Connecticut are not important here, except that there was a definite misrepresentation of the what sort of community it was--otherwise, I would never have moved there. If a person truly delights in a broad spectrum of music and an academic atmosphere that is open and encouraging to all members of the community, New Britain, CT is simply no place for such a person to live.
But there I was. Central Connecticut has a much larger, more diverse population base than any place I had ever lived. For all that tangible diversity, sadly, it seems ideological diversity becomes an inverse operation. This was reflected in the stations on the NCE end of the FM dial--even the stations that boasted "free-form" were, in truth, rife with block programming. It was actually in Connecticut that I learned the difference between free-form and non-block.
You may have noticed that WRTC has the same frequency as WXYC. It was a couple of weeks after I had been in New Britain, when I finally unpacked the radio that traditionally occupied the kitchen back in Chapel Hill. It was naturally tuned to WXYC when I plugged it in that morning at about 9am, and for the first time in two weeks, I heard good music. I had been searching for something I could stand to listen to ever since I had arrived in central Connecticut, with little luck.
Just as I had done back in 1977, with focused determination, I listened carefully to get the station ID and hopefully a phone number--but I had a phone book, regardless. As soon as I had the station and the telephone number, I wasted no time making the call. Roger Catlin answered the phone. He was thoroughly amused with my predicament, and asked a question I would hear on an almost daily basis for the next few months: "Why did you move here from Chapel Hill, NC if you love music?" Between chuckles, he did have compassion for my plight, and he eventually suggested that since summer was coming, perhaps I should consider doing a show at WRTC, given my obvious passion for music. He hooked me up with Brian Sinclair, the station's Rock Music Director.
I met with Brian shortly thereafter, and I almost did do a show in Connecticut, except for the fact that it would have really been pretty much the only good thing in my life there. As much as I would have loved doing a show at WRTC, of course, I needed more. The opportunity to return to Chapel Hill presented itself, and there was no question that this was what I was going to do.
WRTC, Brian Sinclair, and the couple of WRTC djs with whom I spoke regularly during my stay in Connecticut played no small role in not only helping me maintain my sanity in the cultural desert that is central Connecticut, but also, ultimately in motivating me to get a show on WXYC, once I returned to Chapel Hill. Central Connecticut probably doesn't fully appreciate the magnificent resource it has in Brian Sinclair, who (from my perspective) is virtually single-handedly responsible for bringing the best in indie, punk, post-punk, industrial, emo, goth, and otherwise excellent "rock" music into the greater metropolitan area of Hartford, CT through his efforts to promote the same via the radio waves.
WRTC, like the other NCE stations in that area, has block programming, but generally speaking, they have "rock" M-F in the mornings, and on the weekend nights.
Inspiration
and Reclamation
"That which does not
kill me only serves to make me stronger." F. Nietzsche
If you're still reading this... amazing. You'll be happy to know the end is near, and we're all the stronger for it! So, let's bang this one out, and get on to bigger things...
Yes, I knew I had to escape Connecticut.
The state's promotional campaign while I
was there was "You Belong in Connecticut!"
I'm not too sure to whom that was directed, but it was not me. It was
painfully obvious I did not belong there. So I got the hell out, and
headed back to my blue heaven, with a new resolve to never again take for
granted the fabulous resources that are commonplace to everyday life in Chapel
Hill, NC.
Among my list of things-to-do was "become-an-XYC-dj-come-hell-or-high-water." My escape/moving schedule kept me from the interview process in Fall 2000, but I was ready, come Spring 2001, to make whatever sacrifices were necessary. Fortunately, all I had to lose was my time over the graveyard shift, and these days at WXYC, it's just a 3-6am shift, not a 2-6am, so it was even easier than it would have been the first time I interviewed.
So that's it. Rather anti-climactic, I know, but hey, what do you expect when a full lifetime spans the era from my discovery of
"alternative radio" to actually coming full circle and becoming directly involved in that which I've loved for so many years?
Anyway, I told you it was gory detail!
What is a non-block format? One thing
"non-block" can mean is that you will hear a folk tune, followed by a
jazz tune, followed by a punk tune, followed by an old Broadway tune, followed
by an international tune, followed by an avant garde experimental piece, followed by
a reggae tune, followed by whatever other genre you care to consider.
Non-block means you will hear anything and everything, not just a single genre
of music for a block of time. Often there is a certain theme that links
seemingly unrelated tunes together--for example songs that mention food, or
maybe a few tunes of radically different genres may feature a certain
instrument, like a theremin
or bagpipes--but sometimes being completely unrelated is
the common thread that weaves the songs together!
OK, let's go
back to where I was...
What
is free-form? This one is really easy:
It means a DJ has total control and
choice regarding the music and sounds that are broadcast. For free-form
stations, DJs may air things from personal collections--that is, they are not
limited to the library of the radio station. The Federal Communication Commission imposes
regulations on all public broadcasts, the violations of which may result in
anything from censure to complete and permanent loss of a radio station's broadcast
license. What is acceptable in a public broadcast has changed over the
years, but George Carlin's bit about "the seven dirty words" still
pretty much holds true. This means that even within free-form radio, any
station that is not interested in stretching the horizons of what constitutes a
legal public broadcast will have policies that prohibit airing of anything
considered patently "obscene."
OK, let's go back to
where I was,,,