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Taking the air with WXYC

After he first toured Carolina's WXYC radio studio, Roland Martin knew exactly where he was meant to be. He has spent his past three years as a Tar Heel hosting a show, exploring new music and finding his voice on the air.

headphones sitting a desk.

When Roland Martin arrived on campus as a first-year student, it didn’t take him long to find the spot on campus he’d spend most of this time as a Tar Heel.

The moment he walked into WXYC’s broadcast studio in the Carolina Union for an impromptu tour with his dad, he knew he was where he belonged.

“I recall not saying a word,” Martin says. “Then I saw the first rock room, and that’s like ceiling to floor records. I was just drooling. I think that’s most people’s reactions. I didn’t want to make a fool of myself in front of the DJs giving me a tour, so I didn’t say much, but I think inside I was flipping out.”

Roland Martin listening to headphones.

Roland Martin (Photo courtesy Roland Martin)

That immediate connection to the University’s student-run radio station has only grown for the senior, who has hosted a show every week for the past three years under the moniker of Dr. Music. The station has given him the opportunity to broadcast a show that can be heard for 900 square miles, and it’s also allowed him to explore more musical genres and share that music with the public.

“Without WXYC, I have no clue what I would be doing because it’s all the stuff I’m most passionate about, and I don’t think there’s a better avenue for it,” says Martin, an English and American studies major.

Martin’s first radio show started well before the sun came up on a fall Sunday of his first year. He was assigned a 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. show on Sundays and learned the ropes while he was on the air. He still remembers the feeling of turning on his microphone for the first time.

“The nerves were really high the first time, but because you’re in the middle of the night, it’s OK to screw up,” he says. “You can learn as you go. It really felt good, and it still does feel good. I’m still thankful that I get to have my own two hours to broadcast directly to the Triangle. I can put my voice out there and my music, which is nice.”

Martin kept his show on the air, even throughout the pandemic. When the studio in the Carolina Union was temporarily closed, WXYC student DJs and station alumni created a remote radio station, allowing Martin and his fellow DJs to broadcast from anywhere.

“I was doing it from my room, just downloading music,” he says. “It was tough. I was aching to get back in the station.”

When he did arrive back into the studio last fall, he felt at home again.

“It was a sense of relief,” Martin says. “It just felt like the most homey place on campus. That’s my hub of activity. Being back there was a huge comfort. I didn’t realize how much that physical space meant to me. It smells good in there, too. It smells like old paper sleeves.”

During his three years at WXYC, Martin has honed his craft and learned how to blend different genres together as he discovered new music. As a freeform radio station, WXYC DJs are encouraged to play many genres of music instead of sticking with just one. Though Martin was raised on British Invasion music, as a DJ, he found himself returning to electronic music for his rotations.

“In the last three years, I’ve discovered more music than I could have in the first 18 years of my life,” he says. “It was a pretty rapid expansion into all different areas.”

Martin is now the station’s music director, which allows him to continue expanding his musical tastes because his position requires him to listen to and review new releases for the rest of the DJs so they can play them on air. He spends about 10-15 hours a week working with WXYC, and the connections he has made with other DJs are what he says has made the most significant impact on his Carolina experience.

“The social scene is the biggest aspect of WXYC for me,” he says. “All of my closest friends I’ve met through WXYC.”

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