1 10 34 https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/20bd4ee7bd27c91b4b4d8c0e25abc705.png adf9da8d3a63739be0cea97a5eafdb0a https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/57e4cd4ee32bd3f167184d93141d0da1.txt b71016b70f4a2a965daf9ba594b7efad Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource AI-generated transcript for Rock, Peg, and Chuck Description An account of the resource AI-generated transcript. Will need correction. https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/645e23e447cd167a02f538ec16b65aca.mp3 c0099f25e341d361378c8f1a3c4a5e87 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WXPL-FM, Fitchburg State University Subject The topic of the resource WXLP-FM 91.3 at Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA Description An account of the resource Collected artifacts and oral histories with alumni of the station. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Katherine Jewell Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound Kate Jewell (00:00.658) There we go. OK, so so I've done a lot of oral histories for the book project, and so I have a very like fluid kind of standard way of doing it. But this is my first group interview. So for the recording, what I'll do is I'll have everybody go around and identify themselves and where they are. It's July 17th, 2024. I am Catherine Jewell. I am in Belmont, Massachusetts. And I am here to interview alumni of WXPL, the radio station at Fitchburg State University to get their stories and recollections and general history of the experience of all things being a DJ in Fitchburg. So whoever wants to jump in and introduce themselves. And then maybe you all could start by kind of going back to where, how you got to Fitchburg, how you got to the radio station. Rock (01:00.074) Okay, sure. I'm Rock. My real name is Michael Piantagini, but everybody back then called me Rock. And I'm in Medford, Massachusetts right now. At the time though, I lived in Haverhill. And I had a lot of great times. I was the business manager for a while at XPL and it was Fitchburg State College at the time. Chuck Ferreira (01:00.136) Rock, start with you. Kate Jewell (01:00.506) it. Rock (01:29.378) That's all I Kate Jewell (01:30.81) Okay, who wants to go next? Chuck, you want to go next? Chuck Ferreira (01:33.834) Sure. Chuck Ferreira. I live in Watertown, next town over. I was from Taunton slash Dighton Mass, which is like southeastern Massachusetts. Fitchburg State College had a great communications media program. that's for some reason I ended up interested in that when I was in high school. And that's why I ended up at Fitchburg. And then during my tenure WXPL I was a DJ, but also I had a stint as a program director and I actually made it up to assistant station manager for a brief time. For like a couple semesters that I had, by then I had sort of like gone in different directions in my life and I was barely there for like a whole semester, but yeah. Peg Ricardo (02:18.563) Bye. Chuck Ferreira (02:32.596) Joining the radio station was like the first priority when I got to college. Kate Jewell (02:40.86) Hug? Peg Ricardo (02:41.998) I am Peg Riccardo. I live in Toxbury, Massachusetts, and I did back then as well. Gosh, why did I pick Fitzberg? Actually, I'm not even gonna tell you why I Fitzberg, but it was between Fitzberg and Framingham. I didn't really have much of a direction. I thought I was going to be a teacher, and I just knew that I wanted to be far away from home that I could live there, but close enough that I could go home and do my laundry if I wanted to. Peg Ricardo (03:11.242) How I ended up at the radio station is kind of, it's Craig actually, I think. It was the summer after my first year and there was a few other people from my hometown that I graduated with that were at Fitchburg. And me and my best friend at the time had gone with another friend over the summer because they had already been involved in the radio station. So we went to some. Chris' apartment off campus and we met the Craig Albano who was like, kid, you should come hang out. That's how I ended up at XBL. I was a DJ. I think I was a program manager for a bit. Station manager for a bit. Actually, I spent more time at the station than I did at my classes, quite honestly. So it was an amazing experience. Met some amazing people. And I'm excited to talk about it with you guys and to see you guys. I miss you guys. Chuck Ferreira (04:07.633) I know this is like, is cool, we haven't seen you in a long time, Peg. We gotta remedy that. We gotta start getting you out to some of the get togethers. We'll all chip in for a babysitter. Peg Ricardo (04:17.336) Yes, yes. Kate Jewell (04:24.583) I know how that goes. and just one technical note. So this Riverside platform is nice. It's like a squad caster app, but it also does video. I'll just be archiving the audio components with their transcripts. And what's nice about this is it records locally and uploads. So even if your Internet blips, you can keep talking and it'll still be recording you and then it'll kind of fill in the gaps. later and then it also records everybody as a separate track, which my comedia colleagues tell me is important. So it's better than recording over Zoom. Zoom you just get the one compressed thing. And so especially for archival quality, this will be good. So why don't we talk about music? So Chuck Ferreira (04:58.203) Yeah, that's cool. Kate Jewell (05:16.026) What did you know about college radio when you started? Like when were you joining? What was sort of the vibe around, I hate that word, but what did you know about college radio? Was this something new or was this something that you knew about and were absolutely determined to get involved in? Rock (05:38.134) I had an interesting upbringing because I lived in the suburbs at the time and my town didn't even have MTV at first and I couldn't get V66. And so really all I knew was hard rock and scorpions and rat and all that stuff. I wasn't particularly a fan of it, but I heard it because that's what everybody listened to. And when I went to Fitchburg, before I started, I thought I'm gonna get a classic rock show and it's gonna be great. And then I discovered, wow, there's all this other music that's amazing. cut to the fall, that first semester, I'm going to the paradise to see O Positive, which blows me away now, but at the time it was a big deal. So I learned a lot about, I learned everything about music going to XPL because all that music that they played, all that alt rock. Peg Ricardo (06:11.662) Just like every other kid. Rock (06:37.964) or at the college radio at the time that we called it. Now it's a little bit different. There's no more F and X and no more BCN. So yeah, things are different now. I mean, it's still fun, but things are different Chuck Ferreira (06:56.549) Who's next? Peg? I am? Pretty much the same, I mean, it's almost identical, like a suburb kid listening to classic rock and oldies, things like that, heavy, know, hard rock, stuff like that. And I had the same designs. I was going to get a classic rock show. It was going to be the best classic rock show. mean, the big joke was... Rock (06:59.714) You are. Peg Ricardo (07:01.629) Yeah, you got it. Kate Jewell (07:02.908) Thank you. Chuck Ferreira (07:25.829) that everybody, every freshman that joined WXPL wanted a classic rock show. And I think it's because we are a lot of us, you know, all came from environments where we didn't necessarily grow up maybe near a prolific college where we could have been exposed to more of the kind of, you know, indie classic college rock. So most of us knew you know, we knew all of our classic rock inside and out. you know, so, you know, there was only going to be so many classic rock slots allotted. So everybody kind of sort of was, when you were a freshman, we, we had so many, there was like this golden age where I think a lot of us kind of joined the station where there were so many DJs, like so many station members that you literally had to like intern. with an older, more experienced DJ. And so you learned the ropes that way. I I'm sure over the years it changed. It's like there were empty slots. Within 10 years of us all graduating, the station kind of trickled down and you would have just dead air spots. That was unheard of for us. basically everybody, you got put on a show with second or third or fourth year student that had a know a year of experience under their belt and You did you learned a lot about all these all these weird bands that You had never heard of when you were growing up in the suburbs you know and and Yeah, you slowly Really got into that stuff and and then it kind of changed your whole perspective so I don't know if that completely answers the question, but It was this sense of discovering a lot of new music, which was exciting, and also learning this awesome new skill. That was the allure. That was what got you hooked, I think. Kate Jewell (09:45.094) Thank you. about you? Peg Ricardo (09:46.84) You know, I'm going to be the anomaly in the group. I did not want a classic rock show. That was, like Chuck said, very rare. That's what everybody thought they were going to do, and they were going have the best one ever. I think overall, music really wasn't that important to me. I didn't spend a lot of time listening to music. Chuck Ferreira (10:00.324) Yeah. Peg Ricardo (10:08.408) I live in the broadcast range of U Lowell's radio station, which at the time, late 80s, early 90s, I think is when we were all at Fishburg, was like the coolest. So I could hear that sometimes. I was listening to FNX. Chuck Ferreira (10:14.99) Very good station. Peg Ricardo (10:25.784) But it wasn't a huge part of, know, whatever. I think I ended up more for a social thing at XPL and then kind of fell into it. But then because the classic rock wasn't the thing, right? Where the bands that were coming out at that time that were breaking through with college radio, I'm gonna try and listen to them, I'll forget them. But I remember being so excited that we're like, wow, Nirvana started college radio, all these other bands. And you learned about them because weren't doing classic rock shows that you heard and you had no choice. Like really obscure whatever the CDs would show up and they'd end up you know they'd get our music directors decided what was cool or what we were playing for various reasons. We'll talk about later but so you were learning about all these bands whether they were local or not and it was music became more important to me then you know and it was really eye -opening that small town there's so much more out there, whether it was music or even just different people we were meeting, you know, and opinions. And it was an amazing time to be alive. Chuck Ferreira (11:26.764) Yeah. Chuck Ferreira (11:39.008) Well said, Kate Jewell (11:41.008) So what was your initiation process like? I say that very vaguely for important reasons, but I'm curious how you interpret Peg Ricardo (11:53.262) Well, mean, not that we were hazing, you know, like some of the Greek organizations, but there's a version of it, I'm sure. I remember we would have our meeting at the beginning of the year. Chuck Ferreira (12:02.583) was a version of Peg Ricardo (12:07.684) So we'd have our posters hanging up in Jidavi. You know, come join the radio station. We're having our first, you know, station meeting at, um, like on the Science Building. Yeah, yep. And you know, gotta show up and you're gonna, the first thing we gave everybody, and these are 18 year olds, right? First time they're away from home and it was pretty much like a working, blue collar, working class crowd that would end up at Freshberg State. This is the first time these 18 year olds are away from home. So sheltered in high school, like for most Chuck Ferreira (12:15.715) Science Lecture Hall. Rock (12:16.93) Science lecture hall. Peg Ricardo (12:37.65) experiences and we hand in this questionnaire. You're like, what's your name? You know the last question. You know, what kind of music do you listen to? Like, what's your favorite band? At the very end, we toss in, are you a virgin? We're so edgy, right? And the answers we would get back, it's so, it's funny, but so inappropriate as a talk to think about it. Chuck Ferreira (12:39.83) Ha ha Chuck Ferreira (12:52.588) hahahaha Chuck Ferreira (12:58.284) So funny, some of them. well nowadays, nowadays we would not be able to get away with it. Rock (13:01.707) Yeah. Peg Ricardo (13:05.368) we would not. And the answers we would get and the people who would be offended really told us a lot of, I think that's our first version of how the initiation process would go. Great insight into personalities here. Chuck Ferreira (13:20.004) yeah. Chuck Ferreira (13:23.682) There was one that I remember, I won't repeat it, but it was the funniest answer. It was just one sentence and it was like five words. It was the funniest answer. I mean, I guess we could, we're all adults, but that's up to you, Kate. What's that? One answer I remember and it was like the most epic, I think a bunch of us were just all rolling around laughing. Rock (13:38.53) Go for Kate Jewell (13:39.538) History's uncensored. History's uncensored. Rock (13:43.992) Yeah. Chuck Ferreira (13:52.043) It was just the candor of the answer. just said, no, period. I like to fuck, period. I was like, wow, that's brilliant. That is so perfect. Like most of them were like these long, like hemming and hawing answers, like, cause people didn't know how to answer it. And this one kid just said that. And I just remember that being the funniest answer ever. Yeah, it probably did. This guy gets a classic rock show. Peg Ricardo (14:00.866) I ruined his one. Yup. Peg Ricardo (14:10.755) Yep. Peg Ricardo (14:14.754) He got a classic rock show. Probably did. Rock (14:17.218) Yeah. Ha Chuck Ferreira (14:20.887) But that was probably as close to hazing as we got. you know, and again, to my point, when you got assigned to a DJ to learn, that person, I mean, that person had all the say, like you sort of, you know, did everything that they asked you to do, you know, within reason, but it was, you really were an intern. you was pretty funny. And Craig, who you will speak to, and he could get away with saying this back then because there was a mountain of DJs. Yeah. A show is Peg Ricardo (15:02.104) Right now there's five options in my head that you're about to say. Rock (15:05.303) Hahaha Peg Ricardo (15:08.43) Privilege not a right. Rock (15:09.208) The privilege, not a right. Chuck Ferreira (15:09.299) Not a right, yeah, yeah. And that was the thing, because there were people who worked in the station that didn't have shows. They did other things and they were fine with that. But most everybody, I think, joined because they wanted to be on air. Kate Jewell (15:26.46) So who were some of these mentors and teachers and what do you remember from learning to do radio? Like, do you remember your first time on mic? Do you remember the first records you put on? who was walking you through that process? Rock (15:26.647) for Rock (15:41.58) I think we had to do a demo, didn't we have to do a demo tape to hand Chuck Ferreira (15:46.485) Something like that. You had to book production studio time? Yeah, Rock (15:49.632) Yeah, I don't think I did it there. I think I did it at home. I can't remember. Yeah. Peg Ricardo (15:54.862) faded out after a bit too. But yeah, you had to do like a test. Chuck Ferreira (15:56.757) Go. Rock (16:00.086) Right. Not that it mattered, because you weren't going on the air right away. Peg Ricardo (16:03.938) Yeah, yeah. Chuck Ferreira (16:04.361) Right. Right. Rock (16:06.4) I remember I interned with brad eisenhower and i was like an eight a show crazy to begin with but we of course we were on the air and i don't remember much about that show but others was also we moved a few to a couple times so we originally in the library in a pretty small space and production beyond their studio wasn't very big and i just remember him you we got really into it we got the digital undergrounds Chuck Ferreira (16:18.636) We had them, yeah. Rock (16:39.778) what's that their first single which i'm forgetting the name of right now yes the Humpty Dance and he played the hell out of that song and danced in the studio and everything it was crazy it was fun but it crazy Chuck Ferreira (16:44.79) Not the Humpty Hum dance. Yeah. Peg Ricardo (16:54.941) There was no... There are no windows in there either. No airflow. Chuck Ferreira (16:58.496) Yeah. Rock (16:58.946) No, not at all. Yes. Chuck Ferreira (17:03.947) I actually don't remember who I interned with that complete. I think I worked with a few people and by the next semester I was given a show, it was just like a standard middle of the day block kind of thing. like when you had that kind of show, it wasn't like necessarily a specialty show. You played from the rotation. We had a bin that it was like medium heavy light. And then there was a clock that was on Peg Ricardo (17:15.812) rotation. Chuck Ferreira (17:33.697) that was attached to the wall on the station and it guided you through the show. it was like play, you know, the first hour, like the first 15 minutes, three heavy rotations, take a break, play a cart, do a PSA, two medium, two light, three, you know, so was like, so you had to go to the bin and you played something and then you put what you played in the very back. So everybody was like, you know, to keep it moving and Rock (17:59.66) Yeah, to keep it moving. Chuck Ferreira (18:02.825) So it was very organized and regimented even for a college radio station. Rock (18:09.848) but that still left room for you to play what you wanted. Chuck Ferreira (18:13.024) You could play like there was a couple DJs choices. Yeah. You couldn't, like you could not be doing a daytime regular show and then put on a 12 minute Zeppelin track. You know, like that was frowned upon. You could if it could fit into the time, but it was frowned upon. I remember trying that. Yeah. Peg Ricardo (18:14.766) thin reason. Rock (18:28.482) You could. Yes. Peg Ricardo (18:35.3) A of Craig was listening. Peg Ricardo (18:40.494) We, it was, think, mention those rotation shows. If you were new, you ended up with the eight in the morning till, I think we went to, what was it, like four or five was rotation shows. And like Chuck said, they were very structured, yeah. Rock (18:54.094) Or to six, I Peg Ricardo (18:57.346) People struggle with that a bit because, if they weren't familiar with the music yet, right? They had to be a little bit more indoctrinated and open mind here. Do more than, if you can hear it on mainstream radio, we shouldn't be hearing it on XPL was kind of what you would hear from our program directors and station managers. If you survive that and show that you're going to show up for that eight o 'clock show all the time and follow the rotation, you could apply to get a specialty show, which would be Kate Jewell (19:17.148) music. Peg Ricardo (19:27.222) evening shows which you had a lot more freedom. Still we're not playing, I think we had one at one point, I think we had a top 40 going on for like a semester. Yeah and that was like the only one but, yep. Rock (19:35.97) Captain Ken. Chuck Ferreira (19:39.503) And once he left that one away though, pretty sure, no. yeah. Rock (19:42.914) Ken produced the hell out of that show. I mean it was solid all the way through unbelievable He more is a program director now wherever he Peg Ricardo (19:45.604) Yeah. Chuck Ferreira (19:47.956) Well, he became a professional DJ, didn't Yeah, Peg Ricardo (19:53.72) Yeah, we had, gosh, we had the metal guys, the warrior, yep. Yep, big O guys. Chuck Ferreira (19:58.503) we should get one of... We should get... I should refer you to Michael Barones, who was our metal director. their show was so well respected that they would get... So radio station, college radio station, well, mean every radio station, but college radio stations would... Record companies would have a special division that Rock (19:59.202) You need to talk to the big O guys. Kate Jewell (20:03.356) video. Rock (20:15.468) very much. Chuck Ferreira (20:28.381) service the you know college radio and the metal guys had like all of the big metal labels were constantly sending them stuff and and and keep in mind we we only had like a 100 mile radius if that like that that's not even I mean you if you got a In good in good weather though, you could die. remember this one time we were driving to a conference. I don't know if it was who was it was Rock (20:46.926) Not even, not that at all. It was like 12 miles Peg Ricardo (20:48.162) Not even. Peg Ricardo (20:57.649) as yow. I went with you. Yow. Chuck Ferreira (20:59.004) We were driving and it was on a Sunday. Yeah, we got as far, well, we got to 495 and it was still coming in and out. Because I remember, because it was a Sunday morning and that guy, Aaron Whipple, was doing his jazz show. And we kept getting, by the time we got to 495, we were still getting, it was cutting in and out, but we were getting it. But the point I'm getting at is that the show was, the metal department, Peg Ricardo (21:01.54) We got almost a bolt in. That's not 100 way, but. Kate Jewell (21:04.557) I'm Peg Ricardo (21:14.264) He was so cute. Rock (21:14.336) Okay. Chuck Ferreira (21:28.825) had such a great show. mean, they had like three shows during the weekend. It was always at night. They had different DJs. Yeah, something like that. But they had they did such a good job that like all of these labels were sending them so much music and Peg Ricardo (21:36.1) Were they 10 to 12? Yeah. Rock (21:38.178) Yeah, they were late, Rock (21:47.19) And local people, like local high school kids knew them. They were popular. They even introduced bands. There was a club in town and they introduced bands at that, which is amazing. None of us ever did that. Chuck Ferreira (21:50.096) yeah, were celebrities. Chuck Ferreira (21:58.787) Yeah, yeah, we are. Kate, I'll try to I'll try to connect you with Mike. His name's Michael Baroness and he's still a good friend of mine and he he was the driving force behind that. Rock (22:12.492) Right, and him and Mark Fields did the Big O Thrasho. Chuck Ferreira (22:15.556) Big O Thrasher. I have the t -shirt still. Rock (22:18.262) Yeah, they made a t -shirt. Peg Ricardo (22:19.832) went looking for it, I couldn't find it and thought about you. Chuck Ferreira (22:21.371) Yeah, I've got it somewhere, yeah. Rock (22:23.003) Mine is gone, I Kate Jewell (22:25.222) Let's put a photo. Chuck Ferreira (22:25.75) did wait, have we completely drifted off of the question? What was the question? Kate Jewell (22:28.752) No, absolutely. yeah, I mean, I like, think you kind of covered sort of like the programming structure, which I was interested in, but I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit more about the station management. Like how was the station governed? What were those different roles? Like what was the power structure? Rock (22:29.016) Probably. Peg Ricardo (22:29.764) It did. Chuck Ferreira (22:45.019) We took it very seriously. Peg Ricardo (22:45.176) You know, it's an interesting way to put it. Yeah, we took it very seriously. We did not have a lot of faculty oversight. know, every club needed to have a faculty advisor. Yeah, and then we had, my gosh, his name was Tom Weier. And then we had the French guy, Spanish guy. Kate Jewell (22:46.791) Ha ha! Rock (22:56.664) George Borah. Kate Jewell (23:02.65) In English. Chuck Ferreira (23:02.735) Yes. Rock (23:08.61) The French guy? Chuck Ferreira (23:10.373) That might have been when you were still there. Yeah. Yeah. They left us alone. Peg Ricardo (23:12.228) That was towards the end, but yeah, we didn't have a lot of oversight. So like they were there. Sometime, yeah, they left us alone and we had a budget. I think our budget was close to $10 ,000, I want to say. Rock (23:25.794) I think so. Peg Ricardo (23:27.044) So we had to come up with a budget for how to run this station. We had to manage over, I think at one point we had like 150 DJs. We have relationships, professional relationships with record companies who are sending us product in exchange for hoping for it to be played on the air. We are being published in music publications, CMJ. Yeah, music directors were, I mean, we're kids and they were really well respected. We talk about, you know, the metal Chuck Ferreira (23:37.947) Yeah. Yeah. Rock (23:48.696) CMJ, rock pile. Peg Ricardo (23:57.67) like a mark, you know, they were garnering tons of respect. You know, our other music directors were as well, like our top 10 of what we were playing in our rotation was getting attention from industry people. And we went to college kids who, we took it very seriously, you know, we were meeting with administrators, you know, we meeting, I think we, at one point we had a weekly meeting with the college president. Chuck Ferreira (24:02.41) yeah. Rock (24:14.508) Yeah, we were. Chuck Ferreira (24:18.802) Chuck Ferreira (24:23.302) Well, he had the open. had the what he did was remember that Vinny Vincent Mara. he had a open he had open hours for once a week. It was like a two hour slot and he would just be in his conference room and you could come in and we always booked time. Peg Ricardo (24:26.978) Yep. Yep, Danny Mark, yep. Kate Jewell (24:30.716) We are. Rock (24:35.288) for everybody. Peg Ricardo (24:40.76) We took advantage. You guys would show up in shirts and ties. And you know, it was a great mix. We had business majors. Chuck Ferreira (24:44.294) yeah, yeah. Rock (24:51.298) I was a business major. Peg Ricardo (24:52.748) Right? And we really worked it and made sure we were known by the decision makers in the college. You know, some of us had jobs at the student activity center. We had the keys to the building. We had the keys to everything. We could get in anywhere. But we knew who all of the power players were in the college. We made sure that we made ourselves known. And when there were complaints, like they didn't know where to find us. We had we moved from the library to this giant space in the basement of Thompson. Like we had the folks asking us, well what do you need? Do you want us to build CD racks? Do you want us like this furniture, that furniture? So we really were running a mini business and we really were. It was the ultimate group project. You know, we would have executive meetings, we would have full station meetings, we had agendas like we had to do, we had to do later. Chuck Ferreira (25:28.132) Yeah. Chuck Ferreira (25:45.486) Yeah, it was crazy. Peg Ricardo (25:47.64) I honestly, spent more time at the time it was a big problem for the people paying my tuition that, you know, I wasn't doing so well in my classes. I wasn't showing up because I was all about the radio station. And I got to say all of the skills that I have now came from my work at the station. That's where I got my education. I point that out frequently now to folks who are upset with my grades at the time, but we took it very seriously Chuck Ferreira (26:10.284) Yeah, it's good. Peg Ricardo (26:17.526) you know if you didn't there was some peer pressure there like you didn't get your show drop the chop Chuck Ferreira (26:20.867) You got, well, you got, you just sort of got, I think that the, yeah, people who, yeah. I think the people who didn't take it seriously, they just sort of naturally got, there was no like, big move to kick people out or whatever. It's just like, they just got kind of pushed to the fringe and then, well, they just left. Rock (26:25.398) I'm good. Chuck Ferreira (26:42.105) because we had we had an executive board and an operations board. had a station manager, assistant station manager, program directors, music directors. And then you had special specialty show music directors and and everybody. There was a hierarchy that, you know, like Peg said, for for a bunch of 18, 19, 20, 21 year olds, like it was very organized. You know, looking back on it. Yeah, I mean, we had a lot of fun and we we did a lot crazy bullshit, yeah, I mean, yeah, yeah, the triangle. God. Yeah, I mean, I guess we can say it. This is so long. We would literally we would literally throw keg parties. OK, and charge ten dollars ahead and the five five. But but and of course, you know, we had a certain person working the door that would let all the pretty girls in for free anyway. Peg Ricardo (27:13.08) The triangle. Peg Ricardo (27:22.508) I like the Rock (27:30.958) Five. Peg Ricardo (27:31.96) Bye, Bucks. Chuck Ferreira (27:41.209) But the point is, is we would take that money and funnel it into extra things that we needed at the station that we weren't getting from the funding. And of course, you know, that was, you know, yeah, yeah, yeah. So we did a lot of that. to Peg's point, there was every year there was a, you had to literally go in and fight for your funding. There was a, you know, a meeting where, Peg Ricardo (27:53.358) Beers to bucks to bands. It was all about getting bands, yeah. Chuck Ferreira (28:11.545) a few of us would have to attend and, know, of course, you know, everyone's trying to cut budgets. And so they would always try to, they would always try to cut our budget. And I remember giving this impassioned speech to the director, you know, talking about how unlike, unlike many other organizations on campus, if we don't, if our, if our equipment and our technical ability to exist doesn't work, we don't exist because Rock (28:18.67) course. Chuck Ferreira (28:41.506) a radio station that can't broadcast is no longer a radio station. And you need the equipment to work. And we had a lot of outdated equipment. So that year we were going to get slashed and we ended up getting an increase. we really did, you know, we would go, as Peck mentioned, we would go and speak with the, a few of us would go in every week and speak with the college president. And he actually got to the point where he loved us. Like Rock (28:45.719) No, you need the equipment. Chuck Ferreira (29:09.071) because I think he knew how serious we took it and how much pride we had in it. And so he would, I'm convinced that a lot of good things that happened to us were because he would kind of like push things through for us. So there was a lot of that. mean, like seriousness of it, but also having a lot of fun. And I think to Peg's point again, I think a lot of us would be at the station. probably more than we should have been. you know, yeah, we, yeah, cutting, we did, a lot of us probably did cut too many classes and because that was where our passion lied. I mean, you know, it was a real thriving radio station and it was, it was popular. was one of the most, it was probably the most popular organization on campus at the time, but you know. Rock (29:39.254) I lived at the station. I was there all the Chuck Ferreira (30:04.644) To Rock's point earlier, we had fans, especially for the specialty shows at night. People that knew nothing about the college. They just found the station on the airwaves. Kate Jewell (30:18.182) So I'm wondering more about that relationship between the station and the university. did you feel like, were you like the cool kids on campus? Were you like the weirdos on campus? Like. Chuck Ferreira (30:28.516) A little of both. We actually got cocky about it, to be honest with you. We started to get a little cocky too. Like it was like where we knew we were such a good organization at the time that we would kind of like throw that around a Peg Ricardo (30:29.668) I'm a duck. Rock (30:31.404) Well, keep to the rest of the Peg Ricardo (30:36.078) Yeah. Rock (30:45.878) Yeah, but I don't think that the students in general thought we were cool because we were playing all this dorky music that they didn't understand, you Peg Ricardo (30:46.168) We Peg Ricardo (30:54.05) Yeah, yeah, yeah. We did have a pretty wide range, though. If you think about the folks who were joining the station, we really did have... DI committees would love it right now, right? Because... Chuck Ferreira (30:55.811) I think the older students did. Peg Ricardo (31:08.504) There was a great variety of musical tastes. We had a Christian rock show. We would have a political talk show. We had the sports guys who liked to cover the Fitchwork sporting events. So they would broadcast down from the hockey rink. You know, we, it was a metal guys, but then, you know, there was classic, jazz, Aaron Whipple with his jazz. We had at one point, yeah, yup. There was a blue show. There was, Chuck Ferreira (31:24.524) yeah, I forgot about Rock (31:33.112) There's a blues show, I think, Peg Ricardo (31:38.951) I will put we experimented with a poetry reading show, which was really just a D -Day trying to impress their English professor to get a better grade. I was also on that show. So, and then you would have these business majors who were so like, know. Rock (31:45.387) Yeah. Kate Jewell (31:47.964) That's it. Chuck Ferreira (31:50.673) Peg. Peg Ricardo (31:56.376) focused and ambitious and this was going to look so great when they were going for interviews and then we were really a big communication school so this gave you that experience you know having an audience so we had a really amazing cross -section so there were the weirdos there were the the cool kids not so cool kids but i think once you were in at the station and especially the the folks who live there and who were there all the time recognized that you also took this seriously and you were going to be responsible and show up your show no matter what it was. I think overall the group was very very accepting and after hours you know we talk about these keg parties and the hanging out like it really was everyone's welcome. If you're a jerk and not showing up for your show then we're like you can't hang because you're not taking it respond like you know but yeah we were very welcoming I think and everyone the my gosh the hip -hop Chuck Ferreira (32:46.137) Yeah, Peg Ricardo (32:56.152) Yeah, had, we got D Nice and yeah, yeah, like it was all genres, all like it was... Yeah, yeah. Chuck Ferreira (32:57.285) that was a great, the hip, the urban, I think they were like urban shows. The urban shows were really popular. Maybe second only to the metal show at the time. I think those guys were great. They were super, super professional about it, as I recall. Yeah. Peg Ricardo (33:07.929) Yep. Peg Ricardo (33:11.342) Yup. Peg Ricardo (33:23.896) And without XPL, we wouldn't be hanging out like in July we were a party, right? Because, Rock (33:29.898) No, all of my friends are still from Fitchburg State. I don't have - I don't know anybody from high school anymore or anything. Chuck Ferreira (33:32.662) Yeah. Rock (33:38.53) So yeah, it's all Fitchbrook State, which for me means WXPL. Kate Jewell (33:43.814) love that. So what was the, so you mentioned some changes in the studio over time. So what were the changes that you all experienced in the studio? What do you think was going on there? Like what was the decision -making process? Like how did it get better, worse? Peg Ricardo (34:01.38) I mean, they the great move. you know, they mentioned that we were in the library on the third floor. We'd have to keep it down because we're in the library and we're limited to the library hours. So you couldn't have 150 DJs coming in and out. Chuck Ferreira (34:08.346) Yeah. Rock (34:15.79) Well, we're also limited because we were at 91 .3 FM. There was a Worcester station that was 91 .3 FM. And so we had to shut down at midnight because they felt like we were interfering with their broadcast. So we did. But I mean, they're an Indy station too. But yes, we cut off at midnight. That happened before we were there. But yeah. Peg Ricardo (34:41.314) Yeah. my God, even going FM, going FM, I think it was slightly before us, but we convinced the college to let us take over the Thompson Tunnel, the basement. Chuck Ferreira (34:52.142) Yeah, so this Thompson tunnel that's been referred to, there's a building next to, know, literally a couple hundred feet away from the main building. Fitchburg had this, if you want to call it our quad, all the old buildings were connected by these like ancient tunnels. And under this building called Thompson, there was Peg Ricardo (35:13.732) tunnels. Chuck Ferreira (35:18.788) the tunnels all kind of like led to that building, which then led to the campus, the main campus building. So it was the last stop before you get to the main campus building. there were more like rooms in that basement and there was this huge area that we thought would work as a. a great radio station and it did for many years. mean, the basements, you know, it a basement. you know, it had its fair share of like little issues and there were pipes and some of the walls were starting to get a little crumbly and things like that. But we made it work. Crumbly meaning like the outside of the walls were crumb, not unsafe. But, you know, we had to retrofit that place. Like we had to put holes through concrete walls to like run cable and things like that. like, I remember one night just being down there with a mallet and like a metal pipe and just, because we had to, the ability to run the main cable that went to the transmitter to the air studio, there was no real good way to get it through there. You would think that this would be left to the facilities people to do this, but they were so like we weren't high on their on their Priority list. So I remember one night like three or four of us took turns with this like iron like Pole and we were like pounding hole through the bricks and we got through we we actually got through so they could We had this guy who worked for Lowell. What was his name Bill? the engineer Peg Ricardo (37:03.843) Yep. Chuck Ferreira (37:06.392) I forget his... And he was like, need, I need a... Rock (37:06.769) yeah. Peg Ricardo (37:06.872) We paid, we had to, he got paid. We also had to pay him in Coke with aluminum cans, because he would pour it in because it tasted better. Yeah. That's a weird guy. Chuck Ferreira (37:14.126) We're like, need, I need a hole like this big. I need it like this big to run the cable through. And it was like this thick. So we did it. We were all exhausted from it, but we did it. And he was able to put the cable through and bring it down to the trans, know, bring it back up to the transmitter. But it was that kind of thing, you know. And then we turned that place completely into our own. And we had a key to the building and we actually would. Peg Ricardo (37:39.054) Really key to the building. Chuck Ferreira (37:42.702) That's when things started to get a little kooky because we would be there much later than midnight a lot of the times. And I don't know how that Worcester Channel, you talked about Rock. I don't know how they felt about it, but I remember a lot of shows going till two in the morning or beyond that at that point. But that was again, I mean, we were technically breaking the rules, I guess, Rock (38:10.946) Well, they would have to know about it and I don't know that they listen to us. Chuck Ferreira (38:14.126) There you go. Yeah. Peg Ricardo (38:15.422) There you go. Or them, actually. We'll listen to them. Guess what else changed? think for the time we were there, we were still sticking with that, you know, rotation shows during the day. We have obligations to these record companies that are sending us material, specialty shows in the evening. We had... Huge amounts of DJs like we had too many DJs almost and I think as we got to probably like after 93 When the majority of the golden years had finally moved on I think I was there for the year or two We didn't have as many DJs. So it was getting harder to fill the staff. Our meetings were getting smaller At the point that I was there I think that we I think it was different coming the beginning of the you know popularity going down some dead air probably after, you know, I think my time there we had started to see but at that point in time we were there I think for the most part how we ran it was the same. how the administration worked with us. I mean, they expect us to be really responsible. Like if there was a complaint, like they were coming to us like, not you're in trouble, but like you need to solve this. Like this is your thing, you know, and we would get the colony. I feel like they respected us to do that as well. You know, I think there was one teacher, I remember one of our station managers. spent a lot of time at the station and I think they missed a final or something and man I think he went and told them like there was an emergency at the station I think we heard the FCC was coming Rock (39:59.33) Wow. Chuck Ferreira (39:59.449) The FCC was coming. Peg Ricardo (40:01.302) Wouldn't you know the guy believed it, was all concerned, let them do it later, forgave the inexcusable absence, and then followed up. Did everything work out okay? So there was a high level of trust in what we doing, what we were saying. We use it for good and sometimes not so good, but. Chuck Ferreira (40:18.159) Yeah. Kate Jewell (40:21.842) Do remember any specific controversies or complaints that came in about the station? Like what would get onto the radar? Peg Ricardo (40:27.946) yeah, think late 80s, early 90s, it was a big thing. know, what can you say? Like censorship, right? What can you not say? Radio, what should you not say? But that conference Chuckie talked about that we went to that was a panel I think some of us were on as program directors talking about that So that would come up, you know, people didn't like what they heard. They didn't like what the DJ said in the music They didn't like the lyrics in music. I mean which Tipper Gore was at the time putting stickers on albums. So That was a big topic and controversy. That was a lot of complaints we would get We were pretty much like you don't like it. Don't listen, you know Free speech we could do a lot. It's Chuck Ferreira (41:06.607) Yeah. Peg Ricardo (41:08.246) We did get into both facilities and they threatened to shut us down because we were a little messy. We came in one day with a big note. Actually, I still have it. I have the photo album and I still have the letter from Steve Lanciati that, know, clean it up or you're just getting shut down. Rock (41:17.1) We were pretty messy. Chuck Ferreira (41:22.582) nice. Rock (41:24.376) Ha ha. Rock (41:29.709) Wow. Chuck Ferreira (41:31.685) We got in trouble a lot because we were, during the day we were underneath one of the nursing, where we were, like, and so we would be a little loud. I mean, the air studio had these pretty big monitors and you're rocking out to your show, man, you crank it up and like, would get yelled at for that. And we would sometimes be liberal with like at night going through G lobby and Peg Ricardo (41:40.632) The nurse deals off it, yeah. Chuck Ferreira (42:00.559) picking out pieces of furniture that we liked, we'd go furniture shopping and... We would steal furniture and like, no we didn't. No, we didn't. Peg Ricardo (42:06.104) We had an chair too. Rock (42:07.494) chairs. Kate Jewell (42:07.579) I'm Cher. Peg Ricardo (42:11.618) No, we didn't. We would slide some furniture, borrow. Chuck Ferreira (42:15.257) slide it, borrow. So I mean, but nothing like, nothing horrible. Yeah, right. We never had any like, serious, like serious controversies or anything terrible happening. you know, nobody ever got hurt. was never any like harassment or anything. You know, everybody was pretty cool. And like, it was just more of like those damn kids, you know, that kind of an attitude. Peg Ricardo (42:19.842) It was still on the property. Rock (42:46.35) Well, one thing that they haven't mentioned yet was at one point we decided there wasn't enough cohesion because everybody was pals, everybody was friends, people hung out and all that stuff. And we decided that seemed to be going away. And what they had done before is have record breaking parties because we got in tons of vinyl. Most of it was terrible and we never played it. So it piled up. So we had tons of extra records. So there was one week we said, We're not going to have a meeting this week. We're going to have a party at this known party house. And we're going to tell everybody we couldn't get the conference room. So our meeting is going to be at 33 Congress. that's the, then it'll be, we'll cancel the, the meeting and have a record breaking party. So we did that 10 minutes in the police show up and arrest everybody. Everybody got arrested and Chuck Ferreira (43:39.07) yeah. Peg Ricardo (43:42.158) Break a record, get a record. Rock (43:44.298) Break a record get a record. Yeah, and it was it was in the the strobe which was the paper at the time and it was even in the the Sentinel app and enterprise and Yeah, that that was terrible and Most people were fine with it but there were a few people who were really upset about it like my daughter had no idea and look what she got into and I and all of that and Chuck Ferreira (43:46.287) hahahaha Chuck Ferreira (44:09.999) Yeah, yeah, yeah, Yeah. Peg Ricardo (44:10.81) Meanwhile, she was working the door, killing the four dogs. Rock (44:13.268) Yeah, right. But yeah, mean, luckily it ended up getting continued without a finding, which is good. But yeah, that was, but we had to go through, were in the jail at the police station till one in the morning, till the guy came in, because they have a guy who comes in who you can sign out. Yeah, then we had to go to court, you know, where all of There was 64 of us or something like that. And that was chaos. But again, luckily it got continued without a finding. But that was a huge problem. A couple of us, because I was on the executive board at the time, we had to have a meeting with executives at the school. And we basically told them we don't know how it happened, you know? And tried to play it down and we didn't get in trouble. Yeah, we didn't get in trouble for it, luckily. But yeah. Chuck Ferreira (44:57.895) yeah. Chuck Ferreira (45:06.309) Few bad apples. Rock (45:11.788) It was crazy. That was a pretty big Peg Ricardo (45:16.238) But I think it had the desired effect though, because those stuck around you. There was a lot more cohesion after that. Rock (45:21.55) Yes, Chuck Ferreira (45:22.415) Yeah. Us against the world. Kate Jewell (45:27.102) That'll do it. So for the three of you, can you, do you have some kind of like, like top three moments? Like what moments in the station and your station experience kind of stand out to you either individually or as a group? Like what's your nominations? Rock (45:47.478) I have a good one. I remember R .E had a new album come out, or it was coming out, and we got our advance copy, and I wanted to play it on my show that day, because I happened to have a four to six show, I think, and I wanted to play it. And our music director at the time said, no, it's got to go through the process. We have to check it out first and everything. And I'm thinking, this is R .E I mean, of course it's going to be in the rotation. But so we put it in the music case, which was locked. And so we broke into the music case, took the album out, put every song on a cart, and I played all the songs on my show that day. Now he apparently heard it, because they played it all day in the campus center. And he apparently heard it. He came in. He's like, what's going on? I'm like, what are you talking about? He's like, you're playing the new REM? I'm like, I don't have the CD. Chuck Ferreira (46:23.579) Take the hinges Rock (46:43.852) and he went and he looked in the case and the CD was in there. But yeah, I just kept playing them off the cart through the whole show. It was pretty great. Peg Ricardo (46:51.288) when he figured out how you guys were getting into the cabinet, like, that was a beautiful afternoon. Yep. Chuck Ferreira (46:54.597) Take the hinge off. Rock (46:55.768) Took the hand job. Yeah. Chuck Ferreira (46:57.689) Yup. You take a screwdriver, you pop the hinges off. Somebody else holds the door so that the lock doesn't bend and twist. Reach in and grab whatever you want. Put it back. Put the hinges back on. It took forever for people to figure out how to get in there. Peg Ricardo (47:15.576) That was a great day. think he chased you. Chris was pretty even -tempered, right? Like, you didn't really see him lose his cool -to -opted, but like, that day he was so, like... That was a great day. I put that on my list. Rock (47:27.48) Chris is now a political science professor, by the way. are you? Kate Jewell (47:29.81) I'm talking to him at 2 .30, so. Chuck Ferreira (47:30.329) Yeah. awesome. Tell him we say hello. Peg Ricardo (47:30.466) No. there you go. tell me, wisdom. Yes, we say hello. You know, I think, and that's, I'm glad you're talking to me, because I think hearing about how, like the process for like what was going to end up on air, like. Everybody was welcome to go, but I think the little record listening group that they had going on, to listen to these things and decide, like, is this going to go in rotation or not? That was another fun thing that you can get involved in, know, meet some new friends and learn some new things and really shape what our station was playing. So he'll probably have some great insights on that, yeah. Yeah, thank you, the music committee. But yeah, the day that he figured out how how he already was seeking out there. Chuck Ferreira (48:08.463) Music Committee. Peg Ricardo (48:17.058) It was pretty funny. Rocky Trillowmaker. Chuck Ferreira (48:17.189) really funny. Kate Jewell (48:18.82) out of time or automatically the people or which one was it? Which REM album was that? Peg Ricardo (48:27.092) out of time. Rock (48:27.138) think it was out of time. Yeah. Chuck Ferreira (48:30.586) That about right. Rock (48:32.27) I looked at the years on it and it had to be out of Kate Jewell (48:36.294) Well, I'm now good friends with REM's manager, Burtis Down, so I'll have to tell him about that one. He loves all the REM stories. He will love that. Chuck Ferreira (48:44.067) yeah, yeah. Rock (48:44.59) I'm sure he'll love it. Yeah. Definitely. Peg Ricardo (48:51.95) my god, Rock, I was thinking about you a couple of weeks ago when they had played. I'm like, man, I Rock is so excited right now. Rock (48:59.33) When who played? when they reunited? Yeah. I still haven't seen it, believe it or not, but yes. I know. Peg Ricardo (49:01.72) Yup, yup. Peg Ricardo (49:06.336) my goodness. Do you not know how to get it out of the cabinet? Chuck Ferreira (49:06.607) I think. Rock (49:10.988) No, yeah, exactly. Can't find Chuck Ferreira (49:11.162) We need to give you a refresher on Rock (49:16.511) That's the other thing we're not talking about. The world was so different then. Because there was no internet, there was no Facebook. None of that stuff existed at Chuck Ferreira (49:21.636) Yeah, yeah. You literally needed the CD or the record. you couldn't, there was no other way to get it. Yeah, that's true. Rock (49:27.146) Yeah. Yeah. And I just remembered one other thing too, because we got tons of vinyl, as I said. And I remember one hard rock album came in and the artist's name was Guy Mandude. Yep. And of course it was terrible. But yeah. Definitely. Chuck Ferreira (49:41.29) yeah, yeah, yeah. Boy, did we all have a... We all had a laugh about that. Yeah. Peg Ricardo (49:48.622) Yep. I think I would put on my list one of the metal guys, Mike Baronis. We were, gosh, we were out very late. I think my sister might have been visiting. I'm not even sure about. I remember we went to, it probably Denny's, open late. We had been drinking at a keg party or something. And then we had a great, cause we had a key. So we had a great idea. Like, hey, let's go over to the station and let's do a show. Chuck Ferreira (50:14.178) Peg Ricardo (50:16.02) So what does Mike choose to play on our secret show? Madonna. And he's totally rocking out to Madonna. It was really, I was like, wow, that was so unexpected. And it was funny. It'll probably kill me for telling that story. Rock (50:32.376) Speaking of metal guy, I remember I was doing a show one day and Mike Baronis came in and he handed me Nirvana's Nevermind. He said, dude, everybody's loving this, you should play this. I was like, yeah, okay, but I didn't play it. And they became huge. Chuck Ferreira (50:47.555) Yeah. Nice going, Rock. Yeah, we had that poster. Yeah. The naked baby. What the hell is this? Yeah. I think for me, one of the coolest things, you know, we had the new station and we had this huge air studio with like tables set up and like we actually one of the one of our so we had some local bands that were, you know, Peg Ricardo (50:48.492) Yep. You get that poster hanging up too. And everyone's like, what's that? Like, who's that? The naked baby shouldn't be hanging in here. Yep. Rock (50:56.083) Yeah. Rock (51:06.048) It was a huge, room. Chuck Ferreira (51:14.851) To this day I look back and I consider them like they were WXPL house bands. Rock mentioned one of them earlier, O Positive, but the other one was a band called Tribe. they were, they actually, like O Positive, they had a brief stint signed to a major label. They actually got to be on the Conan O 'Brien show. They got big. Rock (51:25.539) Go Rock (51:41.356) They made two major label albums. Chuck Ferreira (51:44.43) Yeah, two majors. so we actually, we played them so much that we actually got them to come down and do a live interview. Yeah, rocked at the interview. I think I engineered it. Like just so all you had to do was talk. Cause I remember being in there at the board and like we had them and it was just like, wow, this is like big time real radio happening here, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rock (51:53.729) I interviewed Rock (52:08.332) We were all pretty excited. Peg Ricardo (52:10.008) That was such a spectacle. Rock (52:12.151) It was. Chuck Ferreira (52:12.897) And the pictures are still around. There's a picture of us all with them in the production studio. I look like an extra from a John Hughes movie. It's pretty funny. Yeah. But that was good. think the number one memory, or I don't know if it counts as like a memory so much, it's just like the number one thing about WXPL is just the enduring Rock (52:22.284) Don't we all? Chuck Ferreira (52:40.653) the enduring friendships that to this day, we still joke and talk about WXPL. It's always going to have a huge place in our hearts, but the friendships were pretty amazing. And I actually have to think like when I talk to other people, I realize more and more how rare it is that this group of, let's say anywhere, 20 ish people thereabouts or maybe a little more managed to stay in pretty close contact. A lot of us still get together for various parties and whenever somebody's you know is in something's wrong somebody has a health issue or somebody's kid you know has a health issue we all sort of like come together and support. It's like, you know, somebody puts the bat signal up into the air and we're all there. It's like there's no questions asked. Everybody's got one another's back and that I don't know if like while we were there if that was obvious that that was happening but we certainly all did hang out with each other the most on campus like we would typically be kind of clustered together whether it at the dining common or wherever we were. But the most impressive thing is just like how the station set us all up to be pretty tight throughout the years. that's just, it hasn't changed one Kate Jewell (54:31.996) So how did, and I hope, I don't know if the heat wave's messing with my internet, hopefully not. Check if it goes out, we will both go out. We're on the same place probably. So how, I know you mentioned how you got so many practical skills for this. I'm wondering how, know, socially, clearly the radio experience has continued on how. Chuck Ferreira (54:40.802) Yeah, right. We're on the same grid. Kate Jewell (54:59.078) Where are you all in your professional lives now? And how has the radio experience influenced or been part of that? Or just your college years in general? How do they set you up for what you're doing now? Peg Ricardo (55:14.892) I would think that it was really like a coming of age, right? We absolutely could have been a John Hughes movie, know, a cooler one than Pump Up the Volume for sure. just be exposed to through music really because your favorite genre of music and what you're really into is what drew you to the radio station and know if we're gonna stereotype you know if you're interested in kind of music you probably have a certain kind of experience and that was already going to be different than you know what i had been exposed to up until that point so being able to be tossed into this you know microcosm of a business we were running and have to learn how to work through those difference whether they were cultural, whether they were, know, financial status, whatever it was. But you had to produce this product that we all cared so passionately about, that dynamic and figured out. And just being open to hearing another way of thinking about something and to still navigate and get to where you needed to be was huge, so eye -opening, and that really informed a lot of how I operate today. You know, some of the older folks, I remember we're driving down The main road in Fitchburg. Who knows where we were going, right? We supposed to be in the car. And there were some folks standing on the side of the road, you know, with their pro -life, anti -abortion, whatever happening. And at time, like, we need to get some post -aborts. Like, we need to get out there and, you know, counteract this, whatever. And just the, I mean, all college kids, you know, whatever. But it was just the idea that, like, we had something to say. And this is how we're going to get that out there. And like it or not, like, I'm going to learn how to back up whatever that is. And now what I do, project management for a bit for a very conservative company. Peg Ricardo (57:09.388) All those skills, like the budgeting, how are we going to move the station? How are we going to get this equipment? How are we going to train people? Really helped in that career. I had kids and one of my children has a disability and that really kind of was another shift. So now I do a lot more advocacy work and I actually work with the state to support individuals with disabilities. There's a lot of advocacy in there and a lot of using my voice and being able to speak. So, you know, those DJ days where you're on the radio and you're at make a phone in front of you and you have to be clear and you have to be concise and you have to get your message out and not... be like really nervous to do it and anxious. So those DJ days absolutely helps me now with public speaking and being able to do it and to use my voice in a different way than I did when I was introducing the secret copy of REM and then saying I don't know where it came from. But all of those skills and those experiences, I really do credit them to my time with college radio and XPL much more than the classes that I was paying to Rock (58:03.874) Hahaha. Peg Ricardo (58:18.374) And I didn't end up going into teaching, no? Because I found something else through college radio. And I agree with Chuck also. All of these relationships and you guys, like, all these years later, you we may not talk, but as soon as I see you, wow, we're so excited. And you you're right back there. like, we always have each other back, whether we talk all the time or not. Because we know too much about each other that... That's right. Chuck Ferreira (58:35.798) Yeah Chuck Ferreira (58:44.325) Yeah, we have enough dirt. Rock (58:47.096) No. Peg Ricardo (58:47.461) that we don't wanna get out, so... Chuck Ferreira (58:52.322) Rock you. Rock (58:53.958) sure. What are... I don't even remember what the question was now, Chuck Ferreira (58:59.97) Well, it was like how did it prepare you for like where you're at now? Peg Ricardo (59:00.652) I talked about. Rock (59:02.766) Oh. Well, you know, I was a business major and at some point when I was at school, I was like, I'm in the wrong major. I should be a communications major or something. But it seemed like a lot of work to do it. So I didn't. So I stayed a business manager and I worked for the Phoenix newspaper for a few, for 10 years and I did several positions there. And, but at my last job, I'm unemployed at the moment because I was in a horrible accident Chuck Ferreira (59:17.432) Ha ha ha. Rock (59:32.824) could have killed me luckily it didn't but i worked for harvard medical school at the time and they laid me off but i worked as a in in finance they're doing miscellaneous things for them most of them were in my department were grant managers and that sort of thing but i did everything else in that finance group so how did xpl influence that i'm not really sure to be honest with you except that i have a lot of great friends from it because all my friends are from xbl but yeah and i still remember it like i was i was there all the time because i i went i had gone five years and my last semester was not much i had a couple classes i was taking to get the credits and that was about it but i was there all the time and i want a great time i did a couple of interviews I interviewed the bass player from driving and crying the lead singer of gang green and all of tribe and I still can't believe tribe came out to our station by the way the whole band got in a bus or whatever and came out to our station for our listeners which I don't know how we don't know how many that was but it can't have been many and but they were interviewed on the air it was Chuck Ferreira (01:00:31.523) yeah. Chuck Ferreira (01:00:54.025) Yeah, it was. It was awesome. Peg Ricardo (01:00:55.326) my gosh, Chuck, so you know most members of that band now, because you're still rock and roll. Do they remember that? And do they remember like... Chuck Ferreira (01:00:59.145) Well, yeah, I'm in a band with one of them, really good friends with his wife who was in the band, Terry. yeah, so I guess that segues into my little portion. For me, a lot of what Peg and Rock are talking about, it's just like, don't. Rock (01:01:01.678) You're in a band with one of Rock (01:01:11.202) Yeah. Chuck Ferreira (01:01:28.233) The specifics of like, how did it really prepare me for, you know, professional or adulting? I think it would be really hard to pinpoint specifics, but it's more of a general, you know, like a lot of the stuff we talked about earlier, having to basically run a business, manage a lot of people, you had to you had to develop good communication skills. dealing with people of different levels of interest and power in the college community. But for me, I ended up I took my communications media degree along with all of my WXPL experience and parlayed that into working for some creative video agencies. I became an executive producer and an account manager. So I would work with marketing CMOs of Fortune 500 companies and helping them put together know, high end giant trade show video projects and whatnot. But once I left that, I actually became more serious about, so I'm a musician, I'm a drummer, and I became much more serious about my music career. I actually, nowadays I own my own painting business. So that's like my day job. And you need to be able to be able to market yourself and you have to have good communication skills to keep winning jobs but I did that so that I Would have a better quality of life meaning work to Chuck Ferreira (01:03:16.776) work to play ratio. And so, you know, I'm in several bands in the Boston community. One of them, of course, was mentioned by I think Peg, like was a member of that band Tribe we talked about. But, you know, I also play with the keyboard player from the Cars, Greg Hawks, the synth player. You know, we do this giant hour and a half long show with him at these at different theaters and Rock (01:03:46.188) that are all sold Chuck Ferreira (01:03:46.503) venues that are they sell out people still want to come see him but you know we need but so you know the whole music side of things in fact for a very brief time rock and I were in a band together on campus like there was this mute there was like a little music scene on campus and I think I know everybody was Peg Ricardo (01:04:04.43) me not talk about that. Chuck Ferreira (01:04:07.539) Everybody that was in that music scene was or I'd say 90 % of the people that was that were in that little music scene were somehow associated with WXPL whether they were a member or you know We also had lots of hangers hangers on like people who just come hang out people just come hang out and like you know so There was a lot of Peg Ricardo (01:04:27.587) Hey. Chuck Ferreira (01:04:32.164) And I think it prepared me in a lot of ways with music and just music communications, marketing, the whole deal. It's just all come into play in my current life. yeah, Peg, you're right. Why didn't we talk about all the bands? mean, we would have these keg parties and these bands that I'm telling you about would be the entertainment. These were pretty... pretty elaborate parties until they would get busted by the police at least 75 % of the time. Peg Ricardo (01:05:07.288) Bye. Well then there's the official ones. Yeah, we had O positive, played, orgasm, Rock (01:05:09.816) but we also sponsor shows. Chuck Ferreira (01:05:11.888) We sponsored shows. Rock (01:05:13.72) We had a positive play. We had them there once, and I think they played once just after I left. Peg Ricardo (01:05:19.34) Mighty Mighty Boss Tones. So we were negotiating contracts with these bands who were, I mean, huge, huge, but they were pretty big, it's in the area. Chuck Ferreira (01:05:21.372) That was a big one. Rock (01:05:21.868) last time. Rock (01:05:29.036) Big. enough. Chuck Ferreira (01:05:30.524) Big enough. Peg Ricardo (01:05:30.572) And dealing with their writers, they're ridiculous. I remember we would be freaking out because now we know they put things in the trash if you read the contract, but like, my God, they need a bowl of just green &Ms. we were spending our own money for some of these things were outside of it. How do we fulfill the case of beer that they want? Because the college won't let us use our money to do that. They were jerks. Yeah. Rock (01:05:50.988) No. In fact, the Bostons, they had a lot of booze on their rider. And we told them, we're run by the state, we can't do that. And so they took it off the rider. But then when they went on stage, the guy who was the station manager at the time grabbed me and said, they brought their own booze, their dressing room was loaded with booze. So they had to go throw it all away while they were on stage. Peg Ricardo (01:06:02.328) Yeah. Chuck Ferreira (01:06:06.15) Hey. Rock (01:06:20.864) And I wasn't in the room at the time, but I can only imagine what that must have been like. That was crazy. Peg Ricardo (01:06:27.166) because they also had to kind of put a bunch of people on their gases. I mean, we were, it was in the commuter car, so we were in like a college property with this thing and this. Rock (01:06:36.652) which was set up different than it is now. Peg Ricardo (01:06:38.724) There's rules about that like it wasn't really open to the public and because they're big we had all these like People shown up there are already drunk, but like there's to cause trouble and like I remember being at the the door I was I was the most responsible at the door because I wasn't letting the cute girls in for free because we had bills to pay We had to turn away like all these folks showing up like nope being said I was on this list friends of Ed I think that's who it was Chuck Ferreira (01:06:39.056) Yeah, yeah. Rock (01:06:57.986) Ha ha Peg Ricardo (01:07:08.697) up and so we were also working security at these things like working around but yeah. I chose the battle of the bands we did with the you know the local the college ones on campus those were fun too. Chuck Ferreira (01:07:12.024) yeah, yeah. Kate Jewell (01:07:16.248) The Scandals. Chuck Ferreira (01:07:24.254) yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course. Peg Ricardo (01:07:25.494) And the drama that came with that, right? The breaking up within the bands and the restructuring. And I do need to say for this historical record that Chuck Ferreira is the very most rock and roll of all of you in those bands at that time. The most rock and roll. Chuck Ferreira (01:07:31.294) yeah, there was a lot of that. Rock (01:07:41.742) Well, I know my band that was a Fitchburg State band, kicked him out a couple of weeks before our first show. Peg Ricardo (01:07:51.) Don't you regret that. Chuck Ferreira (01:07:51.12) That's right. That's right you did, because I was shirking my responsibilities. I had to learn the hard way. There was a girl involved, so... Yep, yep. And I couldn't be bothered with practice. I had to hang Rock (01:07:53.976) Yeah. Peg Ricardo (01:07:59.01) Well, there was a girl involved. But Chuck is the most rock and roll. Rock (01:08:01.294) There was? Yes. Rock (01:08:11.618) No, would disappear from practice for a half hour at a time to talk to her on the phone. Chuck Ferreira (01:08:15.194) Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Peg Ricardo (01:08:16.59) But my God, what a good sport was Chuck? Because after that happened, and I mean, it was very awkward, and your feelings were hurt. It was very dramatic. And not that long after that, Chuck agreed to participate in somebody else's documentary, like a film project for school, where they documented the breakup of the band. And Chuck was such a good sport to participate and make, you know. Well, to Chuck it was, right? Chuck Ferreira (01:08:23.384) At the time it was traumatic. It was traumatic. Chuck Ferreira (01:08:31.629) the documentary that KMAC and Rock (01:08:40.834) Well, it wasn't a breakup of the band. It was him getting kicked out of the band. Sure. Chuck Ferreira (01:08:42.444) It was, yeah, yeah. It was called Lump, No Gimma Crackery. That was the title. Rock (01:08:49.518) I remember when that happened, the way, two other members of the band, me and the singer, were roommates with Chuck. He didn't speak to either one of us for three months. And we lived in the same apartment. Peg Ricardo (01:08:50.612) But he was so good, yeah. Chuck Ferreira (01:09:03.62) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just walked by. We just walked by, yeah. So that was one of the rare times in all of this happy, warm, fuzzy stuff we've been telling you where there was a bit of an iciness. Because we were all sort of, at that point, major players at the radio station. Peg Ricardo (01:09:06.818) I think he Rock (01:09:23.693) Well, Chuck Ferreira (01:09:33.464) I guess, one way to put it, like, more active, I guess. And so it was sort of some weirdness. like, you know, we all got past it. It's fine. yeah, what Peg is referring to, I saw somehow the stars and planets aligned so that I ended up being post -college and now even more than ever the most active musically. Rock (01:09:38.616) Sure. Chuck Ferreira (01:10:03.402) in terms of music projects than my buddies from college. It's just weird how that happened. Rock (01:10:05.186) Very much Rock (01:10:10.326) at the time just to give you a little more perspective the band had only been together since september and chuck was in yeah and chuck was a brand new drummer at the time who had not drummed before and so yeah he was still learning how to play what's Chuck Ferreira (01:10:16.024) Yeah, that's why we got that house. Chuck Ferreira (01:10:21.092) Yeah. Yeah. It's true. I said it's true. I had only gotten my drum kit the summer before. Yeah. Rock (01:10:32.076) Yeah, so he was still learning how to play and all that. And the drummer we got had been playing for a few years. We grabbed him from another band and in two weeks he learned our set and we played. Chuck Ferreira (01:10:43.108) Yeah, yeah, Peg Ricardo (01:10:43.598) Yeah. And in the documentary of this, you know, falling out, Chuck, it's just classic. He's sitting in the room. a cat on his lap and he's got... That's right, that's right. He was a cute cat. He's like, I just don't understand. I'm very rock and roll. But that's a line. I have a beverage, you know, wild animal on my lap, prints on the wall. So I'm very rock and roll. So it endures. Chuck Ferreira (01:10:56.004) Was your cat, Troy. Chuck Ferreira (01:11:01.786) Well, I had a glass of wine. Rock (01:11:03.522) He was playing up the not being rock and roll thing. Chuck Ferreira (01:11:11.79) I was wearing like a Cosby style sweater. Rock (01:11:14.7) Yep. Yep. It was great. Peg Ricardo (01:11:14.852) Yeah. Chuck Ferreira (01:11:18.65) really funny. Yeah, I mean, you you had to, at that point, you just had to roll with it. That was, that was my way of forgiving everybody, I guess. But I, you know, I deserved it. They should have kicked me out. You know, I wasn't, I wasn't holding my end of the bargain. You know, they could have warned me first, given me like the first warning and said, hey, we, you know, but whatever, you know, life moves on. Rock (01:11:43.906) Sorry. Peg Ricardo (01:11:44.052) Yeah. You still did your show, so. Chuck Ferreira (01:11:45.994) I'm happy, yeah, with another band. joined another band with some other people that were loosely affiliated with the radio station. Not seriously affiliated, yeah, so all's well that ends well. Kate Jewell (01:12:02.684) things come together. All right, so I've hit all of my questions or topics. No, this is how it's supposed to go. The tangents are the best part. But anything that I'm missing here in this story, in this history of WXPL that you would like to have on the record, other than Chuck being the most rock and roll. Chuck Ferreira (01:12:08.494) I know, we took you on a tangent there. Chuck Ferreira (01:12:24.464) I think the thing is like the postscript for me is like there was even years like Peg did. did the, and think Brock said he did too. I I purposely did like the five year, it really was the four and a half year plan, but I was like, I kind of figured out by my junior year that I am in no rush to graduate. this is, Peg Ricardo (01:12:24.91) Thank you. Rock (01:12:25.466) Ha ha ha. Chuck Ferreira (01:12:51.46) Why would I want to leave this environment? that does not look, adulting would not recommend one star. I was like, that does not look fun. So I was like, I'm not going to bust my ass to get the credits I need when I could just take an easier approach and enjoy more time. So I remember like Rock, you know, a lot of people like Rock and Craig and a lot of these other people that you're going to talk to had already left. They had graduated. And like, so there was like a few of us of this core group that we're talking about, which was the group from like 87 to like 93, right? Like there was like that group of people that had a lot of overlap and there was a lot of just sort of like handing off the station to the next. to the next person, like, okay, you will clearly be the next station manager. We'll just make it happen that that's how it goes. Cause like you're in, you get it. And you're in this like little inner circle and we want it to keep running well. But I think like, by the time Peg was getting ready to leave, which was a year after me, I think she had alluded to it, that the station was sort of going through this, like it was losing its, it was losing that momentum. I just think it was a natural thing. It was just how things were shifting. what was interesting was that we, lot of us for many years, we kind of stayed, we kind of kept an eye on it. And like we would be in touch with like the card station manager or whoever and be like, you know, hey, what's going on? like, and I remember we even had like, this is going back maybe. even just as recent as 15 years ago or so, there were like some reunions where we would take a tour of the station and like, the station is in a new location now from when we were there. And I remember that they were getting rid of a bunch of stuff and we talked the current kids, well, current at the time, we talked to them and you've got to keep this metal, it had all these bumper stickers from different bands. Rock (01:15:08.599) Yes. Chuck Ferreira (01:15:10.254) and other radio stations and it was like the cabinet that we inherited, was like, you know, it held like, well, it had many different purposes. Yeah. So we were like, you have to keep this cabinet. And they were like, but they're making us throw it out. We're like, no, you can't throw this out. So they convinced the campus center, the person in charge of the campus center because, so that they were moving into this beautiful new fancy. Peg Ricardo (01:15:19.192) Those questionnaires were still in there. Like, with that question. Rock (01:15:23.714) Yeah. Chuck Ferreira (01:15:38.02) facility and they wanted it to look like clean and professional because it was like people would be walking by with open windows and we convinced them to we convinced them to put it to put the cabinet in a closet and To never let the cat never let that cabinet go and they were on so they actually started to be like They fought for it like they got excited because they they started to like sense the history You know, and then we did like a few like guests Rock (01:15:45.314) and it is clean. Peg Ricardo (01:15:45.632) anti -college radio sounds like it. Chuck Ferreira (01:16:07.024) DJ shows and whatnot. Now honestly, I haven't kept up. I don't know what's been going on. Maybe you have, Peg, but there was clearly this phase when, and I feel very fortunate to have been a part of it. Like I said, I'm gonna say like before it was FM and it was the Fitchburg Radio Club. And then at the end of that, right to when went to FM, Rock (01:16:15.97) I Chuck Ferreira (01:16:36.954) when a bunch of us, and you'll talk to Craig and he's gonna have the better history of that part of it, then it went to the group of people that is this core group that we've been talking about. And we were the ones that sort of, feel like, made it reach its peak. Like we sort of like were in the peak phase of the radio station, which I'll always be thankful for. I mean, when we were there, it was such an amazing organization. And so afterward it was kind of like, man, like, you know, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that there's so many radio stations that are streaming and like FM isn't as important as it was, know, there's satellite radio, there's streaming, there's this, that, and the other thing. And yeah, like, so I think we were seeing all of these kinds of things start to erode the importance of an FM radio Rock (01:17:22.967) Lot of fun. Chuck Ferreira (01:17:33.452) And I have not done my due diligence over the past several years. I should check in with them again and see who's there and yeah, see what's going on with it. Peg Ricardo (01:17:40.523) I have a problem either. Kate Jewell (01:17:43.324) COVID was rough. There's about six DJs right now. Chuck Ferreira (01:17:45.836) COVID was rough, but I definitely think that there appeared to be over the last 10 years or so a general lack of enthusiasm for that kind of thing. And I think that we saw that at the times we would, you know, there are times we visit. In fact, we were there. We were there. Yeah, yeah. We took those photos. Rock, remember that? We all had the PEG masks. Peg Ricardo (01:18:07.16) Three years ago, Chuck, because you took those photos for me. Rock (01:18:14.177) yeah, yeah, yeah. Chuck Ferreira (01:18:14.954) Yeah, that was for your birthday. But we were there and we are, was like, think it was like a Sunday or whatever. So the campus center, I mean, you could walk through it, but nothing was happening. And we walked by where the station was, but it was dead. Like nothing was happening. But, you know, I don't know. No. We would be, there'd be people sleeping. That's not, that's, Peg Ricardo (01:18:16.408) That was, those were my favorite from you guys, those were amazing. Peg Ricardo (01:18:32.804) Can you imagine? Like we wouldn't have, there's no way that, yeah. Rock (01:18:36.898) Well, no, in the summer, we weren't really on the air. Peg Ricardo (01:18:40.748) A little bit. I mean, I was still around. Yeah, not all the time. Rock (01:18:42.178) mean a little, but not all the time. Chuck Ferreira (01:18:43.912) I actually that brings up a good I remember driving from where I lived like at least once a week to to come up and take my key Peg Ricardo (01:18:51.32) Yep. cause you were doing that when it was just me. You were still showing up cause I gave you a show. Yeah. Chuck Ferreira (01:18:56.939) Yeah, and I used to do like a midnight tattoo show, like a weird like, yeah, here's a key. Don't, don't make copies. Here's a key. Yeah, so yeah, we had this one little doorway that led like was at the front of the building and it was this like sneaky little doorway that we could go in and like we had a key to that. So you didn't have to go through the main tunnel. Peg Ricardo (01:19:00.142) And I was like, whatever, check, just, you know. Rock (01:19:05.538) Ha ha ha Peg Ricardo (01:19:06.307) I don't need to know who you're with. Right? Yeah, that's a few. We had a gold plated one too. Rock (01:19:10.264) Yeah. Chuck Ferreira (01:19:25.439) Yeah, I think sort of like the postscript is that I think a lot of us, we all have our lives and we're very busy, but I wouldn't, I don't think it would take much. Like if there was ever like a need for us to like, the elders unite and like, go in and like, get re -involved to like help breathe life back into the place. Cause I do think it's kind of dead. I would certainly donate time. Peg Ricardo (01:19:42.8) Yeah. Peg Ricardo (01:19:50.99) Yeah. Chuck Ferreira (01:19:55.444) try to like reinvigorate and get you know the current student body you know into it again. I just I just don't I just don't have the energy right now to be the driving force behind that you know. Somebody has to somebody else would have to get that ball rolling but I would be very excited to see a new generation of students be excited about it again and I think that could happen it just needs it would just need some Peg Ricardo (01:20:02.018) I would do. Peg Ricardo (01:20:07.298) Yeah, but have to be serious about it, right? Chuck Ferreira (01:20:24.896) reorganize that you reorganizing and maybe it needs to become you know streaming we need to you know podcast and streaming Peg Ricardo (01:20:29.186) Maybe they need to just podcasts or something. I think if you. Kate Jewell (01:20:31.43) I guess is what I'm working on. So I don't know. I'm not the faculty advisor. I was on the record, but somebody just left who was technically the advisor of the station. and there's a new president. So there may be some opportunities and we are, we founded a podcast for the university. So we are, we were trying to regularly release content, which this may be a part It's called Perseverantia if you want to look for it or everywhere you can find your podcast, but I would like very much to connect the podcasting with the radio. That's kind of my on my agenda for this upcoming year. Chuck Ferreira (01:21:10.102) Well. Chuck Ferreira (01:21:13.676) Cool. Well, you know a bunch of people who care. you have our contact info or we have yours. I'll definitely make sure you have mine. Peg Ricardo (01:21:17.358) That's right. Rock (01:21:22.83) We were there 30 years ago, but still. Peg Ricardo (01:21:25.796) You're a lie. Why? 30. Chuck Ferreira (01:21:26.802) But I have to say, and I'm not saying this just to be big headed, I really do think that everybody you're going to be talking to, like Craig and if I can connect you with Mike Baronis, and you're going to talk to Chris Cook later, and I don't know who else you have on your agenda, but yeah. Metal guy. Metal guy. In fact, you should try to get Mike and Mark. I know Kate Jewell (01:21:42.97) Mark Fields. Yep. Okay. Rock (01:21:47.084) Mark -Mark Fields did the show with Mike Barones. Chuck Ferreira (01:21:55.399) Mike Bronis is not on social media these days, but I can easily reach out to him and connect you to him. Cause Mike and Mark ran the metal show that we were talking about. But everybody, I feel like everybody you're going to be talking to was there during the phase when this station was growing. And also the most successful few years, like the most successful, like let's call it a 10 year span when it had. Kate Jewell (01:21:59.942) That'd be great. Chuck Ferreira (01:22:26.001) when it was growing and it had the most success that I feel like it ever had. And to this point, I mean, I'd love to see it do even better, but it certainly hasn't. And I think that's a bummer to me. I don't know, I just think there's so many things that go into that, but I also don't think it's impossible for it to kind of come back to life. So I'd like to see that. Peg Ricardo (01:22:53.56) I think college radio in general, that was, it's heyday, right? because there wasn't streaming and social media or even like a touch to your phone all the time. So if you were going to hear something new and unexpected, it was going to be college radio. And I think if we really looked at, we talk about these bands that, you know, they broke on college radio. XBL was playing in Nirvana and then they got huge. That period of time we're talking about, if we look at the music industry itself, as it was, those things were becoming more mainstream, I think then you start to see Chuck Ferreira (01:22:58.843) Well, yeah. Peg Ricardo (01:23:28.102) maybe college radio was the beginning of its demise because our cache was, we're edgy and cool and you hear these things. But then it was, wait, no, it's like on top 40. And now it's like, oh my God, now the classic rock show is that progressive cool stuff we playing 30 years ago. We're hearing it while we're grocery shopping, which is really hurtful. But it Rock (01:23:49.038) Something Peg said reminded me of a detail that I don't know how many people know this but Hangin' Tough, the first big new Kids on the Block album, they thank one radio station and that radio station is WXPL because one of their brothers did a show at XPL and played them, which is unbelievable. WXPL is thanked on Hangin' Tough, which is incredible. Chuck Ferreira (01:23:49.958) Yeah, Kate Jewell (01:24:06.236) You're kidding. Chuck Ferreira (01:24:06.518) Hahaha! Chuck Ferreira (01:24:13.639) That's hilarious. There you go. Rock (01:24:19.586) Ha ha ha Kate Jewell (01:24:20.503) That's a new one! Chuck Ferreira (01:24:21.233) Can't do better than that. Peg Ricardo (01:24:24.834) And at the time, we really wouldn't admit it. We're like, my God. Now it's cool. It was a cool for us. I forgot about that. Chuck Ferreira (01:24:27.482) No. Rock (01:24:28.383) Yeah. Kate Jewell (01:24:30.22) That was not cool. That's amazing. Peg Ricardo (01:24:36.404) Even our PSAs, I could probably talk about this forever now that you got me started, it wasn't just the music. We talk about our PSAs and our carts, which is almost like an A -track, right? And you stick it the machine. We produced those and we had one, I can't remember if had now, about the environment and recycling and these things. We actually donated our sub -channel on our transmitter to Reading for the Blind. Chuck Ferreira (01:24:55.712) yeah. Peg Ricardo (01:25:04.47) So we were broadcasting out, you know, books and newspapers, like on our sub channel. We had to do much other than make sure that our transmitter was on. But that was pretty cool too that we were doing that and not like a bigger station was doing that so that we could reach that area of the state. But we did some good too. It was just all parties. Kate Jewell (01:25:20.699) That's really interesting. Chuck Ferreira (01:25:21.895) Speaking of that, I know Rock knows this, I don't know that you know this, Peg. So there was a, with the new station, they were throwing a bunch of stuff up, they were gonna throw out the actual, in, you know, in the station, the in -station part of the transmitter. So, you know, the device that had the VU levels, the device that you would turn the station on and off, that whole thing. You remember, it was to the left. I have that stuff. Yeah, I have it. It's in storage because they were gonna literally throw it out and I'm like, can I just take this? And I'm like, what am I gonna do with this? I can't let them throw it out. So I have it, it's just in storage and at some point I guess I'll have to get rid of it but it's because. Peg Ricardo (01:25:55.694) Yep. To you really. Rock (01:25:56.523) yeah. You do? Peg Ricardo (01:26:08.332) No. Peg Ricardo (01:26:12.546) So you have that, I have the photo album, and Rock's got the So Cools, so Rock still wins. Yep. Chuck Ferreira (01:26:15.003) Yeah. We have to make a little museum. Rock (01:26:17.312) No. I have more than that, I have Kate Jewell (01:26:22.459) gosh. Chuck Ferreira (01:26:23.6) I Rock (01:26:24.) have one of these, which I think was after I was there. And I think the phone number is different now, too. And now you have to use an area code, which we didn't have to at the Chuck Ferreira (01:26:27.397) Yeah, I've got one of those, yeah. Peg Ricardo (01:26:27.447) yes! Peg Ricardo (01:26:31.405) Yo. Chuck Ferreira (01:26:31.921) Probably. Peg Ricardo (01:26:35.256) No. Chuck Ferreira (01:26:35.879) Probably changed several times. Plenty of t -shirts, plenty of vinyl in my vinyl collection that have stickers on it. yeah. Peg Ricardo (01:26:39.149) out. Peg Ricardo (01:26:42.499) are the towels. So we had some towels printed up. I have one actually, but it was like, I was gonna pull it out, but I didn't have time to grab it. they showed up at building 19 and a half. So whoever printed our towels must have made some mistakes. So it was like years later. Someone was like, look what I found. Yeah, no. Chuck Ferreira (01:26:51.024) Skate to death. Chuck Ferreira (01:26:55.681) wow. Wow. Rock (01:26:58.51) Speaking of another thing that's gone, because there's no Building 19 Chuck Ferreira (01:27:03.653) Right, right. Kate Jewell (01:27:04.946) That's a deep cut. Chuck Ferreira (01:27:06.972) Yeah. But yeah, guess you can, hopefully Kate, can see, mean, I know we probably should wrap, but I think you could probably see how much love we have for the station and the time we were there and, you know, even hope that it could come back, you know, or come back, come back the way, reinvent itself so that it could, even if it's not the same way it was like, Kate Jewell (01:27:28.963) innovate. Peg Ricardo (01:27:29.026) reinvent itself, right? Yeah. Chuck Ferreira (01:27:35.974) becoming more prolific organization again. Kate Jewell (01:27:40.306) I mean, this is my constant refrain because I've been doing a lot of interviews for the book, which you've all touched on, like so many of the themes that I write about. And, you know, everybody's always asking me, like, what's next for college radio? Is it going to go away? Is it going to die? And I keep saying that, you know, college students are like really creative people and that we just need to give them the space to figure out what the next thing that college radio is going to be is. You know, it was a certain thing for that moment in the music industry and cultural politics. Peg Ricardo (01:27:41.708) Yeah. Chuck Ferreira (01:28:04.72) Yeah. Kate Jewell (01:28:11.132) And, you know, we're in a new media landscape, but radio is still valuable, and I think they can figure it out if we give them the space and the support. Chuck Ferreira (01:28:20.869) Yeah, I mean, there's some great stations that are still very popular. You've got MBR, you've got ERS. mean, those are big players, but still the model is more so, we were more so aligned with the kind of model that MBR has. ERS is basically professional, but MBR is still very much. Kate Jewell (01:28:39.366) Mm -hmm. Chuck Ferreira (01:28:47.533) I like listening to it because it's very much a college radio station still. But you know, they're very well run and they have a huge radius. So it's still important. It's still important. Kate Jewell (01:28:57.84) Yeah, and those community connections too. We should do that. Here, I could stop recording. I'll sign off. Let's see. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Original format in .wav is too large to upload. Available here: https://riverside.fm/shared/exported-clip/5633438a09b61efd5fcc Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History with three WXPL alumni Subject The topic of the resource WXPL history 1987- 1993 Description An account of the resource Summary The group interview with alumni of WXPL, the radio station at Fitchburg State University, covered topics such as their experiences at the station, their initiation process, and the station's governance. The interviewees discussed how they got involved in college radio and the music they were exposed to. They also talked about their mentors and teachers at the station and their first experiences on the mic. The interviewees emphasized the serious and organized nature of the station, with a clear power structure and a budget. They also mentioned the fun and social aspects of being part of the station, including throwing keg parties to raise funds. The conversation explores the relationship between the radio station and the university, the diverse range of shows and genres, and the impact of WXPL on the participants' personal and professional lives. The station was both admired and seen as weird by the campus community. The hosts reminisce about their favorite moments, including playing an advance copy of an R.E.M. album, breaking into the music case, and interviewing local bands. The experience at WXPL taught them valuable skills in communication, teamwork, and problem-solving, which have influenced their careers in fields such as finance, project management, and advocacy. WXPL, the college radio station, played a significant role in the local music scene. Many bands and musicians were associated with WXPL, and the station sponsored shows and hosted keg parties with live entertainment. The station also negotiated contracts with big-name bands and dealt with their demanding riders. Despite some drama and band breakups, the core group of WXPL members made the station reach its peak of success. However, over time, the importance of FM radio declined with the rise of streaming and satellite radio. The station's enthusiasm and momentum started to fade, but there is hope for a revival with new generations of students and a focus on podcasting and streaming. Takeaways Joining WXPL, the radio station at Fitchburg State University, was a significant part of the interviewees' college experience. The interviewees were initially interested in having classic rock shows but were exposed to a wide range of music genres through their involvement in college radio. The station had a structured programming format, with rotation shows and specialty shows, and a clear hierarchy of roles and responsibilities. The interviewees took their roles at the station seriously and were involved in managing the station's budget and advocating for its needs. While the station was serious and organized, there was also a fun and social aspect to being part of the station, including throwing keg parties to raise funds. WXPL was both admired and seen as weird by the campus community The radio station provided valuable skills in communication, teamwork, and problem-solving The experience at WXPL influenced the participants' personal and professional lives Favorite moments include playing an advance copy of an R.E.M. album and interviewing local bands The enduring friendships formed at WXPL continue to be a significant part of their lives WXPL played a significant role in the local music scene and sponsored shows and keg parties with live entertainment. The station negotiated contracts with big-name bands and dealt with their demanding riders. The core group of WXPL members made the station reach its peak of success. The importance of FM radio declined with the rise of streaming and satellite radio, leading to a decrease in enthusiasm and momentum for the station. There is hope for a revival of WXPL with new generations of students and a focus on podcasting and streaming. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background 05:16 The Journey to WXPL: How Alumni Got Involved in College Radio 11:41 From Classic Rock to Alternative: Exploring Music Genres at WXPL 15:26 Mentors and Teachers: Guiding the Way at WXPL 22:25 First Time on Mic: Memorable Experiences at WXPL 26:42 The Power Structure: Governance and Management at WXPL 29:09 Serious and Fun: Balancing Responsibility and Socializing at WXPL 45:47 Memorable Moments at WXPL 54:31 Skills Learned at WXPL and Their Impact on Careers 58:36 The Enduring Friendships Formed at WXPL 01:04:07 WXPL: The Hub of the Local Music Scene 01:08:46 The Drama of Band Breakups 01:11:46 The Core Group: Making WXPL a Success 01:17:05 The Decline of FM Radio 01:21:47 WXPL's Impact on the Music Industry 01:23:30 The Changing Landscape of College Radio 01:26:36 Reviving WXPL: Embracing Podcasting and Streaming Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Katherine Jewell Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 17, 2024 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Katherine Jewell band breakups budget campus community careers contracts diverse shows enthusiasm favorite moments first time on mic Fitchburg State University FM radio genres initiation process keg parties local bands local music scene mentors music case musicians oral history podcasting power structure problem-solving professional lives R.E.M. (artist) riders satellite radio sponsorship station management streaming teamwork https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/22b71770f57610f5dd3d1d35c4769473.mp3 4805cc7014582000bf9f49aefc3ecd17 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WXPL-FM, Fitchburg State University Subject The topic of the resource WXLP-FM 91.3 at Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA Description An account of the resource Collected artifacts and oral histories with alumni of the station. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Katherine Jewell Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Katherine Jewell Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Chris Cook Location The location of the interview Remotely via riverside.fm Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound Transcript generated by AI through riverside.fm. Will need correction. Kate Jewell (00:00.782) All right, so I'll do the official like oral history intro. It's July 17th, 2024. I'm Catherine Jewell. am in Belmont, Massachusetts interviewing Chris Cook for a project on WXPL's history, which may potentially also become a podcast. And then would you go ahead, introduce yourself and where you are and why you're here? Chris (00:26.565) I am so used to introducing myself officially as a professor. No, I am Chris Cook. I'm actually in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where I live now. And I was at Fitchburg State between 1989 and 1993. That's where I did my undergrad work and I was a history major. there was not. Kate Jewell (00:48.654) Perfect. There was no political science at the time. Chris (00:53.742) I'm minored in political science. Kate Jewell (00:56.806) I don't know, but now we have a robust political science major. So I have done a lot of oral histories for the book project, but because of COVID and all of the various things that go along with writing a book, I was never able to dive into my own institution's radio station very deeply, just knowing that I would always dedicate some special attention to it. And Chris (01:00.642) Yes. Kate Jewell (01:25.356) So for these oral histories, I'm going to follow sort of the general pattern that I used for those oral histories. But the difference being that I am going to house these in an archive at the university's archive and also potentially produce a podcast for the university out of them. So they have a little more officialness, I guess, than the other oral histories. But I'm still going to stick to my kind of vague topic structure. Because mostly I'm interested in, you know, hearing about your experiences, your reflections, you know, kind of whatever comes up and I'll try to kind of hit the main things that I try to hit with everybody thematically, but I don't do it any kind of order. But the way that I start with everybody is to just ask you to tell me a little bit about, you know, how you got to Fitchburg State and how you got to radio. Chris (02:21.057) You know, it's, I actually tell the story to my students, how I got to Fitchburg State. I don't mind saying this. I bombed my SATs. I got a combined score of an 890. I got the thanks for playing score in math. And I was sitting down and I'm from Braintree. I'm from the South Shore. You know, I'm from the last stop on the Red Line. And I was so quintessentially a Boston kid that I'd never even been like, I'd been to Worcester a few times, but I wouldn't know where Fitchburg was if my life depended on it. And I, I apologize to Fitchburg for that. But so I was trying to figure out where to send my SAT scores to. You get five schools. And so I saw Fitchburg state and I was like, I asked my mom and I said, if I would go there, would I live there or do I commute? And she's like, you'd live Like, OK, I'll send that off. and and Loam, I got I never went to the school and ever visited it. I got accepted. They accepted my I had some AP classes actually that I took for history. They accepted and. The first day I actually went to that campus was, think the day after the Tiananmen Square massacre. So it's June of 1989 and they were registering for classes and I remember walking around the campus the first time I'd ever been out And I saw a WXPL sticker, you know, illegally stuck somewhere. I'm thinking that that's what I want to join. I knew immediately that once I got back to that campus in the fall that I was going to join WXPL. I did, you know, it's one of the first things I did. Kate Jewell (04:07.23) Did you know about college radio? Did it have a sort of presence in your mind? Like what was kind of your musical world Chris (04:13.934) You know, I loved music, but I was, you know, no, didn't know anything about college radio. And unlike probably a lot of some of the people that you're going to talk to, I did not really listen to WFNX. Right. I was not one of like, you know, and so I had friends that listen to alternative music. And I do, you know, I love Dariem and I, you know, there's definitely a Smiths and, know, that stuff, but I was more a metalhead. I was more into metal and a lot of classic rock, you know. And in fact, one of the first people I met, right, is Chuck Ferra. And we bonded over the band Love, you know, with Arthur Lee and King Crimson, right. And in fact, because we had both been listening to that band in high school. And so it's one of the first things. And Mark Mark Fields and Mike Barones metal. You know what saying? In fact, that's how really I was introduced in some ways. I was more into, I was hanging out with them, you know, and they're just, you know, you know, the walking encyclopedia of metal. that's kind of how I got introduced to that. And it's 1989. And I think one of the things that I'm always amazed about Chris (05:42.926) the older students that were there. Think about it. If you're a senior in 1989, were like, you came to college in 1985, right? And so they were imbued with that older sense of college radio. by the time I left in 1993, mean, like the grunge explosion had happened, right? I I mean, in some ways, I think the time period I was there that music, and even college radio, went through just a transformative stage, you know, and just a huge, you know, change. But I'm glad I was there. And I said, I think one of the. One of the beautiful things about being there was that I just soaked it all in. just I just, you know, I was one of those people like, tell me what you love, like play me the songs that you like and and, know, like I still love metal. And I still, know, but like, you my musical taste expanded so broadly because I was talking to all these people and doing all these Kate Jewell (06:51.224) So what was the station's profile when you got there? How was it structured? What was programming like? What were you looking to get involved in? What drew you first? Chris (07:05.885) Um, yeah, it's, it's, it actually was, I think it was, it was, it was going through a generational change when I got there. So, I mean, I ended up the music director my freshman year. So by 1990, I was, I was the music director and I remained music director up until my senior year and I was the station manager. Um, Chris (07:27.758) There are politics, you know, it's saying it. Sometimes I'm kind of glad I actually never lived with a lot of XPL. I never lived with the XPL people. And I love them dearly. You know, like I think they are amazing people, but they all live together. I think they are all. But I think the structure. was loose. It was it was a club. mean, you know, I'm saying I remember I think it was I'm someone once asked described to me what it was like running WXP and it was like herding cats like like it is hard in an all volunteer club to get people to do things. You know, and so the momentum is that people are there because of music, right? If people are gonna show up to their show, it's because they wanna play the music, right? And if people are gonna do anything, it's because they're dedicated to their friends and music, right? And otherwise, you know, it was really hard to, you know, so it ended up being a small group of people, I think, that really were driving that whole thing. know, Craig Albano, who I hopefully you get a chance to talk to, you know. Kate Jewell (08:48.47) I so. think somebody has text messaged me. Chris (08:52.646) OK. You know, you know, and and rock is a little rock was Mike Pangea was a bit older than me, too. So I mean, like he that's when I think about like, you know, You know, the REM and the, know, like a lot of the American indie stuff, you know, from the 80s, you know. And so, yeah, I mean, it was kind of it got to I mean, in some ways, as a a a pitch, Brooks, a small school. And was kind of clickish. mean, my roommate, my sophomore year ended up running the daily, the student newspaper. And we used to, you so I mean like, know, you know, you know everyone, right? And so we were kind of like the, in fact, actually in one of the yearbooks, there's a picture of WXPL, but there's no description of us. And that is why, the reason why is because I wrote a joke description. Kate Jewell (09:31.79) Mm -hmm. Chris (09:49.202) and he refused to publish it. And so there's just nothing. They didn't even give me a chance to rewrite it to something more serious. And so there's just a picture of all of us sitting there. So I Kate Jewell (10:00.856) So how did this experience fit in with your other, sorry, I'm changing my air conditioning because heat wave. So how did doing WXPL fit in with your college life, like your academic life? Were there connections? Did you see connections at the time or were they just wholly separate? Chris (10:24.088) You know, I, my, well, I mean, like now that I am a college professor, so I can actually really talk to you about that. I actually thought about that, really thought about this. They weren't connected in a lot of ways. And so. I mean, like I had a history friend, Dean Ruhuka, who sadly passed away. He was like my history peer and for academics. Kate Jewell (10:30.776) you Chris (10:52.994) You know, he was not involved in the radio station, you know, but he was like my history friend. And in some ways he inspired me to be a better student. WXPL, God bless its soul, is the reason why I up skipping classes. know, in some ways it's attracted in a lot of ways from my academic work. However, it is also one of the reasons I ended up in political science, right? Kate Jewell (11:06.86) You Chris (11:20.642) My senior year, was interning at a law office in downtown Fitchburg and my friend John Caples, I would listen to the radio station and he was playing Phil Oakes and Phil Oakes, the folk singer. And it just floored me and I called him up and I was like, who is this? didn't, didn't. And like, know, and see I have a Phil Oakes poster right there, right? Like, that's very political. And Kate Jewell (11:45.646) Good Chris (11:49.282) there were political bands like Consolidated or Public Enemy, punk music, like Bad Religion, that really resonated with me. And so that aspect, I think, is one of the reasons I ended up in political science. Kate Jewell (12:10.36) interesting. What was you considered the station's musical profile when you arrived? Chris (12:10.764) Yeah. Chris (12:18.765) Um, well, that was actually kind of a grab bag. think, I think if you really, hopefully they told you about Ken Spalding, which is probably one of the reasons why the new kids, I think that might be the reason that new kids in the block even mentioned us is that he actually literally did, I think a pop show. Like he did a top 40 pop show and you'd come in with like a stack of 45s, like a seven inches and just play like just pop music. which is funny because it's like when you think about college radio, that was not, so when I got there, I mean, like, I think it was more kind of free flowing, right? Cause you're, it's a reflection of who's there. One of the things that we tried not to do is play like classic rock, right? And that, you know, when I was, I think as the music director, Kate Jewell (13:01.442) Thank you. Chris (13:08.198) and talking to people on what we call programs committee, program director, the station manager, is that we, you can play classic rock. mean, it's not like no one ever played Jethro Tull, but I mean, there wasn't going to be an emphasis on that because you could get that somewhere else. We brought in, I forget their names now, but we had some local high schoolers maybe. Kate Jewell (13:27.821) Mm Chris (13:37.954) come in and do like the urban hip hop show. And so we were, you know, I think, but by the 90s, I would say that we were dedicated to, you know, I don't think it had one identity, right? You could go in and listen to industrial music on one day and there was punk music, there was the metal show and Fields and Baroness will tell you their metal show was respected. They knew a lot of people in the industry and they were well respected. So we had the metal covered. Yeah, we had it all. So I think we were pretty, we had a lot of variety when it came to alternative Kate Jewell (14:22.098) So walk me through what a show of yours might've sounded like. What were you aiming to do on the radio? Chris (14:29.294) Oh, you know, I was not the world's greatest DJ. No. So I think I think by like 1989, I convinced myself that I'm going to start every show with Transmission by Joy Division. Right. You know, I that was going to be some catchy intro song. But the. I was more of the. Whatever I'm listening to at the moment, free flowing thing, so I mean, like I did not. It's funny, because years later, you know. If you ever listen to WFMU out in New York. I love that nation. I don't think I'm that's a lot of work. Those those DJs put in a lot of work and. Kate Jewell (15:03.352) Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Kate Jewell (15:11.798) You can't shazam things that come off of WFMU. They will not come up. Chris (15:15.286) Yeah. Yeah. I mean, so like there like I hate saying this, but I mean, like, you know, I was more like, I'm in this mood today, so I'm just going to play this. And my moods can change, you know, if as I said earlier, like, know, like if you're walking into like, you know, I said one of the beautiful things I think about college radio everyone's there bringing their musical taste with them and you're listening to music and everyone's like, you know, sharing and doing that. And I think, you so my radio show was all over the map. You know what saying? Like, you know, like I actually still like a lot of early nineties hip hop. I still like, you know, you know, I mean, I think I try to think I think I had some jazz phase where I think where I went off and like bought a bunch of John Coltrane and Miles Davis albums or something like that, you know, like so it very that would be me. But like I think, you know, to go the big old thrash show, that was the name of their metal show. you know, they put a lot of work into it, you know, and they thought about it and they had new they had a good combination of new releases, good combination of, you the classics, deep cuts off classics, and they were knowledgeable. And they could bring a lot of knowledge and information to that. think at different points, we've had industrial shows, which is not the same thing as goth. Somehow people seem to confuse those two things. once again, there were people that knew their stuff. And so I Kate Jewell (16:38.936) Mm -hmm. Chris (17:02.838) I was more like, how would you use the word? I'm gonna say dilettante. But I mean, I would be like, I'm going to go off now like a butterfly and go listen to this now. But we had a lot of DJs, knew what they were doing. Kate Jewell (17:16.32) Mm -hmm. So how did the station fit in on campus or did it? Chris (17:22.35) It did. I don't think anyone listened to us on campus. I'll tell you, look, my story, and this is, I got my PhD at UC Santa Barbara, and one day I'm walking through a park in Santa Barbara, California, and there's a hardcore punk band playing. And I stop, and it's like, this is strange. And within minutes they say, we're from Boston. And I'm like, I gotta listen, I gotta, you know, You're not from Boston, are you? Right. You're not originally from Boston. OK. Well, we Boston people are very loyal to each other. You know what saying? Right. And so I will always support Boston. Right. I mean, so like I stop and it's the dropkick Murphy's. And this is like early on, this is like super in the 90s at some point. And. I talked to them afterwards, right. And I had met the drummer. I forget his Kate Jewell (17:54.924) Me? I'm from Vermont. Sort of. Chris (18:22.286) at WXPL. He had won a prize. And he was young. He was a kid. And he had come to the station to pick up that prize. And I was there, I guess. And I talked to him. Yeah. And so there were, are one of the things, you always joke about no one listening to us, you know. Kate Jewell (18:38.704) gosh, and he was at college radio, it like this cool thing that like, we were doing. Chris (18:51.862) And I, you know, trust me, I think my freshman year story was that the college student government was thinking about their, what are these to call it? Mayday or spring fling or Spree Day. That was Spree Day. And so we had a choice. We could bring the Red Hot Chili Peppers to campus or we ended up with the John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Kate Jewell (19:07.406) Breathe in. Chris (19:20.255) And we ended up with the John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown band. And I think that's the year they rioted. And so, but because no one, none of the of the rest of the camp, right. None of the other students would know who Hot Chili Peppers were if their life depended on it. You know, and that's. Yeah. And so, you know, we didn't really have. Yeah, I don't. We all were part of a college community and Kate Jewell (19:35.) Mm -hmm. they were a college radio band. That's how they came up there. Chris (19:48.802) As I said, I had friends doing things all the time, I think the radio station kids were the weirdos, or the radio station, and we all hung out, people all hung out with each other too. So it's like, Kate Jewell (20:01.774) to your own little community. Chris (20:02.306) I think we had some sports shows. think we used to, one connection is I think, and I was all for it. I remember being the station manager, was like recording the hockey games at the Wallace Civic Center. And I really thought that was a good thing for us for a lot of reasons. And I think it was good for students even years later now being on the other side of of academics about getting students to, if you want to be in broadcasting, you know what saying? Like that's good. Kate Jewell (20:12.45) Mm -hmm. Kate Jewell (20:29.388) Thank you. Chris (20:31.16) good experience to do. Kate Jewell (20:33.974) Yeah, I'm curious as a college professor now how you see the benefits of doing college radio, just kind of broadly speaking. Chris (20:42.478) I'll tell you why. I've had this discussion. I'm struggling as a faculty advisor. And one of the reasons why is that my experience at WXPL was I don't want any adults around. I don't want the grownups to come, you know, and we switched actually. We moved from the library to the basement of Thompson Hall when I was And, you know, we had like the run of the building at night. You know what saying? And, and so I didn't want faculty hanging around. didn't want, what saying? And, know, the crone. And it's funny because I think a difference today is a lot of student groups want more guidance and they want, they, they want me to be around, you know, and at some point, like I, I've been at different times, an advisor Kate Jewell (21:15.021) you. Kate Jewell (21:34.967) Okay. Chris (21:39.224) campus Democrats and campus Republicans. And for both of them, like, I don't want to go to your things. I'm not showing up to your events. I'm not, saying like, you know, my philosophy is it's your club. It's your club. You decide, you decide where you want to do things. You make the priorities and I'm going to sign off on it. Yeah, exactly. Kate Jewell (21:47.416) Yeah. Kate Jewell (21:53.176) Mm Kate Jewell (21:59.98) make it happen. Chris (22:03.808) If I don't know about it, I don't care. You if I don't, do something illegal and I don't ever find out, no one finds out, then we're all go okay. You know what saying? But like they, I don't think they really like that. I don't think modern students really want that. And we had problems actually getting advisors actually. You know, I'm trying to think of, I forget even who I was our academic advisor and I can't remember, you know, think George Borer at one time said he was and then wasn't and didn't want to do it. And so I preemptively was told by a faculty member, don't ask me to be the advisor to that club. I'm like, I didn't think I was going ask you. So yeah, we had problems of that nature. Yeah. Yeah. Kate Jewell (22:52.375) Yeah, I can understand that. It's a perennial problem in many ways. So what was it like being music director? What did you have to do? What was the process like? What were the responsibilities? Chris (23:04.386) Well, I mean, I loved it, you know, and at one point in my life, I really contemplated being, you know, in the music industry, you know, seriously, you know, like to be, you know, my goal would be I want to be an A &R guy, you know, of course, now like that world's gone. you know, but I mean, I know. But we're still it the early 90s. So you could pretend it was going to stay that way. And the You know, I listened to all the new music that came in, you know, and we used to, well, we used to have, I think it was breaking down anyway on its own, but there was like a rotation box, right? Of like, try to play these albums more each hour, try to, saying, and it was like, kind of like, it was a box right in front of the, you know, the DJs, the booth, you know, with the turntables and the CD players. And it's like, this is what you want to do. And so, you know, I think it, you know, I called up record companies and I dealt with label reps all the time. And they're calling me sometimes, I know 110 watt station in central Massachusetts. But, you know, I remember like the guy from Sony, like he really wanted me to play Pearl Jam. And I remember this discussion of like, well, we don't really We're not digging Pearl Jam. It's not that there's anything wrong with Pearl Jam, we're just not really digging it here. And he's like, well, don't you guys like Mother of Love Bone? I'm like, no, we didn't really like Mother of Bone. But I mean, so like, you know, it was. I was on the phones, you know, at each part of each week trying, you know, people were contacting me. I'm contacting them. I get a lot of albums, a lot of local bands that want to get played. And it does, you know, you know, come with, you know, certain well perks. Right. I mean, like is one of the things Chris (25:16.834) being the music director was well we want you to like this band so they're coming to town here's some free tickets you know and I think that might have caused some people to get upset every once in a while. I tried to pass. And I was a recipient a lot because Mike and Mark were always able to get free tickets to metal shows. I it was like, I don't think I paid for a metal concert for like four years. And they were good at what they did. You know saying? And you I think I went to see Jane's Addiction for free at the Orpheum. Kate Jewell (26:01.026) Mm -hmm. Chris (26:05.166) And so there was, mean, well, I mean, you've studied, you know college radio, you were in it and you studied it professionally as an academic. There is the gravy train aspect to it. And it's, you know, you can get sucked in, you know, by Kate Jewell (26:27.074) Yeah. Well, there's a real tension between these non -commercial stations associated with the educational project of universities, which, you know, is not supposed to have a market function. But a lot of people there are, you know, trying to build their careers. They're trying to gain professional experience. And then the music industry Chris (26:52.031) Absolutely. Kate Jewell (26:56.18) itself at a certain point realizes that there's all this value and free labor, right? You were not getting paid to do this. Chris (27:02.486) Yeah. No, I know. And no, it's, it's, it's, you know, it's funny too, because like, I You know, I'm 53, right? So like my understanding of college radio today, if I went off to run a college radio station, it would look completely different. It would look more like NPR, right? No, but I mean, it would... And the other thing is that we're literally like a state college 60 miles west of Boston, and we're all a bunch of like suburban white kids, mostly, right? That are all like herding around certain kinds of things, Kate Jewell (27:22.094) Mm -hmm. Right. Chris (27:43.522) You know, and so I think, you know, which is why, you know, we did not have a lot of hip hop shows, you know, and it's it's it's in we did. But I remember, I said, one of our more popular shows, I said, was these two local local kids would come in on a Friday night and, know, and just play, you know, they bring their own stuff, right. And play stuff. And I think people listen to that. I think people listen to them. Kate Jewell (28:11.043) Yeah. Chris (28:11.182) But the, you know, basically where I'm going with that is like we're 20 year old kids, you know, and 20 year old kids, I mean, like, we can be cutting edge on a lot of things, but not everything, you know, and that's about the educational aspect of like radio, right? It gets hard because like, you know, it's hard not to get sucked You know, and as I said, things change so dramatically that I think freshmen coming into college in 1993 and 1994 are now primed to one. In fact, alternative radio became mainstream radio and it almost. Like, I mean, know, XPL, I mean, I was gone, but I mean, XPL might've lost the plot. Cause like at some point, if your identity is so wrapped up into like non -mainstream radio, like I had this discussion with a professor once and he's younger than me and... He's like, R .E sucks. They're adult contemporary music, you know? And I'm like, no, don't ever say that. Like they're a cutting edge band. You know what saying? Like they revolutionize music. You know what saying? But what would he know? He's younger, right? Kate Jewell (29:26.104) Right. Well, speaking of REM, I was told a story about when the Out of Time album showed up at the station and somebody carted it up. And they thought that you might have been the music director or station manager at this point. And I don't know if you remember this, but they're like, I got in trouble because Chris was listening and the album was locked up in a cabinet. Chris (29:54.446) And they took the screws off. Did they take the screws off the cabinet? can't remember that. think, so one of the tensions of like, I remember driving back from Boston with a station member and someone on our, some of the radio station was like playing Led Zeppelin. Kate Jewell (29:56.898) They took the skirt. Chris (30:19.246) And we joked that WXBEL was going to be the recipient of the September award, the best September, and then would be October next month. I think because by then REM had become this giant band. And I was trying to say, no, let's listen to something else. Let's do something else. As I said earlier, it's about herding cats. We are young, you know what saying? Kate Jewell (30:51.342) So it wasn't that the transgression, all right, I'm digging into this now. So it wasn't that the transgression was that you weren't supposed to play the album yet, but it was that you were kind of like as music director saying like, I mean, that single, I mean, that was going straight to MTV, right? If it was out of time and losing my religion. mean, that was going and getting the mainstream coverage. And you as music director were saying, Our work here is done. That's why we don't need to be playing this. Chris (31:22.892) Yes. Yeah. yeah. Yeah, no, and it's in the defense of the people that could have done that. My rock is he is truly a diehard RRM fan. He really is. And he's just going to listen to RRM. And yeah, but yeah, that's that's where I was going. was like, we were not going to play something that's playing on WBCN every other song. You know, Kate Jewell (31:55.341) Mm -hmm. Chris (31:56.48) I then might even be on ZLX by then, I'm saying. like and so we were just going to like not do that. And that was. That I mean, and I think about on my life, I reflect back on that, that's we fall under that as the that that wasn't going to work. There are limitations to what being a music director actually is, you know. So. Kate Jewell (32:21.332) interesting. you were music directing, if we could turn it into a verb, with a certain philosophy for the station, it sounds Chris (32:30.646) Yeah. yeah, no, I wanted to I I did believe and I think there might even, you know. I have written about it somewhere. I mean, I don't even at the time, but like, you know, I did believe in the mission of college radio being that we should be indie, right? That we should be playing things that people don't play. Look, and I mean, I've got like a Neil Young thing right behind me. I'm not like, you know what saying? I'm not pretending that I'm like some, you know, on some mountain top somewhere, you know, like, and I only listen to like, you know, like, you know. And couple of once in while, I'd run into like, John Caples joined, he transferred to Fitchburg as a junior, senior. He knew a lot of obscure stuff. like, some point it was like, what do you even, where are you? Like, where do you find this stuff? Chris (33:37.558) No, but I mean, like, I mean, and that's the tension because like, you know, it's, is a student run organization and, we didn't foresee those bands that for some of my, some of the radio station members had been integral to their high school experience of being different, of being alternative, right? To become smash successes, right? Where the same kids, dare I say that we made fun are now listening to that too, and they're still not gonna listen to our radio station. And it would be wrong of me to suggest that like, well, you know, I mean, and Mike and Mark always did a good job. You did not hear Metallica on the Big O Thrasher show. But I mean, it'd be ridiculous to think that that was possible for a lot of like, you Kate Jewell (34:12.056) Right. Chris (34:34.262) I think the argument was that, example, if you're going to play... older rock music you want to find even more obscure rock music, you know what saying? Or you're not going to play, know, heaven forbid if you play Led Zeppelin, you're not going to play Stairway to Heaven, right? You're going to find something off the Presence album or something like that. You want to like do something always. So it's and look, I mean, I think about it now and I'm like, man, what about like, who's listening to us? You know what saying? But I was reporting, but here's the thing. I was on the phone with people telling people that we were doing X, Y and Z. Kate Jewell (35:10.03) Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Chris (35:11.694) Like I'm reporting to CMJ and my name is still there floating around like on the internets, right? mean, just like, and I am saying that, you I think one of the most inspirational shows I ever went to, I was with Mike Baronis and we went to the CMJ conference in 1991 and I saw a lot of metal shows. It was kind of hanging out with him, but it was, and I'll tell you this. the stereotypes of people. Metal kids are the nicest kids. They are. They're like, I like Slayer, you like Slayer, let's like Slayer together. You know what saying? Indie rock kids suck, right? And it became an argument about who's listening to who first, you know what I'm saying? And you weren't doing this, know? But I hung out a lot of the, I to lot of metal shows, but one of the things that we went to was to see Hellman. Kate Jewell (35:49.678) True. Kate Jewell (35:53.314) Be friends. Kate Jewell (36:02.808) Yeah. Chris (36:10.67) And it was in Greenwich Village in 1991, November of 1991. It was the Cow's Tar. It was an amphetamine reptile record showcase. And what I heard was that Helmet was signed to a major label that night. That's the gig that landed Helmet onto Interscope. mean, dude, I was just blown away. Kate Jewell (36:30.934) Okay. Chris (36:36.856) I mean, I was blown away by all the bands. was blown away by Hellman, was blown away by the cows, you know what saying? And like, I'd never experienced any of that stuff before. And I just went out and this was not at the radio station. You could not get this at the radio station. I went out and bought my own damn, Infetamine Reptile Records stuff, you know I'm saying? And I went out and had that catalog of things. And there are no free concerts. You had to go, saying? Cause you know, the AmRep people were, if you could get ahold of them, were ornery. I'm saying and like, you know, and things like that. So I mean, and I remember thinking like that's like that's, know, I have to keep one step ahead. You know, I'm saying like there's always new music, new music. There's always new music and that we can't spend our life listening to old music. You know, like we can't play our favorite songs. All four years were at the radio station, you know, I'm saying we've got to like keep pushing ourselves. You Kate Jewell (37:37.83) Do you think that ethos was coming from the world of college radio and the culture that it developed across these stations? Or was there something about it being a college station and at a university with an educational Chris (37:54.316) Well, I think you read the whims, whoever shows up to your college radio station, right? And that's going to be different across the country. But the ethos, I think, you know, and you are getting exploited, the free labor aspect and things like that. But you're at a point in your life and you have all the time in the world. Right. And, you know, and you are young. Kate Jewell (38:01.358) Thank you. Chris (38:23.24) and you are talking to people and you're just, people are sharing things. And I think that was a very fertile time period. think, I'm kind of glad I never left college because, know, even in grad school, I'm like, you you constantly run into undergrads that are bringing in new bands that you've never heard of or, or you. didn't really give it a try or whatever, you know, and it's retroactive too, because when I got to the radio station, you know, think Mark, did you, hopefully you can talk to Mark Small. And Mark Small was the, yeah, Mark Small was the, was the music director before me. And he, he was in a band which called Cancerous Growth, which the album was, he wasn't an original member of the band, but he was in one of the later lineups. He pulled out an album once and he was in the back cover. Kate Jewell (38:58.38) Yes, I have his number. Chris (39:17.966) I was like, like you're 18 years old and you're like, oh my God, that's just amazing. And, and I, I don't know. I saw my experience in college as this is wonderful. Like talk to me. You know I'm saying? you know, tell me why you like Husker do, right? Show me, you know what saying? And show me why you like this and what you do with this. And I was able to see things differently. Maybe I didn't like something on the first time. And there is another element of students that were indirectly connected to the XPL people. So there is a group of like, you not everyone that listened to Fugazi is gonna be at WXPL. So the first time I heard Fugazi was at a keg party on North Street, right? And it's got a big chunk of WXL people there. They're not all WXL people there. And some kid in his room was playing, you know, waiting room. And it's like 1990. And I'm like, damn, this is great. You know, like, I remember at that same house, we watched the Sinead O 'Connor on Saturday Night Live. Like they stopped the party to watch her, right? Because everyone was into her. And she ripped up the pope and there was, trust me, in the world of Irish Catholic Boston, there was shock. Not saying anyone booed or canceled her, but like there was kind of like the, it's kind of like, Which I discovered in California, and I lived there for 10 years, they never showed that. That was not on the West Coast broadcast. They had edited it out. Kate Jewell (40:42.158) Amazing. Kate Jewell (40:46.53) Ooh, not supposed to do that. Kate Jewell (40:57.424) because it was late. Chris (41:01.176) I'm like, no, I was there. I mean, I was there. I mean, I watched it. Kate Jewell (41:06.318) on Saturday night. That's amazing though. I mean, what was Fitchburg, what was Fitchburg State like when you were there? Like what was, like do you have like classes that stand out? Like what was, what was being a student Chris (41:21.634) I have the nostalgic fondest memories of Fitchburg and I do because it is, you know, it was, you know, as a lot of people do about their youth, you know, I was, it's, it's 1989, you know, the world is changing. I actually tell my students this, the Berlin Wall came down my first semester of my freshman year. I'm sure I have classmates that still don't know that happened. I'm sure there's still people that didn't even know that even occurred. I even took a class on the Soviet press. I took a class on the Soviet media when I was at Fitchburg. Yeah, and then I think the Soviet Union collapsed like the next month or so. By the end of the year, the Soviet Union was gone. But no, think for Fitchburg, was the right place for me to be at the right time. And from suburban Boston, Kate Jewell (41:50.991) You Chris (42:20.166) And it was my first real experience being away from home, being away from, know, and it was also very different, right? It's, you know, it's funny too, because like Fitchburg's only like an hour, I commute an hour to work and like that's what I mean. Like, but I'm out in the West, you know, but the, I know, but I mean, like, and I, you know, I, as I said, it was a place that allowed Kate Jewell (42:36.972) Central Massachusetts. Chris (42:49.336) to grow up and it allowed me, know, I, I said, I've got nothing negative to say about anyone at WXPL. I think they're, you know what saying? Like I'm so happy I knew them and they enriched my life. and, and I'm like, sometimes I am sad that I moved away and, and, and, you know, I'm not as close as I could be, you know, cause I'm kind of like, they all still hang out with each other sometimes. And I'm like, I'm the one that just moved away. But, I, just felt that they, you know, everything like and as I said, I ended up being an academic. Right. I mean, like, so I'm also glad I had the history professors that I had and the professors that I had, you know, too. So it wasn't just, you know, all social. Right. I mean, like, you know, think Dr. Thomas passed away recently and and Kate Jewell (43:41.067) Ed Thomas, Chris (43:42.624) Yeah, he was my advisor and he wrote me a letter of recommendation and one time they accidentally left it out at Cal State Los Angeles where I got my master's degree. They left my file out and then I saw his letter of recommendation. It was really nice and he mentioned the radio station. Actually, he actually mentioned the radio station in my letter of recommendation to grad school because he said that he could be a better student if he wasn't screwing around on the radio station all the time. And so, yeah, no, mean, like, and I, I, I, I, you know, I enjoy that. And like, you know, I think I, I, I'm glad I met the people that I met. I'm glad that I knew those people because I they shared these experiences in music with me. And I just said, I was just like a sponge. just like, just soaked it all in, you Kate Jewell (44:35.66) Yeah, I mean, you know, I get asked a lot right now when I whenever I do media or podcasts, you know, what's the future of college radio or what's different about college radio than it was in the past? And, you know, I'm sure you know, this is a professor to our students are so much more squeezed for their time. Everything in their college life has to have a payoff because, you know, it's a it's. Chris (44:59.926) Yeah, no, they're told that. Yeah, it's beat into their heads. Kate Jewell (45:02.358) Yeah, it's debt fueled. It's, you you got to, and so, you know, going down and playing records on the radio station, there's not that immediate kind of tangible payoff, but it's, it can't, it could be, right? There is so much potential still there for that experience. We just have to figure out a way to support Chris (45:23.571) You know, and I agree with you. And I think sometimes I think the students miss out the best parts of like, because years later, I mean, I, I'm a college professor. But when I think back about my undergrad years, I enjoy playing wiffle ball and what was called the new halls. I think they're called the Vinnie Mara village now. Right. They were just brand new then or playing football on the quad or screwing around with the radio station kids late at night in Thompson. We run around Thompson Hall in the tunnels. Kate Jewell (45:50.254) Mm -hmm. Chris (45:52.056) We used to joke about the tunnel monster, you know, and I, that's just as much part of your college experience as sitting in my class, listening to me talk about, you know, don't know, international relations, you know, and so the, want, I mean, and I said to go back to that idea of challenging yourself, listening to new music is that, you know, people use diversity as a dirty word, but it's wonderful. It's wonderful to be exposed to different kinds of things, you know, and the time, the ability, the freedom that you have. I think, you know, and Fitchburg is a lot like Pitt Johnstown, and I do tell the students that I'm more like you than you realized. And the other problem is a lot of students have to lot of our commuter students work. That has an impact too. And I think You know, the music industry changed too, and a lot of the way the music's delivered has changed. So, you know, for us, it was word of mouth, right? Because that stuff wasn't going to be on MTV or you were exposed to something similar to that on MTV and then had to do the research yourself, right? So like, go figure out what this is. and so I remember even going through CMJ and like, there were just some stations that I respected. Kate Jewell (47:09.529) Yeah. Kate Jewell (47:17.048) Thank Chris (47:29.902) and you know you're like okay like it doesn't mean i'm gonna like everything these people like but i'm gonna check it out you know i'm saying because if i if i know they're playing it maybe we should be doing it you know saying yeah Kate Jewell (47:37.294) Mm -hmm. Kate Jewell (47:42.624) Yeah, you keep tabs. Was there a sense of maybe through the music scenes that you were nearby or supporting of how WXPL compared to other nearby college stations? Or was that just like not on the radar, your own little sphere of influence? Chris (48:03.576) You know, I think we were, because, and I know I always come back to this, Mike and Mark had an extensive network and, you know, through them, they knew a lot of the other metal kids at the other radio stations throughout New England. And they were always like, cool. You know what saying? We just talk metal. You know I'm saying? Which is funny because like I don't want to pin, I don't want to stereotype myself as the metal person because that's, I listen to kind of all kinds of things. But they're always chill. But when it came to like, you know, it actually sometimes like, no, I don't remember like really contacting a lot of other people at other stations, you know, or even running into them, you know, even at shows. Kate Jewell (48:58.466) Mm -hmm. Chris (49:02.402) They were there. I'm sure they were there. Yeah, I'm saying. But like, you know, I remember, you know, going to like, you know, these things, you know, whether it's Jane's Addiction or like, you know, some bands playing at the Paradise or, know, or the, you know, the channel, which is long gone. But you sometimes really wouldn't run into though, like, and sometimes I would run into, as I said earlier, is the kind of the standoffish kind of like You know, like I don't want to sound like there's a class divide, but I went to a state college and I'm proud. so, you know, kids that, you know, I, one of my best friends went to Harvard, so I would go into Harvard and hang out with them. And that was a different scene. Harvard radio station was a different scene. Like you had to take a, I think at that point they were making students take a test of musical knowledge to like get on the air. Yeah. Kate Jewell (49:59.533) tracks. Chris (50:01.741) Hahaha! Kate Jewell (50:03.22) Don't get me started on the Harvard station and act like I'm their radio, their files. Chris (50:05.55) Yeah. And I remember in my friend was like, I said, you could probably pass it. I can't pass it. I'm saying like, and I'm like, yeah, you know, and as I said, like, I go back to my station and like, you know, at some point, like, you know, you're like, all right, well, we are who we are. We are who we are. You know what saying? And like, and at the same time, it doesn't stop. The station didn't stop any of us from out there exploring other kinds of music, you know. Kate Jewell (50:13.954) you Chris (50:35.272) And I think there are a lot of, I think the best thing about Fitchburg is that, and I think it's still true today. I think it's true at any school. There's a lot of talent. We had a lot of talented people, you know? And even if they're not in the music industry now, Chuck's still involved in the music industry. Chuck's still, yeah, he's out there. But Rich Hall did a punk rock show. Kate Jewell (50:47.842) Absolutely. Chris (51:04.77) Mark Fields, I think is still sometimes in some like brutal death metal band, you know what saying? Hard like Grindcore. I think it's Grindcore or something. I but like, it doesn't matter whether they're still in the music field, I think, but they all brought their unique perspectives to Fitchburg. Kate Jewell (51:24.726) Mm -hmm. That's what I, yeah. mean, I'm never, my students never cease to amaze me with the stuff that they bring, like the references that they have. Like, it's like you put them all into a room and you can remix at infinitum. You just, you know, they just have to be confident enough to put it out there, to share it. That's the challenge. Chris (51:47.278) And it's actually, and this is one of the philosophies I felt. In fact, I think this is relevant to your podcast. when I became the music director and I was a freshman, right? And that ruffled some feathers, right? And I got along, Brian Gill had been the station manager before me, right? And we all got along, you know? But I remember feeling handcuffed, right? I mean, the idea of like, well, this is the way it needs to be done, right? This is how we've always done things and this is how we need to always do things. I'm not saying that people were doing it maliciously, but it was kind of like, this is how it's done. And I wanted to change things. In fact, one of my most lifelong lessons was, no, I guess why it was done that way. But I I strongly believe that when I left college radio, that I was gone. I still love music. I you listen to other people's college radio stations, I still listen to music, right? I still want to be challenged and be around people with diversity. But I left WXPL and whoever is at WXPL now should be doing it their way. Right? And they don't need me to come tell them what was up. You know what saying? like, and that musical tastes change. And that musical tastes changed when I was there. You know I'm saying? Like, you know, like, when you think about what alternative radio was in like 1987, Love and Rockets would come to your head. And I love Love and Rockets actually. I like The House. Yeah, exactly. And then on the other side, you get the American indie kind of rock stuff, But I mean, like by the end, and just who saw that coming? mean, like the explosion of like, of that stuff. Kate Jewell (53:22.946) Mm -hmm. Kate Jewell (53:27.458) Very synthy, very like, you know, dark. Chris (53:46.126) I will tell you the story. I think I mentioned this before to you though. At some point I was station manager and we wanted to do a fundraiser and sell t -shirts. So one of our station members, forgetting his name now, but he designed a t -shirt, right? It's a WXPL 91 .3 and we contracted with some print shop or whatever screening place in Worcester. Chris (54:18.466) We were not allowed. We found this after we made the order to use our station funds for the t -shirt. Yeah, oops, that's right. And I will say, cause I think this guy's long gone. There was a guy in administration that I think he had issues with WXPL and he might've had issues with me. I don't know. He might've liked. Kate Jewell (54:42.03) Sorry. Chris (54:48.098) the other station manager more. But I mean, I don't, but he like, it just, there were issues and he's like, we're not giving you the money. You're not going to get the money. I'm like, dude, I already, like I was in his office. I'm like, I, I've actually already ordered this with like a company. I'm saying like, they're making the t -shirts right now. He's like, no, he wanted to teach us a lesson, right? So I had to drive down to Worcester and I was like, I got, I got some problems. And he gave me the shirts. And I said, look, we're going to get the money to you. And he was cool about it. mean, know, it was like a mom and pop store. was like, you know, like it was like, and we were not allowed to set up a booth to sell them. We weren't allowed to officially sell them. So we had to do this guerrilla campaign of like hit and run in the G lobby of like selling them. And then someone would be on the lookout and they thought he was coming. We'd all run. We'd grab the box and start running. and we sold them at cost, there was no fundraising. There was no extra money from it. We had to sell them at cost. And I made sure that guy got paid back. But I remember thinking, man, it's our money. It's for a fundraiser. I think it was in the budget. But no, he just wanted to teach us a lesson. Kate Jewell (56:08.94) You didn't kiss the ring. It's probably a little surprise, but you know what mean? Get your sign. Get your three bid minimum state. Something like that. Yeah. And the last one, speaking of Massachusetts situations, everybody's talking about the first meetings that would take place in the science lecture hall. And like, you Chris (56:11.864) There I know. So. Chris (56:21.462) I know. Kate Jewell (56:37.044) and initiations and all that stuff. My husband, he works in the construction field and he was the HVAC designer on the new science building. When they demoed the old science hall, they found out that it was just stacked cinder blocks, that whole back wall, no mortar. Chris (56:56.354) Hahaha lordy. Kate Jewell (56:59.534) That is just perfect like 1960s like Massachusetts the way business is done. Chris (57:07.072) yeah. Well, I mean, our college president, who I actually have fond memories of is Vinnie Mara. And my memory of Vinnie Mara was that he is the quintessential quintessential like Irish kind of politician guy. You know what saying? And I actually in this day and age, I miss that because there are some things that actually work that way. You know what saying? Kate Jewell (57:34.242) He knew how this would work, he could get stuff done. Chris (57:37.356) Yeah, but I mean, he was a very, mean, in some ways, well, they don't make college presidents like that anymore. And sometimes I'm always like, offense, President Specter, if you ever watch this. Kate Jewell (57:52.398) I shall say nothing. This will be how I my employer's institution. Chris (57:58.292) Yeah. It's funny, But there are our relationship is that didn't like, you it was it was was malign neglect, I guess. I mean, they didn't really care about us until we raised a problem. I know. I don't know. Or, you know, drinking in the station or things like that or some, you know, whatever. Kate Jewell (58:16.494) I know. Kate Jewell (58:27.31) So in your pantheon of college radio experiences, you have a top three to be very high fidelity about this, like top three moments? Chris (58:27.789) and they would care. Chris (58:40.027) of moments of being in college radio. Yeah. Kate Jewell (58:43.522) Yeah, yeah, for whatever reason. Chris (58:47.49) Yeah, think one of the things I just mentioned was that going to that show at CMJ conference and then being brought over to Greenwich Village to see Helmut and the cows was just something that was just like, just amazing, you know, which is directly related to college radio, right? I wouldn't be there if it wasn't for college radio. I think, you know, I... Chris (59:17.738) I, you know, maybe other people you talk to have other memories or whatever, but like, I just kind of miss the commodity, you know, being around everyone at that time and being young and we're not young anymore. it's, but it's like, I think the first time, and here's another one, the first time that we listened to Check Your Head, the Beastie Boys album, it came into the station, we opened up the box, it's there. And I think I was with John Hunt. I definitely know John Hunt was moving. And we ran into the production room, you know, the production room, and we put that on the turntable and we're like, it was Professor Booty. That was the first single off of it. And we're like, wow, this is amazing. think that sticks out. mean, kind of things like that. think really like, you know, sharing moments with people, like, you know, in hearing music for the first time, you know what saying? being around people with music, you And so that's, I guess that's my high fidelity moment. Listen to Professor Booty, right? By the Beastie Boys. Yeah. Kate Jewell (01:00:21.016) Yes. Kate Jewell (01:00:25.228) Yeah, that tape was stuck in my car's cassette player for my entire junior year in high school. Chris (01:00:33.538) Yeah, no, I like it, I think my junior, the end of my junior year, I think I drove around one summer with an NWA album on one side, the Beastie Boys on the flip side of the cassette, and then Pavement Slanted Enchanted on another cassette, and then Urge Overkill on the other side. And I think that's what I, you know, the Afghan wigs. Listen to the Afghan wigs. Yeah, congregation. It's the Afghan women's congregation. and slanted and chanted my pavement. that's, know, the summer I lived in Fitchburg was 1992. And I think that's, you there you go. Yeah. I mean, that's it. I mean, there's another big, think Afghan wigs and Urge Overkill are two of my favorite bands of all time. And I don't think a lot of other WXPLers really listen to them a lot, but I wouldn't have known them if I wasn't involved in the station. You know, I wouldn't have been Kate Jewell (01:01:12.674) Solid rotation. Kate Jewell (01:01:30.061) I'm happy. Chris (01:01:32.97) exposed to that, right there. So. So hopefully, I mean. You know. I'm trying to think of as any other like. No, we ran around on that. We ran around at night a lot. We didn't do any damage, so don't worry. Like we didn't we didn't break into anything and stealing and so. Yeah, exactly. Kate Jewell (01:01:54.654) No harm Kate Jewell (01:01:59.618) But yeah, the sentiment seemed pervasive. Well, at least, you know, so far and what I do. People seem to remember the station very, very Chris (01:02:11.532) Yeah, no, I really as it's weird for me because I'm gone. Like I left. I and I left at a time before the Internet. And so like I didn't really see a lot of them or was able to be in touch with them. But like I still hold them very near and dear to me. I'm saying like and I do, you know, like Peg Ricardo is, you know, a very good friend, you know, and and I don't see her very often at all. Like I'm saying, like it's here. Kate Jewell (01:02:19.352) Mm -hmm. Kate Jewell (01:02:39.97) Mm -hmm. Chris (01:02:41.122) long time, but yet she's my friend, you know what saying? And like, and I know that, right? And, you know, and so, I mean, the good thing about social media, right, is like, there's a lot of bad things about social media. The good thing about social media, I was able to get, you know, kind of be around them a lot. Chuck Ferro, it was in a band that had come out to Pittsburgh. I was able to see him and play in Pittsburgh. And that was nice. And, but yeah, no, I mean, we, In fact, actually, you know what? Did Zimmerer get ahold of you? Zimmerer Panitz? Well, that's our maiden name. And so she actually wrote a really, I don't know if she wrote about it or she might've, like, she was into like the more industrial and goth stuff. she at one point, I think had some crazy mohawk. Kate Jewell (01:03:10.998) No, not yet, Kate Jewell (01:03:30.542) you. Chris (01:03:35.818) that your hair was usually down, shaved on one side then down. But then every once in a she would put it up and it would freak out people at Fitchburg. But she had gone to see some industrial band in Boston. And yeah, mean, like she's got some stories, I think, know, of like, I think it's like the creepiness of people and you know what saying? And like, and it comes back to that of like, I never, you know, a woman's perspective at a show, okay, was something that I would naturally not think of on my own. But when she was telling me, you're like, like I need to like, you know, and yeah. So yeah. Kate Jewell (01:04:05.891) Mm Kate Jewell (01:04:17.282) Mm Kate Jewell (01:04:21.088) Yeah, getting the full breadth and the I mean, it was it they call it underground for a reason. Chris (01:04:28.386) Yeah. mean, and it's, I think it's, as I comes back to that, like, think the vert, like it's one thing I try to teach my students, like, you know, part of college, like we all got opinions about everything, right? But I mean, part of college is listening to other people's opinions. It's like listening to be around other people, right? And I think, you know, there are fond memories of Fitchburg though, is that there was a, yeah, I think people are, we did have fun together. know, we did, you know, and doesn't mean that everyone got along all the time. But, but, but for me, I, as I said, I only have the fondest memories. Kate Jewell (01:05:03.752) Sorry. Kate Jewell (01:05:09.644) Yeah. Yeah. And there's something about that, that even if you end up just stronger in your own convictions or, or, you know, a stronger sense of what it is that you like by being exposed to other ideas and other voices. And, you know, that in and of itself has value. You know, it's not like you have to go and change dramatically, like everything that you think you love and listen to. It's Chris (01:05:30.828) Yeah. Chris (01:05:35.534) hell yeah. Chris (01:05:40.236) I mean, it is like, and he was never really, really officially part of the station, but we had a student at Fitchburg and his name was David Marabello. And he was in bands, the Rationals. he lived in my suite my freshman year. And, you know, I was able to see his band play a couple of times when I was in Boston, luckily, was able to see, he was playing at the same time I was there. But I mean, Just talking to people about music and their experiences of how they approached albums to me was always fascinating. And maybe that's why I became an academic. I love hearing stories about how people hear albums and how they get excited about things. Sometimes it's contagious. Sometimes it rubs off on you. You can hear a band differently. knowing that someone else had picked something that you notice what they can pick out of it, right? And that's, I think that's cool, you Kate Jewell (01:06:46.39) Mm -hmm. Yeah, yeah, and just extrapolate from there to all the different kinds of things you're exposed to in college, and there you are. So what am I missing in the story of WXPL? Chris (01:06:51.074) Yeah. Yep. Chris (01:07:02.769) Well, as I said, I can only give you from 1989 and I was a freshman, you know, to 1993. you know, I can remember John Hunt in 1990 opening up a box. And I might not even been the music director at that moment, but it was Nirvana's Bleach. And we were listening to because he knew sub pop. Like I'm saying, and that was something that he knew. And in 1990, I was just getting around. I'm saying like I said, like it was, you know, it was like an explosion. You know what saying? It's just like getting to college is like just the universe keeps expanding. And so I think it's I think that to me, my takeaway is it was an amazing time to be in college radio. knowing full well and trust me, do understand that. Well, that world's dead now. It's funny. The world, music industry of that day and age is gone. It blew up. And yeah, it's not coming back. And some people dream about it, right? But for all the wrong reasons, you know what saying? They just wanna be schmoozers and go to cocktail parties paid for by the label and you know I'm saying? Kate Jewell (01:08:12.694) I'm a bag. Kate Jewell (01:08:28.396) Yeah, or be in control of culture, right? To be a gatekeeper. Chris (01:08:30.242) Yeah. Exactly. And I'm a firm believer. Like I tell my students this, there's a lot of modern music I think is stupid. That's okay. Like, no, it's fine. Like it's you do you. You know what saying? Like it is your music. It's for you. Right? And you do not need my approval at all. You know what saying? If I hear something I like, I like it. But if I don't like it, I'll just listen to something else. You know what saying? Kate Jewell (01:08:51.672) Mm -hmm. Kate Jewell (01:08:58.392) Yeah. Chris (01:08:59.384) You know, I don't have to like, yeah, like, and so the gatekeeper aspect is it's weird, right? Because on one hand, you want the station to be educational. And on the other hand, you really can't, right? mean, well, it is edu-, well, I mean, what's one person's mainstream is another person's educational. Kate Jewell (01:09:17.624) Yeah, that's true. Chris (01:09:21.186) You know, like some, you know, you can imagine they're like people that grew up in a certain world and they hear Nirvana for the first time and they're like, this is amazing. Like, I've been, I was there at beginning. saying like, that's not, that's not helpful. That's not helpful. That's not helpful. You know, not a helpful attitude, you know? Yeah. Kate Jewell (01:09:38.338) Yeah, yeah, be open. Okay, so any final thoughts before I stop recording for the record? Chris (01:09:48.078) Well, thank you for doing this and I hope you get good participation and I hope you get a sense from all of us, right? All our voices combined, what it was like because as I said, I have fond memories of it and I think you've run into that everyone else does, right? And it was, you know, it's part of being young. And so I think it'd be kind of fun to see that collected together. You know what saying? And there was a WXPL before me and there's a WXPL after me. What is the station doing now? What is WXPL now? Kate Jewell (01:10:32.92) COVID was rough. COVID was hard. So, you know, it was, there are still absolutely quintessential college DJs working there, running it out of love and passion. And they have shows in the commuter cafe and, you know, but it's small. And so I'm hoping to see some, you know, that innovative spirit really. Chris (01:10:35.426) Yeah. Chris (01:10:53.218) Yeah. Kate Jewell (01:10:58.57) shape this and hopefully you know we can connect it with the podcasting thing that I'm doing and you know figure out some ways to give students more opportunities to have those kinds Chris (01:11:10.835) It's no longer in where it is no longer in the basement of Thompson Hall anymore. Kate Jewell (01:11:13.696) No, it is on, it's in Hammond and it's not on the main level where the library is, but one floor down. And so if you walk out, there's like a little corridor that goes out the side. can't remember. It's not the, there's the street level and the ground level. I think it's the ground level, which is above the street level. have, it makes no sense to me. It's on the ground level and you can walk by and can look in and it's very nice studio. It's small. Chris (01:11:36.226) Yeah. Kate Jewell (01:11:41.25) They got a nice production room in there and yeah, I'm technically a member, so. Chris (01:11:46.05) ours was dude, ours was strung together and we would, we would have to get this engineer from WJUL. I think some kid had gone to Lowell and had transferred, I think it was Rob, or knew a bunch of kids at Lowell. And so the guy at JUL, this technician was Bill the engineer or something like that. we used to, Jokey was like, came in in the TARDIS. He was like kind of a classic older guy that was kind of like, I don't know, kind of out there. He would fix things for us, right? He would be the guy that to Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Kate Jewell (01:12:20.114) just coming up radio stations like in the central mass. There are these characters I've read across a number of them. There's some guy in Santa Barbara who is an up to Santa Cruz. He was known as like the barefoot, I'm gonna get it wrong, he's like the barefoot wonder or something and he was like known for like going around and like rigging up radio stations like in the late 70s. Chris (01:12:43.906) Yeah, no, I yeah, I didn't have time and I got to UC Santa Barbara. I thought about joining the college radio station. But I was like I gotta put academics first after. That's where I got my PhD was UC Santa Barbara, so Kate Jewell (01:12:54.789) That makes sense. station has some stories. Chris (01:13:01.398) Yeah, think it's actually like I might have like Sean Hannity might have been there at some point when I was there. Kate Jewell (01:13:05.794) Sean Hannity was there. Sean Hannity was fired from there, allowed to come back, but that was how he put out his shingle in Radio and Records as the nation's most controversial college DJ. Chris (01:13:20.82) I What a scam. Kate Jewell (01:13:25.439) Yeah, so much College Radio. thank you. Thank you so much for participating. I can click Chris (01:13:28.576) I know. Well, thank you for doing this, you know, and. Chris (01:13:35.318) And, you know, if you want to talk briefly after you turn it off, we can real quick too. Kate Jewell (01:13:38.734) Sure. Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 1:13:40 Time Summary A summary of an interview given for different time stamps throughout the interview Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background 02:21 Getting to Fitchburg State and Joining WXPL 07:06 The Structure and Programming of WXPL 10:24 The Role of a Music Director 14:22 Creating a Community of Music Lovers 17:22 The Place of WXPL on Campus 20:43 The Benefits of College Radio 23:04 Promoting Non-Mainstream Music 28:11 Balancing the Mission of College Radio 36:10 The Role of a Music Director 39:18 The Wonderful Experience of College Radio 45:00 The Future of College Radio and Time Management Challenges 53:18 The Changing Musical Landscape and Alternative Music Explosion 58:28 Top Three Moments at College Radio 01:06:40 The Importance of Exposure to Different Perspectives 01:09:53 Preserving the Voices and Memories of WXPL DJs Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History with Chris Cook Subject The topic of the resource WXPL-FM history, 1989-1993 Description An account of the resource Summary Chris Cook shares his experience as a student at Fitchburg State and his involvement with WXPL, the college radio station. He discusses how he got to Fitchburg State and how he became interested in radio. Chris talks about the structure and programming of WXPL, as well as his role as the music director. He emphasizes the importance of playing non-mainstream music and the challenges of balancing the station's mission with the popularity of certain bands. Chris also reflects on the benefits of college radio and the sense of community it creates. The conversation revolves around Chris's experiences at WXPL, the college radio station at Fitchburg State University. He reminisces about the diverse music played at the station and the sense of community among the DJs. Chris highlights the importance of college radio in exposing listeners to new music and fostering a love for diverse genres. He also discusses the challenges faced by college radio stations in the modern era and the changing landscape of the music industry. Overall, Chris has fond memories of his time at WXPL and the impact it had on his musical tastes and personal growth. Takeaways College radio stations provide a platform for students to explore and share non-mainstream music. Being a music director involves listening to new music, interacting with record labels, and making programming decisions. College radio stations create a sense of community among students with similar musical interests. There is a tension between the mission of college radio to promote non-mainstream music and the desire for career advancement in the music industry. College radio offers valuable experience and networking opportunities for students interested in broadcasting or the music industry. College radio stations like WXPL play a crucial role in exposing listeners to new and diverse music. The sense of community among DJs at college radio stations fosters a love for music and personal growth. The changing landscape of the music industry and the challenges faced by college radio stations have impacted the role and influence of these stations. College radio provides a platform for students to explore and share their musical interests and perspectives. challenges community diversity Fitchburg State University music director programming https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/c3256e6fbc57409ca2a4a74827eed7f6.png 1b73beaf4b5dc27cceb65b94ae95af80 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Screenshots of oral history interview generated by riverside.fm Subject The topic of the resource Katherine Jewell and Jacques Lambert Description An account of the resource Images of Katherine Jewell and Jacques Lambert Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 24, 2024 https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/78ee608769eb095c6a2e64a65091a3a0.pdf cc803812a23f4752c3754c4d28caf05a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "Want to get your Band on TV? Program Your Own Clips" Billboard, November 12, 1994 Subject The topic of the resource Jacques Lambert and music video programming Description An account of the resource Jacques Lambert and Sean Franklin (Jacques Lambert's legal name, posing as his own manager) on video shows - mentioned in Billboard magazine. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Billboard, worldradiohistory.org Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource November 12, 1994 https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/77b81e67da2cab48be880cf788cad92d.mp3 60d8fa6d653d2ee551f976787cb4ed5a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WXPL-FM, Fitchburg State University Subject The topic of the resource WXLP-FM 91.3 at Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA Description An account of the resource Collected artifacts and oral histories with alumni of the station. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Katherine Jewell Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Katherine Jewell Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Jacques Lambert Location The location of the interview Remote via riverside.fm Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound WXPL Oral Histories: Jacques Lambert - generated by Descript. Kate Jewell: [00:00:00] Let's see. Okay. So that's recording. All right. I'm Katherine Jewell. I am in Belmont, Massachusetts. It is July 24th, 2024, and I'm recording oral histories that will be used in a podcast production on the Fitchburg State University radio station WXPL. So would you go ahead and introduce yourself, your name? Kate Jewell: You're at and, we can jump into the Jacques Lambert: My name is Jacques Lambert. I am a humble resident of Lowell, Massachusetts, and I[00:01:00] Jacques Lambert: absolutely About everything about my life, Kate Jewell: So how'd you get to Fitchburg State and eventually to the radio station? Jacques Lambert: I finished high school. I, went to Andover high. I grew up in Wilmington, but the 10th grade, we moved to Andover and it was at that point. I was diagnosed as being seriously dyslexic and on a kindergarten reading level. it was, I won't get into the whole history, but I've moved around the world, including to the Middle East, to LA by myself. Jacques Lambert: The toughest move of my life was from Wilmington to Andover. I never felt more unwelcomed in any place in my life, and essentially dropped out of high school to play minor league hockey. I, we all came to an agreement. I'll come enough so you guys pass me. And, I won't cause too [00:02:00] much trouble. Jacques Lambert: And so I finished, I think there was 384 and I was 374, in our school. the girl I dated, Was the year behind me, and she was 2nd in her class, and the girl I dated after that was valedictorian, and my dad's a rocket scientist, and my brother is a 10 year professor at the University of Maryland in atmospheric chemistry, and I've not taken math or chemistry since the 7th grade, but I played 2 years of minor league hockey, after high school, and. Jacques Lambert: years of three people on my line getting drafted and me being five, seven and 140 pounds, it wasn't going to happen. and a couple, a few colleges said, why don't you come here and play? And I said, I can barely read it. Never took the SATs. I don't think I could spell SAT if you spotted me two of the letters. Jacques Lambert: And they're like, that's okay. and 1 of them happened to be Fitchburg state. And so they're [00:03:00] like, yeah, we'll just put you in a look. We'll put you in film. There's not a lot of reading. It's not a lot of this. There's not a lot of that. And, and okay, yeah, that sounds fine. And I didn't have to live on campus. Jacques Lambert: I lived at 1 pearl. It was like, there's a couple of the older kids, junior, seniors, hockey players who had, an apartment there, right at One Pearl, the three bedroom, one bathroom thing. almost instantly, I realized, oh, these guys are a bunch of d bags. I don't like this. Jacques Lambert: And, it's fine. It's fine that the hockey was a step down. It's, it, that wasn't the problem. It's Oh, you guys go to a school with a seven to one girl to guy ratio. you play on the hockey team and you think it makes you like King Turd on Crap Island. And [00:04:00] I don't want to be around any of you people. Jacques Lambert: And it was a really, tough time. it was a really, tough time. and I handled it like most mature kids in the late 80s. I drank like a fish. And just coincidence, my it wasn't planned, but a kid I grew up with also went to Fitchburg, and he's in the dorm. Jacques Lambert: And he I'm joining the radio station. Why don't you join the radio station with me? And I'm like, yeah, my extent I at that point live for the Beatles and you too. And the extent of my music was whatever BCN was playing or FNX. with the exception of the band Buffalo Tom. 'cause I played hockey with, the drummer's brother. Jacques Lambert: so they were the only not mainstream band I had known of, but I, didn't [00:05:00] know. Oh Buffalo Tom is really Dinosaur Junior. Junior and Lou . I didn't, know all Jacques Lambert: he lives in Austin, Texas. [00:06:00] I guess his biggest claim to fame is he told Spoon 10 years ago. No, I don't want to be your touring bassist because I got my own band. I'd rather play guitar than base at this point. but, we, to this day are close. We still make music. We, just put out a thing last year called, the, Trump Era and, there's, and, the XPL thing, it's still, And every day resonate with me because of XPL, because of XPL, I met my friend, John and John, Dan and I were in a band. Jacques Lambert: My friend, Mike Sullivan, who left XPL, left Fitchburg, because he thought XPL is great. Radio is great. This is all I want to do. I'm going to go to the Connecticut School of Broadcasting, and then he was a morning show, major market producer for the next 20 years, all through XPL, our, we put my little [00:07:00] band did really okay. Jacques Lambert: And because I learned about college music journal, and I was in the film program, so my projects were all making music videos for our band. I literally, I came to an agreement unofficially with the film department at Fitchburg State that, I'm not going to show up for lighting class. I'm not going to show up for sound production. Jacques Lambert: I'm never going to load film in a camera. But you passed me in all those classes, and then the classes in which I was the only one to turn in a senior project, and not only did my senior project get turned in, it got played on MTV, there was a big article about it in the Boston Globe, and then Billboard Magazine, and I got a 2 0. Jacques Lambert: And the kids who, who didn't finish a class [00:08:00] project got a 3 0,[00:09:00] [00:10:00] [00:11:00] [00:12:00] [00:13:00] [00:14:00] [00:15:00] Jacques Lambert: which was great because, they had better gear. Jacques Lambert: On my, on whether it's, I don't want to say [00:16:00] it out loud, the listening device next to me, I have my XPL playlist. So if I'm listening to synth pop 80 stuff and a song comes up, I'll be like, Oh, listening device, put that on my XPL playlist on my Apple music, on my computer, my phone, I have my XPL playlist. Jacques Lambert: And it's not just bands from that era, but bands, I wouldn't the dead Kennedy's or the minute man, or, a, one hit wonder or one album wonder called the warlock pinchers. they put out one album. do not look it up. It didn't hold up very well. there's an amazing song called the minds, which is one of my favorite thrash punk synth pop song. Jacques Lambert: let's just say they have a [00:17:00] not flattering song about, Morrissey. but that's but Kate Jewell: Sometimes Jacques Lambert: yeah, a couple years ago when Morrissey comes out anti trans you're like, but. But you and I don't, it's it doesn't. And then it's Oh, okay. So, now it's now I have to, I ever, if I'm listening to one of those playlists and girlfriend or coma comes up, it's skip, it's Oh, but anyways, but yeah, but like I said, to this day, the XPL. Jacques Lambert: we still joke about XPL. Like I said, my friend, John, he lives in Austin. even before the internet, he moved to Austin when I moved to L. A. and I would go see him once or twice a year. It's a 24 hour drive if he's playing South by Southwest. he was in two, he was in a touring band he did not like. Jacques Lambert: Called spoon, which was on Sony that sent him to Japan once a year, [00:18:00] which he loved and he made just enough money to support his band called five head with a bunch of other Fitchburg guys. So it was a bunch of Fitchburg guys moved to Austin and started a bunch of bands. it really helped create that scene. Jacques Lambert: They moved to Austin before Austin blew up and was Austin and a couple of them are still there still making music. 50 year old guys like me, 50 year old guys like me still playing shows a couple of times a month and again, it all came from that. And now I live three miles from Lowell University and I listen to WMUL. Jacques Lambert: and sometimes it is the most painful, awkward, quote, unquote, those kids still running the stations that, that, that are just delightful to listen to. And it's [00:19:00] and they're always promoting shows and sometimes they've had shows where it's like, Oh, but I'm I would go check out that show. Jacques Lambert: I will never be that guy showing up to see a college show. Buffalo Tom just played Lowell music festival a few weeks ago. And it was great. And I brought my son and it was awesome. But if a band that I liked was playing on the ULO campus, for many reasons, cause look, I never want to have the phrase. Jacques Lambert: Hey, why don't you have a seat right there? and if you get that phrase, I don't have to explain further, but, but I love the radio station every now and then I'll tweet at them because I'll take a screen grab. If it comes up what they're playing, I'll be like, Oh my God. Thank you for playing. How did you have acts? Jacques Lambert: Who's, who had the cool parent who told you that this band existed? You know what I mean? How, do you know about these people? I don't care, but I'm glad you do. Thank you for playing it. Like type thing. And, I do, I still love everything about it. And like I said, [00:20:00] that's why when I, from an old college friend, Professor Chris Cook, who he's a walking encyclopedia of music, probably one of the smartest people I know. Jacques Lambert: maybe the smartest person I know, most musically knowledge person I know, was following you during the course of writing your book. And I'm like, Oh, I've never, followed somebody in that process. I've been like, I've seen a book and be like, Oh, I can't read this. Hopefully it comes out on tape and I can listen to it. Jacques Lambert: But, I'll buy to be supportive. But this sounds great. But, to watch you along the way posting CMJ. Playlist posting these, college newspaper articles about the station getting shut down for being too conservative, some people be like, wait a minute. And then it turns out there's a little, at some point. Jacques Lambert: University somewhere. [00:21:00] Somebody's trying to be, I'm trying to be Sid Vicious and my band that's bad. And then there's some idiot trying to be the young Rush Limbaugh, And it's but to watch your process the whole time, and there's so many Fitchburg people I know, or not Fitchburg people. Jacques Lambert: I don't know if I know anybody, maybe tangentially, who wasn't connected with XPL. like that was my whole. It was either XPL, the people at XPL, and that's it, that's literally it, and, look, I do not want to come across disparaging, Fitchburg state in any way, because honestly, I don't know if this Fitchburg state college is the largest state college in the city of Fitchburg. Jacques Lambert: Also, there was 1 class. I took a guy named Dave writer. And if I, didn't want to get up and walk the two feet, [00:22:00] the only textbooks that I bought after the first year of Fitchburg were his two. And they sit in my office, not as display, because if I'm waiting for a Zoom call, I'll flip through it. Jacques Lambert: Getting to Yes was one of the two books, and I'm blanking on the title of his book, but it was, such a great experience. But my college experience was all my band. That came out of a dark time. I found XPL at the lowest point of my life. Like literally hockey's over. It's all I know. It's all I've done. Jacques Lambert: I wasn't in band. I couldn't play drums. I didn't do anything. I could barely play the radio, but I end up, my buddy who was at XPL, Mike Sullivan goes on to be a big radio producer, meet my guitarist, meet my bass player, and to this day, the two closest friends I have, Mike from that. And then the third who ended up joining the band, a guy named Rod. Jacques Lambert: like that's it. Fitchburg [00:23:00] State for me was XPL. Was that two studio, room. do I feel guilty that I may or may not have accidentally borrowed, quote, Libertate, a couple albums that, you would, have no way have absolutely had access to any other way. and I want to tell this story. Jacques Lambert: My favorite thing about XPL, Is our bass player brought home this album, by, Archers of Loaf, the hands down, most horrible piece of crap I had ever listened to and he would listen to it once or twice a day where, you can play your album. And then I'm playing mine. And then while we're playing no friendo Nintendo, and he played this once or twice a day for a week, and it was horrible and it got worse each and every time until one time it clicked. Jacques Lambert: And I'm like, this is the greatest album [00:24:00] ever. This is my favorite band. And it did. It was one of those things where I don't know why I hated it so much. Icky metal. Icky Metal by Archers of Loaf, 91, 92, that came out in my top 10 albums of all time. And I despised it. But, that, but then again, that's what, being in a band with somebody who wanted to be Jim Croce, somebody who wanted to be in Baja's and somebody who, wanted to literally, As much as I wanted to play the drums, I wanted to start a riot at Club Boston, which we did and wound up in court for a year. Jacques Lambert: And that was awesome. open for the Flock of we opened for the Flock of Seagulls at Bunratty's in Burlington, Massachusetts, and we ended with a 10 minute version of I Ran. Which, they shut the lights off to the stage, and then they killed the power, the drums were not electric, so I kept [00:25:00] playing, and John kept just screaming, and I ran over and over, and they carried our equipment out piece by piece, and a flock of seagulls was waiting out there for us, and it was the most violent Dickhead, jerk, horrible, awful thing, and I want to feel bad about it because I know a good person would, but I giggle every time I think about it, and again, all because of XPL, all because of, because at that point, If you were on fnx Yeah, you were no, they would like, they want a 10 year anniversary of that song being number one. Jacques Lambert: But, you didn't look down at fnx. But FNX used to be the coolest thing in the world because it was a F or FNX. And then Jacques Lambert: you spend your life at XPL and you hear stuff that maybe gets played at three in the morning on. On FNX that is in heavy rotation [00:26:00] at college radio and you feel like, the in club, it's oh, you guys don't get it. Jacques Lambert: You guys don't get how cool this is and stuff like that. And then you become 1 of those 50 or people who tell your wife who right now is on her way to see Duran in Croatia. And she feels guilty that I don't go to shows. Oh, the pixies and modest mouse are coming. It's yeah, I saw the pixies of the channel in front of 200 people. Jacques Lambert: I'm fine. I don't need, it's now I'm too cool to see the band that I love the most because they're mainstream, but, that's all F and X. it's all college radio. and to this day, I, didn't know college radio was a thing. How in Wilmington maths. And 1983, could you possibly imagine something like that was out there? Jacques Lambert: There was no, if I could read, which I couldn't at the time, there was no mention of it. I didn't even know what the, Boston Phoenix was like the Boston Phoenix,[00:27:00] Jacques Lambert: even later, even like the, 87, 88, 89. I only knew about the Boston Phoenix because my stepbrother, who was going to Harvard, I'm a doctor, you was the movie editor. Jacques Lambert: That's the only way I otherwise you would not have had any idea that the Boston Phoenix was a thing. And if it wasn't for a cool kid on my junior team, who knew about FNX. I wouldn't even heard about F and X, it would have because everybody I knew it was BCN or AAF. There was those two camps, You're either the people's front or the JJO people's front, but there was absolutely nothing in between that, and so that's why, like I said, when I got there, it was, like this awakening and I know how cliche that sounds, but it's like, how can something like this exist? [00:28:00] how can this whole world within this world exist and stuff like that? Jacques Lambert: no, Kate Jewell: So what was your show like? what were you doing when you were on the air? What are some of your Jacques Lambert: being, being obnoxious, playing horrible songs from oh, I'm trying, I'm just trying to think of like, I would play. Like I said, I, it'd be Mission of Burma. I would record the show on my boombox because that's how you would get access to these things. Jacques Lambert: So I, would, I would tell my girlfriend, it's okay, don't forget. I know I go in at 1 in the morning, but it's really important. Yeah. because I would play Mission of Burma and then a Joy Division thing. And then I would, Play Captain and Tennille the same song 2 or 3 times in a row [00:29:00] and sing over it, just to be just because it was 1 in the morning and nobody else was there and nobody told me I could or couldn't do anything, sometimes I would have a political arguments with myself, like doing voices. Jacques Lambert: just the dumbest, dumbest, stuff, But at the same time, just having more fun. And like I said, okay, I know I want to play these songs and I know rock wants me to play these songs. but I would flip through the CMJ and just while something else was playing, on the other thing, put on the headphones and listen to it's crap. Jacques Lambert: Oh, this is good. Yeah. Crap. And then just. play whatever and then forget what I played and then 2 days later, somebody says you're supposed to write down what you played and I'd be like, oh, yeah, I'll do that next time. No, I won't. [00:30:00] Cause, it's and again, it's just really, funny that I'm. Jacques Lambert: I didn't go through a program or anything like that, but, 1 of my best friends, was a functioning alcoholic since he was 14 and, 1112 years ago was like, yeah. And I had a kid when I was older in 2007 and I'm like, yeah, I'm not going to do this much anymore. But the honest truth is. Jacques Lambert: 89 to about 95 is mostly gone. I'll be introduced to somebody I lived with for two years, Li you know who, Or, so a lot of that, and I don't say that in a funny, oh, look how cool I am now. Fitchburg was a drinking, and I don't know how it is now, but it was, the National Guard came in Spree Day. Jacques Lambert: Oh, do you not know that? [00:31:00] 91, I think it was 91. they sent in the National Guard on spree day. It was 91 or 92 that, Dukakis was the governor, declared it a state of emergency and sent in the National Guard. That is fact not. And it's 1 of those things where, when, we talk to these people, or every now and then, I'll get a text from somebody I talked to, but not a lot, but Did that really happen or hey, yes, this really happened because Fitchburg and maybe it still is, was a suitcase school where you moved away to school, but you brought your laundry home on Thursday night and most. Jacques Lambert: If you could not have any class on Friday, or you would have 1 class on Friday, I'm going to say 50 percent plus of the people, especially the 1st, couple of years Thursday night go home because it's a state school. [00:32:00] It's in the middle of state. let's say you live in Williamsburg. Williamsburg or Williamstown hour and a half away down route to, you live, at the Cape an hour and a half that way you live in, Wilmington 45 minutes that way. Jacques Lambert: So everybody went home to do their laundry or to see their high school girlfriend or boyfriend or both. No judgments. but if you stay behind, you drink. You, drank until the Statue of Liberty looked hot Drake and, it was those basements that had just cement and you could hose them down the next day. Jacques Lambert: and that's what Fitchburg was, oh, God bless us. But, yeah, Kate Jewell: so how did the radio station in the university get along? How did it fit in overall socially, academically administratively with the university Jacques Lambert: I, luckily I didn't know much of that, but that's why I [00:33:00] would be told on a regular basis. Hey, don't do. All the stuff you do, by people, by look, it's funny cause you think of it. It's I'm a complete jerk 20 year old, guy who's quote unquote boss is, maybe 19 because I went to school two years later and they know they want a real job. Jacques Lambert: And we're like, I, yes, I had to look down to see I am wearing a golden girl shirt. And this is what I will wear to a professional meeting. As soon as we wrap with this. that's, but this kid knew what he wanted to do and his working at the radio station on administration level was because it's going to look good on a resume. Jacques Lambert: I'm working at the radio station because I want to see if I can play. I want to be your dog live by the Stooges 20 times in a row. And if [00:34:00] anybody calls into notice, and the answer is no. No one cared, but no one was listening, but I did it for an audience of 1 and that audience was delighted. Jacques Lambert: And that audience was me. And, I modeled my DJ persona after the great. I think we could say great Johnny fever from WKRP in Cincinnati, but as far as the administration stuff goes, the, kids who again, when I'm a freshman, I'm, almost 20 because I didn't go to school right away. So if you. Jacques Lambert: oh, so you're a freshman, you're a sophomore, you might be a junior, same age, or you're younger than me as I'm my freshman there. And, you have to deal with the administration. And maybe somebody says, oh, that man that's not allowed to play in the pub anymore for reasons. one of the only reason they're not allowed to play in the pub is because one person in the band and that's a drummer and he's on the show and maybe [00:35:00] we should do something about this. Jacques Lambert: And so I would nicely get reminded. By the grown ups who were a year older or a year younger than me, but luckily I was shielded from all of that. cause, cause I, if I knew I was possibly annoying somebody, you have an eight year old. Oh, this bothers you? Oh, let me see how many times I can say skibbity toilet in a minute. Jacques Lambert: just a quadruple down on it. I, I was a child then I'm a child now. And, and but like I said, I will never Fitchburg state for me was WXPL and Dr. David Ryder. And that was the, that was everything, that was the best of the best. Somehow I have a degree. I think I sent you, after you did our [00:36:00] podcast, with your awesome book, I have found a picture of me wearing an XPL shirt. Jacques Lambert: I think I sent you that and my actual yearbook photo, which I'm in fifties now, and I'm still so glad I did it. But there is that little bit of me that says, Oh, all the other people on this page who had to go to a graduation party and grandma wanted to see their yearbook and opens it up and sees. this girl spent all the time getting her Marge Simpson, early nineties, which really means late eighties, this is why we have no also layer hair done, next to a guy wearing a world war flying cap. Jacques Lambert: holding a robot's head and no shirt. Why? Why did they put that in? [00:37:00] I I don't want to say I take no responsibility, but there were a lot of people who had to check off the proofs of that before it went to print. I, didn't sneak in and press, print at the manufacturer and put that in there. Jacques Lambert: But yeah, but the whole XBL and, experience shaped and again, I end up going out to work on music. I end up moving to LA, having a music video show on KCOP channel 13. I worked for a company that, when I first got out there, it was a sweatshop that just was a dub house that made all the music videos and sent them to all the MTVs and. Jacques Lambert: The cable access shows, like the 1 that I had around the world and a few years later, I opened my own production company and my only clients were 1 of brothers records, capital and universal. And I was in charge of taking [00:38:00] every scrape of tape, possibly imagining as Napster was destroying music or destroying the music model, which never really worked. Jacques Lambert: Anyways. Kate Jewell: what Jacques Lambert: most awful, we did 3 best of hits for tears for fears now. Jacques Lambert: Do I like Tears for Freers? Yes. Was there a need for a second best of DVD? The answer is no. let alone a third one. So anyways, but, yeah, but that music, the music, and, again, it's such a small world, when I was listening to your book, and you're like, oh, Syracuse University launched so and so and Dear McQuinn, who is [00:39:00] somebody who's a great, friend, and again, it's all, I wouldn't have known of any of this, I wouldn't have known these worlds existed, I wouldn't have known that, oh, you there's these tiny clubs, that aren't really clubs, that are clubs, two days a week, that are having Sebado come on a Tuesday night, that you can, yeah, It's a ground zero. Jacques Lambert: It was 2 for 2 bands on a Tuesday. That was the whole 2, 2, 2 thing. A club called Ground Zero, maybe a block from the Middle East Cafe, where we saw Buffalo Tom and Sebedo play their 2nd show, Sebedo's 2nd show. It's just after You Can't Fire Me, I Quit, Lou Barlow Left, and it's and again, we, Mark Small, I don't, Mark Small is one of the only people I know their real name of, He was another XPL guy. Jacques Lambert: he and Mark Small had a band and, Rock had a band. And I can't remember the other [00:40:00] guy. I see his face. He's like a big, his name might come to me. But yeah, we crammed there was like six of us in a car that might have fed two people in a Chihuahua to go down, to see that show. Jacques Lambert: And, I would have known. Places like that existed without the cool people. so there was the administration people who wanted to look good on the resume. And then there were the cool people like Mark Small, who's oh, you like Buffalo Tom? You have any idea who produces their stuff and who they're ripping off? Jacques Lambert: it's these guys and the guy who got thrown out of that band is playing with them. Let's go see them. So the coolest people I knew. were from the radio station. The most uptight people I knew were from the radio station. But again, I don't they're kids. You're looking back thinking, it's yeah, I was trying to see how many people I can piss [00:41:00] off as a 20 year old and here's some 19 year old sophomore. Jacques Lambert: Assistant station manager, hoping to be station manager when the senior leaves next year, who wants to go to those meetings with the administration. the only time I don't have any recollection meeting with the administration, but if it was anything like high school, those meetings weren't, Hey, let's talk about how everything's going right. Jacques Lambert: so I, I, didn't want to do that, but like I said, that the music itself, life changing the friendships. What are we talking 90? So I'm meeting those guys in the fall of 89. So what's that 15 years ago? And don't correct me. Let's just let me have this one. and still, my friend John was up from Austin and just. Jacques Lambert: The 3 of us sat in my friend's kitchen for about 7 hours just hanging out just it was just the best, [00:42:00] and it's all because of those 2 little rooms. And because some land grant act in 1936 called for schools to have these things. I read that in a book somewhere fascinating. I'll send you some information on it, but yeah, but the fact that that, little tiny, I don't think it had a bandwidth. Jacques Lambert: I remember getting off of Route 2, getting off of 495 onto Route 2, and the first 3, miles You couldn't, you could kinda depending on if you were turning left or right, you could pick it up, but it wasn't until you got maybe 10, 15 minutes down route two. So what's a 10 mile bandwidth at the time, and that absolutely tiny two room, 10 mile, maybe bandwidth is, has launched radio careers. Jacques Lambert: I personally have great friends who had. Absolute, [00:43:00] number one drive time warning. major market, producer credits, from that, bands who have gone on to do like really good things and just friendships that have lasted forever all because of those two tiny rooms, in the basement. Jacques Lambert: Of that building, for nothing else. I will always be thankful for XPL and Dr. Dave Ryder and for the hockey coach who I Stiffed over by not playing on the team for getting me into the film project for getting me into film. I have a film degree. I've made movies. I've made TV shows because this coach said, oh, there's no math and science. Jacques Lambert: We'll get you in this dumb and, And he was right, but I have a career and entertainment because of Fitchburg, and again, the way the filming worked. [00:44:00] Your junior and senior year, there was 20 kids in the class and everybody pitched a show and, or pitch the project to make, and you would vote, which 2 to do and then half work on this and half work on the other. Jacques Lambert: And the professor who hated me. Because the first assignment was to come in with your 10 favorite films. Mine were, The Jerk, Blazing Saddles, Stripes, and, all these other film kids were like, it's not really a film, but it's two roles or a film. There's Chuck Lzovacki and filmmaker smuggled out of the country. Jacques Lambert: an orifices we won't mention, so it's not really a film, but, the symbolic and I'm like, shut up. So I didn't work well with anybody. I still don't, which is. I, never have so the professor was like, got there. Who's is okay, 9 people in this 10 people in that Jack, whatever the fuck you do is fine. Jacques Lambert: just, if you get arrested again, just try to make it off campus [00:45:00] this time. And but like I said, my, my 1st project. My junior year somehow, we shot in our basement and I want to get this right. I'm trying to look at the newspaper. The Worcester telegram came and shot, did an article and it was the front page of the Sunday paper back in the time when the Sunday paper was. Jacques Lambert: 10 pounds and I came into class feeling pretty good with my three quarter master of the edited music video and the article from the Worcester Telegram and cassette. And I got a 2 0, which again, we had a, non written understanding that. Okay. That's fine. Not only did I finish my project, not only did it see the light of day because, oh, here's the VMJ tracking number where it was number [00:46:00] seven. Jacques Lambert: Here's a newspaper article. No, I don't have any idea what day the lighting classes are. So, which is you give me a 2 0 on that. I'll take it to it with the exception of Dave Ryder. but that time in Fitchburg will always be remarkable and special. Also, depending on how you go to work, I implore you to go buy. Jacques Lambert: 1 pro street and look at it because somebody did this for me a few years ago. I've never been back to Fitchburg since graduating. I'm not sure the statute of limitation. but if you go by on pro street, they're, on the 2nd floor. On the porch, it's somebody has written the Dan Cray Memorial porch and if there's a border around it, our friend, Dan passed out there 1 night and we, put it there and 30 plus years later, we think that somebody thinks somebody might have died there. Jacques Lambert: And every time like. [00:47:00] Like I said, I had a friend go by there a few years ago, who's going to, who's taking their kids to Great Wolf Lodge, and they're like, dude, I went by the old apartment. That's still there. the house has obviously been painted a couple times since then, but whoever paints over it thinks that somehow, some way, somebody died there. Jacques Lambert: No, nobody died there. Just Dan Cray, dancray. net. who billboard said Tom Waits meets Kirk Colbain's minus the drugs double the booze. Probably the best quote, you could have absolutely given anybody, but yeah, but Fitch, Fitchburg was, way too much fun. what I'm told I had a great time, but the friendships made. Jacques Lambert: Specifically in that little room. And I wouldn't have gone if my friend, Mike Sullivan didn't go to Fitchburg and say, Oh, you're not gonna play hockey. why don't you come to this radio station? I, so there's some people [00:48:00] that I wish I had the vocabulary enough to express. Thank you for giving me a life in a career, but it did 100 percent spawn from those two tiny little rooms. Jacques Lambert: I Kate Jewell: do you think were the particular skills that you gained the radio station through your college career that set you up to do what you're doing now or have done in your career? Jacques Lambert: think it's a combination of truly getting through life, not being able to read, until very later. I'm a producer. So what I do is I just, I'm trying, I don't want to swear. look, I just spin a yarn all day long. I, get people to, it's almost like a, it's almost like a Ponzi scheme where I convince people it's in your [00:49:00] best interest to help me get from point A to point B. Jacques Lambert: So I want to get this movie done. I want to get this TV show done. I want my band to chart. On VMJ so I need so it will help you rock and mark to, promote my band on your station on your shows, not my show. So it doesn't look like I'm playing it. So we can get a chart number. And then you guys play with us at TT the bears coming up on Thursday. Jacques Lambert: so all of those, all of those learning how to make deals happen. in my professional life and my personal life, I don't do a deal that isn't a win because I, don't see anything as transactional. Like I'm not going to the gas station and buying gas and I'm looking for the best price. I'm looking for, and again, this 100 percent comes [00:50:00] from Dave writers class, when you sit down and you negotiate with somebody, you have to know what their objectives are. Jacques Lambert: You have to know, look, they're not negotiating with you. They're negotiating on behalf of a bunch of people that they have to go back to and say, I wanted to get us this, but I got us that. But. we got, and it has to be that and that's what I want. So what I learned is okay, I want to continue being at this radio station. Jacques Lambert: Rock wants to look good on his resume by having, run a station that didn't get shut down by the administration. So, how can I. You know, make a happy medium work so that they let me keep having a show that only I listened to when I was recording at 1 in the morning, and that's Abby mean, it's okay, we'll let you be at the station, but it's going to be at 1 o'clock in the morning on a Tuesday, which is fine with me. Jacques Lambert: So I did. I learned. [00:51:00] those, negotiating skills, a lot of it was natural, but it was shaped and, structured. But a lot of it also was, specifically I have Dave Ryder's voice in my head. When I think about that, it's what does this person have to get for, it to be a win for them, because. Jacques Lambert: I'm coming back next week with another project. if I'm dealing with, an actor who hasn't worked for scale in 10 years to do this, how can you make it beneficial to them? same thing in music, same thing in everything, and now, I'm a stand up comic and stuff like that. Jacques Lambert: And I work a lot with the venues. It's okay. You're putting on the show and I won't get into details, but every time I enter into 1 of those things, it's okay, we're doing a show here for the 1st time. I want this to be a monthly thing. How does it have to work [00:52:00] for them? Not just on this side. Jacques Lambert: And that came from dealing with people at the radio station dealing with, the Dave Ryder class, and, then the fun, the irony thing, as much as I was an a hole not being able to play at the pub, I was also booking all their bands and starting to manage bands. I was smart enough to realize, oh, I have a really bad reputation, so I used Sean Franklin, which is my legal first name and middle name, as a manager, and Jacques Lambert as, the personality. Jacques Lambert: And I, if I haven't sent it to you, I will billboard magazine quoted both of us in the same article and, that's when I realized it's oh, everybody's just lazy. And they're waiting for you to come in and tell them. This is a story. This is who, what, where, how, why, and when. And again, it's a win This is why it benefits you to cover this [00:53:00] story over here. You know what I mean? I, and that, that is stuff that, that. time and time again, I had to do as a kid, as a drunk kid at 19, 20, 21, figure out, it's okay, for this wheel to turn, these are the things that make the wheel turn. Jacques Lambert: And this is the give and take. And no, I don't have to learn to load film into a camera. 'cause this guy over here loves to load film into her camera. I, I. I'm Huck Finn who convinced other people to paint the fence for me, because it's so much fun. And again, that's all that's what Fitchburg was, for me learning to figure it out, learn learning. Jacques Lambert: It's I was driven to an excessive point. I'm an acquired taste where you're going to talk to a lot of other people who will Be like, yeah, we know Jacques, [00:54:00] that you talk to some people who they, he's the greatest guy ever. We had so much fun. And then there are people like, he made my life a living hell. Jacques Lambert: Professor Crook being one of them. We'll go to all our shows. would be so supportive, was really good friends with the other two guys in the band. And then there's Jacques, it's so yeah, my friends have spent a lifetime apologizing for me, but now we're great friends, but that's all that stuff that all came, I don't know what Fitchburg's enrollment was at the time. Jacques Lambert: It wasn't what it is now. it wasn't, what, definitely what it is now. but, it was, it's those 2 tiny rooms in that 1 classroom, with Dave Ryder and the film people were great. They had equipment. They were so they, they were supportive by not. By not putting up roadblocks, They realize it's okay, he's different. [00:55:00] This isn't going to work. And for whatever reason, they're like, go ahead, do your own thing. And it worked, it worked. It worked for them. It worked for me. I don't recommend the path that I've chosen through life because I every lesson has been the hard way, Oh, so if I stop hitting my head on the wall, it won't hurt so much. Okay. All right. I don't believe you, but I'll give that a try, but Like I said, the whole XPL experience, the interpersonal relationships, the friendships, the lifelong friendships, a lifelong friendships, which is funny to say for a 19 year old, but the kid I lived next to from age five to 15 was the one who said, Hey, hockey's all done. Jacques Lambert: You'll have fun. Come. You just come to the meeting, just come to the meeting. And I'm like, what kind of meeting? I don't drink that much. But I went, somebody made the mistake of saying, okay, yeah, you want to do a show? Sure. And I think it was like [00:56:00] at eight to begin with. And then I got moved to that vault at 1 a. Jacques Lambert: m. time slot. I, It did it gave me time to watch the top 10 list and then walk down, to the studio. yeah, it was it was it was a win And it's one of those things today where, if there was ever like a benefit or a fundraiser that XPL needed, Maybe not the rest of the apparatus, but I'd be like, how can I help? Jacques Lambert: Like, how can I help? I, book shows, I book comedy, fundraisers all the time. I do that. I can do this. I can do that. it's I am happy to help because, that in the school as a whole, the school, but XPL is the reason I've had a career. I have a career. Jacques Lambert: And a large reason why I've got to truly as crazy as it says, travel around the world because [00:57:00] of that and those connections and those relationships and those skills that I developed, learning, Hey, how far can you push the envelope before the envelope goes off the desk? But it's great. I, that time capsule is just, I wouldn't go back, I, if I had a time machine, I'd go back just to Maybe I'm flying the wall. Jacques Lambert: It's yeah, cause there was some crazy stuff. I'm like, did that, happen? Did that really happen? but, but yeah, it's, it was, I, it was so great. And like I said, my love for college radio extends to this day. Kate Jewell: it. That's perfect. we hit, our time mark perfectly. It's Jacques Lambert: Fantastic. Kate Jewell: And then. [00:58:00] Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 57:56 Time Summary A summary of an interview given for different time stamps throughout the interview Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background 04:06 Forming a Band and Gaining Recognition 09:54 The Role of College Radio in Music Discovery 14:24 The Importance of Connections in the Music Scene 28:39 Playing Music and Having Fun at the College Radio Station 35:46 The Impact of Fitchburg on Lambert's Career 38:37 From Music Videos to Production Company 43:28 The Lifelong Friendships and Connections Made at College Radio 48:29 The Importance of Negotiation and Storytelling Skills 56:56 The Lasting Impact of College Radio Experiences Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History with Jacques Lambert Subject The topic of the resource WXPL History 1989-1993, Film and Video, Music Videos Description An account of the resource Summary Jacques Lambert shares his experience at Fitchburg State University and his involvement with the radio station, WXPL. He discusses how he ended up at Fitchburg State after playing minor league hockey and not taking the SATs. He joined the radio station and formed a band with fellow students. They played shows, released music videos, and gained recognition. Jacques emphasizes the impact of WXPL on his life and the connections he made through the station. He also reflects on the importance of college radio and the music scene during that time. The conversation with Jacques Lambert revolves around his experiences at the college radio station, WXPL, and how it shaped his career in the entertainment industry. He shares anecdotes about playing music, political arguments, and having fun at the station. Lambert emphasizes the importance of friendships and the impact of the radio station on his life. He also discusses the skills he gained, such as negotiation and storytelling, which have been instrumental in his career as a producer and stand-up comedian. Takeaways WXPL and Dr. Dave Ryder had a significant impact on Jacques Lambert's life during his time at Fitchburg State University. Jacques formed a band with fellow students and played shows, released music videos, and gained recognition. College radio, like WXPL, played a crucial role in exposing Jacques to new music and shaping his musical taste. Jacques emphasizes the importance of college radio and the connections made through it in the music scene. College radio stations can have a significant impact on shaping careers in the entertainment industry. Friendships formed at college radio stations can last a lifetime. Skills such as negotiation and storytelling are valuable in various professional fields. The experiences and memories created at college radio stations are cherished and hold a special place in people's lives. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background 04:06 Forming a Band and Gaining Recognition 09:54 The Role of College Radio in Music Discovery 14:24 The Importance of Connections in the Music Scene 28:39 Playing Music and Having Fun at the College Radio Station 35:46 The Impact of Fitchburg on Lambert's Career 38:37 From Music Videos to Production Company 43:28 The Lifelong Friendships and Connections Made at College Radio 48:29 The Importance of Negotiation and Storytelling Skills 56:56 The Lasting Impact of College Radio Experiences Notes generated by AI at riverside.fm Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Katherine Jewell Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 24, 2024 oral history https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/2acbca1eac8510bfcd918371444481e9.jpg 72d7b3ceeed4689c085b3914fb21cb62 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WXPL-FM, Fitchburg State University Subject The topic of the resource WXLP-FM 91.3 at Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA Description An account of the resource Collected artifacts and oral histories with alumni of the station. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Katherine Jewell Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data newspaper article Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "27 WXPL members arrested" clipping from The Strobe, November 23, 1988 Description An account of the resource Account of 27 members of WXPL being arrested for a "record breaking party" Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Strobe, student newspaper Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Available in the Digital Archives for Fitchburg State University: https://www.jstor.org/site/fitchburg-state/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource November 23, 1988 arrests record breaking https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/4d27444b37582e346c583c230bf81990.jpg 2ea649fee47f70b94b7b5d624ff410f8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WXPL-FM, Fitchburg State University Subject The topic of the resource WXLP-FM 91.3 at Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA Description An account of the resource Collected artifacts and oral histories with alumni of the station. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Katherine Jewell Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WXPL Day Hits High Note, clipping Description An account of the resource newspaper clipping Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Student Government Association, Student Newspaper. “The Strobe, Vol. XII No. 8,” April 30, 2013. https://jstor.org/stable/community.36477034. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource November 11, 1987 https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/0aaf28b384348d2e46340563c4da7268.jpg fb6afd6f26601845fcfb0f8b40974bff https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/b983981d1cc6be1e3d1b756941630ba2.jpg cd98af67e4df705d1efc7b1b991b5896 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WXPL-FM, Fitchburg State University Subject The topic of the resource WXLP-FM 91.3 at Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA Description An account of the resource Collected artifacts and oral histories with alumni of the station. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Katherine Jewell Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "WXPL to draw listeners" clipping Subject The topic of the resource WXPL format change announced Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Student Government Association, Student Newspaper. “The Strobe, No. 4,” May 1, 2013. https://jstor.org/stable/community.36477173. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource February 21, 1996 https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/eec6ff153c3fc9878d8027ed4967b0c4.jpg d94074292d8efb45c8dd425b09437611 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WXPL-FM, Fitchburg State University Subject The topic of the resource WXLP-FM 91.3 at Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA Description An account of the resource Collected artifacts and oral histories with alumni of the station. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Katherine Jewell Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data newspaper article Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "WXPL is an alternative station" newspaper clipping Subject The topic of the resource WXPL as alternative, contains photo of DJs Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Student Government Association, Student Newspaper. “The Strobe, Vol. XVI No. 5,” April 30, 2013. https://jstor.org/stable/community.36477067. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource November 1, 1989 https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/ad16491a4475d3bfc6e1ecddbdb24fb1.jpg a7551ba78ac0872bf70ba39fae44c6ef Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WXPL-FM, Fitchburg State University Subject The topic of the resource WXLP-FM 91.3 at Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA Description An account of the resource Collected artifacts and oral histories with alumni of the station. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Katherine Jewell Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data newspaper article Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "WXPL: Stepping into the Nineties" newspaper clipping Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Student Government Association, Student Newspaper. “The Strobe, Vol. XVI No. 1,” April 30, 2013. https://jstor.org/stable/community.36477206. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Strobe Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource February 14, 1990 https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/09128b967155c1b7038d63f92529452e.jpg 1da5b67db4adf69496e7f29f0c23f20e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WXPL-FM, Fitchburg State University Subject The topic of the resource WXLP-FM 91.3 at Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA Description An account of the resource Collected artifacts and oral histories with alumni of the station. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Katherine Jewell Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data newspaper article Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "WXPL: the wrap up" newspaper clipping Subject The topic of the resource end of spring semester 1990 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Student Government Association, Student Newspaper. “The Strobe, Vol. XVII No. 9,” April 30, 2013. https://jstor.org/stable/community.36477076. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource April 25, 1990 https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/1ab92a284d8b5be2a683d660564d2bf5.jpeg f438a4b32b3b14775fe6cd5bd7be9345 https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/e673af6845ca809df3f04c95767a9200.jpeg bf8785ad9c2f1e701eeb0273b9d99ddb https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/fc38a8ff0a13f98c9736f36c3b86056b.jpeg 9ccfd9be8026429992c3817f8828bd46 https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/ef8437ca528ee1ee239985c941106baf.jpeg eca390bb294c27ef7e38f1f050a53247 https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/204e81ec81195638e607663c0e78c1b7.jpeg 5ed6a1c15ecdce65481033f1886441db https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/68b9cdb123277643392b95d0e6e14771.jpeg ec0a8fa6f35d324155729232b97cbbd4 https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/735e200ea37f6a4733f9df1591d7aa30.jpeg 905636dead4851785b2a18e749001df5 https://www.wrvuhistory.org/files/original/909327e4fdb4c4a88a2026adc8ead9e8.jpeg 1e5fd6c018adf489a47120ffe3c6f236 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WXPL-FM, Fitchburg State University Subject The topic of the resource WXLP-FM 91.3 at Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA Description An account of the resource Collected artifacts and oral histories with alumni of the station. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Katherine Jewell Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource XPLosion Program Guide 1988 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available WXPL-FM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Mike Baronas