Nick Lorenzen Oral History
Dublin Core
Title
Nick Lorenzen Oral History
Description
Interview by Katherine Jewell with Nick Lorenzen, Class of 1992, about WXPL.
Summary
Nick Lorenzen, a former WXPL DJ, shares his journey from high school to Fitchburg State College and his involvement with WXPL. He discusses how the radio station shaped his friendships, musical taste, and career aspirations. Nick highlights the importance of WXPL in the local music scene and its impact on the community. He emphasizes the value of the station and encourages current students to treat it as a real station and explore diverse music. Nick also reflects on the skills and confidence he gained from his time at WXPL, which translated into his professional life in the broadcasting industry.
WXPL played a significant role in shaping Nick Lorenzen's friendships, musical taste, and career aspirations.
The radio station had a strong impact on the local music scene and connected with listeners who appreciated alternative music.
Nick emphasizes the importance of valuing and appreciating WXPL as a powerful resource for discovering new music.
His experiences at WXPL helped him develop skills in communication, technical operations, and being part of something bigger than himself.
Nick's time at WXPL influenced his career path in the broadcasting industry and instilled a passion for connecting with the public through media.
Summary
Nick Lorenzen, a former WXPL DJ, shares his journey from high school to Fitchburg State College and his involvement with WXPL. He discusses how the radio station shaped his friendships, musical taste, and career aspirations. Nick highlights the importance of WXPL in the local music scene and its impact on the community. He emphasizes the value of the station and encourages current students to treat it as a real station and explore diverse music. Nick also reflects on the skills and confidence he gained from his time at WXPL, which translated into his professional life in the broadcasting industry.
WXPL played a significant role in shaping Nick Lorenzen's friendships, musical taste, and career aspirations.
The radio station had a strong impact on the local music scene and connected with listeners who appreciated alternative music.
Nick emphasizes the importance of valuing and appreciating WXPL as a powerful resource for discovering new music.
His experiences at WXPL helped him develop skills in communication, technical operations, and being part of something bigger than himself.
Nick's time at WXPL influenced his career path in the broadcasting industry and instilled a passion for connecting with the public through media.
Creator
Katherine Jewell
Date
August 21, 2024
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Duration
30:24
Transcription
Kate Jewell (00:00.288)
uploads to the cloud. it'll so if there's any internet blips, it will keep recording, which is nice. It's like a squad caster kind of app. does video too. Anyways, so I am Katherine Jewel. I am recording on August 21st, 2024 from Belmont, Massachusetts.
And this is an interview as part of the WXPL archival project and could potentially be used as part of a podcast. And would you please introduce yourself?
Nick (00:35.054)
Yeah, hi, I'm Nick Lorenzen. I'm Fitchburg State class of 1992 and was a WXPL DJ. I currently live in the greater Boston area with my wife and son, two cats and a turtle, and I'm a communications consultant.
Kate Jewell (00:50.464)
Perfect. So could you tell me a little bit about how you got to Fitchburg State and then eventually to WXPL?
Nick (00:58.135)
Sure, when I was in high school, wanted to make movies. I wanted to be a filmmaker. And so I applied to Southern USC, Rutgers, Hofstra, and Fitchburg State. My father was an art professor at Fitchburg State College. And then my father informed me quite succinctly that because he was a professor at Fitchburg State College,
Even though I had gotten into all the schools, I was going to Fitchburg State College because it was tuition free. And when you're 17 and you, know, my creativity's been stifled, my options are limited. Like I was such a snot about it in hindsight to my dad. What a jerk. And then I got to Fitchburg State and you know, long story short about the experience, like the communications department is amazing. And I was lucky and blessed to
you know, be able to go to school and not graduate with debt, first of all. But then the summer before I started college, my brother got involved. was at the school too, and he got involved with WXPL. And so he said, for the first time, he thought in a while anyway, they were on the air that summer and they were looking for DJs. So loving music and being a big Alternna music fan of which they were very
few people I could talk to at Lemister High School in the 80s. I said yeah, and I went and got my license. At the time I was working at Strawberry's Records and Tapes, because that's what you did if you love music. You worked at the record store in the mall. And so I got to WXPL that summer, that's when I first met Craig Albano. And he showed me the ropes, and I was my first time on the air. I was nervous and loved it.
was horrible and said hi to this girl I wanted to make out with and didn't. All this stuff you're not supposed to do on radio. I acted like I was in my basement talking to my friends. And so I just got involved with, freshman year came around, I got part of the schedule, I actually had my own show, I think it was the only freshman to have my own show.
Kate Jewell (03:05.165)
you
Nick (03:24.874)
that year, but I think it was just because of the summer experience. And that's, I remember Mike Panagini had a show right after mine. And that's how got to know him. And little did I know like a couple of years later, I would kind of meet him again. And he's been my best friend ever since. But it was, it was great. You know, as a kid, a 17 year old starting college.
who likes the replacements and who's going to do a new order and echoing the bunny man and R .E and the clash and got there of course via the Springsteen, I call it the Springsteen U2 highway, you know, in the 80s. It kind of led me to the more than obscure stuff. Then obscure, now almost ubiquitous. yeah, so that's kind how I got involved with XPL. And I would come in and out for years, but...
Kate Jewell (04:05.109)
you
Nick (04:21.757)
Yeah, it was excellent. It great place to friends I still have to this day.
Kate Jewell (04:27.146)
So what kind of show did you develop while you were there? How did you look at the programming? How did you fit in with the programming? Sort of talk about the music a little bit.
Nick (04:35.08)
So the music was, my take, and this is where I met Mark Small. I saw him in the studio wearing a Dinosaur Jr. shirt, and I was like, again, it's freshman year, this might have been sophomore year at this point, and I didn't really know many people who knew who Dinosaur Jr. was in 1987, 88, and not only did he know him, he referred to Jay Maskus as Jay.
You know, meaning like there was an era of familiarity and I'd come to find out that Mark was in a punk band after high school called Cancer's Growth and he toured with like Black Flag and Fugazi and all kinds of people. So anyway, so I got to know him a little bit better and then we started doing a show. It was a little more...
of the stuff that I was really listening to, was, you know, the playlist was, you know, think about this is the late eighties, turn to the eighties to the nineties. So there was everything from like, positive and tribe, big local bands, to, you know, your REM, your happy Mondays, your stone roses, things that, I think still get referred to as college rock. And I was starting to get into more guitar driven,
Kate Jewell (05:56.512)
Mm
Nick (06:01.458)
you know, now I just call it like fuzz pop, you know what I mean? But like at the time it was so in Mark and I think nurtured that in each other. he definitely taught me about bands. didn't know, you know, like, so we started playing things like, well, we started playing Husker do, and we started playing, you know, mission of Burma, fugazi, dinosaur junior, Sonic use.
He'd introduced me to all kinds of bands, some of which I can't even remember. But we did kind of a little bit of one of the heavier shows that wasn't metal or like industrial. It still kind of like alternative pop -ish music, but it was a little heavier, you know? that's kind of like, that was my role in terms of what I played, in terms of how it fit into the tone of the station's music.
Kate Jewell (06:46.506)
you
Kate Jewell (06:59.178)
So what moments stand out either on or off air that really defined your experiences there?
Nick (07:07.044)
Well, I mean off air it's you know like through WXPL. Well first on air, I remember having a cold and Mike Panagini said, my god you sound just like Kevin Kinney with your cold. So it was first time I ever sang publicly. I went and did a song with Mike from Kevin Kinney's album on the air on someone else's show. I remember that. I remember
being like, people used to joke that I was the head of SNARK at the station. And my friend Mike Degras, whose nickname was Elbow, because everyone has to have friends with great college nicknames, right? And it was literally just doesn't make sense. He looked like Elroy Jetson. Someone called him Elroy. Then someone just called him Elbow. And next thing you know, for four years, he's Elbow. But he's particularly caustic if you weren't a good person.
Kate Jewell (07:51.443)
Yes.
Nick (08:06.5)
I like to say he used his powers for good. And so I remember one year during the quiz, one of the people, one of the, you know, the orientation for the station, the fall, first fall meeting, someone said, one of the questions was, what is your biggest fear? And not one, but two different people who we found out didn't know each other said, making a mistake while Nick and Elbow are in the
So I remember like that's when I kind of learned like I should probably just chill out a little bit that stuff And off the air I remember when the station hosted the mighty mighty boss tones who played and I Got up on stage and sang sweet emotion When they covered it and then cut to 2013
My friend Brian was working for the Jimmy Kimmel show when we went there, and this is when Dickie Barrett still worked there. Brian had reminded him about everything. so Dickie Barrett comes over to me and my wife and he said, hey, this a -hole ruined my concert at Fitchburg State 20 years ago. I hear he's your problem now. So like all kinds of memories. then like probably the biggest thing associated with it is
Kate Jewell (09:23.026)
you
Nick (09:30.261)
you know, twofold is one, junior year after I had like had a pretty tumultuous sophomore year, I had medical issues and had surgery. so junior year was kind of like almost like a reboot for me. And then I, you know, hooked up, I was still friends with Mark. And then he moved in with Chuck Ferreira and Mike Panagini into an apartment, a famous apartment where Craig Albano lived.
previously and used to throw parties for my station manager. And so I got to know them and they started playing music and I had a bass. They were all musicians and I had a bass. So we started forming a band in the basement and Chuck would, we'd kick Chuck out because he never came to practice because he was doing other stuff. But then we got to know
Kate Jewell (10:25.472)
I heard there was a girl involved.
Nick (10:26.964)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think girl's the wrong term. I think an older woman was involved. To be clear about it, but anyway, so we got to, I basically, there was a party in the basement and this other band Furious George played and I loved their drummer and I didn't know him, but those guys knew him. And so we asked him, Matt Debenham to be in our band.
And so next thing you know, we're in that band. We're in that band for like four or five years and we play real shows around Boston. We were on a bill with Green Day at one point in 1993. They never showed because of a blizzard, but that's how we got to know Ben Diley from the Lemonheads because they were on that pill. then, so made friends for life. Mike Panagini, who we nicknamed as Rock. Rock and I were co best men's and met and his wife, Casey St. Ange's.
wedding. Casey now does the busy Phillips podcast stuff. Fitchburg native, arguably the most famous person from Fitchburg state, that I know of anyway. but you know, it's just a close knit group of friends and we've stayed friends forever. And I mean, the Smalls, Mark Small and the Pantogenes and Chuck and me and Matt and Casey are on the West coast, but
Like we're all like family, you know, like we consider ourselves family. And in that extent, and then there's like outer rungs of that, you know, that extend and social media only reinforced that because it's got us back together. this is another example of, mean, when you mentioned you reached out to me and I was like, guess I only know like 40 people I could tell you about like, because who
Kate Jewell (12:19.121)
you
Nick (12:19.838)
We're still mostly in touch, you know, and beyond in touch. we're, like we live near each other and I don't think that's on accident, you know? So it's made the best friends in my life and really glad I didn't go to USC.
Kate Jewell (12:30.634)
you.
Kate Jewell (12:36.48)
I love that. I am too, because you have left quite the legacy for Fitchburg State. So how did being at the radio station and being in a band and doing all of these things fit with your academic work on campus? How did those two things go together or not?
Nick (12:41.479)
Hahaha
Nick (12:56.727)
no, they, they, they, they, they did. I was a, you know, a communications major. I majored in film at some point. I, I changed my, major to human services and then I, you know, it should be telling about my later work, but I just didn't, quite know what I wanted to do. And I wasn't quite like the, the gear head that I thought all the other film students were, you know? And so I ended up getting an internship. I found my own internship.
Kate Jewell (13:23.136)
Mm
Nick (13:27.004)
at a casting agency. So I worked on that side of it. I mean, I remember as you know, there's a 12 credit internship still right like for communications department that has to you have to do it in order to graduate unpaid. So I would get up on in the mornings and drive to Cambridge and park multiple
Kate Jewell (13:39.016)
Yep
Nick (13:54.555)
places illegally for the day, come back at least three nights a week practice with the band and then go back to home because I was still commuting living in Leamingster with my mom and my brother. so at that point things were kind of smooth because you know before the band and everything the radio station was not a problem.
fitting in with like even know film shoots and college film shoots and things like that. In fact, you know as you can imagine there's a decent amount of overlap between the TV and film majors and the radio station. So a lot of times you know you'd be like hey I can't make that because I have my show or I can't make my show can you do it because you know that project we all have to do for so -and -so professor for Gunther Hoos or George Borer like you know so it was it was pretty easy to balance I felt.
Kate Jewell (14:52.842)
How did you feel that the radio station fit in with the university culture writ large?
Nick (14:56.922)
You know in late 80s early 90s was a lot of I Mean I mean the new kids on the block were huge You know what I mean and not only were the new kids on the block huge, but their brother was DJ at XPL the Knights Dave Knight I remember and I think probably someone's told you this that you spoken with already that WXP is thanked on the back of hanging tough and I remember because their first
concert they were first played on WXBL because of Jordan and Jonathan's brother Dave and their first concert was at an underage dance club called Tracks America in Levenster which I used to go to in high school because you know I like dancing and girls but overall I think it's summed up it's so funny because I think you still looked at as weirdos because this is still like you know acid wash jeans and pegged pants and
And alternative music wasn't the music. It started to change a little at the end, like after Nirvana, REM and Jane's Addiction and things like that, and the Bostons. That started to change, but early on, we were just like, those are the weirdos. In high school, I was a pretty popular kid, and I hung out with popular people. In college, I...
Kate Jewell (16:04.725)
Yeah.
Nick (16:24.189)
absolutely was not and it was better. It was more honest, I think, with myself. I remember Mark and I, and granted, at this point in time, we weren't into Bauhaus or Susan the Banshees. We were into the replacements and firehose and flannel shirts and jeans. I remember, but I was still friends with lot of different kinds of people at the school.
Kate Jewell (16:49.418)
Mm -hmm.
Nick (16:54.111)
some guy I know who I liked who's in a fraternity invited us to a party, invited me to a party and I was like, I bring my buddy? Cause we were doing something else at night and he's like, yeah, sure. So we get there and I mean, we're literally just like t -shirts, jeans, you know? And it's the guy who invited me to his party and Mark and I are filling up beers at the keg and I hear someone say to another guy, hear someone,
Jarhead wearing a big backwards baseball cap like I am now Say to another guy with light blue jeans and white sneakers. Hey, how come the freaks drink for free? Like that and it's like like it's like it's not like I'm like I got my I don't even have a piercing at this point Like it's like so I think people thought of us still that way Except that we were
It was such a diverse group actually, you know, really ran the gamut. Andy Gobeel, who went on to be a newscaster, who started doing news there. I mean, he was amazing. Just, it was much more diverse than I think the college writ large thought, but I don't, I still think they thought we were like the weirdos. And we embraced it kinda.
Kate Jewell (18:11.73)
Mm -hmm.
Kate Jewell (18:15.136)
So how did the radio station intersect with the local music scene, the community, like looking outside of Fitchburg State? Do you have a sense of who your listeners were, how it fit in with the music business?
Nick (18:26.996)
We,
I mean, people doing the show, I had my regular listeners and you'd find out by these teenage kids would call and request stuff, know? And it was like, that's cool, you know? But I mean, some shows, like the Big O with Rat Show, I mean, my God, they were literally important in the metal industry if you got...
their endorsement. This little station in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, wore endorsements from the Big O Thrasho like a badge for people who were played on it or involved in it. you know, they helped put the station on the map. And I remember my freshman year, my brother and Craig Albano, actually, think, I mean, we had a station ID from Pete Townsend. You know what I mean?
who called us Pittsburgh State College first and then corrected himself. it was just like, think, Fitchburg and Leamingster didn't really have anything like that. So I knew an increasing amount of people who were listening by like the end of my tenure at Fitchburg State. I mean, in that time, that was the time when culture kind of changed anyway. You you went from, I mean, there was Seattle.
Wright and Lollapalooza and so and then Eastern Border, the first area skateboard shop opened in Fishburg and that was a big deal, you know? And so you get these little, you know, skate punk kids and stuff and a lot of them would listen and call our show and of course a lot of them would want to listen to the harder shows like Sonic Lobotomy or the Big O Thras show and stuff like that. But we had our sense of, you have a little bit of a connection in the community, but mostly still there was probably people on campus listening.
Nick (20:23.91)
But the real reach beyond this station was to putting us on the map as a station that played quality music and cared about good music and artists and certain shows, again, like Big O Thrasher really nurtured that.
Kate Jewell (20:43.498)
So for you personally, how, so you've talked about how it cemented these friendships and these relationships that have been perennial. How did the experiences that you had at the radio station skill wise, on air, off air, translated into other areas of your life professionally? Like, what did you, what do you find to be the legacies of that experience for you?
Nick (21:06.256)
It got me comfortable. My mom says I was always comfortable talking. She says I was born with VD, verbal diarrhea. she's like, but just like anyone, you get nervous and anxious about it at times. I think it made me confident. First of it made me confident that my choices, there's people out there who also.
enjoyed the same type of music I did. So that was huge. Validation, that's a huge validation when you're 18, 19 years old. Two, it helped me understand, you know, being responsible, like running a studio, you know, while it's on the air. Back then you were like queuing up the record, you know, like so it started in time. It wasn't hit a button, hit a button. was switch, hit, go, mute, you know, all that stuff.
So it that level, it actually helped me feel more confident in film class, because like I said, I wasn't a big gear head when I entered college. I wanted to be part of the more creative aspects of things, it made me feel more technically savvy. And it made me feel, it also made me realize that I wanted to, show business is the wrong word, but I wanted to do something that connects to the public, and I ended up.
working for The Late Show and then getting a job at CBS News. And that was a huge important part of that, I think. I don't think I would have known how much that kind of work meant to me from just film class alone. was really, I opened it be like, this is great. I'm talking and people are listening and I'm playing music and people like it and I'm doing stuff and I'm interacting with the public and we're doing.
PSA's that are important like it really just carved out a part of me that said like you should You should be broadcasting something
Kate Jewell (23:12.704)
So what kind of work were you doing at those shows? Like, I think a lot of times people miss the fact that it's not just about, you know, knowing how to use this piece of equipment. That it's this bigger kind of X factor that you get out of this experience.
Nick (23:21.909)
yeah, no it's...
Nick (23:26.828)
Yeah, no, it's the sense that you're part of something bigger than yourself too. mean, that was like the real first experience who was at XPL doing that. it's, you know, at the Late Show, I would temp at CBS News in the morning and go over to the Late Show for taping in the afternoon, and was in charge of, and that's when I would warm up the audience and break out all my, you know.
favorite Steve Martin jokes when people were heckling me. Like, I remember my first beer, you know, like, and stuff like that. You know, but like, you had the, and everyone there who was working there had that confidence, you know, and they got it from somewhere or else you weren't doing that. You weren't working that show. Cause, and then I remember I was working in the morning on April of 95 at 48 hours.
And that's when the federal building in Oklahoma City was blown up. And I spent the next three days chartering planes and booking flights and sending equipment and getting tickets for Dan Rather and things like that. And it was a real sense of, it was an elevation of that feeling from the radio station that you're part of something bigger than yourself, you know? And that kind of spurred me on to wanting that career.
I was at CBS News for five years and covered a lot of horrible things that happened in the 90s from Columbine to Flight 800 to the Unabomber to numerous school shootings beyond Columbine like Paducah, Kentucky and Arkansas and mean just, you know, grim stuff but it was the opportunity of a lifetime in many respects and it's still like probably the best job I ever had.
never would have ever happened, not only just experience -wise, recognizing what I wanted to do wise, but also just human connection -wise, if I hadn't worked at the radio station.
Kate Jewell (25:39.39)
that. That's amazing. So what do want people to know? Maybe current students, the university, the Fitchburg community, music fans. What do you want them to know about WXPL and your time there?
Nick (25:55.95)
well, it's almost two different things for me. It's like, you know, about my time there, it's like we were our, my generation did some important stuff that elevated the station's profile, not beyond Fitchburg, beyond even nationally in some weird aspects in some weird ways globally. and highlighted the importance and how a little station that could, could have a big impact on a lot of people.
in terms of what I hope people continue to, and I know there's far more interest in it now than there was say 20 years ago, I think anyway, from my view from the cheap seats anyway. It seems that way, that you have an amazing resource for this radio station and it can be such a powerful thing, but it's only gonna be as powerful as you make it and value it.
If you work there, you treat it like it's a real station. Don't treat it like I did my first day. You know, we're talking to your friends and be like, yeah, we're going over to Steve's later. know, like it'll be valued and appreciated as much as you give people a reason to value and appreciate it. And for people who aren't at the station, give it a chance. This is a time where music is more homogenized and corporate than...
even before the changes that happened when I was there. I saw a video, I forget where it was, there was someone was talking about bands that spent time at number one. And it was like in the 80s and the 90s, was like bands spent a band, not an artist or a duet or two solo people or whatever. Bands spent like over 140 and over 150 weeks at number one.
at some point during that decade. Since 2020, have been, I heard, three weeks where a band has been number one. And one of them was like a super group and one of them was like a temporary group. And so there was only one band. can't remember who it is and I don't know who they are if I remember it anyway. it's like, so at a time when that's what your options are, know, trust your colleagues and your peers and your
Nick (28:23.567)
your fellow students to like maybe turn you on to something great, you know, and you never know what's going to open your mind and lead you down avenues to find things that you think are cool or bring you enjoyment.
Kate Jewell (28:37.344)
There's a motorcycle going by outside.
Nick (28:40.198)
Someone's mowing their lawn here, you know, that's what happens.
Kate Jewell (28:43.968)
That's good. Stop picking it up. That's good. Yeah, there's like construction. That's ridiculous. All right. Any final thoughts? Stories that I've heard to you since.
Nick (28:53.262)
W -
WXPL is great. It's an important thing that people should really understand its place in the fabric of the history of the college and how this little station had a big impact on people who liked cool music at a time when they needed it.
Kate Jewell (29:18.72)
Fantastic. All right, Nick, thank you so much.
Nick (29:21.682)
Thank you and good luck with everything else. Let me know if you want to talk to anyone. Have you talked to Indiegobiel?
Kate Jewell (29:29.084)
no, not yet. I think we follow each other on Twitter. So I've been meaning to reach out to him that
Nick (29:34.746)
He'd be good, he'd be good, because that's a totally different perspective, but like he, he, he like was the first person I knew who did like a legit newscast in college, you know, and I was like, that's the nerdy news guy, and he's a freaking great dude, you know? And then there's people like Dan McDermott, I don't know if you talked to him, like he, he, I mean he did, he showed, like I said before, like it was more diverse than people at the station thought. I mean, Dan.
Kate Jewell (29:54.56)
Not yet.
Nick (30:03.171)
you know, play Dockin and Rat and his name was Denimal, you know, it was like almost antithetical to the rest of us, you know, it's like, and I thought he was such a dweeb in college and now he's like one of my good friends who I really, you know, like and he's just a music lover, you know, so anyway, thanks for the opportunity and good luck with everything. All right.
Kate Jewell (30:23.05)
Thank you. Thank you.
uploads to the cloud. it'll so if there's any internet blips, it will keep recording, which is nice. It's like a squad caster kind of app. does video too. Anyways, so I am Katherine Jewel. I am recording on August 21st, 2024 from Belmont, Massachusetts.
And this is an interview as part of the WXPL archival project and could potentially be used as part of a podcast. And would you please introduce yourself?
Nick (00:35.054)
Yeah, hi, I'm Nick Lorenzen. I'm Fitchburg State class of 1992 and was a WXPL DJ. I currently live in the greater Boston area with my wife and son, two cats and a turtle, and I'm a communications consultant.
Kate Jewell (00:50.464)
Perfect. So could you tell me a little bit about how you got to Fitchburg State and then eventually to WXPL?
Nick (00:58.135)
Sure, when I was in high school, wanted to make movies. I wanted to be a filmmaker. And so I applied to Southern USC, Rutgers, Hofstra, and Fitchburg State. My father was an art professor at Fitchburg State College. And then my father informed me quite succinctly that because he was a professor at Fitchburg State College,
Even though I had gotten into all the schools, I was going to Fitchburg State College because it was tuition free. And when you're 17 and you, know, my creativity's been stifled, my options are limited. Like I was such a snot about it in hindsight to my dad. What a jerk. And then I got to Fitchburg State and you know, long story short about the experience, like the communications department is amazing. And I was lucky and blessed to
you know, be able to go to school and not graduate with debt, first of all. But then the summer before I started college, my brother got involved. was at the school too, and he got involved with WXPL. And so he said, for the first time, he thought in a while anyway, they were on the air that summer and they were looking for DJs. So loving music and being a big Alternna music fan of which they were very
few people I could talk to at Lemister High School in the 80s. I said yeah, and I went and got my license. At the time I was working at Strawberry's Records and Tapes, because that's what you did if you love music. You worked at the record store in the mall. And so I got to WXPL that summer, that's when I first met Craig Albano. And he showed me the ropes, and I was my first time on the air. I was nervous and loved it.
was horrible and said hi to this girl I wanted to make out with and didn't. All this stuff you're not supposed to do on radio. I acted like I was in my basement talking to my friends. And so I just got involved with, freshman year came around, I got part of the schedule, I actually had my own show, I think it was the only freshman to have my own show.
Kate Jewell (03:05.165)
you
Nick (03:24.874)
that year, but I think it was just because of the summer experience. And that's, I remember Mike Panagini had a show right after mine. And that's how got to know him. And little did I know like a couple of years later, I would kind of meet him again. And he's been my best friend ever since. But it was, it was great. You know, as a kid, a 17 year old starting college.
who likes the replacements and who's going to do a new order and echoing the bunny man and R .E and the clash and got there of course via the Springsteen, I call it the Springsteen U2 highway, you know, in the 80s. It kind of led me to the more than obscure stuff. Then obscure, now almost ubiquitous. yeah, so that's kind how I got involved with XPL. And I would come in and out for years, but...
Kate Jewell (04:05.109)
you
Nick (04:21.757)
Yeah, it was excellent. It great place to friends I still have to this day.
Kate Jewell (04:27.146)
So what kind of show did you develop while you were there? How did you look at the programming? How did you fit in with the programming? Sort of talk about the music a little bit.
Nick (04:35.08)
So the music was, my take, and this is where I met Mark Small. I saw him in the studio wearing a Dinosaur Jr. shirt, and I was like, again, it's freshman year, this might have been sophomore year at this point, and I didn't really know many people who knew who Dinosaur Jr. was in 1987, 88, and not only did he know him, he referred to Jay Maskus as Jay.
You know, meaning like there was an era of familiarity and I'd come to find out that Mark was in a punk band after high school called Cancer's Growth and he toured with like Black Flag and Fugazi and all kinds of people. So anyway, so I got to know him a little bit better and then we started doing a show. It was a little more...
of the stuff that I was really listening to, was, you know, the playlist was, you know, think about this is the late eighties, turn to the eighties to the nineties. So there was everything from like, positive and tribe, big local bands, to, you know, your REM, your happy Mondays, your stone roses, things that, I think still get referred to as college rock. And I was starting to get into more guitar driven,
Kate Jewell (05:56.512)
Mm
Nick (06:01.458)
you know, now I just call it like fuzz pop, you know what I mean? But like at the time it was so in Mark and I think nurtured that in each other. he definitely taught me about bands. didn't know, you know, like, so we started playing things like, well, we started playing Husker do, and we started playing, you know, mission of Burma, fugazi, dinosaur junior, Sonic use.
He'd introduced me to all kinds of bands, some of which I can't even remember. But we did kind of a little bit of one of the heavier shows that wasn't metal or like industrial. It still kind of like alternative pop -ish music, but it was a little heavier, you know? that's kind of like, that was my role in terms of what I played, in terms of how it fit into the tone of the station's music.
Kate Jewell (06:46.506)
you
Kate Jewell (06:59.178)
So what moments stand out either on or off air that really defined your experiences there?
Nick (07:07.044)
Well, I mean off air it's you know like through WXPL. Well first on air, I remember having a cold and Mike Panagini said, my god you sound just like Kevin Kinney with your cold. So it was first time I ever sang publicly. I went and did a song with Mike from Kevin Kinney's album on the air on someone else's show. I remember that. I remember
being like, people used to joke that I was the head of SNARK at the station. And my friend Mike Degras, whose nickname was Elbow, because everyone has to have friends with great college nicknames, right? And it was literally just doesn't make sense. He looked like Elroy Jetson. Someone called him Elroy. Then someone just called him Elbow. And next thing you know, for four years, he's Elbow. But he's particularly caustic if you weren't a good person.
Kate Jewell (07:51.443)
Yes.
Nick (08:06.5)
I like to say he used his powers for good. And so I remember one year during the quiz, one of the people, one of the, you know, the orientation for the station, the fall, first fall meeting, someone said, one of the questions was, what is your biggest fear? And not one, but two different people who we found out didn't know each other said, making a mistake while Nick and Elbow are in the
So I remember like that's when I kind of learned like I should probably just chill out a little bit that stuff And off the air I remember when the station hosted the mighty mighty boss tones who played and I Got up on stage and sang sweet emotion When they covered it and then cut to 2013
My friend Brian was working for the Jimmy Kimmel show when we went there, and this is when Dickie Barrett still worked there. Brian had reminded him about everything. so Dickie Barrett comes over to me and my wife and he said, hey, this a -hole ruined my concert at Fitchburg State 20 years ago. I hear he's your problem now. So like all kinds of memories. then like probably the biggest thing associated with it is
Kate Jewell (09:23.026)
you
Nick (09:30.261)
you know, twofold is one, junior year after I had like had a pretty tumultuous sophomore year, I had medical issues and had surgery. so junior year was kind of like almost like a reboot for me. And then I, you know, hooked up, I was still friends with Mark. And then he moved in with Chuck Ferreira and Mike Panagini into an apartment, a famous apartment where Craig Albano lived.
previously and used to throw parties for my station manager. And so I got to know them and they started playing music and I had a bass. They were all musicians and I had a bass. So we started forming a band in the basement and Chuck would, we'd kick Chuck out because he never came to practice because he was doing other stuff. But then we got to know
Kate Jewell (10:25.472)
I heard there was a girl involved.
Nick (10:26.964)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think girl's the wrong term. I think an older woman was involved. To be clear about it, but anyway, so we got to, I basically, there was a party in the basement and this other band Furious George played and I loved their drummer and I didn't know him, but those guys knew him. And so we asked him, Matt Debenham to be in our band.
And so next thing you know, we're in that band. We're in that band for like four or five years and we play real shows around Boston. We were on a bill with Green Day at one point in 1993. They never showed because of a blizzard, but that's how we got to know Ben Diley from the Lemonheads because they were on that pill. then, so made friends for life. Mike Panagini, who we nicknamed as Rock. Rock and I were co best men's and met and his wife, Casey St. Ange's.
wedding. Casey now does the busy Phillips podcast stuff. Fitchburg native, arguably the most famous person from Fitchburg state, that I know of anyway. but you know, it's just a close knit group of friends and we've stayed friends forever. And I mean, the Smalls, Mark Small and the Pantogenes and Chuck and me and Matt and Casey are on the West coast, but
Like we're all like family, you know, like we consider ourselves family. And in that extent, and then there's like outer rungs of that, you know, that extend and social media only reinforced that because it's got us back together. this is another example of, mean, when you mentioned you reached out to me and I was like, guess I only know like 40 people I could tell you about like, because who
Kate Jewell (12:19.121)
you
Nick (12:19.838)
We're still mostly in touch, you know, and beyond in touch. we're, like we live near each other and I don't think that's on accident, you know? So it's made the best friends in my life and really glad I didn't go to USC.
Kate Jewell (12:30.634)
you.
Kate Jewell (12:36.48)
I love that. I am too, because you have left quite the legacy for Fitchburg State. So how did being at the radio station and being in a band and doing all of these things fit with your academic work on campus? How did those two things go together or not?
Nick (12:41.479)
Hahaha
Nick (12:56.727)
no, they, they, they, they, they did. I was a, you know, a communications major. I majored in film at some point. I, I changed my, major to human services and then I, you know, it should be telling about my later work, but I just didn't, quite know what I wanted to do. And I wasn't quite like the, the gear head that I thought all the other film students were, you know? And so I ended up getting an internship. I found my own internship.
Kate Jewell (13:23.136)
Mm
Nick (13:27.004)
at a casting agency. So I worked on that side of it. I mean, I remember as you know, there's a 12 credit internship still right like for communications department that has to you have to do it in order to graduate unpaid. So I would get up on in the mornings and drive to Cambridge and park multiple
Kate Jewell (13:39.016)
Yep
Nick (13:54.555)
places illegally for the day, come back at least three nights a week practice with the band and then go back to home because I was still commuting living in Leamingster with my mom and my brother. so at that point things were kind of smooth because you know before the band and everything the radio station was not a problem.
fitting in with like even know film shoots and college film shoots and things like that. In fact, you know as you can imagine there's a decent amount of overlap between the TV and film majors and the radio station. So a lot of times you know you'd be like hey I can't make that because I have my show or I can't make my show can you do it because you know that project we all have to do for so -and -so professor for Gunther Hoos or George Borer like you know so it was it was pretty easy to balance I felt.
Kate Jewell (14:52.842)
How did you feel that the radio station fit in with the university culture writ large?
Nick (14:56.922)
You know in late 80s early 90s was a lot of I Mean I mean the new kids on the block were huge You know what I mean and not only were the new kids on the block huge, but their brother was DJ at XPL the Knights Dave Knight I remember and I think probably someone's told you this that you spoken with already that WXP is thanked on the back of hanging tough and I remember because their first
concert they were first played on WXBL because of Jordan and Jonathan's brother Dave and their first concert was at an underage dance club called Tracks America in Levenster which I used to go to in high school because you know I like dancing and girls but overall I think it's summed up it's so funny because I think you still looked at as weirdos because this is still like you know acid wash jeans and pegged pants and
And alternative music wasn't the music. It started to change a little at the end, like after Nirvana, REM and Jane's Addiction and things like that, and the Bostons. That started to change, but early on, we were just like, those are the weirdos. In high school, I was a pretty popular kid, and I hung out with popular people. In college, I...
Kate Jewell (16:04.725)
Yeah.
Nick (16:24.189)
absolutely was not and it was better. It was more honest, I think, with myself. I remember Mark and I, and granted, at this point in time, we weren't into Bauhaus or Susan the Banshees. We were into the replacements and firehose and flannel shirts and jeans. I remember, but I was still friends with lot of different kinds of people at the school.
Kate Jewell (16:49.418)
Mm -hmm.
Nick (16:54.111)
some guy I know who I liked who's in a fraternity invited us to a party, invited me to a party and I was like, I bring my buddy? Cause we were doing something else at night and he's like, yeah, sure. So we get there and I mean, we're literally just like t -shirts, jeans, you know? And it's the guy who invited me to his party and Mark and I are filling up beers at the keg and I hear someone say to another guy, hear someone,
Jarhead wearing a big backwards baseball cap like I am now Say to another guy with light blue jeans and white sneakers. Hey, how come the freaks drink for free? Like that and it's like like it's like it's not like I'm like I got my I don't even have a piercing at this point Like it's like so I think people thought of us still that way Except that we were
It was such a diverse group actually, you know, really ran the gamut. Andy Gobeel, who went on to be a newscaster, who started doing news there. I mean, he was amazing. Just, it was much more diverse than I think the college writ large thought, but I don't, I still think they thought we were like the weirdos. And we embraced it kinda.
Kate Jewell (18:11.73)
Mm -hmm.
Kate Jewell (18:15.136)
So how did the radio station intersect with the local music scene, the community, like looking outside of Fitchburg State? Do you have a sense of who your listeners were, how it fit in with the music business?
Nick (18:26.996)
We,
I mean, people doing the show, I had my regular listeners and you'd find out by these teenage kids would call and request stuff, know? And it was like, that's cool, you know? But I mean, some shows, like the Big O with Rat Show, I mean, my God, they were literally important in the metal industry if you got...
their endorsement. This little station in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, wore endorsements from the Big O Thrasho like a badge for people who were played on it or involved in it. you know, they helped put the station on the map. And I remember my freshman year, my brother and Craig Albano, actually, think, I mean, we had a station ID from Pete Townsend. You know what I mean?
who called us Pittsburgh State College first and then corrected himself. it was just like, think, Fitchburg and Leamingster didn't really have anything like that. So I knew an increasing amount of people who were listening by like the end of my tenure at Fitchburg State. I mean, in that time, that was the time when culture kind of changed anyway. You you went from, I mean, there was Seattle.
Wright and Lollapalooza and so and then Eastern Border, the first area skateboard shop opened in Fishburg and that was a big deal, you know? And so you get these little, you know, skate punk kids and stuff and a lot of them would listen and call our show and of course a lot of them would want to listen to the harder shows like Sonic Lobotomy or the Big O Thras show and stuff like that. But we had our sense of, you have a little bit of a connection in the community, but mostly still there was probably people on campus listening.
Nick (20:23.91)
But the real reach beyond this station was to putting us on the map as a station that played quality music and cared about good music and artists and certain shows, again, like Big O Thrasher really nurtured that.
Kate Jewell (20:43.498)
So for you personally, how, so you've talked about how it cemented these friendships and these relationships that have been perennial. How did the experiences that you had at the radio station skill wise, on air, off air, translated into other areas of your life professionally? Like, what did you, what do you find to be the legacies of that experience for you?
Nick (21:06.256)
It got me comfortable. My mom says I was always comfortable talking. She says I was born with VD, verbal diarrhea. she's like, but just like anyone, you get nervous and anxious about it at times. I think it made me confident. First of it made me confident that my choices, there's people out there who also.
enjoyed the same type of music I did. So that was huge. Validation, that's a huge validation when you're 18, 19 years old. Two, it helped me understand, you know, being responsible, like running a studio, you know, while it's on the air. Back then you were like queuing up the record, you know, like so it started in time. It wasn't hit a button, hit a button. was switch, hit, go, mute, you know, all that stuff.
So it that level, it actually helped me feel more confident in film class, because like I said, I wasn't a big gear head when I entered college. I wanted to be part of the more creative aspects of things, it made me feel more technically savvy. And it made me feel, it also made me realize that I wanted to, show business is the wrong word, but I wanted to do something that connects to the public, and I ended up.
working for The Late Show and then getting a job at CBS News. And that was a huge important part of that, I think. I don't think I would have known how much that kind of work meant to me from just film class alone. was really, I opened it be like, this is great. I'm talking and people are listening and I'm playing music and people like it and I'm doing stuff and I'm interacting with the public and we're doing.
PSA's that are important like it really just carved out a part of me that said like you should You should be broadcasting something
Kate Jewell (23:12.704)
So what kind of work were you doing at those shows? Like, I think a lot of times people miss the fact that it's not just about, you know, knowing how to use this piece of equipment. That it's this bigger kind of X factor that you get out of this experience.
Nick (23:21.909)
yeah, no it's...
Nick (23:26.828)
Yeah, no, it's the sense that you're part of something bigger than yourself too. mean, that was like the real first experience who was at XPL doing that. it's, you know, at the Late Show, I would temp at CBS News in the morning and go over to the Late Show for taping in the afternoon, and was in charge of, and that's when I would warm up the audience and break out all my, you know.
favorite Steve Martin jokes when people were heckling me. Like, I remember my first beer, you know, like, and stuff like that. You know, but like, you had the, and everyone there who was working there had that confidence, you know, and they got it from somewhere or else you weren't doing that. You weren't working that show. Cause, and then I remember I was working in the morning on April of 95 at 48 hours.
And that's when the federal building in Oklahoma City was blown up. And I spent the next three days chartering planes and booking flights and sending equipment and getting tickets for Dan Rather and things like that. And it was a real sense of, it was an elevation of that feeling from the radio station that you're part of something bigger than yourself, you know? And that kind of spurred me on to wanting that career.
I was at CBS News for five years and covered a lot of horrible things that happened in the 90s from Columbine to Flight 800 to the Unabomber to numerous school shootings beyond Columbine like Paducah, Kentucky and Arkansas and mean just, you know, grim stuff but it was the opportunity of a lifetime in many respects and it's still like probably the best job I ever had.
never would have ever happened, not only just experience -wise, recognizing what I wanted to do wise, but also just human connection -wise, if I hadn't worked at the radio station.
Kate Jewell (25:39.39)
that. That's amazing. So what do want people to know? Maybe current students, the university, the Fitchburg community, music fans. What do you want them to know about WXPL and your time there?
Nick (25:55.95)
well, it's almost two different things for me. It's like, you know, about my time there, it's like we were our, my generation did some important stuff that elevated the station's profile, not beyond Fitchburg, beyond even nationally in some weird aspects in some weird ways globally. and highlighted the importance and how a little station that could, could have a big impact on a lot of people.
in terms of what I hope people continue to, and I know there's far more interest in it now than there was say 20 years ago, I think anyway, from my view from the cheap seats anyway. It seems that way, that you have an amazing resource for this radio station and it can be such a powerful thing, but it's only gonna be as powerful as you make it and value it.
If you work there, you treat it like it's a real station. Don't treat it like I did my first day. You know, we're talking to your friends and be like, yeah, we're going over to Steve's later. know, like it'll be valued and appreciated as much as you give people a reason to value and appreciate it. And for people who aren't at the station, give it a chance. This is a time where music is more homogenized and corporate than...
even before the changes that happened when I was there. I saw a video, I forget where it was, there was someone was talking about bands that spent time at number one. And it was like in the 80s and the 90s, was like bands spent a band, not an artist or a duet or two solo people or whatever. Bands spent like over 140 and over 150 weeks at number one.
at some point during that decade. Since 2020, have been, I heard, three weeks where a band has been number one. And one of them was like a super group and one of them was like a temporary group. And so there was only one band. can't remember who it is and I don't know who they are if I remember it anyway. it's like, so at a time when that's what your options are, know, trust your colleagues and your peers and your
Nick (28:23.567)
your fellow students to like maybe turn you on to something great, you know, and you never know what's going to open your mind and lead you down avenues to find things that you think are cool or bring you enjoyment.
Kate Jewell (28:37.344)
There's a motorcycle going by outside.
Nick (28:40.198)
Someone's mowing their lawn here, you know, that's what happens.
Kate Jewell (28:43.968)
That's good. Stop picking it up. That's good. Yeah, there's like construction. That's ridiculous. All right. Any final thoughts? Stories that I've heard to you since.
Nick (28:53.262)
W -
WXPL is great. It's an important thing that people should really understand its place in the fabric of the history of the college and how this little station had a big impact on people who liked cool music at a time when they needed it.
Kate Jewell (29:18.72)
Fantastic. All right, Nick, thank you so much.
Nick (29:21.682)
Thank you and good luck with everything else. Let me know if you want to talk to anyone. Have you talked to Indiegobiel?
Kate Jewell (29:29.084)
no, not yet. I think we follow each other on Twitter. So I've been meaning to reach out to him that
Nick (29:34.746)
He'd be good, he'd be good, because that's a totally different perspective, but like he, he, he like was the first person I knew who did like a legit newscast in college, you know, and I was like, that's the nerdy news guy, and he's a freaking great dude, you know? And then there's people like Dan McDermott, I don't know if you talked to him, like he, he, I mean he did, he showed, like I said before, like it was more diverse than people at the station thought. I mean, Dan.
Kate Jewell (29:54.56)
Not yet.
Nick (30:03.171)
you know, play Dockin and Rat and his name was Denimal, you know, it was like almost antithetical to the rest of us, you know, it's like, and I thought he was such a dweeb in college and now he's like one of my good friends who I really, you know, like and he's just a music lover, you know, so anyway, thanks for the opportunity and good luck with everything. All right.
Kate Jewell (30:23.05)
Thank you. Thank you.
Interviewer
Katherine Jewell
Interviewee
Nick Lorenzen
Location
online via riverside.fm
Time Summary
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
02:55 The Journey from High School to WXPL
06:01 WXPL's Impact on the Local Music Scene
12:20 Valuing and Appreciating WXPL
21:06 Skills and Confidence Gained from WXPL
25:55 WXPL's Influence on Nick's Broadcasting Career
00:00 Introduction and Background
02:55 The Journey from High School to WXPL
06:01 WXPL's Impact on the Local Music Scene
12:20 Valuing and Appreciating WXPL
21:06 Skills and Confidence Gained from WXPL
25:55 WXPL's Influence on Nick's Broadcasting Career
Files
Collection
Citation
Katherine Jewell, “Nick Lorenzen Oral History,” Crowd Noise, accessed June 24, 2025, https://www.wrvuhistory.org/items/show/142.
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