Into the Airwaves

Friday night was a night of many firsts. The first time I paid $5 for a drink the size of those cups you use to give children cough medicine. The first time I participated in (and lost) a 40 oz Colt 45 chugging contest with a grown man. And (for something non-alcohol related) The first time I heard myself on the radio.

Remember that scene in the awesome movie That Thing You Do where they run around the appliance store turning on every radio, dancing with cardboard cutouts, and jumping up and down ecstatic? Well, this wasn't quite like that, but it was still, to put it in the classiest of terms, pretty fucking sweet.

We knew that we had been on some (meaning two) radio stations in the Albany area. We premiered on the EQX-Posure show on WEQX 102.7 two weeks ago, but nobody in the band had the chance to actually hear it. They played the song Raccoon (With a Sword-Paw) and will play it for two more weeks (including this one) before moving it into regular EQX-Posure rotation.

The other radio station we have been played on is a new public radio station, owned by the WMHT television station. 97.7 WEXT is a listener-supported station, and after a friend of Justin's heard us on May 12th, Dylan started banging on the window of Mitch's car as we were pulling away from Franklin's Tower to head to Savannah's Friday night. Mitch put his index finger to the test hitting that little radio button to get us to 97.7, and we were on the radio (static and pop-station interference and all).

While WEQX opted for Raccoon, WEXT have been playing Nunatek. Our total number of plays is only 2 (4 overall if you include WEQX), but it's still a unique experience to hear us coming through the speakers of Mitch's awesome car stereo system. I realize I'm probably supposed to play it cool, acting like it was no big deal, but my skills in 'playing-it-cool' never developed while i was in the womb, so I can't help but dork out over everything (I also saved the issue of Metroland that had our first show listed under the Valentine's ad).

And anyway, local public radio is the shit. I stopped listening to the radio almost entirely about 4 years ago, because in my hometown of Saginaw, Michigan there were no college stations and the public stations were all talk radio. Seeing as how I would rather punch myself in the face than listen to commercial radio, the second I got an iPod for my 17th birthday (and a car tape deck adapter) I left radio behind.

WEQX was the first interaction I had with independent radio that didn't use the phrases "lords work" or "liberal conspiracy". I had started to tire of the music I had been listening to on repeat for two years and wanted to find more than just what my friends were sending me and what I found by accident on the internet. Summer after my freshman year (back when I still had a car) I would listen to WEQX all the time (I even won a CD once).

WEXT looks like a really promising station. I'm listening to the mp3 stream right now, and have looked up the playlists (while searching for Sea of Trees, of course). Death Cab for Cutie, MGMT, Cake, Rilo Kiley, Cat Power, Otis Redding, Wilco, Rufus Wainwright, Jackson Browne (!), Ryan Adams, Josh Ritter (!!), Dashboard Confessional (lolz), Augustana, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Shins, Rogue Wave, and Jason Mraz were all played on the same day we were. They also play a lot of local music (they pledge to play at least one local musician every hour every day) and older, classic songs as well (like Ray Charles - You Don't Know Me). Some good (and hilarious) company.

EQX-Posure
Sunday nights, 7 - 8 PM
102.7 FM

EXIT 97.7 (WEXT)
Request songs, listen online, support the station, etc.

Part II of 5 Local Bands I am Super Pscyhed/Would Love to Share a Bill With is coming soon