Being a disc jockey for WVAU is like a box of assorted chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get, and I mean this in a million ways.
Anyone who loves music has no reason not to visit WVAU.org and click on “Listen Live” right now — or at least until you finish reading this. It doesn’t matter if you listen to indie music (what is indie music anyway?), musicians with symbols in their names (like Ke$ha or 3OH!3), trance/downtempo, rap or even communist Latin music from the ‘60s. There is a show for you. For instance, if you like music with poppin’ beats AND female vocals (like La Roux, Uh Huh Her, The Gossip, Dragonette) you might like my show, “¡Conquistadoring with Claudia Nunez!” from midnight to 2 a.m. on Wednesdays.
If you haven’t heard of our college radio station before, WVAU is a student-run, online-streamed radio station that caters to the many different genres of music that students of American University listen to.
Each show is two hours long; some have themes, some give you advice in between songs and some just play awesome music. We even have DJs who play vinyl and mix their shows in real time. And if listeners are lucky, DJs sometimes bring in musicians for live sessions.
And anyone who wants to see the musical magic happen can come to MGC 256 and wave at the DJ awkwardly through the window!
Anything is possible when it comes to WVAU. Listeners never know what new music the DJ might introduce or what amazing bands are going to come to WVAU-sponsored Capitol Punishment shows in the Kay Spiritual Center. Open mic nights every month in Battelle play host to everyone from solo singer/songwriters to performers who will blow your face away with amazing covers of popular ‘90s R&B.
The lovely e-board of WVAU wants all us DJs to expand our knowledge of music, and so they give us musical candy. The library of WVAU is so vast that it includes everything from period music from the Smithsonian to Lady Sovereign to the entire Beatles discography (the re-mastered one, of course) to current Brit sensation Adele. Every week the rack of CDs in rotation (each DJ plays about 10 songs from the rack during their show) changes, and the music is always diverse and never lacks luster. So even if you hate female artists, and therefore wouldn’t listen to my themed show, you still have at least 10 tracks of new music from record labels that will be played.
I can say that being a DJ at WVAU has opened up my musical perspectives like no other.
Although this will only be my second semester DJing, I can tell you that it has been my favorite extracurricular activity since coming to AU (tied with writing for The Scene, of course). I’ve always considered myself well-rounded when it comes to music, but more often than not, if I stop by the station and listen to someone’s show I won’t recognize what my fellow DJs play on their shows. These songs are amazing, and I leave learning about another artist making awesome music. Everyone at the station always has a new album or band to rave about, or a story about the band they just saw play at the 9:30 club.
Let me put it this way: no one is forced to have a radio show. Each DJ has a show because he or she truly has a passion and love for music. More importantly, however, he or she wants to share this amazing music with you.
You can reach this columnist at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
