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St. Cloud State University
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Monday night rocks at SCSU
By Jay Corn
Published:
Thursday, October 2, 2003
Media Credit: Ching Fung
Superhopper performs in the KVSC studio as part of the Monday Night Live series. The radio station features the live performance of a different band on the program each week and is also broadcast on UTVS.
The St. Paul-based band Superhopper headlined KVSC and UTVS's Monday Night Live with a one-hour live studio performance. This is Superhopper's second recent appearance on Monday Night Live, last appearing on the program in the spring of 1999.
The band is currently gearing up for an extended tour in support of their upcoming album "Does This Sound Exciting Yet?"
Superhopper is the third band to perform on this year's show. The show will continue to welcome acts from around Minnesota for weekly live performances throughout the school year.
On the night of the performance, engineer Emily Mixdorf could be found in the control room.
According to several members of the KVSC staff, Mixdorf has played a vital role in the operation of KVSC during her time at SCSU. A radio broadcasting major, she plans on likely joining the Peace Corps after graduation, and would eventually like to return to radio, perhaps starting her own station molded after KVSC.
Superhopper's performance got her all riled up. At one point during the set, she jumped from her control room seat and screamed, "Let's mosh!" and proceeded to charge into the studio to lead a three-person mosh pit.
"I'm definitely excited tonight. Having Superhopper here is a good event for the station and for Monday Night Live," Mixdorf said. "Superhopper always has a good time on stage, and you can see they really enjoy what they do. It's also the only programming that we get to team up with UTVS on, and it's really cool because the production on both ends comes out very clean and professional," Mixdorf said.
Now in its twelfth year, Monday Night Live has stuck with the same mission statement since its inception: to promote and foster local artists to help them get a foothold in the music business-if they're deemed good enough, that is.
According to show coordinator Barry Braun, Monday Night Live has been a consistent outlet for the best local and Twin Cities bands, all of whom are more than happy to entertain the potential KVSC audience of two million people, plus be on T.V.
"The bands that appear on Monday Night Live are usually local acts that are trying to break into the industry and make a name for themselves, and most of the time are playing gigs in support of a new CD release or as part of a never-ending tour common among bands who aren't played on Clear Channel," Braun said.
Clear Channel is a corporate enterprise which owns over 1,200 stations in all 50 states. Clear Channel has recently moved into the Twin Cities area, dominating booking in several popular venues.
"It is the Microsoft of radio," Braun said. "The condition of mainstream music today is just terrible. It's corporately filled and processed for distribution to the masses, and it's honestly disgusting.
"The good music that bands do put out is passed over by stations for more 'sellable' music, and unless someone goes and buys the actual album, chances are you won't hear a band's best stuff listening to the radio."
Through Monday Night Live, Braun and his staff have taken steps toward breaking the mold of mainstream radio broadcasting, and have committed themselves to revamping the radio world at the local, state and national levels.
According to Braun, the network of college and "indie" radio stations across the country has started to reach the college-aged listener, and more than anything, they collectively want to get a simple message out.
Convincing Americans that there's more diverse and better music out there on the radio has become the mission of organizations such as Beyond Radio (www.beyondradio.com) and Alternative Radio (www.alternativeradio.com).
When choosing Monday Night Live guests, the team at KVSC looks at a two main components. First, almost always, artists are state or local natives, and in many cases are just starting out, or haven't had much radio air-time. The station focuses on fostering bands that show promise and commitment to the art of music. Second, Braun and his staff like to book acts that are either about to go on tour, are showing a lot of promise and generating talk among the local music community, or just starting out and really need a push that a station like KVSC can provide.
"On Monday Night Live we try to bring local bands in here that more than anything just need air play, and at the same time we've stayed within the musical vibes that KVSC as a whole wants to bring across," Braun said.
The KVSC studios are located in the basement of Stewart Hall and the station has a potential audience of two million people in the central Minnesota region. Broadcasting 16,500 watts out of their campus studio, KVSC continues to be an entirely student-run operation. Aside from the Station Manager and General Manager positions, members of the student body with an assortment of academic concentrations staff the station around the clock, year round.
Members of the general student body are enthusiastically encouraged by the station to come by the studio and put together an application and demo tape if they are interested in being an on-air DJ, or would like to be involved in other areas of radio.
For further information and for a detailed broadcast schedule, the station can be found online at
www.KVSC.org
.
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