KSUB turns up the volume this year

KSUB is Seattle University's own radio station, broadcasting the shows of student DJs every day across the world from the basement of Campion.

The people running KSUB are willing to bet that someone out there, however, doesn't know Seattle U has its own radio station.

The people running KSUB are doing their best to change that.

"I want everyone to know that KSUB even exists," said Andrew Harris, the new promotions director for KSUB. "We want to get KSUB out there and let everyone know we're here."

For Harris and General Manager Geoff Vincent, KSUB has gone too long without the recognition it, and the people that work to keep it running every week, deserve. In order to combat this, projects and a new promotions campaign are in the works to attract attention to the station and what it is doing.

In perhaps the most important step for the radio station, they can now broadcast on the air again. KSUB's radio broadcast was cut after the tower that broadcast it was rendered unusable during library construction.

Anyone on campus can now tune to 89.1 FM and hear what is being broadcast.

In addition to being on the radio, all shows are broadcast online, accessible to a worldwide audience.

"I'm excited about the transmitter being back up," said Vincent. "Even though the world is moving towards everything being online and accessible worldwide, that and traditional radio are not mutually exclusive."

In order to start publicizing not only the existence of KSUB, but the opportunities it offers to students, publicity for the station has amped up this year. Much of the attention is for the new "30 Artists, 30 Weeks" project, which will consist of a new band playing live in the KSUB lounge through fall quarter. The project came about after Harris initially wanted to sponsor three shows per quarter. After receiving lots of interest from bands, the project expanded to its current roster of 30.

"We realized that KSUB has virtually no place in the music scene on campus, and groups like SEAC and others have much more of a presence," Harris said. "We wanted to change that."

According to Harris, fall quarter is entirely booked and winter quarter is filling up quickly.

"We have some of the best local bands in Seattle for free," Harris said. "It's a really great thing to get together with bands that play for the love, get KSUB's name out there and give students this great event. It ends up working well for everyone."

DJs are being given a bit more freedom this year to create more unique programming. The new focus on programming coincides with a large fluctuation in DJ applications, which according to Harris, are so numerous that applications now outnumber show times to fill.

In addition to the focus on programming, the promotions team is looking forward to spring quarter and the Student Stage at Quadstock as another opportunity to expand awareness about the station. They would also like to see cooperation with local venues like Neumos and the Vera Project, as well as an increased online presence through a blog.

For everyone in charge, the strength of KSUB lies in the people that make it possible, the student DJs.

"KSUB is open to anybody and everybody," Vincent said. "It's an avenue for your voice to be heard and an opportunity to describe yourself by music and the issues you talk about."

Olivia may be reached at ojohnson@su-spectator.com