To a portion of the students at Purchase, WPSR, the student radio station is an underground thing that they do not participate in regularly. For others, it is a hobby, a weekly project they look forward to this Fall. But this will be a very different semester in one particular way. While live music has been closed down because of the pandemic, live radio hasn’t.
So WPSR will be open for in-person and remote shows – with slight modifications.
WPSR is a student radio station featuring shows created by students that is live streaming on the app “Mixlr”, an app that allows a “simple way to broadcast, share and listen to live audio.” With the shows being shared on a broadcasting live stream app it allows students to let their creativity run wild with the shows they create and produce.
“Because we are not on the air (over the public airwaves), we’re open to freedom of speech; whatever kids want to do, they can just do it,” said Alyn Heritage, this year’s WPSR Director. Their next goal? To become more professional and eventually work their way onto the public airwaves.
WPSR will be up and running this semester with slight adjustments to make the experience safer for students who are involved with the station. “We definitely are limited, we are opening remote shows to people who are not on campus or have had previous shows or people who are just new and want a show,” explained Heritage. The remote shows that are happening this semester will be able to have their sets prerecorded and sent to the Director to post for Live streaming on Mixlr. For those who are lucky enough to still participate with in-person shows, large changes have not been made other than only being allowed to have one representative in the booth per show. “A lot of people had their shows based on bringing guests or their friends into the studio space so I do feel bad for kids who can’t do that this year,” said Heritage. Although these changes may be difficult to adjust to it is necessary to keep individuals safe during this time, the station will also have a 30-minute cleaning break between each show to ensure proper sanitizing is happening.
Zoom Interview with Alyn Heritage, Director of WPSR (Screenshot by Shanelle Lopez)
Michael Acosta is an Arts Management Junior who is hosting his show “…in the studio,” this semester as an in-person show with WPSR. “…in the studio,” can be categorized more as a live stream of a studio session. Michael Acosta uses that time to work on some of his new ideas and perfect old ones. “I’m really excited. My dad told me something at the beginning of quarantine that stuck, which was, ‘There’s a saying in business: don’t let a good crisis go to waste.’ Take it as you will, but with the crisis, there is now a lot of room for opportunity to do a show during this type of semester,” said Acosta. He also shared that WPSR gives him access to legitimate recording equipment during a pandemic, and that is a blessing in his eyes.
“There’s this huge opportunity to turn this space into something bigger than what it is, especially, during an environment like this,” said Acosta. WPSR was such an important place for him when he interned, Acosta would wait all day for the last show to air on live stream so that he would be able to go in and use the equipment to work on some of his personal projects. “I would go in with my friends and cook up until five or six in the morning. There would be some nights where I would even sleep in there. So, it’s exciting to try and fully revive WPSR as a studio space.”
Some of the most popular shows featured on WPSR center around music. Whether that is a playlist made by the student, or actual musicians coming in to speak about their music to the show creator. “There was this really interesting show that played when I was monitoring each week the theme would change. So, it can be songs about childhood or loss, and the host would choose different songs that would go with that, and a lot of times it would have a connection to his childhood. You would be able to get this background into how these songs influenced him,” said Pipes Kupris, the Communications Coordinator and Treasurer of WPSR.
When asked which were her favorite Kupris immediately stated that the shows that held personal connections were the most interesting and the most fun to listen to, “The way you see people’s personalities through their show no matter what but I think that when you kind of base your show around your own personal experience that is how a lot of shows become the most popular ones on WPSR,” said Kupris.
The fall semester will be a difficult semester for all aspects of student life, “I mean everything being remote just from a bureaucratic standpoint is just pretty difficult. We all have life going on and outside of school, I think it’s just juggling that,” explained Kupris. Although everything is remote WPSR did receive a lot of inquiry in regard to remote show opportunities which sparked excitement through the headboard of the station.
Reassurance that WPSR is still available as an outlet for students was shared by the headboard. WPSR is one of the many ways to get involved on campus especially if you love music and want to share your interest in music, “You can put it on while you’re studying or even while you’re cooking, and you’re supporting the students and it is probably better than what is on the regular radio,” Kupris said laughing.
