As a DJ for WNUR, I am used to the negative criticism commonly heaped on Northwestern’s award-winning/audience-stupefying radio station. In an effort to clear the airwaves and find some real answers to common WNUR misconceptions, I recently talked to Weinberg senior and current program director Mark Bowden, who has contributed countless volunteer hours to the station on and off the air over the last four years, including a stint as general manager last year.
PLAY: What do you say to those who dismiss WNUR as “hippie radio” that plays weird music for burn-outs?
Mark Bowden: We are similar to the hippies in that we are an unstoppable youth movement that wants to take over the globe. The difference is that the hippies failed — we’re going to succeed. We may scare old people, but we aren’t going to move to communes and talk about the good old days. In fact, some hippies call in because they’ve had their mind blown by the music we play. They’re not used to hearing this crazy stuff anywhere, not even in their drugged-out minds.
PLAY: What about the accusation that everyone who works for WNUR is a stuck-up music snob?
MB: We’re not just a bunch of beret-wearing hipsters smoking cloves and laughing at the proletariat. I’m just a dude from a small town in Illinois. I wear normal clothes. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t elitists at the station, but one or two bad apples shouldn’t represent everyone.
PLAY: I know of a student who submitted an amateur all-spoon-playing album to the station and it got a couple spins. How do you justify some of the more difficult music WNUR plays?
MB: With some of the stuff we play people may think, “Fuck, I could scream into a microphone for a half hour and get on the radio.” Just because something isn’t a three minute pop songs doesn’t mean it’s not art. That’s a shockingly limited definition of art. I don’t mean to give free reign to everyone throwing around a box of rocks, but I believe that any sound has the potential to be great art whether it’s a song or a symphony of a noise piece.
PLAY: So, why should a student become involved with WNUR?
MB: A lot of kids come to NU and they may not like Electronic Light Orchestra as much as everyone else. These kids are adrift and they don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t want to join any lame clubs, they don’t love “the man,” and they don’t think a cappella is neat. They have an impulse beyond being a “yes man.” That’s who makes up the WNUR community. We’re kind of like a band of thieves.
PLAY: Like Robin Hood?
MB: Yes.
Medill senior and PLAY music columnist Ryan Dombal realizes the conflict of interest inherent in this interview, and he doesn’t care. Rock on, folks! He can be reached at [email protected].
