Wednesday Playlist Day (Off Air)

Not much to tell today.

Had to actually do some work other than music stuff, but managed to make some substitutions in the playlist to toughen it up a bit. Added more Canadian but in the rock genre, so hopefully the mix will be more evenly balanced.

It honestly feels kinda weird to be consciously changing things around to sound more like the show usually sounds. Wow, what's happening? Is there a cross over of two worlds or what?

However, there is always a bright side. I brought home a whack of CDs from the station (never do that) so that the sounds were fresh to me. The strange thing about CIUT is that there are tons of discs but no one ever uses them. In this corner at least, that is going to change, pronto.

Never a dull moment.

Have posted to blogger the playlist. Let's see how it plays out.

A Typical Tuesday (off air)

It used to be that when I was under stress, I just clock watched all night long. You know, woke every hour checking to make sure the alarm didn't crap out or the power hadn't been cut or something.

Last night, instead, I dreamt that I was doing a show and not only were the ads thrown all over the station out of their cases but I had no idea what I was supposed to be playing. The CDs were running at the same time as the prerecord ahead of me and then...DEAD AIR... and I was powerless, catatonic in fact, to do anything about it.

Woke up in a cold sweat. Later than usual, as a matter of fact.

I can only hope that when the specialists' appointments I am facing are over, things will go back to their usual mildly chaotic ways.

Mind you, I would rather have nightmares about monsters or falling than screwing up while on air.

There's no denying it, I am a programmer to the core.

New Direction?

Survived another weekend. Have to admit to not listening to the local music stations while commuting out of town to see my father. Somehow the sound of silence (OK, I don't drive a hybrid, I did have road and engine noise) was a better choice in some ways, but not so in others.

Was thinking the entire time about what changed with the show.

Now I know that sounds kinda of stupid, in fact typing this calls into question my sanity even as I say it. Yup, I am the one picking the music. As much as I blame the dog (also for foul odours, losing lottery numbers and a general messiness) she doesn't really have a lot to do with it. And for the last four years or whatever it is now, I seem to do this organically. So I decided when I got back from the trek to start looking at music for this week.

Weird. Another one with a lot of eerie, contemplative, almost spiritual stuff.

Is it because of the fall? Is it because of all the personal shit that is swirling around of late?

Might take another run at this tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'm burning this one. It really does reflect a deep seated connection to something. Maybe it's only for me.

Stay tuned.

Uh Oh (Off Air)

The day after a show airs is full of apprehension.

I sometimes question why I put myself through this every week.

Normally there is some sort of feedback in social media during the actual broadcast and thus an affirmation that the playlist is going over well. But when the Twitter and Radioflag feed is quiet....
Well, it's easy to think that perhaps the direction of the show was not what the audience thought it would be.

This week, for example, there was more experimental and electronic music in the mix. Not really sure how that happened but it did, that's the way an open format show rolls sometimes. If it stuck to strictly indie and rock, well, it wouldn't be open format any more. There was also a very large Canadian component. Not a liability normally but most of the artists were perhaps not familiar to a broader audience. In any case, my canary in the coal mine, a friend and faithful listener, noted that the show was different in it's over all feel. Translation: thud?

Add to that the fact that the previous show on air was kinda off the beaten track too. At one point I thought perhaps she had played Michael Buble. Not the usual fare for Catwoman (a rockabilly/garage/punk/Latin show) (Was there something in the air this week?)

Today will spend some time going over the playlist and see if I can figure out what changed. Also review and pull from a stack of CDs from the station proper.

I'm likely being overly sensitive.  Sometimes this gig is hard.

Game Day (On Air)

You would think after all this time, years in fact, the prospect of going on air would be like rolling off a log.

 Well, have never been know for my agility and in fact feel more like I'm about to do a face plant.

Remember the episode of WKRP when Johnny Fever suddenly realized a whole whack of people were listening to him? He choked. I have to fight that each and every week, that is after I stress that the CDs for the ads and station ID will play without too much dead air and without a hitch.

Of course once the first song from the playlist actually gets going, things seem to calm down a bit. And using the same intro patter also settles jangled nerves.

Gonna let you in on a little secret.

A lot of people who go into radio are actually very shy in person. Broadcasting allows those of us who have issues with that to communicate in a safe and protected way.

Just hope I never really figure out who is on the other end of the receiver.

The other concern is how long the milk has been in the station frig.

The Playlist Day (Off Air)

Well, it's Wednesday. And that means it's high time the playlist was chosen for this week's show.
Sure it seems kind of early to be doing this, but in the event of a family or other crisis, it's nice to know that the one thing I don't have to worry about is Ruby Slippers.

Having said that...

The problem with setting the playlist this early, posting it online, burning it to disc and reviewing those discs is that if something really great comes up between now and Friday, well, it may just have to wait another week. I realize this sounds inflexible and rather anal retentive, but it's a system that has worked for nearly 4 years and why mess with success.  It's crazy enough that just pulling 17 songs and rearranging them, replacing the ones that don't work, rearranging again, etc etc takes hours of time.

There are days that the use of vinyl exclusively seems so much more freeing. Who cares if you shuffle the albums while doing the show?

Sadly, volunteer organizations don't have therapists on staff. Perhaps I need one.

But for now, excuse me while I go back to pulling the playlist.

Observation (Off Air)

What's not to love about a track entitled "This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things?"

Or "We are Going To Hell...so Bring The Sunblock" ?

Who are you, "The Blackout"?

Clearly I have some previewing to do tonight