Tuesday, 4/29/97 Now Hear This… If you can… KLA is back in
tune, but most students can’t tune in
By Vanessa VanderZanden Daily Bruin Contributor It’s back. The
queen bee of college radio stations, the king of the media jungle,
the top cat of campus entertainment, KLA, has returned to overtake
Bruin airwaves. And, well, maybe a couple of people, somewhere, are
hopefully, turning on their radios? "I haven’t had any calls so
far," says gothic-clad DJ Dave Klein of his experimental show,
"Loud, Dark, and Evil." "I had one last week, but the guy called to
say I sucked," says fellow DJ, Chris Brennan of his punk show. "But
I figure people are listening," Klein throws in. "You have to have
faith," Brennan notes. "Exactly," Klein adds. So, after almost two
years of silence, 99.9 on the FM dial once again belts forth the
sounds of KLA. From the tiny back office of the newly renovated
Ackerman Grand Ballroom, the station let loose its first humble
squeaks just a few weeks ago. But, without a transmitter or cable
access, who can hear them? Nonetheless, the powers that be within
KLA strive to increase the station’s fan base. "With the
alternative format, we try to provide music that listeners are not
going to hear anywhere else," says station manager Jason Preston.
"We listen to the CDs that we get in and pick the most
radio-friendly songs on them. We decide what we think people are
really gonna like, though a lot of the time it’s stuff that maybe
we don’t like ourselves." In this way, most albums at KLA get
broken down into three categories, from high to low rotation. Once
the rotation albums have met with air time, most DJs find
themselves with 20 minutes of every hour to exercise full freedom
of selection. While listeners who are used to the complete liberty
of college DJs may feel 40 minutes of formatted music is too much,
it does have its advantages. "I feel it creates listenership,"
Preston explains. "If they hear one song a lot, when they hear it
again, they recognize it. If they don’t hear it again, they may not
want to listen." Formatted shows also familiarize DJs with the
strict rotation of commercial radio. "As KLA’s a stepping stone to
professional stations, we’re providing DJs with insight into how
it’s gonna be, while at the same time we’re giving them some
freedom," Preston says. DJs with the most freedom are those who
host the two-hour specialty shows. They are allowed complete
musical control, provided they stay within their genre. Listeners
usually tune in for the whole show and aren’t likely to change the
station because of one unfamiliar song. Sundays are the most
free-form. During these hours, free-style rap, hip hop, dance and
techno artists create their own music by spinning, scratching and
mixing records. "It seems there was just so much music out there on
campus that we weren’t addressing that it deserved a whole day at
least," Preston explains. "We have a lot of people on these shows
who are professional DJs. We try to give them a way to show what
they can do." In keeping with the main drive of the station, such a
process allows those individuals to fine-tune their skills. "My
senior year, out of about 15 to 20 that were on staff, at least 10
landed jobs in the music industry." Yet, Preston’s goal of
educating mainstream DJs for "the real world" of big-time airplay
involves playing unheard of tracks off of well-known albums as
well. Hoping to emulate the structure of KROQ, Preston’s technique
also includes discovering artists before other entities pick them
up. But with KLA’s limited transmission, all of the hard work and
innovations fall on deaf ears. Even with the purchase of a $5 cable
splitter, KLA can only be heard in the dorms. Yet, for the steep
price of $10 million, UCLA would be able to have a further reaching
radio unit. "Of course I can see the need for a good campus radio
station at UCLA, especially considering what a center for media the
area is," says professor of communication studies Tom Plate. "But
obviously, lots of groups on campus could make good use of $10
million as well. That’s why I think organizing a funding effort
through alumni involved in radio might be the best route to take.
I’m sure there’s a lot of professional radio people out there that
would be willing to support it." Until then, KLA must make due with
servicing only those dorm rooms with the proper wiring intact.
Sadly, even the larger portion of KLA crew members can’t hear the
station at home, while many DJs tape their own shows in order to
share it with friends in their Westwood apartments. Yet efforts are
being made to broaden KLA’s availability. "Before it was cool
because, well, nobody listened, but we were at least on a channel
on cable TV. And people in Westwood could hear us if they had
cable," DJ Klein recalls. "But, evidently we’re getting back on
cable soon … I used to get KLA when I was in the dorms." "Yeah,"
Brennan recalls," did you have those weird lamps by your closet? If
you plugged your radio in there you could get the best reception,
but you had to hold it at a certain degree." In an effort to side
step such archaic practices, Preston has asked for support from
on-campus establishments. But plenty of red tape must be cut
through before any official agreement can be reached, while Preston
and crew hope to be played eventually in such places as dorm
cafeterias. However, many don’t know whether such extensive access
to KLA would be appreciated. "As for Kerckhoff Coffeehouse, most
customers like to hear a full album of music," says Roy Champawat,
division manager of UCLA Restaurants. "They don’t want to hear the
DJs talk, especially when cafes tend to play the music a little
louder than other places." Even the forces behind the Cooperage
remain unsure as to the value of forming a KLA alliance. With five
TVs currently in the eatery and a jukebox on its way, the Coop may
prove too distracting a spot for radio enjoyment. However,
assistant manager Nellie Pereira recalls the bygone days of
Cooperage camaraderie with the tiny station. "Years ago we’d play
it in the stage area," Pereira remembers. "I think most people
liked it. We haven’t reached a decision yet as to whether we’ll
play it again, but I think people are pretty into watching their
sports." Outside of campus venues, Preston and staff have even
considered accumulating $15,000 for a KLA Web site. Here, listeners
worldwide would be able to receive the music for free by merely
clicking on the proper Web page. Yet their efforts, once again,
have failed to gain KLA any further broadcasting space, while even
most of the people in those areas which can receive KLA currently
don’t make the effort. "I don’t think people listen because I don’t
think it’s promoted enough," says productions crew member, Nada
Yazdi. "It’s too bad because staff works really hard and the shows
are interesting." Working usually up to four hours a week to help
make public service announcements and station ID clips, Yazdi
remains just one of the many lesser heard elements of KLA. However,
within this position, she proves no less important than other crew
members. Fellow productions volunteer, Greg Snyder, also provides
the grunt work for KLA, while he trains for a position as DJ. "You
sit in with a current DJ and they show you how to work the board
and do transitions," Snyder says. "It’s great, because I just
started this quarter, and I’ll be able to be a regular DJ by next
fall." Well organized and formatted, the small station’s efforts at
filling in the FM dial’s slot between independent and mainstream
varieties appears successful. Though a few students wouldn’t mind
hearing a crackling ’40s blues tune back to back with a ’50s
country yodel and an ’80s punk classic, most would agree that KLA’s
programming appeals to the bulk of UCLA students while
incorporating experimental tastes as well. Yet, sadly, many
students fail to see the point in obtaining access to the station’s
air space. As Dave Sand, a first-year physics student says, "Why
would you bother hooking up KLA when you can just listen to the
radio?" (above) Jason Preston (l.), KLA’s general manager and music
director with co-music director Giselle Fahimian at KLA offices.
(below) DJ David Klein hosts his own show, "Loud, Dark, and Evil"
on KLA. Photos by SHAWN LAKSMI/Daily Bruin Related Links: KLA
homepage