Erin Van Ness writes
In our final edition of What CHIRP Radio Means to Me, DJ Andy Weber describes why CHIRP is the highlight of his week.
So when people ask me about CHIRP I continually say outside of having two children and marrying my wife, DJing at CHIRP is the best thing I have ever done in my life! I might say that for effect, but essentially it is very true. I have radio in my blood. It is really all I have ever wanted to do. Ever since watching WKRP (those of a certain generation – look it up!) as an impressionable youth, all I have ever wanted to be was Dr. Johnny Fever!! After years in the professional ranks of radio in various capacities, I had given up that dream until one day back in 2008 I stumbled upon this thing called the Chicago Independent Radio Project while searching for something on Google. I was intrigued, so I became a voyeur and watched from afar for awhile. As things started to take shape I decided to jump in. Right from the beginning I was blown away at how dynamic and focused the group was at tackling such lofty goals. I was hooked!
CHIRP is infectious: it crawls into your heart, and it sets up shop. That is a testament to everyone involved. Now, as I frequently say on the air, Wednesday’s 9am-12noon are truly the best hours of my week! They will have to drag me out of that studio one day for me to give that up!
There’s More…
Erin Van Ness writes
In today’s installment of What CHIRP Radio Means to Me, donor Gray Joyce shares how CHIRP brought back his long lost love of radio.
I’ve only known about CHIRP for a year or so, following a friend volunteering her time there. I assumed this would be something I would check out, play the supporting friend, and lose interest in quickly. This thought was not a reflection of my friend but of my complete and utter distaste for radio. I was the in-the-know music-hound. If you heard about a new band, you probably heard if from me. So radio, which once was a nightly ritual for me as a brooding, angst-ridden teen of the 90s, had become the antithesis and good music — instead being a bastion of soulless, regurgitated pop songs and hours of advertisements.
Skip to my first listen of CHIRP and to my surprise they were playing songs I knew and loved. New and old. Within the first 2 hrs of listening, I was rocked by deep-cut Indie tracks that I had barely even discovered, then serenaded by B-sides from 70s funk legends and 60s Motown. It seemed CHIRP Radio had a direct line to the back of my brain, pulling tracks from every aspect of my life.
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Erin Van Ness writes
In today’s episode of What CHIRP Radio Means to Me, newbie volunteer Ben Gappa talks about the vital role CHIRP plays in the Chicago music scene.
I always thought of radio as an odd hobby to have. It seemed to be a bit of an anachronism, but one that I chose to embrace. I got started, like many radio folks have and will, at my college station. Our program kept getting bounced around through various iterations and timeslots until two years later, we graduated. This was probably a bigger shock to the part of me I’d invested in radio than it should’ve been. I found myself desperately clinging to NPR and any podcast I could get my ears on.
This continued for months until one day I found myself back in Chicago with an empty calendar. I had heard of CHIRP neigh on two years ago while helping a friend move, but it wasn’t until a cold January night when I realized CHIRP could fill the radio-void in my heart.
There’s More…
Erin Van Ness writes
In today’s installment of What CHIRP Radio Means to Me one of our volunteers explains why he loves CHIRP Radio.
I first heard about CHIRP from a friend in the fall of 2010. I love music and have always supported radio stations that feature bands that might never appear on any commercial radio playlist. Since I was looking for volunteer opportunities, CHIRP seemed like the perfect organization to get involved with. After attending a new volunteer orientation for the station in February 2011 and hearing Shawn Campbell talk passionately about her love of independent radio, I was hooked.
What do I love about CHIRP Radio? I love that a small group of passionate music and radio lovers saw the need for an independent radio station in Chicago and decided to build one from scratch. I love that the station is leading the national charge to get Low Power FM (LPFM) Radio Licenses approved in urban areas across the U.S. I love that I have met so many awesome volunteers that I would have never crossed paths with if not for CHIRP. I love that by volunteering with CHIRP I get to contribute to something much bigger than me. And, most of all, I love that we play for listeners a mix of great independent and underrepresented music that you really can’t find anywhere else on commercial or internet radio.
There’s More…
Erin Van Ness writes
In our next installment of What CHIRP Radio Means to Me, one of our sustaining members talks about what is missing in traditional radio these days and how CHIRP helps to fill that need.
10 years ago I traded in FM for an IPOD and 5 years ago fell in love with Pandora. I’ve Groovesharked, Spotified, and then this past summer was turned on to Turntable.fm. I don’t think I’ve hooked up an antenna on a stereo I’ve bought in that time. Over the years I would still turn on the radio (typically in a rental car), and keep hitting scan until I got past the Top 40 (and usually end up on NPR).
A cool girl turned me on to CHIRP at a coffee shop this past summer, and I’ve listened to it ever since. There’s something missing in music these days that CHIRP brings back, which is the human touch of radio with the benefits of technology. You constantly learn about new music wherever you are along with the people who make it (which is important these days). The best part is you hear about it from real people that think about music day in and day out, and they do it for free, because they love music just like you do. I donate to CHIRP because it, the people who run it, and the music they play are all badass.
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