Radio 1190 rocks the airwaves

Great Lake Swimmers, Yo La Tengo and Gold Panda are just some of the favorites here. At KVCU Radio 1190, the less heard of eclectic and indie music, the better.

CU's student radio station started out as a donation from KCTL in Fort Collins in 1998 as KBCO AM. Students were polled and it was decided that instead of an NPR repeater station, CU wanted to join the ranks of the many college radio stations playing the best and latest independent music.

"We don't have much of a listener base from students," said Michael Odbert, a student DJ and web designer for Radio 1190.

He said students should check it out. "We don't play the pop stuff," he said. "We play a lot of music you wouldn't hear anywhere else."

General manager Mike Flanagan said he believes that Radio 1190 is in a tough spot because of the variety of music mediums.

"I think there's a lot of competition for what students are listening to these days," he said.

Still, Radio 1190 manages to be funded by their listeners through pledge drives in the fall and spring. Student fees help to pay the salaries of the 16 student managers, Flanagan said.

One student DJ, Sara Pearson, said students don't know what they're missing when they don't tune in.

"I don't think a lot of people know what we're all about here," she said. "They don't know that we're non-commercial, we have literally all of the latest independent music and we play a lot of really cool stuff that I think a lot of people would like."

Radio 1190 has 21,000 CDs and 10,000 vinyl records in its collection. They also have an artist come in about every eight or nine days to record live in the studio. They also sponsor and co-sponsor countless concerts in the Denver and Boulder areas.

"We did over 500 shows last year," Flanagan said. "So it's a big thing."

The station operates with about 200 volunteers, 15 DJs and 16 managers— all students. Flanagan said he thinks the experience is unique and valuable.

"It's a fabulous experience," he said. "It's one thing to sit in a room and play music. It's another thing to sit in a room and play music that one to 10,000 people may be listening to at any given time. So you've got to be on your game."

To become a student DJ, one must volunteer for 10 hours.

DJs spin seven days a week, playing indie to jazz to reggae. CU sports even has their time on the air, repeating football games on Saturday nights.