February 16, 2011
The
Portland Observer Black HistOlV M o n th
Page 13
New Radio Station goes Full Signal
n by
<7 J I ake
A ■ ’ T I ■
■
homas
s '* A a a r - i
HI
In a constricted office lined w ith
cardboard boxes brim m ing w ith a
sundry assortm ent o f C D s, D enise
K ow alczyk hunkers over a computer.
She types at a keyboard very d elib ­
erately w hile clicking at a m ouse,
causing sporadic bursts o f sound
to blast from the speakers as she
carefully constructs a podcast o f a
live perform ance.
T h e sm all ro o m in the h eart
G resham is office, but w h a t’s been Denise Kowalczyk, director of
brew ing in this sm all space has been organizational advancement, for
h e r a ld e d a s a n e w fix tu r e in KZME puts together a podcast
in the MetroEast headquarters
P o rtlan d ’s m usic scene.
I t’s b e en a slo w ra m p up o f in Gresham.
fu n d ra isin g , re c ru itin g v o lu n te e rs
an d fo rm in g c o m m u n ity p a rtn e r­
sh ip s. B ut th e v isio n o f a h a n d fu l
o f re s id e n ts o f the P o rtla n d area
fo r K Z M E , a ra d io sta tio n that
d o e s n ’t ju s t re fle c t the c o m m u ­
n ity it b ro a d c a s ts to, b u t so u n d s
lik e it, m a d e a big leap fo rw a rd
w h en it b e g a n b ro a d c a s tin g on
la st m o n th on 107.1 FM .
H ailed as a w ay P ortlanders can
actually h ear the m usic their city has
becom e so fam ous for, the fledgling
radio station co u ld be poised to do Cliff Stanford, who DJs under
m ore. It could build bridges betw een the name DJ Klyph, hopes the
com m unities further to the east o f new non-commercial FM station
the W illam ette and central Portland, KZME will be a growing venue
w hile also giving a p latform to a rt­ to air local hip hop groups.
ists left out o f the spotlight in the broadcast local events, in a city
c ity ’s indie-saturated m usic scene. w here only sm atterings o f Portland ’ s
K Z M E is an uncom m on radio m usic scene could be heard on the
station, as are the circum stances radio.
that created it. In 2008, the Federal
Shortly after getting the license,
C om m unications C om m ission made M etroE ast also got a p erm it to build
a rare m ove by m aking noncom m er­
cial broadcasting licenses available
for n onprofit organizations on un­
used radio bandw idth. A handful o f
local co m m u n ity groups banded
tog eth er to successfully apply fo r a
license for an open spot on the dial
under the purview o f M etroE ast
C om m unity M edia - the cable p u b ­
lic access organization for the m etro
a re a ’s east side.
R o b B ra d in g , th e C E O fo r
M etroEast, described the FC C open­
ing as a “literally once in a lifetim e”
opportunity, and said that acq u ir­
ing the license fit squarely in his
o rg an izatio n ’s m ission to expand
public access on the airw aves. The
vision for K Z M E w as a “public
square,” said B rading, that w ould
be an inclusive and organic form o f
com m unity radio.
Like sim ilar stations in Seattle
and Salt L ake C ity, K Z M E w as con­
ceived as a radio station that w ould
play local m usic from local artists
and local record labels, and w ould
a tran sm itter on Mt. H ood for 91.1
FM w ith the help o f a $85,000 grant
from the N ational T eleco m m u n ica­
tions and Inform ation A dm inistra­
tion. A large do n o r stepped in to
m a k e a $ 5 0 ,0 0 0 d o n a tio n , an d
pledged an o th er $50,000 for b u ild ­
ing a studio in dow ntow n G resham
and o th e r c o sts a sso c iate d w ith
starting up the station. A bout the
sam e tim e, K Z M E also got a tran s­
lator for 107.1 FM so that it could
b etter reach inner Portland.
A buzz began to d evelop around
K ZM E. B ut the station repeatedly
pushed back its launch date, w hile
it grappled w ith the logistical p ro b ­
lem s o f getting on the air, prim arily,
the construction o f the studio and
transm itter, said K ow alczyk, the
statio n ’s directo r o f organizational
advancem ent.
“ R om e was not built in a day, nor
is a noncom m ercial radio station,”
she said.
W ith K Z M E finally taking the
airw aves, the statio n ’s personality
will begin taking shape. So far, KZM E the station w hile c o -h o stin g the
S tanford grew up listening to Run-
h as b e en c lo se ly c o u p le d w ith m usic show “T he U nd erg ro u n d ”
D M C , G ran d m aster Flash and other
“indie” m usic - a term K ow alczyk is on M etroEast.
pioneers o f hip hop. H e hopes to
still w rapping h er head around.
“ I think w e really w ant to try to use the station to bring the sounds
B ut th e re ’s m ore to P o rtlan d ’s bring to the airw aves and to the
o f local artists that share a sim ilar
m usic scene that w hite guys in m asses so m eth in g th a t’s not a l­
authentic, independent ethos that
skinny pants strum m ing guitars, and ready being brought to the m asses,
m arked the art fo rm ’s earlier days to
th e re ’s m ore to the P ortland area so th a t’s going to include people
listeners.
than the im agines typically conjured w ho a re n ’t on m ajor labels, people
“ H ip-hop w as a little bit different
up by the m ention o f the city ’ s name. w ho h a v en ’t gotten a lot o f the
from w hen I w as a kid, and I sort o f
C liff Stanford, also know n as DJ prom otion thus far,” said Stanford.
w ant to bring that piece b ack,” said
K ly p h , has b e en in v o lv e d w ith
A native o f N ew O rleans w ho Stanford, sipping on a bottled w ater
K Z M E early on after hearing about m ade Portland hom e 16 years ago,
at L ents C om m ons.
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SO I !
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