I quickly became the King Missile/Morbid Angel "dude" and I am sure most every college DJ goes through this ritual. This DJ is currently on the graveyard shift, or as we called it, "the darkside." It runs from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. so you can only imagine the feeling, or lack of feeling, the DJ must endure to make it through a shift.
It is close to 4 a.m. and the shift nears its halfway point while the DJ fights off sleep. Those late night hours exposed me to some of the best and some of the worst music known to man. Four hours is quite a span that had to be filled so I constantly played tracks that I wasn't all too familiar with, which is precisely what makes college radio so innovative.
Bands like The Loud Family, BareNaked Ladies, The Nadas, Knapsack, L7, The Gits, Poster Children, Eleven and numerous other bands on the musical fringe as well as a lot of Mountain Dew (caffeine) is what makes college radio possible. When the clock finally strikes 4 a.m., marking the halfway point of the journey, a friendly voice requesting some long-forgotten track saves the DJ from his slumber and re-energizes his quest for new music.
It's 6 a.m. -- time to go home. The DJ arrives at 6:15, just as his roommate wakes, making sleep impossible and the effects of the show last throughout the day. But to the DJ it's worthwhile because to bring that next new sound to the audience is what it's all about.
So spin your dial all the way down to the bottom. You're sure to find a college station playing the next big sound even if it is four in the morning.
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