WHRB Concerts, Live on the FM Dial

There’s a new Friday night concert scene in town. There’s no cover, and no stuffy, dimly lit rooms. It’s all on the FM dial.

This week, Daniel Striped Tiger, a local rock band, will use Harvard Radio Broadcasting’s (WHRB) new studio equipment to inaugurate a new concert series.

Record Hospital, the rock-music department of WHRB 95.3 FM, is adding an in-studio performance program to its repertoire. Every Friday, between 10 p.m. and midnight, artists from around the northeastern United States will perform live, on air, in the station’s studio.

“It’s great for the whole station because it brings new, vibrant music that is innovative right at this moment,” says Shirley L. Hufstedler ’07, one of the program’s DJs. “It will add a whole new element, a whole new listenership.”

The in-studio project is one that has come a long way from its humble beginnings.

WHRB was already airing occasional in-studio performances prior to the new program. Then, a year and a half ago, Record Hospital invited Daniel Striped Tiger for an in-studio performance. However, the station lacked high-tech equipment, and the DJs felt that the product was below the station’s standards. In-studio recordings went on a break that will be broken this Friday.

“We had to hold back, because we were not satisfied with the attempted broadcast,” says Hufstedler. “We didn’t feel comfortable with [a broadcast] that was sloppy to listen to on the air.”

The station dug into its pockets, put on small-scale fundraiser shows, and scraped together the funds for proper studio performance equipment. Now, coming full circle, Daniel Striped Tiger will return to the studio for the performance the station had initially envisioned.

The line-up of in-studio performers has yet to be decided, but DJs say the music selection is likely to fit the department’s usual brand of underground rock.

“What we do is we play a lot of local artists who don’t get radio elsewhere and don’t really sell records at all,” says David A. Rios ’07, a DJ for Record Hospital, of the department’s choice in music. “I feel like we’re trying to build awareness through the air. That holds true for the whole station, not just Record Hospital and rock and roll.”

Record Hospital will pull the bulk of their studio performers from the network of bands and artists with which the station has previous relationships.

So far, the department has not looked into on-campus artists for its in-studio performances.

“Most of the Record Hospital audience is not on-campus. It’s kind of more a community project, even international,” says Hufstedler, but added that the station is ”going to do awareness on campus, if people are interested to get involved with the radio station.”

The department is also open to student artists, provided that they fit the style of Record Hospital. Musicians interested in performing should e-mail the station, Hufstedler says.

“We provide a space for experimental music, coming from DYI ideologies,” she says. “If they fall within our framework, that’s awesome. We’d be happy to get as many students as possible.”

Several of the station’s staff, including Record Hospital members, are involved in their own bands. There is the possibility that some of these bands will perform in-studio for the station.

“It’s kind of up in the air at this point,” Hufstedler says. “They’ll...go under the same process of scrutiny that any other band would.”

Beyond Record Hospital’s new concert series, the other branches of WHRB also plan to take advantage of the new broadcasting equipment.

“It’s going to be pretty great for the entire station,” says Alwa A. Cooper ’08, the director of The Darker Side, WHRB’s hip-hop department. Cooper is also a Crimson editor.

“The in-studio performances will be just one more way in which WHRB can spread musical diversity on campus,” says Steve Lin ’08, pianist and vocalist for the student rock band The Dharma Seals.

—Staff writer April B. Wang can be reached at abwang@fas.harvard.edu.