Meet Anna Rose. This semester at DIS Stockholm, she’s dedicated her Sundays to DJing her own radio program at Stockholm College Radio.
Before the semester even began, she mentioned her love for radio in an introductory letter to her Homestay. Little did she know, this would actually lead to creating her own radio program while living in Sweden. Hear more about her show in our interview with her:
DIS: How did you find out about Stockholm College Radio?
Anna Rose: My host dad actually found it! I had written in my introductory letter that I did radio, and he found the station for me. We researched it together, and he figured out how I should apply.
One of the things I missed most about my home university (Oberlin College) was the radio station, so I jumped on the opportunity to do radio in Stockholm.
DIS: How has your experience been so far?
AR: I love it! I get to go to a part of the city I’m not familiar with, meet new people who are all totally different from each other aside from their love of radio, broadcast to a whole new audience, and introduce people to the music I love. On the most basic level, I’ve gotten a radio show out of it, but I also have a new social circle composed of Swedish students and residents, and I’m really enjoying that.
DIS: What has it been like working alongside local students?
AR: I work with a combination of students and community members. I also get to hear the differences between universities here and back home.
DIS: Walk us through your program, from preparation to airtime.
AR: So my show is called Smörgåsbord, and it features Scandinavian, Russian, and German, rock, metal, and industrial. My preparation has two steps: research and playlist. For research, I find as much new music as I can. I use record label YouTube channels to find bands, I use metal and gothic music magazines, word of mouth, and promotional material. Once I have a good selection of bands, I do a write-up of each one denoting country, genre, and a brief description of their sound. Then I have a good database to work from.
Moving on to stage two, putting my actual show together. I decide if I want a theme block or not. Two weeks ago my theme was ‘Cowboys,’ so I used ‘Cowboy’ by Lindemann, ‘Ghostriders’ by Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, and ‘Lone Night Rider’ by The Vision Bleak.
I’ll also add music by new bands I like (from my database) and some tried and true favorites. I need to have about an hour and ten minutes of music ready to go each week.
For the actual show, I’m in the station. I have my computer hooked up to the switchboard. I give commentary (i.e. terrible jokes) to go with each song, as well as information about the bands, historical facts if relevant, etc. I play a few jingles to promote the radio station. It’s a great time.
DIS: Are there any challenges?
AR: There is still a bit of a language barrier between me and some of the other DJs. Also, being new to the station, I’m not familiar with all of the protocols and events. People are extremely kind and considerate, but I’m still confused a fair amount of the time.
DIS: Where can we tune in?
AR: You can listen to Stockholm College Radio on http://collegeradio.se/ (click 95.3), or by tuning in the old fashioned way to 95.3 FM if you’re in Sweden. There are lots of fantastic programs in English and Swedish, which are worth the listen! Mine is Sundays at 16:00!
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