Songs and asides, where genres collide
Throughout my last four semesters at Tufts, I have tried on new clothes and flew through academic interests. I dabbled in some hobbies that stuck and others were not meant to be. Across all these transitions and changes, the one constant that pulled me forward was my love for music. And to this day, my love for these sweet jam spams transcend the four walls of my dorm room, for every week I get the chance to broadcast setlists live at the frequency of 91.5 megahertz. I get to spend my Sunday mornings swirling around in the cushiony chair of WMFO’s Studio A, and there is nowhere else I would rather be.
At WMFO, the Tufts student-run community freeform radio station, I sit behind a u-shaped desk with a powerful soundboard at my fingertips. Surrounded by a plethora of vinyl records (that flood into the meeting rooms across the hallway), I am constantly surprised by the infinite portals I can jump through to experience different genres and revisit past decades. But of all the cool things that are WMFO, however, my most beloved memories involve the ways I have interacted with the community to curate my shows.
One afternoon, when I was crossfading from Rooney to Metric, a long-term radio show host joined me from the conference room. Strangers turned into new friends, we spilled our excitement about the guitar solos that impacted us most (with air guitar demonstrations included) and talked about the value of borrowing elements of old music to complement the new. After reflecting on his past decade contributing to WMFO, he introduced to me artists I still kick my feet to on my way to lecture today.
Another night subbing for a colleague’s show, I invited my friends to join me in discussing everything and nothing in an eclectic mix of songs and asides, where genres collide. Commentary on why synth will never die was built upon with lists of ways that Cowboy Bebop themes are superior in all fronts of music composition. Songs varied from the R&B singles we were currently playing on loop to jazz classics we watched our favorites slow dance to. These serendipitous shows, with no clear direction unless in retrospect, are of my most beloved moments here at Tufts.
In each of my 482 Spotify playlists (as of October 2019), I see myself and my friends and strangers I’ve met and people I may never meet again. Music brings my days to life, and I am happy to bring my music to all who tune in and listen.