Putting yourself on the air

Mt. Hood’s radio station, KMHD2, presents interested students valuable experience in the field of radio broadcasting.

“This program gives people so much opportunity in radio, it’s time-consuming. This is a full-time job,” said Diana Hrysiw, co-host of KMHD2’s sports segment, cal

led Sports Cave.

The station’s main focus is music, said Sports Cave host Ryan Pauli. Music played on KMHD2 comes from the College Music Journal, a magazine that compiles a weekly list of 200 top hits being played by independent and college radio stations around the nation, according to radio-media.com.

Most of the music on the college 200 playlists can be classified in the alternative or indie genres.

“Some (musicians) come local, from your area, and people put them on-air and they chart them, so they keep track of how well they’re doing and albums that do really well and do concerts obviously get more plays,” said Hrysiw about the college 200 playlists. “A lot of the time they’ll come to the radio stations for interviews.”

Music on KMHD2 is not limited to the alternative genre. The station also plays country, hip-hop, pop, rock, and most other styles, said Pauli.

The station operates on HD radio and is not a commercial station. “We can’t play commercials. We’re nonprofit, but we’re not public,” said Matt Hunt, the producer for Sports Cave. “(Most) everything is music, so, ideally, people are supposed to come in and do their breaks, as they call them, when the music stops down and you talk about the front sound of the set of songs [you] have played and are coming up.”

KMHD2 has brought in many artists before they became familiar to listeners of commercial pop radio, Hrysiw said. Contemporary icons like Imagine Dragons and Macklemore made appearances on KMHD2. “You’re in communication with their record rep and you just talk to them, and if they’re coming to town for a little concert at the Roseland, you just say, ‘Hey, can you get them in here for an interview?’ or sometimes we’ll go to the concert and do the interview there,” Hrysiw said.

“It’s very, very easy because these artists are so small that they want any type of promotion, even if it’s on a college radio station. So, they’re not gonna pull a diva card and be like, ‘Well, what are you gonna do for me?’ ” She said. “They’re asking us, ‘Will you do this for me?’ ”

KMHD2 broadcast focus is music. But the station also takes time every weekday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to deliver news headlines every 89 minutes, in brief segments called “89 updates” that last under a minute. KMHD2 also has three different talk shows: Ebony & Ivory, which airs Monday evenings from 6 to 8 p.m.; Underground Bazaar which airs Monday nights from 8 to 10 p.m.; and Sports Cave, which is on Wednesdays from 6 to 8 p.m.

The Sports Cave segment covers most prominent sports on the national scene and also high school sports and college sports, according to Hunt and Hrysiw.

Sports Cave personalities will broadcast every MHCC home baseball game, said Pauli, and are planning to also broadcast softball games as soon as they can set up accommodations for their equipment at that venue.

Being on a talk radio segment is no easy task, students say.

“You gotta have a personality where people want to actually tune in and listen to you,” said Pauli. “Just because you have a microphone doesn’t mean you can whisper. You still have to project your voice and know how to articulate and talk.

“Being able to do public speaking and translate your thoughts to where other people can understand them, I think helps (to) do radio,” he said. “You’ve got to paint the picture with your words on radio, whereas public speaking, you may have (visual  aids) and whatnot.”

Since KMHD2 is a nonpublic radio station, its radio personalities have more freedom to voice their opinions than those on most commercial radio outlets. “We could be more honest and opinionated. We’re not just a talking head,” Pauli said.

“When it comes to sports, I think that’s the best way to do it because, if you listen to the radio and you just hear the same opinions all day long, eventually you’re going to either stop listening, or just believe their way,” he said. He’d rather voice his own unique opinions rather than repeat and build off the popular opinion: “You’re going to lose your personality and your own thoughts on a topic.”

Broadcasting requires persistence, the radio students note.

“We only have classes two days a week, but we’re here nine, ten hours each of those days. While we don’t have a lot of homework, we have our 89 updates to do,” said Hunt. The updates air five days a week, and so students must sometimes create their content from off campus, he said. “There has to be dedication, and if there’s not the dedication you’ll fail.”

To access the station, tune in to 89.1 on HD radio, search for KMHD2 on the TuneIn app, or go online to KMHD2.org.