Issue 7: Alex Kish of WFMU
Issue 7: Alex Kish of WFMU
Welcome to The Band Bible! I’m truly glad to have you here. If you’re a new reader, purpose of this newsletter is to address, break down, and shine a light on the business of being in a band. Each issue, we do this by interviewing (and celebrating!) someone who is making waves through their incredible work with or for independent artists. Learning the business of being in a band is something that is often inaccessible or shrouded in mystery, and it shouldn’t be, so I hope The Band Bible is able to play even a small role in helping to change that.
Think of any guitar band you know — big, small, new old, from your city, or from another continent altogether. If they’re good, then the odds are high that Alex Kish has already put them on the radio.
I first connected with Alex, who hosts shows Shake Some Action and Born Too Late on WFMU, over Dennis Cometti back in April (and if you don’t know who they are, you’ll want to change that). While that was our first time speaking, I had admired his work on his former show, Wassup Rocker, long prior. Alex is a fantastic tastemaker who has given airplay to emerging artists all around the globe, playing a role in helping international artists gain traction in the states. As we all know, having people out there who truly care about discovering and supporting fresh faces is key, and Alex does just that. It’s because of this that I knew he’d be a great interviewee, and as you’ll see below, he certainly was. Read on for Alex’s great answers, as well as for information regarding how and when to tune into his shows.
How did you first get into radio, and how did that ultimately lead to the creation of Born Too Late?
I started my radio journey doing college radio with a friend of mine at The University of Toledo station WXUT when I was a junior in high school. I later joined WBGU at Bowling Green State University when I went to college there. After completing college I went back to WXUT. I was never really a fan of the FCC and censorship so I was thrilled to find out about internet radio. I joined a station that was based in UK but ran by a guy in Los Angeles. I then joined 12 or so other stations sydicating my show each week. I felt like this was the way to expand my reach. It may have bit was very hard to gate due to the station owners and managers not being able to give actual listener numbers. I got frustrated with this and decided to evolve to joining just one strong over the air station that also had 3 internet streaming stations. My new home is WFMU. I hit my one year anniversary of my former show Wassup Rocker Radio that I had done for about 15 years. It’s on MixCloud and WFMU archives from the shows from the last year. I've also decided to do a second show called Shake Some Action that has taken over the time slots I had with Wassup Rocker Radio on Wednesdays 7-8pm ET on http://wfmu.org/sheena .
Wassup Rocker Radio changed to the name Born Too Late and went from being a weekly one hour program to a two hour program. It’s a podcast style interview show with music blocks related to the person being interviewed. It also gives the show more freedom than a podcast does, since it’s including music.
I also joined forces with my friends Josh Rutledge, who is a famous blog writer on fasterandlouderblog.blogspot.com, and my other friend Jay Castro, who did a blog and podcast called Audio Ammunition (audioammunition.com). I felt like combining forces with these two blog writers and podcast hosts would make our listeners base stronger and provide higher quality shows for them as well. Born Too Late is on Sundays 6-8pm ET on http://wfmu.org/sheena
Is there anything about the current radio landscape at large that you'd like to see change? If so, what would it be and why?
Current commercial radio is terrible and automated. Finding stations that are ran by actual people and DJs like WFMU is key. Support the smaller stations instead of commercial force-fed crap music stations. if you can set a watch to hearing the same Boston song every day at 11:30am, that’s a dead giveaway the station is automated and boring.
Do you have any advice for artists who are in the process of pitching their tracks to radio?
Keep it simple. send one or two MP3s or wavs AS ATTACHED LINKS TO DROPBOX or WeTransfer. DO NOT attach MP3s to an email and bog down inbox space for the people you're sending to. Don't lie to DJs; give honest comparisons for what your band sounds like. Also, research who it is you’re sending stuff to. Actually listen to the station or show you're sending to — don't just email blast blindly. It’s offensive to me when people send me a nu metal song of their band and say stuff like “I think we would fit great on your show.” It’s a dead giveaway this is a copy and paste email. Address the DJ directly by name in the email too. Make it personable. Add them on socials, but don't blast them with links as soon as they add you.
Similarly, what do you look for when reviewing submissions?
Good attention-grabbing songs that reel me in in the first 15 seconds. Send one or two (max) of your strongest singles, meaning 2.5 minutes or under.
Lastly, which "commandment" would you like to leave behind in The Band Bible?
Work on relationships with specific stations and shows. Don't shotgun blast your band to everyone waiting for stuff to stick. Ask DJs you become friends with for feedback. Get write-ups and reviews on blogs. And always remember use socials —don’t be that band who's "too cool" for social media. You are your best cheerleader. If you don't give a shit about what you're doing musically by not using social media, then why should someone else. Playing shows is also important too. Try to play cities around you and not just your hometown. Always be chatty and nice to new fans that you meet at shows. You never know who you're talking to. If you’re humble and not a dick it can go a long way!
A huge thank you to Alex for taking the time for the interview. Be sure to follow Born Too Late and Shake Some Action on Instagram to keep up with each show.
With happiness and hedonism,
Lindsay Teske