This is KXLU ... 88.9 FM, Los Angeles


In the heart of the L.A. broadcasting and entertainment capital is a small radio station with a powerful presence: KXLU — independent, trendsetting, committed to the music.

By Aaron Smith


It is a 50-year-old Los Angeles institution. A collective enterprise that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Los Angeles residents — and, increasingly, people around the world — make a point to “visit” weekly, if not daily. But it isn’t selling anything, and there’s nothing to see. In fact, it’s giving what it’s got for free.

It is the one and only KXLU, LMU’s student-run, commercial-free radio station. Powered by 3,000 watts from the fourth floor of Malone Student Center, KXLU’s signal covers about a 30-mile radius, depending on the weather. But its reach — its impact and influence — is infinitely greater, thanks to the passion and dedication of an always-
revolving roster of LMU students, alumni, faculty and community volunteers through the years.

“We’re one of the last bastions of free-form radio, where the DJs really are the artists and their musical choices are respected,” says Lydia Ammossow ’94, adviser to KXLU and sister AM station KLMU. “We’re playing music you’re not going to hear on commercial radio. We are a forum for those who don’t have one, and a resource for the campus community.”

Ammossow, who hosts a European lounge show Monday nights, guides six student directors who run the station and serves as a liaison to the university. The student roles include general managers for KLMU and KXLU, music director, program director, promotions director and production engineer.

For LMU students, the stations offer “a chance to get a taste of what it’s like to run a 24-hour business that never shuts down,” Ammossow says. Senior Daisy Buchanan is typical of how students get involved. As a freshman, she started on KLMU, the testing ground for aspiring disk jockeys. She got her own show on KXLU as a sophomore and was hired as promotions director before taking on her current responsibilities as general manager.

Buchanan and her fellow student directors receive a stipend for their time, which, in theory, compensates for about 12 to 16 hours a week. But one of the first lessons in radio is that time can be relative. More than once, Buchanan and program director Stephanie O’Toole, a senior, have had to get out of bed to cover for a DJ who hasn’t shown up. And during last year’s annual fundraiser week, Buchanan just set up a bed in the studio. That’s show business. But it also has its rewards.

“I have made so many connections in the business, and I have no doubt that I can get a job in the music industry in L.A.,” Buchanan says. “KXLU is a real radio station, and we compete against real radio stations.” Still, she’s thinking about a career in medicine — more sleepless nights.

In addition to offering one of Southern California’s best opportunities for students to gain practical experience in all aspects of radio broadcasting, KXLU has garnered accolades and a cult following from listeners. They appreciate the station’s mission to offer wildly diverse and alternative programming, spanning 25 (and counting) music genres as well as shows dedicated to film, theater, poetry and cultural affairs. It’s no small accomplishment.

“The universe is getting smaller in terms of radio stations playing anything other than what is being prescribed by consultants or national program directors, where you’re hearing the same song pop up every two hours,” says Gail Mitchell ’75, senior editor for R&B/ Hip-Hop at Billboard magazine. “People who are discerning fans of music are frustrated by regular radio. They want to hear new things. As the major labels scramble to figure it out and a lot of artists are let go, it’s imperative that stations like KXLU build a groundswell for new acts at the college level. The first thing you need is people who are really into the music, not people sitting in an office crunching numbers.”

Attracting — and keeping — that sort of person has never been a problem for KXLU. Take Stella Voce, who wandered into the KXLU studios as a 17-year-old freshman. She has been the DJ of the seminal punk show “Stray Pop” for 28 years — longer than most current LMU students have been alive. Along the way, she did shows during an earthquake and while breast-feeding her son. That’s commitment.

“I tell the students now, ‘Stella died for your sins.’ Oh, I got suspended for some music I played, but I knew to keep my nose clean elsewhere — maybe it’s my Catholic education,” Voce recalls. “It’s funny to creak back and forth in my rocking chair reminding them that we used to have to get up early to wait for certain tubes to warm up before you hit another row of buttons … and reel-to-reel tapes … and editing tape with a razor blade.”

But some things don’t change. “You put the needle down and play the song and people get something out of it,” Voce says. “Bless the Jesuits for leaving it up to the kids.”

Indeed, it is KXLU’s unwavering commitment to underrepresented artists and trends that has allowed it to survive in an entertainment nerve center crowded with mainstream outlets with massive resources. Evidently, there will always be an audience wholly unimpressed with Top 40 or “Entertainment Tonight.”

“I don’t care how famous the person is, I just want to know if they have a good story,” says DJ Mark Gordon ’93, who interviews directors, writers and producers on his show, “Center Stage.” “I’ve never been that interested in talking with big movie stars because everybody talks to them. There are bigger issues than Paris Hilton. I try to shed light on the social condition. I don’t think this show is something I could do on a commercial radio station.”

Mike Nardone ’89, host of hip-hop show “We Came From Beyond,” has seen both sides of the radio divide: “I was lucky and cursed because I worked at record labels and did a commercial show. I made money in the music industry, but I burnt out on the politics. Commercial radio is about advertisers and making sure the person in the car for the half-hour commute hears the two or three hits of the moment. KXLU is and always has been about the love of the music. We don’t need to eat from it, we don’t need to make money from it, we just love it. You know, on commercial radio, the phones were always ringing with people who weren’t even listening. For me, it’s not that wave of calls from 13-year-olds that matters, it’s an e-mail from someone who needs the playlist from the night before because they heard some incredible thing.”

And when enough people find that next incredible thing, thanks to KXLU, it’s time for KXLU to move on. “Once we help a band along, once they get signed and start getting commercial airplay, we’re done,” Ammossow says. “The day we stopped playing Beck was difficult for us and, from what I understand, for Beck, too, because we helped launch him. But he didn’t need us anymore, and we needed to be there for the next band.”


The Show Goes On … KXLU

Check Out These Shows On-air

With 75 regularly scheduled shows hosted by students, faculty, alumni and community members, LMU’s college radio station has something to appeal to every listener.

Whatever your “thing” is, you’re likely to hear it at KXLU (88.9 FM), which offers up just about every musical genre imaginable — from indie rock to opera, classical to hip-hop, metal to lounge, jazz to country, punk to blues — as well as film and book discussions and cultural and public affairs programming. Here are some of KXLU’s notable shows that have built loyal followings and garnered recognition over the years:

Stiff Little Fingers, X and Psychedelic Furs were all early in-studio guests of Stray Pop (Fridays, 11 p.m.), the on-air home of Stella Voce since 1980, where the punk ethic lives in a free-form show guided by a jovial irreverence.

Dan Buhler (aka Reverend Dan) started Music For Nimrods (Saturdays, 3 a.m.) — “a celebration of pure Rock ’n’ Roll in its many dissimilar styles” — in 2000. It won LA Weekly’s music award for best radio show in 2003.

In 2005, the same honor went to She Comes in Colours (Mondays, midnight), which takes listeners on a weekly trip through rare and obscure cuts of vintage psychedelic rock, methodically researched and played by Dr. Frederick Phases and The Minister Alvin X.

Like a great mix-tape every week, We Came From Beyond (Sundays, 11 p.m.) has been discovering and delivering underground hip-hop since the late ’80s, with Mike Nardone ’89 at the controls.

KXLU’s Alma Del Barrio show was the inspiration of Enrique Soto ’75 and Raul Villa ’75, who in 1973 began a one-hour bilingual show dedicated to Latin jazz, soul and salsa along with public service and education. They left phone lines open for requests, and 35 years later it is one of the most successful and longest-running Latin programs in the country, going 12 hours every Saturday and Sunday (6 a.m. to 6 p.m.), with a dozen staff members led by Eddie Lopez. The show includes the one-hour Brazilian Hour (Saturdays and Sundays, 9 a.m.).

Since 1992, Mark Gordon ’93, host of Center Stage (Tuesdays, 7 p.m.), has explored the world of film, theater, books and culture, featuring interviews with actors, writers, producers, composers and directors, from Sting to Ben Kingsley to Howard Zinn, who are given the time to offer more than sound-bite thoughts.

For giving him airplay before he was known, Dwight Yoakam is known to have said he was eternally indebted to Toe Tappin’ Music (Saturdays, 9 p.m.). Guests of the show’s host, Cowboy Nick, have included Willie Nelson, Buck Owens and Kris Kristofferson.

The Molotov Cocktail Hour (Tuesdays, 11 p.m.) blends international flavors like “smoky Latin jazz, German sci-fi and Italian soft-core soundtracks, French pop, ’60s Jamaican soul, Tandoori” into a musical libation known as lounge and served on KXLU since the late ’80s by the DJ duo Cyrano (Steve Ratter ’90) & Senor Amor (Marc Gordon ’90).

Full-length operas from every period and style are played on Monday Night at the Opera (Mondays, 8 p.m.) by LMU faculty member Katharine Free.

Alien Air Music (Sundays, 9 p.m.), hosted by Patrick is dedicated to the exposure of upbeat electronic music that receives no airplay or acknowledgement from the U.S. media, including techno and ambient.
African and Cuban dance sounds fill the airwaves on Groove Time, with Big Red (Saturdays, 6 p.m.). Sam Mangwana, Soukous Stars, Michael Babatunde Olatunji and Angelique Kidjo have all graced the studio. Host Big Red calls it “hot music from sunny places.”

Passengers on The Jazz Journey (Wednesdays, 6 p.m.) include giants Coltrane, Fitzgerald, Ellington, Holiday, Miles and Monk, and in-studio guests such as Charlie Haden and Ginny and Monica Mancini. The end goal is always the same, according to host and LMU administrator/faculty member Eddie Becton: “to vibe together.”

As the name suggests, She Rocks!!! (Mondays, 11 p.m.)
focuses on female artists exploring electronica, folk, blues and “riot grrl.” The show, started in 2002, is co-hosted by former KXLU General Manager Melissa McAllister ’02, Yoli Ramazzina ’02 and Bianca Bracho.

Melodies in any language is the mission of Melody Fair (Saturdays, midnight), hosted by Michelle K., with an emphasis on French, Brazilian, Scandinavian, German, Italian and U.K. artists.

“In the name of love,” Southland MC Junor Francis has spun reggae grooves on a number of stations. He has done The Reggae Show (Fridays, 10 p.m.) for several years.


Aaron Smith is a Los Angeles-based writer. His “Up in the Air” appeared in Vistas (Spring 2008).