Jon Schober left home in Texas, traveled 900-plus miles north and enrolled at the University of Minnesota for just one reason: Radio K.
So it was "a glorious day" last January when the junior urban studies major became music director at the student-run station (104.5 FM, 100.7 FM, 106.5 FM, 770 AM and radiok.com).
His responsibilities include programming 14 hours of eclectic, independent music each day and booking bands for in-studio performances.
He also picks Radio K's priority artists, which now include Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Best Coast, Here We Go Magic, Tame Impala and Wolf Parade. He discovers many bands, like Phantogram, from the 50 to 75 albums arriving every week.
Schober gets paid for 20 hours a week but puts in 40 or more. He has an internship contributing to a local music blog and will resume his full class schedule in the fall.
Schober is from north Texas, the Dallas suburbs, an alternative music wasteland far from the sonic oasis of Austin. His introduction to independent music began in high school, discovering popular blogs like Stereogum and Pitchfork as well as college radio online. (He had played viola for eight years and still loves classical.)
His college search came down to schools with the coolest stations. The U of M won out because of Radio K and because it was more affordable than anything back home.
Schober immediately volunteered at the station. He completed DJ training, working a late-night shift for several months before getting on the regular schedule. He's on air now from 3 to 6 p.m. on Thursdays.
