Its one of those hazy Los Angeles mornings on the Santa Monica College campus. The students trudge along looking disappointed like its not the weather they were promised.
There is no sign marking the stairwell that leads to one of L.As riches resources, rather walking down to the drafty basement that is home to KCRW is more reminiscent of going to change for gym class than visiting an institution whose hosts have taken on the comfort of family for public radio supporters all over L.A.
The offices are cramped like a commune and the employees seem genuinely happy to be there. Public funding brings freedom in programming and a democracy in eliminating shows the members dont sponsor. Morning Becomes Eclectic the self-explanatory music show is perhaps the darling of the station. Good press and devoted listeners have made the unique show a mainstay humming from car windows in an otherwise treacherous morning commute.
KCRW may be a hand to mouth institution but it refuses to be left behind The station is a firm believer in the power of the Internet especially when it comes to its music programs which are web cast everyday. The recent addition of streaming video--which in the last month has included, Coldplay, Pink Martini, and guest DJ Tom Hanks-- has put MBEat the forefront of radio shows featured on the Web.
Birmingham (UK) native Nic Harcourt has been music director and DJ of MBE since April of 1998. He keeps his audience hooked with an accent that accentuates his slippery, smooth voice and a taste in music that Spin.com calls, simply gorgeous. MBE is on the air. PJ Harvey is coming through the speakers lending a moody edge to the office. Harcourt is not in his studio anxiously awaiting the end of the song so that he doesnt miss the cue for the next, instead hes rifling through some files weaving quickly through the desks as if he were playing tag and trying not to get caught.
Harcourts quick navigation of the KCRW offices makes sense, hes a busy man with an important job. His approval of a new sound is always followed up with generous airplay, which can make the career of a new artist trying to get their music heard in a stale, over saturated market. His live guest on the show today, whose performance will be video streamed, is newcomer Erin McKeown. Her CD arrived in the mail Nic shrugs, I get about 200 CDs a week--which is a daunting thing to deal withbut I listen to them all. During McKeowns intimate live performance Harcourt reminds her that the show is being streamed. The tomboyish Erin responds, you should have told me, I would have worn a halter top.
Although McKeown is a new artist she seems comfortable in the studio. Shes not alone. Artists have a great affection for the place. The audience sponsored little basement studio has welcomed Moby, Travis, Yo Yo Ma, Patti Smith, Willie Nelson and countless others. The space has a haunted quality to it, one that McKeown, while sitting at the piano, couldnt help but comment on. God I just realized all of the people who have probably played this piano she whispered into the mike, it gives me chills.
Technological advancements in the studio have only recently become more streamlined. When KCRW went online in late 1995, they had a maximum of 200 users. Thats certainly changed since Harcourts been on board. Now that number is unlimited, and the KCRW site gets about 636,000 users daily according to the stations web master Jason Georges.
Still some Internet Buzz is too powerful to anticipate the outcome. We had Beck in here at the end of November Harcourt recalls, he came in here kind of last minute and somehow word got around that he was going to be on live and our website crashed because of so many hits. This is still such an ambiguous form, you cant put your finger on it and say, this is exactly whats happening. So one presumes that people in L.A. heard me say that Becks going to be in here and there was a buzz that went around through the web that drew people to the site, which is great. I love it, I love it when we crash the site.
Ruth Seymour the stations program director hopes the presence of streaming video, web cams, and special web programming will help collect new listeners as well making sure the devoted ones stay that way. Nic does a show thats only heard here on the web Ruth explains, and thats his National show Sounds Eclectic. Its a new baby it just got launched and 13 stations have already picked it up with more to join, but in this market its only heard on the web because its the child of MBEwhich is already on the air. In addition Webmaster Georges confides, We have plans to attempt to nurture more of a Web community by adding chats that will run during music programming.
Even in the midst of all of this progress and planning Harcourt claims that he doesnt think about the presence of a web audience or an in studio web cam that much yet. I mean its just so new to us, especially with the streaming video, that were not even really talking about it yet. He seems to take the same sort of approach when dealing with being on camera everyday--a new role for DJs--I pretend its not there its really the best thing to do so that youre not playing to the camera. Harcourt says laughing, But I mean, I do blow it a kiss every morning just in case someones watching.
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