Walking through the lower level of the Busch Student Center, one hears the sound of music wafting through the building from the KSLU studio. The studio is a staple in the BSC, albeit one that goes fairly unappreciated. For much of the Saint Louis University community, KSLU tends to be little more than the group providing the background soundtrack as they make a pit stop at the ATM, cut through the BSC to avoid the cold outside or sit and dine outside of Au Bon Pain. What many are unaware of is just how much KSLU does, and what goes into keeping things running smoothly for the group.
According to KSLU’s general manager, Kyle Sennish, “[the main reason] why KSLU is here is to give SLU students a music community.”
But how exactly does the organization go about providing that community? Of course, the broadcasts heard in the BSC, which can also be listened to 24/7 via KSLU’s website, are what first come to mind as what KSLU does. But that barely scratches the surface, according to Sennish.
One of the biggest things KSLU does is run its own production studio. The recording studio is located within the main KSLU studio.
“[Students are] welcome to come in and record for free,” Sennish said.
The studio is also open to non-SLU students, but for a fee. In addition to student recording sessions, members of KSLU also record live bands that come through town, bits that are played during on-air broadcasts, and interviews with comedians and artists. Their access to visiting musicians is helped by a close working relationship with one of the other music organizations on campus, The Billiken Club.
“It’s really beneficial, because when artists come to The Billiken Club it’s a lot easier to get interviews. We can tell them our studio is only about 50 feet away,” Sennish said.
The other main component of KSLU’s recording studio is to record shows for KDHX, a local community station that airs on HD Radio Channel 88.1. KDHX shows are broadcast from 7 to 10 p.m., Monday through Friday.
“This is a huge thing we’ve been working on that people don’t really know about,” Sennish said.
While the recording studio may still be a lesser-known aspect of KSLU, the Mobile DJ component isn’t, although you may not realize it. Any time you’ve seen various campus groups in the quad blasting music to get your attention, KSLU is the organization helping to make that happen.
According to Sennish, Mobile DJ is a hired service that brings DJ equipment to various locations on or off campus for student organizations.
In addition to providing for groups in the quad, or occasionally in the BSC, KSLU’s Mobile DJ also helps with different charity events, such as Relay for Life. Organizations that wish to use Mobile DJ just have to provide songs they wish to play, and KSLU will provide all the equipment to play the music.
Finally, KSLU is involved with Eleven magazine. Eleven is a collaborative music publication that aims to unite music lovers in St. Louis and draw attention to everything music-related in the St. Louis area.
So with all these different projects going on within KSLU, how do things stay running smoothly?
Sennish said that he oversees a large staff of 13 directors, all in charge of a specific area, each with genre-specific assistant directors.
One of the most important positions within KSLU is that of the music director. This person is in charge of going through all new music, reviewing it and deciding which new music gets played. The music director is also the one to make sure contact is maintained between KSLU and music promoters.
“We rely really heavily on relationships with these promoters,” Sennish said
It’s the music director’s job to make sure those relationships remain strong. The better KSLU’s relationship with music promoters, the more albums they receive from those promoters, which is good news for the SLU community. KSLU has an expansive music library, and students are welcome to come to the KSLU studio and rip CDs to their own music collections.
One of KSLU’s current projects is getting a more accessible website up and running.
“Since people have to go to our website to listen to us, we want it to have content so they stay on the site,” Sennish said.
With that, KSLU is hoping to add DJ blogs, frequent updates and possibly MP3 links to the site. They also hope to work with The Billiken Club to add clips and photos from shows that take place at The Billiken Club.
KSLU is currently looking for people interested in writing for the site’s blog, as well as for more shows to fill up the spring broadcast schedule. If interested, stop by the KSLU studio, or e-mail Kyle Sennish at [email protected].
KSLU’s website can be found at www.kslu.slu.edu.
