by Teagan Hughes
Staff Writer
art by Molly Chapin
[originally published October 2021]
WOBC programming for the fall semester began on Monday, October 25th. WOBC programming runs during all hours of the day, dishing out something for every ear, mood, and idea of good taste into the wee hours of the morning. So if you find yourself getting ready for bed at 11:59 p.m, don’t go to sleep yet! Tune into WOBC after midnight to explore new genres, learn new things, take a drive, or just chill. (As always, these shows, along with WOBC’s entire catalogue, are recorded and available on WOBC’s website for 48 hours following their initial broadcast!)
Late nights on WOBC offer plenty of ways to explore, reconsider, and redefine genre. Maddie Zapor, also known as DJ Neon, hosts metaLGBT, a show dedicated to “genres of music that people typically view as ‘noise’ or ‘incomprehensible.’” “All of the music on this show is performed by LGBTQ+ artists, because I'm hoping to help bridge the gap between what's seen as ‘ugly noise’ versus ‘deep and meaningful’!” says DJ Neon. “I think that just because it's loud and can be a bit crazy, it doesn't mean that there's not a story behind the lyrics, and I want to help express that!” metaLGBT runs on Saturdays at 12 a.m.
Immediately following metaLGBT is The Rusted Hammer, “a queer-hosted hour of grunge, rock and metal music ranging the mainstream and un, from the 90s through the 2010s!” Cecil Pulley hosts The Rusted Hammer on Saturdays at 1 a.m., and they say that they’re looking forward to getting to know more about the genres they’re working in: “I would still consider myself fairly new to the genre, so I'm looking forward to finding new artists and sharing them with my listeners!”
Also allowing for genre exploration is Molly Zucchet’s What is Groove?, a show that features “soulful tunes that highlight live instruments and expressive vocals created with modern, digital production techniques.” The show, which runs on Fridays at 1 a.m., is “primarily Neo-Soul oriented, but anything that has good feel fits the bill.”
Preceding What is Groove? on Fridays is Max Blatter’s Japanese Garage, a show dedicated to “collect[ing] different eras and subgenres of Japanese garage rock and indie rock of the past 50 years.” “I'm excited to be able to play music from a niche genre I'm really passionate about,” Blatter says, “and I appreciate that the late time slot allows me the freedom to play weird, out-there stuff.” Japanese Garage runs on Fridays at 12 a.m.
Lucas Ritchie-Shatz and Raghav Raj explore a new genre every week in their show Join the Dots (“named after a B-Side collection from The Cure”). In addition to playing music from that week’s chosen genre (post-bop jazz, Russian post-punk and early hip hop music are given as three possible examples), the two DJs explore the “sociopolitical and cultural origins” of each one. Join the Dots runs on Thursdays at 12 a.m.
Wednesdays at 1 a.m. will feature Ru Alonso’s Funky Fresh Beats for International Babes, a show that features international funk. “I first came up with the show when I found the band Paradis, a french duo whose album Recto Verso quickly became my new obsession,” says Alonso. “The french funk scene served as my jumping-off point and soon I had amassed playlists from all over; Italian, Canadian, and Arabian among others.”
WOBC also features a host of late-night talk shows, one of which is Ellen Efstathiou’s comic talk show An Idiot With Experts. On Tuesdays at 1 a.m., Efstathiou interviews people about “whatever they feel like they can talk about for an hour.” “I ask ridiculous questions, but in a way that tries to get an actually interesting answer,” says Efstathiou.
Late nights on WOBC also allow for introspection and relaxation. Ursula Hudak, also known as She Bear, hosts Goodnight to the Late Night Overthinker on Sundays at 1 a.m. “I first came up with the show during a late-night drive through Oberlin this summer when I was feeling lonely and couldn’t sleep,” She Bear says. “I was thinking that I wished there was a show I could switch on that would pull me into a well-needed cry and soothe me after; then I realized I could make one myself.” Her two-hour show is for “insomniacs, for all the people coming home from Saturday parties who need a quiet moment before bed, and for those who just need a cry and a kind word.”
Also providing a driving soundtrack is Greta Arbogast’s music to listen to while driving around in ohio, which runs on Tuesdays at 12 a.m. “I plan to use various genres of music, such as folk, alternative, rap, and R&B, to show listeners what Ohio feels like to me,” Arbogast says. Arbogast grew up in Ohio, and she says that her experience growing up here “makes me want to show more people the possibilities that Ohio has, and all of its unique offerings.”
Offering a late-night dose of nostalgia is Angsty 20teens, hosted on Mondays at 1 a.m. by Hazel Feldstein. “Angsty 20teens is an hour of classic ‘emo’ music from the 2010s,” Feldstein says. “MCR, Panic!, Fall Out Boy....All the hits from your middle school iPod.”
Late nights on WOBC run the gamut from rock to metal to talk to folk to hip hop, and everything in between. What’s for sure is that every night’s programming allows listeners to explore new genres and enjoy old ones, maybe even learning something new along the way.
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