Pole Position (#1)

Muscles – “One Inch Badge Pin” – “Last night I met a girl who said she has connections in the Melbourne independent music community.” Muscles is a 22-year old one man wrecking machine from Melbourne Australia who is supposedly close to signing with Modular recordings. (home to releases from Van She, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Presets, Ben Lee, Wolfmother, MSTRKRFT, Chromeo & New Young Pony Club). Look for his 11 track full-length to impact somewhere sometime soon. M is currently on a few dates with Architecture In Helsinki & Soft Tigers. Go to Muscles’ myspace page here for more details or go to Big Stereo (we live there). Click here to hear single “One Inch Badge Pin.”

Bill Spry

hhA!: What is your background in radio/entertainment?

FM: “First, my father was a disc jockey for about six years in Cincinnati and Houston, TX so from a very young age I've had what he calls the "radio bug".  I went to school briefly for electronic media and also worked odd jobs running specialty shows on a pirate station and Christian station, neither of which really suited my tastes.  I've also done audio production for quite a few local groups and make short films & music videos from time to time.”

hhA!: What is the history of Future ClassX?

FM: “For decades Cincinnati had a hidden treasure on the radio dial by the name of 97X.  It was world-renowned for it's refreshing indie rock sound.  When they went internet-only a few years back the local scene was left with nothing to listen to, so when I heard about an opening for disc jocks at the new ClassX I decided it was the perfect chance to bring indie rock back to the Cincinnati airwaves.  So far the response has been great.  We've been on the air since September 2006. As of late, our show's been getting more opportunities to work with bands.  In January we started doing monthly in-studio performances.  So far it's been only local bands, but we've recently added a few national bands to the schedule.  Lovedrug is supposed to stop by in a couple of weeks, and Pretty Activity recording artists The Subjects and The End of the World are both set to stop by in August.  With increased label contacts we've also been able to start doing regular giveaways by major label artists.  This has also helped to increase the public's reception and participation.”

hhA!: Do you have other duties at the station? Do you work outside of radio as well?

FM: “I always tend to have my plate full.  I currently work at the station on a volunteer basis.  It typically works out to about 15-20 hours per week, including the show itself.  To pay my bills I currently have two part-time jobs, at the Apple Store and Dominos Pizza.  I'm also a senior at the Art Academy of Cincinnati with an emphasis in fine arts video & photography.”

hhA!: What is currently reacting on Future ClassX? What is getting calls?

FM: “This is kind of an amusing question.  The regular format for the station is classic rock, so for the first few months most of the callers were annoyed middle-age men asking for Black Sabbath and Bon Jovi.  As the word has gotten out about the show the issue has resolved itself.  We get requests for everything from the Proclaimers to Further Seems Forever to the new Fujiya & Miyagi single.  Our listeners are all over the modern rock landscape.”

Most radio station blogs suck.  Seriously, let’s be real about it already.  Many radio stations have “blogs” so that when the afternoon drive jock is on-air he has something to talk about other than how much cooler he was in 1983 when he had a full head of hair.  Many radio stations have emailed us asking to feature their blog in the past but we have opted not to for many obvious reasons (see: lack of content).  However, WOXY has a fantastic blog that they recently launched called THE FUTURIST.  Why does this blog rock?  They actually care about the music they are posting and are not doing it to satisfy hidden agendas.  With a feature on their live in-studio lounge act performances, new releases, music news and the ever-so-popular ‘exclusive MP3s’, these guys are heading in the right direction.  Give it a quick read through and let them know what you think of it, we can assure you that THIS radio station blog is truly worthwhile.  Over and out.

WBJB-FM Lincroft, NJ

90.5 "THE NIGHT" PLAYLIST

Jeff Raspe, Music Wizard

05/07/2007 – In heavy rotation