2009 was the 51st year of WRBC on FM

2009 was an interesting year in the history of WRBC. The saw several key changes and its prominence on campus grow to a significant degree. It was a year marked by a variety of concerts, excellent programing, and a few bumps along the way. The WRBC board and the station at large has worked hard to make 2009 one of the best years in our over 50 year history on FM and hopes to build on that momentum in 2010.

Thus, here is a partial rundown of everything that was accomplished over the past year.

January 15: Winter Semester general meeting, we welcome new members onto the board and completely fill the schedule for the third semester in a row.

January 17: Concert by Black Taxi (With Class of 2010 Co-Presidents and Bates Musicians’ Union)

February 28: Concert by FM Belfast (With Bates Musicians’ Union)

March 6: 30th Annual Trivia Night

March 21: Bates Public Art Club, Musicians Union, and WRBC collaborate to bring present “DISCHARGE” featuring numerous campus electronic musicians and artists.

March 26: WRBC helps to support the Bates College Art-In to help give student art a home in the otherwise dormant Chase Hall

May 22: First Ever WRBC Field Day

May 23: Concert by Friends Academy (With Shred Club and Class of 2010 Co-Presidents)

September 10: Fall Semester General Meeting (results in forth consecutive semester with a full schedule)

September 17: The Matt and Kim Ticket Trivia Extravaganza — A miniature Trivia Night style ticket give-away event.

September 18: Concert by Matt and Kim (With Chase Hall Committee)

October 10: Concert by Glenn Jones

November 14: WRBC and the Bates Libertarians present “unDISCHARGED” featuring Anamanaguchi and other campus electronic musicians.

November 23: The Monkey is re-established as a Blog

Additionally, we made numerous upgrades to the station throughout the year including computer upgrades and other new equipment. The board is currently developing a digital music library, online playlist tracking, and a more streamlined application process. We also had a very successful t-shirt sale.

For fiscal year 2010, we were only one of three clubs at Bates to see our budget rise from fiscal year 2009. After issues in February and March, WRBC established a healthy working relationship with the Chase Hall Committee with a new liaison program, which has benefited both clubs and the student body as a whole.

Additionally, WRBC moved up to #18 in the College Radio Rankings published by the Princeton Review and got several mentions on the pages profiling Bates in their book chronicling America’s Best Colleges. WRBC events were never poorly attend and always received positive reviews from the campus media as well as the overall student body. In 2009, WRBC was featured in newspapers throughout New England and the station was even mentioned in Iceland’s #1 newspaper. WRBC expanded its internet capabilities to include a Twitter page alongside our existing Facebook and MySpace pages, and our website received over 18,000 hits with visitors coming from all fifty states and 118 different countries including China, Pakistan, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, and Australia.

It has been a busy year for WRBC, and as the station moves forward providing the best non-commercial free-format radio programming, increasing collaboration with other clubs and our role in the community, both Bates and Lewiston-Auburn, remain our top priority.

Thanks for listening.

-Doug Ray

Doug Ray is the co-host of Saltimbocca & Escargot, Sundays at 8-10 PM Eastern Time on WRBC.

WRBC in Icelandic News

Bates College is now a known entity in the country of Iceland. The local paper, Fréttablaðið, covered FM Belfast’s journey to Bates in a March 10th article. The article has been translated by Bates professor, Aslaug Asgeirsdottir.

“Discussed the Icelandic Recession”

The danceband FM Belfast recently returned from a two-week trip to the United States where they participated in a variety of things.

FM Blefast played a concert at Bates College in Maine where they also participated in a seminar on the collapse of the Icelandic economy. Áslaug Ásgeirsdóttir, a professor of politics at the college lead the seminar.

“They asked how the collapse really felt. We just described it and discussed how the protests helped uncover some phenomenal corruption that we had no idea existed,” said singer Lóa Hjálmtýsdóttir.

Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson, FM Belfast´s singer, did make the news during the protests when a police car drove into him in front the the parliament building. Afterward he was hit with a baton in the back of his head.

“They showed a great deal of interest as people in the United States are filled with fear. Their system is slowly going bankrupt, so people there are particularly interested [in the Icelandic collapse], said Lóa while adding lightheartedly: “People there have completely stopped asking us about Björk. Now everyone wants to discuss the collapse [of the Icelandic economy].”

Students running the Bates College radio station, WRBC, saw FM Belfast play during Iceland Airwaves in 2008, and then arranged for them to play at Bates.

FM Belfast also did other things while in the United States. The band also recorded new songs at a studio in Brooklyn, New York and met with an entertainment lawyer who has helped the band get noticed in the States.

Fréttablaðið, Reykjavík, Iceland, March 10, 2009. Page 20

The February 28th FM Belfast Concert was widely attended and a huge success on campus. Here are some links highlighting the event:

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• Icelandic Article

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• Bates Life Blog Post

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• FM Belfast Official Website\

   

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FM Belfast is a four-piece electronic band. They were one of the surprise breakout artists at last October’s Iceland Airwaves Music Festival, which is held annually in Reykjavik, Iceland. Their first LP, How to make friends, was also released in October 2008 in Iceland. It is available for sale in the United States through the iTunes music store.

FM Belfast is considered one of the premier new artists in the rapidly expanding Icelandic music scene. Their music utilizes elements of dance pop and expands on it with profound lyrics and a light-hearted attitude. This show promises to be one of the best electronic shows in the state of Maine this year.

Among the best performances of the festival were Yelle (FR), FM Belfast (IS), Seabear (IS), Boys in a Band (FO), GusGus (IS), Fuck Buttons (UK) and Cocktail Vomit (IS).

Here is a photographic sampling of some of the concerts and mischief that took place in Reykjavik:

-Doug Ray & Nelson Harris