WMTU
Encyclopedia
WMTU-FM 91.9 is the student-run campus radio
station at Michigan Technological University
. It is located in the basement of Wadsworth Hall in Houghton, Michigan
, and operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with exceptions for holidays and breaks from school. Staff is constituted of a volunteer general staff featuring a general manager and seven different departments as well as the air staff. Open DJ signups are held the first Wednesday and Thursday of each semester, including the summer tracks.
WMTU is known for allowing DJs to present an eclectic mix of music of their choice without any prescribed playlisting. Commercial free programming including metal
, hip hop
, techno, punk
, indie
, classic rock
, electronica
, Americana
, noise
, industrial
, world
, local
, and freeform
are all represented under WMTU's current programming schedule.
The Local Music Show used to air every Saturday evening from 5-7pm. This program was formed officially by local musicians and DJ's Brian Weeden and Markku Savolainen for WMTU in 2003. This program would highlights both local and touring acts in the area, often including live, in-studio performances and interviews. Local artists that have performed on air include Erik Koskinen, VSEPR, the Lumber Janes, Flashing Red Airplane, Carp, Sycamore Smith
, and others. In the fall semester of the 2010 school year local music blog Mostly Midwest partnered with WMTU for an official Mostly Midwest radio show every Tuesday and Thursday from 6-8pm. This program not only highlights local midwestern acts along with promoting upcoming local area shows, but also provides information on upcoming local CD releases, interviews with out-of-town musicians, and occasional CD giveaways.
The DJ of the Week program airs each Saturday afternoon from 2pm-5pm. It allows listeners to hear WMTU's best and brightest up and comers while giving the programming and broadcasting departments the chance to evaluate the musical selections and general style of newer DJs.
Spotlight on... airs Saturday afternoon from noon-2pm. This program, usually hosted by a current WMTU DJ, presents two hours of studio favorites and rarities from one of the DJs favorite artists.
The Copper Country Crush-a-Thon, established 2002, is an annual metal festival sponsored by WMTU. The day-long show allows the students of Michigan Tech
and the surrounding communities the opportunity to see live black
, death
, and speed metal
alongside of punk rock and hardcore
. The Crush-a-Thon has presented a number of bands from around the United States including Summon, Summer Dying, Dumah, Tthe Chasm, Oddity, Eternal Silence, Usurper, Azrael, Autumnal Wind, Tower of Babel, Undo Tomorrow, Carnivale, Days Go By, Domain Malevolence, Off Kilter, the Miscreants, Enrapture, Forest of Impaled, AllOddsAgainst, Conceived by Fire, Sadomasochism, sah, Militionary, Dead to Fall, Teratism, And the Sky Went Red, Rellik, and the Nain Rogue.
Keweenawesomefest, established in 2007, is a two day festival sponsored by WMTU presenting a number of musicians from throughout the state of Michigan. Past performers have included Frontier Ruckus
, Low, Chris Bathgate
, Beep Beep, Deastro, Canada, Fred Thomas, SAH, Matt Jones, Misty Lyn, the Mahonies, Annie Palmer, Terrible Twos, Santa and Rudolph, Charlie Slick, the Betamales, Sycamore Smith
, the Mighty Narwhale, Anarkinda, This is Deer Country, The Photographers, Cotton Jones, Drink Up Buttercup, The Daredevil Christopher Wright, Bear Claw, John the Savage, Millions of Brazilians and Electric Six
.
Other local, regional, and national touring acts WMTU has presented live in concert include Black Eyed Snakes
, The French Irish Coalition, Wesley Willis
, Small Brown Bike
, the Gunshy, Starlight Drifters, Poster Children
, MC Juice
, Heiruspecs
, Great Lakes Myth Society, Chris Bathgate, Jerry Fels, Sycamore Smith
, Third Coast, Deadly Waters, Pseudocell, Avert, The Blackflies, Dirty Americans
, Paper Street Saints, Quixote, the Blend, the Crest, Modill, The Show Is the Rainbow, the Mae Shi
, the Mercury Program
, Squirtgun
, Das Sücktet, Athletic Mic League, Calumet-Hecla, the National Bummer, Breathe Smoke, Kristin Forbes, the Saurus, Atombombpocketknife
, Kid Brother Collective, Chiodos
, Kinetic Stereo Kids, Soma 220, Liquid Sun, Erik Koskinen, Switch, Tall Drink of Water, Milton, Minus, Hell Town Trio, Fried Chinese Donalds, Old Victoria, Nobody Likes a Tricycle, VSEPR, and the Pisst-Off Androids.
Campus radio
Campus radio is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively by students, or may include programmers from the wider community in which the radio station is based...
station at Michigan Technological University
Michigan Technological University
Michigan Technological University is a public research university located in Houghton, Michigan, United States. Its main campus sits on on a bluff overlooking Portage Lake...
. It is located in the basement of Wadsworth Hall in Houghton, Michigan
Houghton, Michigan
Houghton is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and largest city in the Copper Country on the Keweenaw Peninsula. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,708. It is the county seat of Houghton County...
, and operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with exceptions for holidays and breaks from school. Staff is constituted of a volunteer general staff featuring a general manager and seven different departments as well as the air staff. Open DJ signups are held the first Wednesday and Thursday of each semester, including the summer tracks.
History
- 1956 - WVRW (Voice of Radio, Wadsworth), the precursor to WMTU, begins broadcasting as a carrier currentCarrier currentCarrier current is a method of low power AM radio transmission that uses the AC electrical system of a building to propagate a medium frequency, AM signal to a relatively small area, such as a building or a group of buildings...
AM station.
- 1958 - WVRW changes its callsign to WRS (Wadsworth Radio Service), to show that it now serves all dormitories on campus.
- 1975 - WRS changes its callsign to WMTU
- 1977 - WMTU begins broadcasting as a cable FM station via the local cable television system.
- 1979 - WMTU converts to a 24-hour format, with 3-hour shows.
- 1993 - WMTU receives an FMFrequency modulationIn telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant...
broadcasting license from the Federal Communications CommissionFederal Communications CommissionThe Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC).
- 1994 - WMTU begins over-the-air broadcasting from atop the Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Mechanics building on the Michigan TechMichigan Technological UniversityMichigan Technological University is a public research university located in Houghton, Michigan, United States. Its main campus sits on on a bluff overlooking Portage Lake...
campus with an effective radiated powerEffective radiated powerIn radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
of 100 watts.
- 1998 - WMTU begins broadcasting via RealAudioRealAudioRealAudio is a proprietary audio format developed by RealNetworks and first released in April 1995. It uses a variety of audio codecs, ranging from low-bitrate formats that can be used over dialup modems, to high-fidelity formats for music. It can also be used as a streaming audio format, that is...
, utilizing a Helix server located in the basement of Michigan TechMichigan Technological UniversityMichigan Technological University is a public research university located in Houghton, Michigan, United States. Its main campus sits on on a bluff overlooking Portage Lake...
's Electrical Engineering Resources Center (EERC).
- 2004 - Renovations to Wadsworth Hall resulted in a move from the original location next to the Tri-Hall Weight Club to a temporary location near the Campus Cafe.
- 2005 - The FCC approved a request for WMTU to move its transmitter to a university-owned tower atop Arcadia Hill. This move allowed WMTU to upgrade its power from 100 watts to 4400 watts effective radiated powerEffective radiated powerIn radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
, providing coverage to campus as well as many surrounding communities.
- 2005 - WMTU returned to its original location, now sporting a new "storefront" look along with nearly triple the music storage space. Renovations have also resulted in a "commons" area outside of the station, used for small concerts and other activities, along with a room which the WMTU staff uses for weekly meetings.
- 2009 - WMTU changes its daily schedule to 12, 2-hour shows.
Station programming
WMTU currently runs seventy programs, all of which are staffed by volunteers who apply at semesterly DJ meetings. Primetime slots are generally allocated based upon seniority, volunteer work at the station, and uniqueness of programming offered. All programming decisions are made by the Program Director and the Broadcast Supervisor, both positions elected yearly by WMTU's General Staff.WMTU is known for allowing DJs to present an eclectic mix of music of their choice without any prescribed playlisting. Commercial free programming including metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, techno, punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, indie
Indie (music)
In music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie" is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing....
, classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
, electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
, Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
, noise
Noise music
Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...
, industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
, world
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
, local
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. It is commonly referred to as the Upper Peninsula, the U.P., or Upper Michigan. It is also known as the land "above the Bridge" linking the two peninsulas. The peninsula is bounded...
, and freeform
Freeform (radio format)
Freeform, or freeform radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commercial radio stations, in which DJs have little or no...
are all represented under WMTU's current programming schedule.
The Local Music Show used to air every Saturday evening from 5-7pm. This program was formed officially by local musicians and DJ's Brian Weeden and Markku Savolainen for WMTU in 2003. This program would highlights both local and touring acts in the area, often including live, in-studio performances and interviews. Local artists that have performed on air include Erik Koskinen, VSEPR, the Lumber Janes, Flashing Red Airplane, Carp, Sycamore Smith
Sycamore Smith
Sycamore Smith is the stage name of Marc Smith, a musician from Marquette, Michigan. Smith, formerly of The Muldoons, has toured the United States with his comic brand of folk music, complete with derby hat, guitar, and gold-plated resonator kazoo....
, and others. In the fall semester of the 2010 school year local music blog Mostly Midwest partnered with WMTU for an official Mostly Midwest radio show every Tuesday and Thursday from 6-8pm. This program not only highlights local midwestern acts along with promoting upcoming local area shows, but also provides information on upcoming local CD releases, interviews with out-of-town musicians, and occasional CD giveaways.
The DJ of the Week program airs each Saturday afternoon from 2pm-5pm. It allows listeners to hear WMTU's best and brightest up and comers while giving the programming and broadcasting departments the chance to evaluate the musical selections and general style of newer DJs.
Spotlight on... airs Saturday afternoon from noon-2pm. This program, usually hosted by a current WMTU DJ, presents two hours of studio favorites and rarities from one of the DJs favorite artists.
Concerts
Concert space has been provided to WMTU by the Campus Cafe (the Wads Annex), the McArdle Theatre (the Black Box), the Memorial Union Building commons, the Suburban Exchange, the ExUrban, the Level 2 Skate Park, and a commons area outside of WMTU's current location.The Copper Country Crush-a-Thon, established 2002, is an annual metal festival sponsored by WMTU. The day-long show allows the students of Michigan Tech
Michigan Technological University
Michigan Technological University is a public research university located in Houghton, Michigan, United States. Its main campus sits on on a bluff overlooking Portage Lake...
and the surrounding communities the opportunity to see live black
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
, death
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
, and speed metal
Speed metal
Speed metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from NWOBHM and hardcore punk roots. It is described by Allmusic as "extremely fast, abrasive, and technically demanding" music....
alongside of punk rock and hardcore
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
. The Crush-a-Thon has presented a number of bands from around the United States including Summon, Summer Dying, Dumah, Tthe Chasm, Oddity, Eternal Silence, Usurper, Azrael, Autumnal Wind, Tower of Babel, Undo Tomorrow, Carnivale, Days Go By, Domain Malevolence, Off Kilter, the Miscreants, Enrapture, Forest of Impaled, AllOddsAgainst, Conceived by Fire, Sadomasochism, sah, Militionary, Dead to Fall, Teratism, And the Sky Went Red, Rellik, and the Nain Rogue.
Keweenawesomefest, established in 2007, is a two day festival sponsored by WMTU presenting a number of musicians from throughout the state of Michigan. Past performers have included Frontier Ruckus
Frontier Ruckus
Frontier Ruckus is an American folk-rock band from Michigan. The project is centered on the lyrically intensive songs of Matthew Milia, and was formed by Milia and banjo player David Winston Jones while living in Metro Detroit. The band released its debut full-length record, The Orion Songbook,...
, Low, Chris Bathgate
Chris Bathgate
Chris Bathgate is an American indie folk singer-songwriter and musician. He is prominent in the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti folk music scene in Michigan. In 2007, Bathgate signed to , on which he released his most prominent album to date, A Cork Tale Wake. His most recent release was Salt Year, a full...
, Beep Beep, Deastro, Canada, Fred Thomas, SAH, Matt Jones, Misty Lyn, the Mahonies, Annie Palmer, Terrible Twos, Santa and Rudolph, Charlie Slick, the Betamales, Sycamore Smith
Sycamore Smith
Sycamore Smith is the stage name of Marc Smith, a musician from Marquette, Michigan. Smith, formerly of The Muldoons, has toured the United States with his comic brand of folk music, complete with derby hat, guitar, and gold-plated resonator kazoo....
, the Mighty Narwhale, Anarkinda, This is Deer Country, The Photographers, Cotton Jones, Drink Up Buttercup, The Daredevil Christopher Wright, Bear Claw, John the Savage, Millions of Brazilians and Electric Six
Electric Six
Electric Six is a six-piece metro Detroit-based band that plays what has been described as a brand of rock music infused with elements of "garage, disco, punk, new wave, and metal." The band met recognition in 2003 with the singles "Danger! High Voltage" and "Gay Bar", and subsequently recorded...
.
Other local, regional, and national touring acts WMTU has presented live in concert include Black Eyed Snakes
Black Eyed Snakes
The Black-eyed Snakes is an American blues rock band from Duluth, Minnesota. Since releasing their debut album "It's the Black-eyed Snakes" in 2001, the band has toured the U.S. with Charlie Parr. Front man Alan Sparhawk also performs with Low and Retribution Gospel Choir.The Black-eyed Snakes...
, The French Irish Coalition, Wesley Willis
Wesley Willis
Wesley Willis was a musician and artist from Chicago. A diagnosed chronic schizophrenic, he gained an enormous cult following in the 1990s after releasing several hundred songs of simple but unique music, with emphasis on his humorous, bizarre, and frequently obscene lyrics...
, Small Brown Bike
Small Brown Bike
Small Brown Bike is a band from Marshall, Michigan, United States that started in 1996. The trademark of Small Brown Bike is their "double vocals" backed by melodies. Their sound is often identified as being similar to other post-hardcore bands, such as Avail, Hot Water Music and Dillinger Four...
, the Gunshy, Starlight Drifters, Poster Children
Poster Children
Poster Children are an indie rock band formed at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in 1987. They have issued eleven studio albums. Known for their strong DIY ethic, the band members continue to drive their own tour bus, create their own artwork and T-shirt designs, and operate their...
, MC Juice
MC Juice
Terry Parker, better known by his stage name MC Juice or simply Juice, is an American freestyle rapper from Chicago, United States. He beat Eminem at Scribble Jam in 1997. He was regarded in 2004 as one of finest freestyle rappers ever produced by Chicago...
, Heiruspecs
Heiruspecs
Heiruspecs is a live rap/hip hop band based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, specifically the Midway neighborhood. The band's name is based on a deliberate misspelling of haruspex.Their album, 10 Years Strong, was released in December of 2007...
, Great Lakes Myth Society, Chris Bathgate, Jerry Fels, Sycamore Smith
Sycamore Smith
Sycamore Smith is the stage name of Marc Smith, a musician from Marquette, Michigan. Smith, formerly of The Muldoons, has toured the United States with his comic brand of folk music, complete with derby hat, guitar, and gold-plated resonator kazoo....
, Third Coast, Deadly Waters, Pseudocell, Avert, The Blackflies, Dirty Americans
Dirty Americans
The Dirty Americans are a Detroit based rock band with one album and EP to their names to date, and are currently working on a new album produced by guitarist Kenny Olson and Shannon Boone, The Dirty Americans are a Detroit based rock band with one album and EP to their names to date, and are...
, Paper Street Saints, Quixote, the Blend, the Crest, Modill, The Show Is the Rainbow, the Mae Shi
The Mae Shi
The Mae Shi are an experimental punk band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2002.-History:The band was formed by Tim Byron and Ezra Buchla, who had known each other for years, having spent time growing up in the Los Angeles suburb of Claremont together—Jeff Byron and Buchla were classmates at...
, the Mercury Program
The Mercury Program
The Mercury Program is an American musical group composed of Dave Lebleu on drums, Sander Travisano on bass guitar, Tom Reno on guitar, and Whit Travisano on vibraphone and piano. They are based in Gainesville, FL. The first three members formed a trio in August 1997 and Whit Travisano joined in...
, Squirtgun
Squirtgun
Squirtgun is an American punk rock band from Lafayette, Indiana formed by record producer Mass Giorgini in 1993.-1993-1998:Squirtgun originally consisted of Mass Giorgini , Matt Hart , Flav Giorgini , and Dan Lumley .The band signed to Lookout! Records and their first release was the EP...
, Das Sücktet, Athletic Mic League, Calumet-Hecla, the National Bummer, Breathe Smoke, Kristin Forbes, the Saurus, Atombombpocketknife
Atombombpocketknife
Atombombpocketknife was an American indie rock band from Chicago. The band featured Che Arthur on guitar and released three full-length albums between 2000 and 2004.-History:...
, Kid Brother Collective, Chiodos
Chiodos
Chiodos is an American post hardcore band from Davison, Michigan. Formed in 2001, the group was originally known as "The Chiodos Bros," the band's name was a tribute to filmmakers Stephen, Charles, and Edward Chiodo, responsible for the film Killer Klowns from Outer Space. Chiodos released their...
, Kinetic Stereo Kids, Soma 220, Liquid Sun, Erik Koskinen, Switch, Tall Drink of Water, Milton, Minus, Hell Town Trio, Fried Chinese Donalds, Old Victoria, Nobody Likes a Tricycle, VSEPR, and the Pisst-Off Androids.
Sources
- Michiguide.com - WMTU-FM History
- Variety of Music Showcased at WMTU-Sponsored Concert
- WMTU lives again after long outage
- WMTU tower on the move
- Flint and local bands to play at skatepark
- WMTU Constitution