IMAGE: Leslie Montgomery |
In the sub-basement of Portland State University’s Smith Memorial Student Union, which houses the studio of the college’s radio station, KPSU, Rachelle Schmid is debriefing yet another band as it prepares to perform live on her show, Anti-Apathy, about what it cannot do once it is on air. It’s not a long list. In fact, guests—in this week’s case, atmospheric rockers Hello Morning—are more or less allowed to do whatever the fuck they want so long as they refrain from saying words like “fuck,” or issuing any “calls to action.” Aside from those restrictions, it’s pretty much no holds barred. “If you want to juggle or put on a clown nose,” Schmid tells the group, “I won’t stop you.”
Hello Morning does not go the circus route, instead using its 40 minutes of airtime to broadcast its emotionally wrought guitar pop to the greater Portland area. After a brief interview with the band, Schmid proceeds to play two hours’ worth of other local acts, ranging from big-name staples like the Dandy Warhols and Blitzen Trapper to such lesser-knowns as country-funk punks the Quick and Easy Boys and disco throwbacks Strength. In a city where bands should be included on census reports, a radio program focused exclusively on homegrown music is a niche that should’ve been filled long before Schmid wandered onto the airwaves two years ago. And yet, her show was an anomaly then, and still is today. The name Anti-Apathy is, in a way, her own “call to action.”
“Portland is such a huge music town, but the radio stations here don’t take advantage of that,” says Schmid, 31. “I felt like, ‘Why don’t people care about this? Why are they so apathetic about the fact we have a huge music scene here?’”
Schmid is hardly the person you’d expect to be a vociferous booster of local musicians. An English major, before starting Anti-Apathy she was more likely to spend nights locked inside a book than out at a club. After going through a rough breakup, she sought out a new hobby. She spotted a flier calling for new KPSU DJs, and decided it was about as contrary to her solitary writing pursuits as she could get. Anti-Apathy began as a political talk show, but Schmid quickly found it hard to find guests willing to be interviewed. As a lark, she invited her friends’ band, the now-defunct Miss Anne Thrope, to play on the show. The response to the performance inspired her to switch formats. Now, Schmid is a rabid consumer of all things Portland music, with a massive collection from which she builds each week’s playlist.
For someone who knew nothing about radio when she started, Schmid has developed into a charming on-air personality. Prone to giggles, she playfully chides nervous callers and guests and segues seamlessly from promoting a pro-wrestling event to introducing the next song. But she hardly considers herself Portland’s answer to John Peel, breaking bands and making careers (KPSU’s relatively low wattage wouldn’t allow that to happen, anyway—although a syndicated Internet version of the show does receive between 10,000 and 15,000 listeners per week in Taiwan, of all places). Her only goal is to highlight stuff she loves, and have a good time doing it.
“I feel like I have a private concert every week,” she says.
HEAR IT: DJ Rachelle runs KPSU (1450 AM or kpsu.org) from 6 to 9 pm Mondays. For resources and conversations about local radio, head to wweek.com/localradio .
My name is Bret Bernhoft and I have known Rachelle for years. Since the beginning she has been the single most honest and trustworthy person I know at that damn station. I have DJed with Rachelle for years and have gotten to know her well and to put it simply, "Rachelle is an awesome DJ and an even better person." During the entire time I have known her, not once has she compromised her values or the quality of her shows. But that is not the main criticism here, Rachelle is being called an agent of change. This I agree with.
The community at KPSU was and still is filled with people who would rather see someone with ambition, such as Rachelle, muzzled for being proactive in her job and duties at the station. If Rachelle created a divisive environment at KPSU it was a result of 2 major influences.
1. Rachelle isn't like most of the hipsters at KPSU. She is straight forward, honest and mos importantly has amazing taste in music. She doesn't hide behind the thin veil of closed doors and passive-aggressive nagging.
2. Most importantly, Rachelle created the most popular show on the station, something that scared away the others than would rather stay firmly planted in the past than look to the future.
If anything is to be blamed it is KPSU, not Rachelle. KPSU is filled to the brim with a bunch whinny little snots that make me look away in aversion.
I guess it doesn't surprise me that Rachelle would be picked on by some anonymous little punk.
But before I am finished, I think its important that I say I quit KPSU because of the crap like this. I DJed there for 2 years and even worked at the station so I know how ingrained the culture of the "nark" is worked into every fiber of that little station. Whoever wrote these horrible lies about Rachelle is the perfect example of why KPSU is an "incestuous mess" of the worst kind.