Category: community

Interview with Dr. Ruth Westheimer

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This year, the Poitras Gleim Lecture guest was Dr. Ruth Westheimer. The lecture honors people who’ve made significant cultural contributions to media and popular culture, and this year Dickinson was pleased to have Dr. Ruth. She’s best known for being the sex therapist on American broadcast media, alongside many other things such as being a Holocaust survivor, Israeli military member and more.

Our interview with her discussed a lot about her general career, and her own reflections of life at age 92! WDCV can proudly say Dr. Ruth gave us glowing reviews for our interview and she enjoyed it very much, which we take as high praise since she’s done radio far longer than our station members.

CREDITS:
Interviewers: Rosey Pasco & Nuhan B. Abid

Technical assistance & help: Brenda Landis, Taylor Garrett

Rare’s BEHive on Campus Conference (Interview)

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WDCV Interview Series

 

 

 

 

WDCV recently interviewed Lindsey Lyons and Allison Miller ’20 from the Center for Sustainability Education (CSE), alongside Katie Velasco from Rare to discuss their upcoming conference on Dickinson on the 5th of October.

 

The event’s set to feature all kinds of sustainability issues, and present some prominent panelists alongside much more that you can hear some thoughts about in this interview.

 

Read more at : https://www.dickinson.edu/news/article/3885/dickinson_college_to_host_national_higher-ed_sustainability_summit_oct_5

 

Credits:

Nuhan B. Abid ’22, interviewer and Content Coordinator for WDCV

An Interview with Professor Pulcini

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Professor Ted Pulcini, now in his final year at Dickinson, signed off to do an exclusive interview with WDCV FM. We sat down with him to discuss his 24 year long career, and asked him to do a little retrospective for us on his time here at Dickinson. Currently serving as the chair of the religion department, he’s pretty renowned for his classes. Professor Pulcini’s primary focus in academia is Abrahamic religions, but particularly Islamand early Christianity. Professor Pulcini is also a priest, and this other side of him has affectionately earned him the nickname “Father Ted” amongst people on campus, although he tries to keep his religious life and his academic life separate. That hasn’t stopped him from being a wonderfully wise man who gives fantastic advice to students (and this interview has some great gems of wisdom from him) when they ask for it.

 

We at WDCV have really appreciated him reflecting on his Dickinson experience. Listen to him talk about how much has changed here since when he first began teaching here, as well as hear his own personal experiences outside Dickinson that have inspired and molded him into the academic he is today.

 

 

Interview recorded March 7, 2019 by Nuhan Abid ’22 and Ellie Doblin ’21. 

WDCV / MOB Spring Concert Series Line-Up

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This semester, WDCV and MOB are teaming up to bring the Dickinson campus and wider Carlisle community a concert series for the books. Ranging from indie bedroom-pop to full-throttle jazzy hop-hop, the Spring Concert Series is sure to satisfy any music-lover, as well as introduce many to great new artists! The line-up is as follows.

 

2/16 : Sidney Gish

First up on February 16th and 8pm in the Allison Community Room is innovative loop-pedal utilizing Boston college student Sidney Gish. For more about her see here.

 

3/1: Alice Kristiansen

Next up, on March 1st at 5:30 is Alice Kristiansen. Kristiansen is a NYC-based aspiring pop star and songwriter. She initially started out posting covers on youtube, which she still frequently posts, but eventually began writing and recording her own tunes. Her newest single “Easy” was released in December and is filled with big EDM synths, distorted vocal samples, and house drums. My favorite song by her is “Lost In Translation”, which I suspect may be named after the Bill Murray film. Though the lyrics are often clunky and the production is boilerplate, the vocals are stunning and the melody is infectious. Expect her to release some even more memorable singles in the coming months.

 

3/22: Shaed

On March 22nd at 5:30, the electro pop trio Shaed will come to campus. Chelsea Lee is the lead singer and twins Max and Spencer Ernst produce. “Trampoline” is a bonafide hit with over 39 million streams on Spotify alone. It’s easy to hear why. The production is icy and propulsive and the vocals are impressively layered. “Melt”, the title track of their newest EP, may be even better than “Trampoline”. It reminds me of Ariana Grande’s most recent material. If you don’t know Shaed now, you’ll definitely have heard them in a few years so see them here while you can for free!

 

4/5: Hardwork Movement

On April fifth at 5:30, Hardwork Movement is coming to campus. Hardwork Movement is made up of 4 rappers backed up by a crack five piece live band. They also have TWO Dickinson alumni in the band! Whoever says a liberal arts education doesn’t pay off clearly hasn’t heard the sweet sounds of these Hard Movers (which is what I called them). These guys release a lot of music with two albums from 2017 and an EP that came out in 2018 but the song that I’ve been bumping a lot is “Praise”. It’s piano based beat reminds me a bit of “Two Weeks” by Grizzly Bear but the vocals are super cheerful. “Dance With Me” is another great song, utilizing horns and a rapid fire delivery that reminds me a bit of Ghostface Killah.

 

4/19: Danny Fisher

Danny Fisher brings his unique take on electro pop to Dickinson on April 19th at 5:30. His most recent song, “With Love Or Nothing At All” mixes layers of his own vocals with atmospheric electronics crafting what reminds me a bit of Panda Bear. There will also potentially be student performers to open this act.

 

5/3: Phony Ppl

The final concert in the WDCV/MOB Collaborative Spring Concert Series Featuring Great Free Live Music For You Lovely People (title pending) finishes up with the neo soul band Phony Ppl. “Somehow.” is a simply wonderful song mixing jazzy guitar work, indie R&B vibes, hip hop beats, and luscious strings into a sweet love song.

 

We hope to see you at our concert series!

WDCV’s Climate Consciousness

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Community Post: Interview with community DJ Ken Shultes   

Ken Shultes, a Dickinson alum and the man responsible for reaching Dickinson’s carbon neutral goal, brings his work with him to his radio show each week. Ken’s Sustainability Jam Hour focuses on current climate change issues, and emphasizes the actions we can perform to help our environment. He believes that music is a useful tool to explain these current events in a fun, interesting way.

Ken graduated Dickinson College in 1989, and has lived in the Carlisle area almost ever since. For 18 years, Ken managed facilities here at Dickinson, but in the past three years he has been the Associate Vice President for Sustainability and Facilities Management. He is in charge of directing the college to reach its 2020 goal of carbon neutrality, in which the college will reduce 25% of its emission due to heating and cooling buildings, along with other actions. This is a huge responsibility, and requires the action of every student, faculty, and staff member. Therefore, Ken uses his radio show as a means to remind people of their responsibility to our environment and Dickinson’s climate conscious pledge.

Climate change and global warming are heavy subjects, so Ken hopes to make it a fun and approachable conversation through his choice of music. Three years ago, when the Sustainability Jam Hour first started, Ken maintained a small list of songs that he thought connected to sustainability, climate change, and nature. But as time went on, he found a multitude of songs that reflected what he believes in. By now, he can argue for almost any song’s connection to sustainability; it’s quite impressive. Although each song relates to climate change in some way, genres differ immensely throughout Ken’s show. His show features a little bit of everything, like classic rock, alternative, show tunes, kid’s music, and indie pop, although he admits he has not been convinced enough to play much heavy metal. Ken has three children who inspire his music tastes and open his mind to songs he previously did not consider seriously. After playing a couple songs, Ken spends a few minutes talking and reflecting upon what he believes these songs connect to, whether that be a certain action we should all be taking, such as turning off lights when we’re not using them, or current events that will affect our ability to properly reduce our impact upon the earth. Ken sprinkles in important, educational facts along with his music, creating a fun show that has an crucial purpose and a strong effect on its listeners.

Ken is appreciative of his time here at WDCV, as it is a creative release in the middle of his work day. He finds the Sustainability Jam Hour to challenge his ability to talk about climate change in a fun way, to make it an approachable subject for his listeners. He welcomes music as a tool to further this conversation. These days, any song he hears automatically tests him to find a connection to climate change, and he hopes his listeners can develop an ear for sustainability as well!

 

 

Listen to Ken’s show, Sustainability Jam Hour, on Mondays from 10 am to 11 am, and learn how you can reduce your impact upon the earth!

 

 

 

If you have any questions, email Julia Ormond at ormondj@dickinson.edu. Thanks for reading!

Finding a Voice at WDCV

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Community Post: Interview with community DJ Greg Bear     

Throughout our discussion of Greg Bear’s WDCV show, the word “freedom” came up quite often, as Greg finds that it perfectly describes his experience with the station over the past two and half years. He and his wife and daughter moved to the Carlisle area from Philadelphia over ten years ago, and though he still misses the bustle of the city, his radio show here at WDCV, entitled Alloy: A Mixture of Jazz and Progressive Music, has become one of his favorite endeavors unique to Carlisle.

When he is not hosting Alloy, Greg is a graphic and web designer, and he finds that his day job and his radio show both provide different yet deep creative fulfillment. The show’s name encompasses Greg’s love for jazz and his growing appreciation for more experimental kinds of music that don’t traditionally fall in the jazz genre. As a result, Alloy features a wide range of music, from current releases to perennial classics. After finding the initial song that sparks his inspiration for a playlist, Greg carefully curates the rest of the show around this song’s theme, which differs each week. This theme could be a word or a phrase, and after the show, Greg puts out a newsletter describing the through-line of how the songs connect to one another, while directing listeners to Alloy’s website where he posts all of the music from each show. Occasionally, Greg will also release podcasts featuring conversations with artists whose music he has featured on the show. These podcast conversations provide Greg, and his listeners, insight into each artist’s creative process.

                                       

Each week Alloy offers a diverse mix of music and sounds. After almost three years at WDCV, Greg thinks he has gradually come closer to finding and articulating his tastes and his voice, though he admits he is still searching. One artist regularly featured on Alloy is guitarist Bill Frisell, whose music has expanded Greg’s understanding and appreciation of jazz and experimental music, as well as the limitless potential of the guitar as a solo and collaborative instrument. Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno are also popular name the resurface in his shows, though Greg notes that his playlists are driven more by music that resonates with him than specific artists. His music tastes have changed drastically over the years due to the opportunity WDCV has given him to search out new artists and discover genres he wouldn’t have originally sought out. Greg views this special platform to share music as one of the best parts of college radio and one of the best aspects of his experience with Alloy. The show has allowed him to explore all dimensions of the music world and discover new ways of interfacing with his favorite genres while highlighting new music and providing him a bit of freedom in each week’s playlist.

 

Listen to Greg’s show Alloy, Tuesdays from 9 am to 11 am.

 

Check out his website at http://www.alloypm.com/

 

 

 

If you have any questions, email Julia Ormond at ormondj@dickinson.edu. Thanks for reading!

WDCV Legend: Davis Tracy

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Community Post: Interview with community DJ Davis Tracy   

When he was young, Davis Tracy yearned for a family TV, but he got a radio instead. This gift sparked a passion for radio that has lived on throughout his entire lifetime thus far. He would listen to a multitude of stations, from popular music to radio theater. This passion stuck with him throughout his schooling, time in the army, professional career, and to this day Davis spends two hours every Monday morning playing bluegrass CDs for his loyal listeners.

Davis started his show, Bluegrass @ Dickinson, in the 80s, when vinyl was still popular. Over time, Davis has switched to CDs, though he questions what he’ll do when those go out of style as well. Because of the popularity and age of his show, Davis has connected with many bluegrass artists and labels who send him bluegrass music. This way, Davis finds new voices, sounds, and twists on his favorite genre each week. This relationship also allows Davis to curate larger bluegrass events, such as Bluegrass on the Grass, a Carlisle community event that occurs every summer on the Dickinson campus. Inspired by the fun he found in playing with his own band, Country Bob and the BBQ Boys, and help from other bluegrass lovers, Davis introduced Carlisle to a bluegrass festival that is now one of the town’s most popular community events. Davis of course wanted to show people how lovable bluegrass is, but also had the intention of depicting Dickinson as an approachable and desirable place to visit. The town had other popular music festivals in the past, but they mostly focused on orchestral music, a genre that Davis believes to be less accessible. Bluegrass, on the other hand, is easy to dance along to, and brings joy to many listeners, and Davis himself.

Before Davis’s WDCV career started, he served as a United States Army Officer in the early 70s, and participated in many Outward Bound wilderness classes, in which he learned survival skills and the ability to get along and work with others who were different than him. Davis then went back to school and earned a Master’s and Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology. He worked at Dickinson College as a counselor in the Wellness Center for 29 years, and as a faculty advisor for WDCV for over 10 years, where he made many improvements for the station and the students involved. In 2010, Davis retired, and has since worked part time at Franco Psychological Associates in Carlisle in addition to continuing his WDCV radio show. He starts his day around 5 am every day, occasionally accompanied by his beautiful labradoodle, Freddie, who loves to snuggle up next to anyone he takes a liking to, which is most everyone.

Davis has always loved music and been invested in it.He played tenor guitar in high school just because no one else was playing it, but discovered his love for guitar at Lehigh University. Davis never did participate in college radio when he was attending Lehigh, but he met his “radio mentor,” Paul Campbell, while attending the University of Tennessee. From this experience, Davis learned to appreciate bluegrass more, as well as the importance of college radio. He finds that college students have a refreshing on-air presence that commercial radio voices don’t possess. Davis loves to hear the progression and growth of student DJs, whether that be their professionality on air or their music tastes that first developed in high school. This student connection is what Davis misses the most about advising WDCV, though he is grateful he still has the opportunity to share his music with his listeners, and enjoys listening to student and community DJ shows alike. Davis is loved here at WDCV because of how much he has done for the station, and how committed he still is!

 

 

Listen to Davis’s show, Bluegrass @ Dickinson, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, from 8 am to 10 am!

 

 

 

 

 

If you have any questions, email Julia Ormond at ormondj@dickinson.edu. Thanks for reading!

WDCV’s Hidden Celebrity

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Community Post: Interview with DJ Bob Zieff
Bob Zieff is the kind of person who actually has articles written about him in books, newspapers, and Google searches. There’s even a song written about him, called “Who the Hell is Bob Zieff?” He is a big star in the music world, and he DJ’s here at WDCV every week. He leads an intriguing life, guided by his love for music, specifically jazz and classical music, specifically of the 20th century, of which he has loved since the age of twelve. Outside of WDCV, Bob is a jazz composer. He studied music at Boston University and spent many years composing for jazz musicians of all kinds. Bob has connections to many famous jazz artists, including Chet Baker and Richard Twardzik, whom he mentored. Bob’s following reaches more than just neighboring states; people from Japan, Sweden, Germany, Norway, and many more know Bob Zieff as one of their favorite jazz composers. A CD of his was recently released, a compilation of musicians performing some of his best creations. Bob is very modest about his fame though, and when asked what he likes to do other than DJ, rather than focusing on his own musical creations, Bob laughed about the jazz book that he’s been writing for decades now.

It’s amazing that someone as profound and inspiring as Bob has been a member of WDCV for almost twelve years now. In Bob’s show, Jazz Pathways, he hopes that his music choices will help others learn more about jazz. During his two hours at WDCV each week, he does not care about what’s deemed as popular, because as Bob says, “if you want to know what’s bad, listen to what’s popular.” Rather, Bob is interested in the complex, colorful nature of the jazz that is great to listen to because of the skill of musician and composer alike, not just because of the aesthetic it creates. Bob enjoys playing music that represents something:a musical progression, a harmonic riff, a compositional puzzle. 

 

By doing this, he introduces a lot of jazz artists who are not very popular in the jazz world.He wants to paint jazz as approachable to all listeners, which is why he is so perfect for WDCV. Artists include Lester Young, CharlieParker, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman among others. By listening to Bob’s show, he wishes that all listeners can learn just a little bit about what he has dedicated much of his life to.

Listen to Bob’s show, Jazz Pathways, on Sundays from 12pm to 2pm for a lesson on jazz!   

Click here to listen to the Enrique Heredia Quartet play the music of Bob Zieff!

Click here to purchase Bob’s latest publication from Fresh Sound Records!

 

 

 

If you have any questions, email Julia Ormond at ormondj@dickinson.edu. Thanks for reading!

Digging with DJ Joe George

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Community Post: Interview with Community DJ Joe George

Joe George’s music taste is as eclectic as his DJing experiences. Joe’s WDCV radio show Dig! features Alternative Rock, Industrial, Punk, R&B, Hip-Hop, Jazz, and more. He prefers not to define his tastes other than describing it as “just good music.” The show’s name reflects his concept of digging through the multitudes of new music produced every day. A large part of Joe’s weekly show focuses on new these new releases, but he notes that artists from his youth, such as The Beatles, Roxy Music, and David Bowie have shaped and influenced how he hears newer music today.

Joe is a Dickinson alum, class of 1989, and was involved with WDCV all four years as a DJ, Music Director, and Program Director. His experiences in college bolstered his love for music, and gave him the perfect opportunity to share his eclectic tastes with anyone listening, both on and off campus. He also worked as a DJ in local nightclubs until 2013.

Outside of WDCV, Joe has been in retail banking for 17 years.  He and his wife also write a bi-weekly art column for The Sentinel newspaper, in which they explore the fruitful art scene within and around central Pennsylvania.

                                           

Joe continues to DJ professionally for special events, including receptions, fund raisers, parties, and even Dickinson class reunions. Joe prides himself as being very good at judging the atmosphere of the event, and can pick music that will entertain any crowd. Different venues demand certain sounds, specific artists, and genres; Joe enjoys creating “soundscapes” that please his customers and make the event memorable.

When it comes to his Tuesday morning WDCV show, Joe shares music he finds to be exhilarating and thoughtful. Therefore, Joe’s two hour show on WDCV is a creative release for him, in which he combines new and old tracks. And while he has spent the prior week carefully curating his program he still mixes live on the air. He believes college radio is something special, a unique kind of sharing platform in which every listener walks away with a slightly, if not completely, changed perception of music. To Joe college radio is a place to explore. During his WDCV show, Joe hopes to make his listeners feel something, whether that be satisfaction or confusion.

He enjoys when listeners call in to talk about his music tastes and playlist choices, and finds real satisfaction from sharing his love of music with all WDCV listeners.

 

 

Listen to Joe George’s Dig! on Tuesdays, 6am to 8am, and be sure call in to let him know what you think!

 

 

 

 

If you have any questions, email Julia Ormond at ormondj@dickinson.edu. Thanks for reading!

The Blues According to Danny

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    Community Post: Interview with Community DJ Danny Dicker

Danny may posses a quiet personality, but he speaks through the music he plays here at WDCV. Danny does his research on his music, knows the many covers of his most favorite songs, and could tell you the background story of most blues songs and their singers. His show name, The Crossroads, echoes a Robert Johnson song with the same name. The blues artist inspired not only Danny’s show name, but also his love for blues and rock. During his one hour show, Danny plays both old and new songs that have charmed him with their unique sound. He attempts to create a diverse collection for his listeners by connecting some jazz songs to his favorite blues artists and using music to talk about the                                                                                   unique time period in which we live today.

Danny has only been a DJ for two years, but has already found a home here at WDCV. He moved to Carlisle about seven years ago with his father, and works in the Dickinson catering business throughout the day. He enjoys seeing live music, though he admits it’s been hard to support that passion as he gets older and must work more. To make up for this, Danny plays his own favorite music with his guitar. During the past four years, his talent has grown by playing great blues and rock songs, most commonly by The Black Keys, one of his favorite bands. He could talk forever about this band, their differing sounds throughout their albums, their seemingly soon-to-be break up, and that one chance he almost had to see them live. It is his love for this band and others alike that bring out his true personality, one wrapped tightly around bluesy guitar riffs and a steady rhythm.

                             

His favorite artists range from Mac DeMarco to BB King, from The Beatles to Isaac Hayes. Danny’s favorite backstory of a blues song is the history of Blind Willie Johnson’s “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground.” A mixtape containing this song was shot into space for other life forms to find, as a representation of what our music sounds like, to convey human emotion.  Danny explained how this song was chosen to express the feeling of loneliness, and it only makes sense that it should be floating in space by itself until other life forms eventually find it. These backstories that Danny discovers bolster his love for music. They are unique, and present a special imagination to each song that he cannot find in any other genre. It only makes sense that Danny is so excited each week when he arrives at the WDCV station for his show, because it gives him chance to share this beautiful genre with all of his listeners.

 

 

Tune in to Danny’s show, The Crossroads, Thursdays from 10pm to 11pm, to hear a taste of the blues!

 

 

 

If you have any questions, email Julia Ormond at ormondj@dickinson.edu. Thanks for reading!