Interview with Jack Kirk, September 14, 2008

Partial Transcript: Will you just like just recite band names off the top of your head?

Segment Synopsis: In this opening segment, Kirk and Jeffries do a series of sound tests by saying the names of bands. They talk a little bit about the bands they liked in high school before proceeding into the interview.

Keywords: Bands; Live; Sex Pistols (Artist); Sex Pistols (Band)

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Musicians; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: The way I've started out before is you can just say, say who you are, um, if you want to say what you do now you can, if you don't you don't have to.

Segment Synopsis: Kirk talks about how he first heard about WRFL and how he attended one of the first meetings that WRFL held. He did radio production in high school and was interested in the production side of radio. He talks about what that first meeting was like as well as what drew him to WRFL.

Keywords: Blues; Freshman; High schools; Interesting; Kakie Urch; Kathleen "Kakie" Urch; Mark Beaty; Meetings; Production directors; Productions; Punk rock; Radio Free Lexington (RFL); Records; WRFL

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Musicians; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky; University of Kentucky. Kentucky Kernel.; WUKY. (Radio Station: Lexington, Ky.).

Partial Transcript: What was your impression of what WRFL or Radio Free Lexington at that time w, was about, at that point?

Segment Synopsis: Kirk tells the story of how he became involved with WRFL after the first meeting. He came into Miller Hall one day and met with Mark Beaty. He talks about how he first met many of the people at WRFL and how he had to prove that he was interested and invested in the station before he was accepted.

Keywords: Diane Pipes; Directors; Experiences; Mark Beaty; Meetings; Mohawks; Paul Davidson; Production; Radio Free Lexington (RFL); Shows; WRFL

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Uh, so initially I was a fundraiser.

Segment Synopsis: Kirk talks about his first job with WRFL as a fundraiser. He specifically focused on getting businesses to invest in advertisements for the radio station. He talks about the angle he would have to take and the kind of arguments he would have to pose to such businesses.

Keywords: Airing; DJs; Deejays; Disc jockeys; Guys; Involved; Jozo's; People; Remembering

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Fund raising; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Radio; Radio advertising.; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: I don't remember exactly when directors were named but it wasn't too long after that.

Segment Synopsis: Kirk talks about the initial directors at WRFL and the people that made up the RFL group. He talks about the people who started out as directors and the situations that led to people switching roles at the station. He also talks about people who were not directors but played important roles at the station.

Keywords: Bruce Lorch; Directors; Jack Smith; Kakie Urch; Kathleen "Kakie" Urch; Left; Mark Beaty; People; Radio Free Lexington (RFL); Rhea Perkins; WRFL

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Can you talk at all about the difference between Radio Free Lexington and WRFL?

Segment Synopsis: Kirk talks about the difference between RFL and WRFL. RFL was the group that had the idea of starting the radio station while WRFL was the radio station that came from RFL. Kirk goes on to describe the role that RFL played in bringing the radio station and who the radio station was for.

Keywords: Changes; Ideas; Kakie Urch; Kathleen "Kakie" Urch; Meetings; People; Radio Free Lexington (RFL); WRFL

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Fund raising; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting of sports; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio programs.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky; University of Kentucky. Kentucky Kernel.

Partial Transcript: Uh, I'm getting ahead of myself with saying all that but, um, we had to have directors.

Segment Synopsis: Kirk talks more about the directors of WRFL and the production staff who worked under Kirk. He gives a list of the positions that different people had and expands on their relevance to the station's development.

Keywords: Ambassadors; Applications; Directors; General managers; Jack Smith; Jamie Tittle; Kakie Urch; Kathleen "Kakie" Urch; Mark Beaty; People; Production staff; Productions; Radio Free Lexington (RFL); Rhea Perkins; Scott Ferguson; WRFL

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Politics and government; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: One of the things that comes up over and over again with the people that I've talked to about this was the--the m--the, the unbelievable churning machine of the production staff and the production studio.

Segment Synopsis: Kirk talks about the production studio and what happened when the production staff would work on different projects. He talks about developing promos and working with disc jockeys to get the right sound for the station. He also talks about the communication that was necessary to make the finished product the best that it could be.

Keywords: Airing; Audiences; Bill Widener; Decisions; Directors; Genres; Ideas; Jack Smith; Long; People; Production studio; Productions; Promotion (marketing); Promotional announcements; Rap; Rap music; Rob Olsen; Streets; Studios; Voices; Why; Working

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio programs.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: And I can talk about how that worked too if you want.

Segment Synopsis: Kirk talks about the process of production and the type of machinery they used to create their sounds. When WRFL first started, the production staff did not use computers. Instead, they would have to use other types of tools to create sound effects for the studio.

Keywords: Computers; Doug Collins; Machines; Production; Production studios; Reels; Sound effects; Sounds; Tapes

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Well, I want to interrupt you for a second.

Segment Synopsis: Kirk talks about using sound effects for productions in the studio. While it was certainly a lot of fun to play with the sound machine, there were certain rules that had to be followed to create great sounds. Kirk talks about some of things that were and were not allowed to be used in productions and why those rules were in place.

Keywords: Mark Beaty; People; Reverb; Sound effects; Sounds; Vinyl; Working

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: And that's an interesting point because there was--I, I mean I feel like there was a really amazing peer culture at WRFL...

Segment Synopsis: Kirk talks about the importance of peer culture at WRFL. In order for the station to sound good, the leadership at WRFL had to put down rules and have them followed through. Kirk talks about some of the situations where he or someone else would address the WRFL group and tell them that they needed to have higher quality content on the air.

Keywords: Mark Beaty; Microphones; Mics; People; Production; Production studios; Sounds; Working; Writing

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: And I also wanted to make another point about this whole like--'cause so far it just sound like, 'well, I'm the arbiter of all perfect taste.'

Segment Synopsis: Kirk talks more about the creation of different sounds in the studio and the methods that were employed. He specifically talks about cutting tapes, what that term meant, and why it was important to do it correctly.

Keywords: Computers; Cuts; Doug Collins; Editing; Edits; Fishbone; Footage; Involved; Jack Smith; Moving; Plays; Points; Production; Production studios; Radio Free Lexington (RFL); Records; Reels; Sounds; Tapes; Turntables; Voices; WRFL; Writes

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Kentucky Educational Television; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky; WUKY. (Radio Station: Lexington, Ky.).

Partial Transcript: So this is a very complicated and manual process, making these, making these productions.

Segment Synopsis: Kirk talks about creating the station IDs. They had to provide station IDs according to FCC regulations. Kirk talks about how they were made and the importance of getting the ID to sound just right.

Keywords: Cuts; Hours; Identification (ID); Jack Smith; Promos; Promotion (marketing); Promotional announcements; Station ID; Voices

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Do you ever think about how you were um--it seems to me that you and Jack in particular with the production department in general, um, you, you really, you know, you, you really created the identity of, of the radio station.

Segment Synopsis: Kirk talks about being one of the voices of the station. His voice ended up being on several of the promos he produced and hence may have become something that people identified with the station. Kirk talks about some of the reasons why his voice was on so many of the promos and how he developed the voice for the station.

Keywords: Airing; DJs; Deejays; Disc jockeys; Jack Smith; Production; Promotion (marketing); Promotional announcements; Segues; Shows; Sounds; Voices

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Talk about that sensibility which you're talking about here as a sort of characteristic of WRFL, as a characteristic of the people there.

Segment Synopsis: Kirk talks about the character of WRFL as a reflection of its goals. The main goal of WRFL was to introduce people to music and expose its audience to music that they could not get on commercial radio. Kirk explains how WRFL went about doing this and how he specifically tried to do this with his show.

Keywords: Commercial radio; Core values; Exclusion; Expands; Exposes; People; Recorded; Recording; Shows; Sounds; Values

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Well that was funny because I remember, um, I remember early on, that Mark, Mark Beaty, the program director, and Kakie both had...

Segment Synopsis: Kirk talks about how mainstream artists would sometimes be played by disc jockeys at the station despite the focus on alternative music. Specifically, some disc jockeys would only play alternative music while other disc jockeys would incorporate mainstream artists into their shows. Kirk talks about some of the situations where disc jockeys (including himself) would play from artists that were mainstream but would play music that was not mainstream.

Keywords: Bill Widener; Classic rock; DJs; Deejays; Disc jockeys; Kakie Urch; Kathleen "Kakie" Urch; Madonna (Artist); Mark Beaty; Opens; People; Playbox; Punk rock; Shows; Underground; Underground shows

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Jazz; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Do you have a se--I'm gonna guide you a little bit.

Segment Synopsis: Kirk talks about the different shows that aired on WRFL and the different types of music that were played on the station. There was a lot of variety in the station as well as in the individual shows of the station. Kirk talks about the different genres that were played at WRFL and what he liked about the different shows.

Keywords: Bluegrass; Bluegrass music; Bluegrass shows; Blues; Cultures; DJs; Deejays; Disc jockeys; Instrumentals; Jack Smith; People; Programming; Rap; Records; Shows; Tapes; Techno; Times

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Jazz; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: So, um, let's see I'm gonna wrap up here--

Segment Synopsis: Kirk talks about his favorite promo which he calls "the eighty-eight." He put a lot of work into making this promo, and describes some of the work that went into making it. He also talks about some of the confusion that exists around the start date of WRFL and why that confusion exists.

Keywords: '88; 1988; Bluegrass; Cutting; Eighty-eight; Genres; Hip hop; Hip-hop; Left; Local songs; Promos; Promotion (marketing); Promotional announcements; Records; Songs; Variety

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Politics and government; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Well my recollection, I think this may be where the eighty-seven / eighty-eight confusion comes from is that I don't know if it was just me, I'm sure it wasn't...

Segment Synopsis: Kirk talks about making productions and training people before the station went on the air. Jeffries claims that part of the confusion associated with the start date of the station was due to all of the work that the production studio did before the station aired. Kirk talks more about making promos in the studio and about helping train disc jockeys to run their shows.

Keywords: Airing; Exciting; Heard; Hears; Jack Smith; Mistakes; People; Promos; Promotion (marketing); Promotional announcements; Reggae; Shows; Studios; Trained; Training; Training directors; Trains

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: You're actually segueing into the last thing I want to ask you about which is--

Segment Synopsis: In this closing section, Kirk talks about some of his memories of the station and what the station represented. He recollects how at some points it was difficult to be open to outsiders because of the friendships that were made within the station. Despite the fact that WRFL members tended to bond with other WRFL members, Kirk argues against the idea that WRFL was an elitist group by providing examples of ways that WRFL reached out to other people.

Keywords: Inviting; Involved; Original; People; Segues; Weird

Subjects: Broadcasting.; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Lexington (Ky.).; Music; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky; Women