Post-Olympics, pre-oceanfront and without MOMAR to back up its reputation as a worldwide destination for globe-trotting adventure racers, Squamish is experiencing a self-inflicted identity crisis and a hardy group of creative, community-minded volunteers could hold the key to resolving it.
Fiercely loyal Squamoleans will be pleased to discover they are just weeks away from the inaugural broadcast of Squamish.fm, the new community radio station currently based at the Hotspot on Cleveland Ave.
"We received probably about 15 to16 applications for programming and most of the individuals who applied are moving through the technical training process which is great," said Jessica Reid, organizing committee member. "Hopefully - if all goes well - we'll have some podcasts up and running by mid- to end of February."
On Sunday (Feb. 6), a group of aspiring radio DJs met with Todd Griffiths for a two-hour production workshop. Griffiths arrived in Squamish from Montreal a month ago with a background in Montreal radio and an experimental Bachelor of Fine Arts in electro-acoustic music, and heard about the project through his roommate's connections.
"I realized I have stuff to offer, so I jumped on the bandwagon to try to get it off the ground," he said.
The workshop took place at the Hotspot and covered the basics of Internet broadcasting. For the short term, Squamish.fm will be a web-based radio station with 15 hours of programming per week.
"The idea is we can get everybody to be self-sufficient in the sense that they can all record their shows," said Griffiths. "We'll start with 15 now that we have applications - we have more than 15 hours of content, there's no doubt. It's just a matter of getting it going."
A new headquarters for the fledgling station is another pressing need.
"With the limited funds we've raised so far, we're trying to secure a space and get some basic recording equipment together, but in the meantime we're encouraging people to work from home," Reid said.
During his presentation, Griffiths encouraged the group to pre-record shows in as "live" a manner as possible, staying true to the radio art form.
"The first step is to get a space, which is well underway; the second step is to get live Internet broadcasts," he said. "Hopefully people will be able to start, as opposed to recording their shows at home, to actually come into the space and record their show on the hour.
"Once that gets established, then you can start applying for airwaves."
The non-profit group is aiming to develop a full-time broadcast community radio station in the long term.
Brent Morrison has lived in Squamish for over a decade. He used to live in the Yukon where he did a show called "The Rockin' Blues Show" that he wants to bring back. With no formal training, Morrison said he learned everything "on the fly" during his Yukon stint.
"It was Friday nights for two hours, and I did it for about two years," he said. "And that was back when CDs were actually just becoming popular, so we were still using a lot of turntables and cross faders."
Squamish's francophone community will want to tune into "The Hugo Show" with first-time radio host Hugo Taquin - another Montreal transplant - who will be playing new Canadian and international francophone music.
"It's a new passion, it's a new thing for me," he said. "I think it's a great project. I think a lot of people will benefit from it, the whole community will benefit from it."
Local musician Mike McDonald is also on board with his own idea for a show.
"I hope it happens. I hope it goes live and not just on the Web, and I hope there's lots of local colour in there and I think it's great, community radio is a great idea. It gives you another option," he said. "Right now you only get the top 40 stuff, I want to hear more indie, more local, more about what's going on in Squamish."
Griffiths is bringing back his show "Earmilk" that he spawned back east.
"I think we should be doing 24 [hours] if we can," he said. "That's sort of the beauty of being able to tune in; people want to tune in at all times."
Reid echoed Griffiths's enthusiasm.
"Ideally we'd like to have 24 hours a day," she said.
Those interested in volunteering their time, hosting their own show, or donating money and/or equipment are asked to contact Squamish Community Radio by email at [email protected]. More information can be found at http://squamish.fm/.
