I’ve known about this station for well over a decade now. As a metalhead living in Central Illinois I’d occasionally travel north to the Chicago area or Milwaukee to see concerts and encounter banners and fliers for an all heavy metal station on the AM band called Rebel Radio. However, I can only recall hearing the station once when on the highway between Milwaukee and Chicago.

Music radio on the AM dial is nearly an anachronism now, and most of the practitioners now are either ethnic stations or easy listening. Nevertheless there are a few hold outs–mostly mom and pop operations or stations owned by relatively small groups–that program niche formats on AM stations. Being on the air for about sixteen years certainly qualifies WPJX 1500 AM in Zion, IL as a true AM music veteran.

Unfortunately, WPJZ isn’t exactly a powerhouse when it comes to transmission strength. In fact, the station broadcasts with just 250 watts from the far northeastern Illinois town of Zion, a good 38 miles from the Chicago city limits. What that means for a city dweller for me is that I simply cannot tune it in, no matter how hard I’ve tried. The stations serves southeast Wisconsin about as well as Illinois, still missing most of the major north suburbs of Chicago. Adding to the frustration is the fact that Rebel Radio does not yet have a web stream, although its website currently promises one soon.

Then, today while perusing their website again I noticed a note saying Rebel Radio is simulcast on a co-owned station, WKTA 1330 AM in Evanston, the first suburb north of Chicago, on Sundays from 4 to 8 PM. So this afternoon I tuned in Rebel Radio for the first time, thanks to WKTA.

First off, this is truly a heavy metal station, playing many examples of the genre from the more mainstream–like Metallica–to the lesser known–like Armored Saint. At least during this four-hour window there’s a live DJ spinning the tunes and talking quite knowledgeably about the bands and songs, pointing out local concert dates as appropriate. That element alone is quite refreshing and rarely heard on commercial radio, even if it also includes a too-long inane phone call from a friend of the DJ calling in from a Renaissance Fair.

In terms of fidelity, I’m not terrifically impressed. Contemporary heavy metal has a pretty broad frequency range and often is not mastered to be optimized for radio like a lot of pop and mainstream rock music. That means there’s a fair amount of sound in the high and low frequency extremes that AM radio doesn’t cover well. I think it takes some pretty good EQing and signal processing to make metal work well on AM. On the whole the station doesn’t sound bad, but the midrange and high end sounds pretty crowded and compressed. A little strategic equalization might let the high end come through a little better and make the station a little more listenable. I acknowledge that the main station WPJX might sound better than the simulcast that I can tune in. And, to be fair, on a portable radio or boombox the sonic compromises are far less perceptible.

Listening to Rebel Radio I was reminded of the Z-Rock syndicated heavy metal format. I first listened to it when I lived in New Jersey in the late 80s and early 90s when it was broadcast on an AM station out of New York on 1480. It didn’t always come in well in Passaic County where my parents lived, but I did tune in occasionally when looking for something different on the radio dial. Even at the time I didn’t think the sonic quality of metal on AM was that great.

Nonetheless, Rebel Radio proves that there must be a very loyal audience for heavy metal on the radio willing to deal with the compromises inherent in music on AM.

Dave the Metal Guy doing his show at WVUA. Photo from Metal Zone page.

Last Friday, May 28th, long-time college radio DJ David Standifer, aka “Dave the Metal Guy,” died at the age of 38 of an apparent brain aneurysm. Up until December, 2009 he’d been the host of University of Alabama college radio station WVUA‘s long-running metal show “The Metal Zone.”  The program, which began in 1982, had been hosted by Dave since 1993.

Sadly, Dave was fired by station management last December and “The Metal Zone” was taken off of the air. When it became clear that WVUA would not reconsider, Dave began working with other WVUA alums and metal fans to create a new metal radio station in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. According to the proposed station’s Facebook page, they were on their way towards creating an FCC-licensed station. Sadly, the last post by Dave (just a few days before his death) on the new station’s group page was “we now have a control room!”

Hopefully Dave’s enthusiasm for both metal and for radio will be embraced by his friends and fans and his dream of a new station will be realized.

KLOK's South Asian Format

I really like the idea that someday soon there will be a radio revolution and the FM dial will once again be returned to passionate music-loving DJs playing an eclectic mix of sounds at locally-owned radio stations. In the meantime, I will continue to troll the left side of the dial to hear my fellow weirdos in college, community and high school radio because that’s where the really exciting radio action is.

But just in the past few weeks I began to get the sense that something might be brewing on AM radio. As Paul wrote last week, a newish station near Chicago called the Avenue is playing an uncharacteristically diverse list of artists, from Tom Waits to Eartha Kitt. A few college stations, like Portland’ s KPSU are located on AM (tune in to catch a show that only plays 7″ vinyl or another devoted to psychedelia and garage rock); but I didn’t realize until a few days ago that in my own backyard there’s an AM station playing South Asian music (including Bollywood sounds) or that lucky listeners near Chicago get their very own metal station WPJX (“Rebel Radio”) at 1500 AM in Northbrook, Illinois.

Since June 2009, San Jose commercial radio station KLOK 1170 AM has been devoted to South Asian programming. Initially they launched with a 24 hour a day format of non-stop South Asian music, but as of today their schedule is mostly made up of brokered programming produced (and funded) by members of the community.

Music is woven throughout the schedule and Bollywood sounds are guaranteed if you tune in on Friday nights for the Desi Nights Radio dance music show or during the wee hours of 2am to 5am on Mondays through Wednesdays. Other shows on KLOK include a call-in show with a dentist, an astrology & meditation show, and an inter-generational show that discusses the differences between American culture and traditional Indian culture. Although it’s a commercial station with an out of town owner, it’s refreshing to hear that they are doing something a little different from the norm and that it is deeply tied to the local community.

Have you discovered something extraordinary on AM radio lately?

The oldest music store in the city, Aquarius is not big, and it’s far from comprehensive in its selection. If you want the latest Black Eyed Peas or Bon Jovi albums you’re probably better off going to Ameoba. Instead, Aquarius specializes in arcane, experimental music, including obscure heavy metal. For most people the store would be inscrutable; to me, it’s heaven.

But it’s not just the inventory that makes Aquarius great. It’s that every CD and record in the place appears to be careful chosen, even curated. For a store its size quite a bit of space is given over to employee favorites and new releases. And every single one of those new or favorite albums has a paragraph-long write-up on the front describing the artist and album in loving detail.

Aquarius Records website features a long list of new releases and reviews.

So what the hell does this have to do with radio? I learned about Aquarius for the first time when the store’s owners Andee Connors and Allan Horrocks were guest DJs on WFMU’s Brian Turner show. I was amazed at Connors’ and Horrock’s deep knowledge and passion for all of this obscure music that I’m also a big fan of. I was also blown away by the idea that there was a real brick-and-mortar store out there specializing these obscurities. I knew I had to visit the first chance I could get.

What’s best about Aquarius Records is the same that’s best about radio. Great music radio is about passion and curation, like an auditory art gallery where the DJ carefully and meticulously shares new music that she loves, that moves her or intrigues her.

Like radio, the music industry–and record stores in particular–are supposed to be in their death throes. But a store like Aquarius seems to survive, and even thrive because it appears to be motivated by passion inasmuch as profit. Community and college stations like WFMU hold on because they, too, are fueled by this commitment to serving up what’s interesting and good.

When you can find the new Bon Jovi anywhere, why go to the radio or an actual record store when Wal-Mart will be easier and cheaper? The new 7″ from Boris or CD from MOEBIUS / PLANK / NEUMEIER may be more obscure, but the fan is likely far more dedicated.

I might find any of these obscure releases at Amazon, but I’ll have to look hard, know what I’m looking for and then there’s a good chance there won’t be a review. I’ve bought several CDs from Aquarius based on their review alone and never been disappointed. I think that’s because I can trust the guys running the store, the same way I trust my favorite noncommercial radio DJs.

This isn’t a commercial for Aquarius–they’re certainly not sponsoring us (yet?). I just think it’s important to be reminded about how valuable a little informed, passionate guidance can be in discovering new music in this age of file-sharing, Pandora and Amazon.com.