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WXJM: Video Didn't Kill The Radio Star
WXJM: Video Didn't Kill The Radio Star
Put something weird in your ears.
That is the official tagline of WXJM, JMU's student run radio station. First airing all the way back in the ancient year of 1990, WXJM strives to expose JMU students to new, niche, and experimental music. This means NO songs that have ever made top 40 in the United States, no matter how long ago.
WXJM also founded the Harrisonburg-exclusive annual DIY music festival Macrock, which has seen some huge artists from now all the way back to it's founding in 1996. Notable artists who have performed at Macrock include: Elliott Smith, Fugazi, Mastodon, and Sufjan Stevens.
Three other friends and I hosted a radio show at 2 PM every Sunday, and it's a blast. 5g Self Own Tower (yes, that is really what we named it) had no set genre, no set mood, just the three of us and our wildly different music tastes. We actually held the title for largest 2024-25 group radio show, which I think is super cool!
We weren't strictly confined to playing music, so we'd often take long breaks between songs to talk and share stories. My favorite thing we did was 'Guy of the Week,' where we'd share a funny story about something odd we witnessed someone doing between shows.
WXJM had become such a home to me during my senior year. It was the perfect way to end the week, debrief with my close friends, and put bits and pieces of myself out there for the world to see. Music is something I love, so being able to share exactly what I want on public radio was so cool. Their mission of taking time to appreciate and share the unappreciated and underrepresented speaks to me dearly. It remains a great community of shared music and better community of people.
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