Every Saturday night, the Balla Balla Dillz show on WIUS kicks off with the adopted theme song, "Dinner with Blockhead," a 40-second instrumental. Once a week from 10 p.m. to midnight, freshmen Samuel Adams, John Kniesly and Gyrid Lyon expose underground hip-hop to the student body via the WIUS airwaves. But it doesn't end there. Many more students open the ears of listeners to their unique musical tastes on AM 1570.\nEach DJ brings something different to the table, but they all share a common bond: the love of music. It just so happens that WIUS provides an outlet for DJs to play music that's important for them to unsuspecting listeners.\n"I love music, so I figured, why not do two things called DJ-ing, which are two completely different things," Kniesly says, referring to his other passion.\nEach week, Lyon, Kniesly and other DJs enter the house that makes up the WIUS headquarters. Posters and stickers of bands from Radiohead to Blond Redhead to Pennywise are plastered all over the walls. Each level of the house has a bathroom. The one on the top floor was dedicated to the last station director. The myth goes that the house used to be a place of Native American worship, and an extra, higher step had to be added to the existing 12. \nSenior Misty Warren gets away from her other obligations when she enters the house on 815 E. Eighth St. During her show Malfunction Junction, which airs Mondays from midnight to 2 a.m., she can separate herself from the rest of the world and delve into the music.\n"It's my two hours of serenity a week," Warren says.\nWarren finds appeal in getting the music out to people who normally wouldn't hear it on the radio. Malfunction Junction features independent rock, sometimes girl rock, and an array of local music.\n"There's a lot of good music out there that's not getting promoted," Warren says. So that's where being a DJ comes in. Warren, like listeners, hears music she might not have heard if she didn't DJ for the station. "There's a giant bucket of stuff at my fingertips that I wouldn't have otherwise." \nFreshman Mike Taylor agrees. His weekly ska and punk show sticks to a station-regulated format. This unique setup saves Taylor the trouble of extensively planning his show and gives him the leeway to play a bit of his own. Though the station decides most of what he plays, he still explores the extensive CD selection.\n"I love music, and I love finding music, especially obscure music," he says. "I'd say learning about Wesley Willis was probably the single coolest thing so far."\nSophomore Don Dresser came to IU for the radio station. His interest in music gave him the desire to share it with other people. Simply the environment and attitude of the station to get the music out to people grabbed his interest.\nIn addition to sharing musical preferences on the airwaves, the benefits of working at WIUS include the experience and the connections, Lyon and Kniesly say. Both have interviewed artists they admire and plan to interview One Man Army from Binary Star in the future. \n"It's pretty good to have connections in the community you're working in, and getting the experience, playing the music, and pushing buttons," Lyon says.\n"I get to touch a button every once in a while," Kniesly adds. \nThough Lyon and Kniesly play hip-hop on their show, their beliefs coincide with those of WIUS in keeping a sincerity in the music played and bringing music to the student body they probably won't hear on major radio stations. Their desire to do a show sprang from their love of the music. \n \nTHE SHOW\n "We're not about the dolla dolla bills like the mainstream rap," Lyon says. The name came about when Kniesly, Lyon and friends were joking around about mainstream rappers' desire for money and dolla dolla bills. Balla Balla Dillz was one incarnation of the joke.\n"We almost called it Yo! MTV Raps, but we thought we might have some copyright problems," Kniesly says.\nThough their show highlights hip-hop, they also highlight the spirit of music and not being concerned with image or popularity. Kniesly and Lyon's focus remains on hip-hop and keeping their shows true to the underground scene. Though they go in to the studio without a plan, they stick to the music they know while keeping each show unique.\n"We try not to play the same songs and just stick with the same artists and try to keep it in the underground hip hop community," Lyon says. Kniesly agrees with the importance of staying true to the theme of their shows.\n"We try to be consistent with the artists and try to keep the cornucopia of music," Kniesly says. \nBut each DJ takes a different approach to his or her show. Warren bases the content of her show on her mood and finds it helpful to plan about an hour in advance. Planning, she says, allows her to run the show smoothly.\n"I always want my show to run as if a thousand people are listening," Warren says. "I just want it to sound professional." \nBut broadcasts seldom reach 1,000 people. Being an AM station limits the listenership of WIUS, which becomes an obstacle in getting the music out to students. The antenna sits on top of the Main Library and only reaches about that far, says DJ Dresser. For those living in the dorms, campus cable's Channel 2 broadcasts WIUS. Dorm living also offers Ethernet connections, which make it easier to hear the Web casts from the WIUS Web site.\nAnother concern for DJs is getting a decent time slot. A rookie can be stuck on any shift that is open, even a 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. time slot on a Tuesday morning. As the DJ gains more seniority, he or she can start choosing a time slot. \nIn addition to the two-hour time slot allotted to DJs, they must also serve on a committee, which has weekly meetings. Each committee has different activities that help run the station, such as the special event committee, which organizes Culture Shock, an annual concert highlighting several bands during a weekend, and the promotions committee.\n"For promotions committee, last year I ran around in a gorilla suit in the Union handing out fliers," Dresser says. \nLearning how to handle all the equipment at the station presents a problem for new DJs. New DJs often accidentally eject a CD that is already playing, Taylor says, leaving only dead air. Listening to about two or three of their own shows usually helps to get the hang of the volume, Taylor says. Taylor found that getting the hang of the equipment and developing a "radio voice" takes about a full semester for the average DJ.\n"It takes a full semester to convince yourself you sound good on the air," Taylor says.\nResponsibilities of the DJs during each show include federally mandated station IDs every half hour and keeping with Federal Communications Commission and WIUS regulations on profanity. Twenty minutes after every hour, service announcements must be made, usually from nonprofit organizations. Weather is announced 40 minutes after every hour. During the day, sports are included in the air breaks. When the air breaks are out of the way, DJs return to their original mission.\n"Once the air breaks are over, we go back to playing cochlea-shattering hip-hop," Lyon says.
STUDENT RADIO\nThe Balla Balla Dillz show makes up only one of three weekly hip-hop blocks on WIUS. Even though the show remains in the minority, they find the station to be open-minded.\n"They're really cool, they gave us money to bring in Atmosphere last semester," Lyon says. \nBecause the station focuses mostly on independent rock, WIUS lacks the music required for the show. Lyon and Kniesly usually bring their own music. Kniesly finds himself continually buying more and more vinyl, and consequently, the show stays fresh and true to the underground hip-hop format.\nThough each DJ prefers a different kind of music, WIUS makes all its DJs feel welcome and laid back. The doors on the WIUS house are always open, the DJs say, ready for the family to come home. The station is not only open to the DJs themselves, but also to their ideas. Simply having their opinions and ideas heard draws many DJs to student radio.\n"Almost 100 percent of the time, my opinion counts," Warren says. \nBeing student-run does not mean no one is in charge. DJs who are very active and involved often become directors. Student directors have a lot of power at the station, Warren says. They take care of a lot of the business, but DJs still have a say in what happens.\n"It's safe to say that a DJ will get back what they put in to the station. It's easier to have your ideas heard, if you are an active member," Warren says. "It takes a lot of people and a lot of work to make the station what it is."\nDresser feels the atmosphere might be stifled by faculty members or other bosses trying to guide them, instead of student directors. Because students make up the personnel, Dresser finds that co-workers are more understanding of the usual student problems and concerns.\n"Everybody understands that things come up," Dresser says. "People are all in similar stages in life, and you can relate to the people you work with." \nWhen things come up and a DJ can't make his or her show, a substitute can be arranged. Usually, the shift is filled, says director and junior Cody Leitholt. While DJs can arrange for a substitute, sometimes DJs just don't show up for their shifts. To handle that problem, the station keeps people on call with a cell phone that rotates between seven people. \n"So, when the on-call cell phone rings at 3 in the morning, whoever has it for that evening has to make it to the station and spend the next two hours trying not to fall asleep," Leitholt says. \nOther problems come up too. Occasionally a DJ will steal CDs, swear on the air or even vandalize. In these cases, the DJ is promptly fired, Leitholt says. Each semester, a few DJs are relieved of their duties.\n"It's just to be expected, and we deal with it, swiftly to minimize future problems," Leitholt says. Still these infractions only occur occasionally, and Leitholt says most DJs are responsible. "The vast majority of DJs are really a pleasure to work with. The DJs and other staff members are the main reason we exist."\nProgram director and sophomore Erik Johnson helps the DJs develop their shows and sets the programming schedule. Working with the DJs and meeting new people is what keeps Johnson interested in a job that allows him about four hours of sleep per night.\n"I get to work the the DJ and help them shape their shows," Johnson says. "At this point what keeps me at the station is the people I've met. The novelty of being on the air has worn off."\nWIUS, with so many of these DJs on hand, throws people with a wide variety of tastes together. Everybody listens to something different, but a common interest in independent or underground music bonds them together, forming a respect and appreciation for each person's tastes.\n"Everybody pretty much respects what other people listen to," Dresser says. "We may give each other a hard time, but it's all in fun."\nA common misconception of the radio's attitude is that they crusade against anything mainstream. That anything on the major radio stations automatically registers as sellout. Warren wants to dispel this myth.\n"We're not out to fight the man," she says. "We're just rooting for the underdog"
