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10 Questions with ... Kristen Kurtis
May 22, 2017
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
I studied Audio/Radio at Emerson College in Boston and trained at their student-run WERS. During my junior year, I was hired for part-time on-air work at WBOS. Less than a year after graduating, my first full-time job came in the form of afternoons on the Hot AC/Top 40 hybrid KZZU in Spokane, and after a couple years I was promoted to simultaneously do middays and take over the MD role at Triple A sister KEZE. I then spent four years as the MD doing middays at KGSR in Austin before returning home to Philadelphia for the morning show on WXPN.
1. How did you become interested in radio?
My parents always had the radio playing in our house and I naturally gravitated toward music as the art form through which I connected with other people. I realized that was something I could do professionally at age 13 when I won passes from my favorite radio station to a private concert they were hosting, and the rest is history!
2. How has it been returning to your home town and doing mornings on WXPN?
The creative freedom I'm allowed on WXPN combined with the warm welcome and continued enthusiastic support from our listeners and members has felt like a dream. I am the luckiest girl alive and I have to pinch myself every morning to make sure it's real. Also to make sure I actually get up at 4a.
3. How has the show changed since you took over?
I have a very different energy than my predecessor; that's probably the biggest change. I do my best to weave together the past with as much new music from as many different genres as possible.
4. Do you have any regular features you do?
On Tuesdays we play a game called #TurnItUp, #TurnItDown with our listeners, where we ask for and share detailed feedback on brand new songs. We also have a community-curated hour of themed music to cap every week called the Friday Morning Mixtape.
5. Tell about your side kick Bob Bumbera.
People tell us they love our rapport, and I love that he's always got my back. He handles the heavy stuff in current events with ease, finds the perfect audio clips to complement specialty programming, drops everything to help me put out any technical fires that may spring up, and does it all (and more!) with a warm smile.
6. Tell us about your recent involvement in the music for the station?
I am taking calls Wednesdays 11a-2p, attending our weekly music meetings, reporting adds, and compiling data to help us make decisions together as a team.
7. What new acts are you most excited about?
The eclectic yet classic sounds of Earl St. Clair, the punk stylings of the teenage girls in The Regrettes, the superstar-in-the-making that is Kam Franklin and her seven-piece band in The Suffers, and the few songs we've heard from Phoebe Bridgers and Lo Moon have me intrigued.
8. Of all the skills you have gained through the years, is there an area you'd like to improve?
At the moment I am expanding my knowledge of artists that came before my time while simultaneously keeping up with new releases, and working on time management in general.
9. What would surprise people most about you?
I'm an introvert. A very friendly, outgoing introvert.
10. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without ...
... checking Twitter!
Bonus Questions
Last non-industry job:
Funusual, a now defunct tourist-trap trinket store in Faneuil Hall, Boston.
First record ever purchased:
No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom
First concert:
Y100 FEZtival w/No Doubt, Stone Temple Pilots, Violent Femmes
Favorite band of all-time:
No Doubt!
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time away from work?
Singing/writing music, stand-up comedy, baking, traveling, pestering my government representatives
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