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10 Questions with ... Kendall Stewart
April 13, 2020
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
- 2010-2013 WERS/Boston
- 2013-2014 WXRV/Boston
- 2014-2015 WUMB/Boston
- 2015-now WCNR
1. How did you become interested in radio?
I grew up listening to Radio Disney as a kid, then as a teenager I would walk to school listening to Stern on WBCN on my Walkman and kept the station on for the music on my way back home. When WBCN went off the air, I started listening to WFNX until they, too, went off the air. Thinking about it now I remember the exact final moments of both stations. Then when I was looking at colleges I was already interested in Emerson and finding WERS sealed the deal.
2. How has your experience at Emerson College helped you prepare for the “real world” of radio?
It’s been seven years and three stations since I graduated but I can confidently say that I wouldn’t be where I am if I hadn’t started there. At WERS I was programming a major market Triple A before I could even drink legally, and I had no idea how huge that was. That’s the real gift of it; you’re thrown into the fire without knowing what the fire is. When I was there, I just knew that I loved what I did and the connections I was making and wanted to keep doing it.
3. You have just been named PD at The Corner. Tell us how that came about.
It happened pretty much the usual way -- the former PD, Jeff Sweatman, left and I had been his second in command for almost five years. Our GM, Mike Chiumento, and OM, Les Sinclair, asked me if I was up for stepping into the role and I wasn’t about to say no to a lifelong goal!
4. It’s early but what ideas are you formulating to freshen-up the station?
All pop punk and emo all the time. Blink-182 every three songs. Just kidding. I have a lot of ideas and don’t want to show my hand but there is one thing I’m really excited about... WE’RE AN ALL FEMALE STATION! It’s just by coincidence but also is a thing I’ve always wanted to be a part of. And I’m a firm believer in everything happening for a reason.
5. How would you describe the music on the station?
The term I use most frequently is Alt-leaning Triple A. There’s somewhat of an alternative gap in this market and we’re a Triple A at our core but don’t stray away from filling that gap. For example, we were all over Simple Creatures, “Drug” last year. I mean, Mark Hoppus AND Alex Gaskarth? BAM. Dream team.
6. What new bands are you most excited about?
Morgxn is going to rule the world someday, I promise you. He’s a bonafide superstar, anyone who has seen him perform can tell you and he’s the LGBTQ icon the world needs right now. I’ve interviewed him twice and he’s so smart and creative and genuine I really admire him. Dare I say he’s … vital … to me? Yeah, I just did a pun.
7. Tell us about the Charlottesville market.
Cville is great—a liberal town in a conservative state for sure. I didn’t know what the phrase “college town” actually meant until I got here and the whole town is going nuts over UVA Sports, orange and blue everything, and I’m over here like, “Go Sox…?” And it’s such a music town which isn’t something everyone realizes. On a local level the scene is fantastic across all genres anywhere from jam bands to goth groups. On a national level for a small city we pull in major acts. According to my source (read: Wikipedia) our population is about 50,000 but the station had our birthday show with Beck a couple years ago. It was wild.
8. What special programming/initiatives are you doing for your community during the pandemic?
We call our in-studio sessions “Corner Lounge Performances” and obviously we can’t have any sessions right now, but the Corner Lounge is the heart of our brand and can’t just go away. So, my move has been to book as many phoners and do as much cool Instagram/Facebook Live stuff and call it the Long-Distance Lounge. Ideas welcome!
9. Where do you see yourself in five years?
On vacation. It’s been a minute since I’ve had one of those. But the kind of vacation where at the end I’m ready to get back to a job I love and am passionate about!
10. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without _______.
Making jokes a seventh grader would be proud of.
Bonus Questions
Tell us about your alter ego as an actress and play director.
I’ve always been an actor and when I moved here, I needed friends and theater was the way I knew how to get some. I was cast in a show, and then a group of us from that show decided to form a company, and now we’re a 501c3 with a seven-person board of directors, 40 seat blackbox we built ourselves, and specialize in stripped down experimental shows. Directing is still new to me but I love it. In 2018 I directed a play called Coronado by Dennis Lehane that we did a run of here before taking it to D.C. for the Capital Fringe Festival. It’s probably one of the things I’m most proud of in my life.
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