Spotlight: University of Alabama at Birmingham’s BlazeRadio

Special thanks to General Manager Kayla Gladney for answering the questions!

Tell me a little history about your station and where your station is now?
BlazeRadio started in 2008 in our Office of Student Media, which also houses our newspaper (Kaleidoscope) and literary magazine (Aura). In its humble beginnings, BlazeRadio was designed to give students at our medicine-dominated school an opportunity to experiment in areas they may not have touched academically. Naturally, BlazeRadio also appealed to those students who were going into broadcasting and communications as well. Today, BlazeRadio still attracts a variety of students who get to come and learn the ins and outs of putting together a radio show. We are always working hard to make sure our students get the most out of their experience here, and we are glad to say that experience now includes more than putting together a show. Students can now also gain experience in the business and marketing aspects of radio as well. As an organization, we host events and provide music for events – all in efforts to better serve our students.

What sets your station apart from other college radio stations?
We have very unique programming – everything from shows that cover Indie Rock, to shows that discuss Hip Hop, to shows about movie soundtracks. We have something for just about everybody. We also host our own events on campus, like #UnleashtheMusicWeek.

Why did you choose to work at the radio station?
I decided to work for the radio station because I knew that my college education was about more than what I learned in class, but what I experienced in general during my time here. So, I thought I should take advantage of the opportunity to learn something I had never tried before. My love of music also played a huge part in my joining the station.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done for your station?
The craziest thing I’ve ever done, or the craziest thing I tend to do often is forget to eat. Like most students, my schedule is pretty hectic. I usually spend any available time working in the office, including after hours. I usually have a checklist of things to do and I don’t stop until I’ve finished it. Unfortunately, I rarely remember to add eating to that list. So, it has become a habit of some of my DJs to ask me if I’ve eaten when they get to the office. If I haven’t, they usually yell at me and make me go get something.

What’s the best part of college radio? And the hardest part?
The best part of college radio is having the freedom to experiment. Blazeradio serves many purposes, but the most important is being a learning experience for students. Our advisers give us advice and do a great job leading us, but they also give us the room to make mistakes we can learn from. It’s great to learn with a group of people. The hardest part about college radio is what most people say: balancing it with school. Sometimes we feel like we don’t have the time to appreciate all of the parts of the learning experience; getting back up once we fall is all the more difficult because of school. However, I feel like it is all worth it in the end.