Meet Mass Comm: Wisdorf Discusses Mixing Music, Meeting Musicians

Colorful, promotional band stickers cling to his office door. Once the door is opened, music is sure to greet visitors, as their eyes scan posters celebrating albums that line the walls. His desk serves as storage for stacks of CDs in varying genres. A well-used bass guitar is propped up in a corner, an often escape for the music director of KTXT-FM.

Jackson Wisdorf, a senior electronic media and communication major at Texas Tech University, said he spends the majority of his last semester before graduation working for the station.

“My job, technically, is to listen to all of the new music that comes in,” Wisdorf said, in his lively, booming voice, “and then at the beginning of each week, we submit our charts to the College Music Journal, which is like the Billboard for independent rock music.”

Above, Jackson Wisdorf, the music director of KTXT-FM The Raider, poses in his office in the Texas Tech University College of Media & Communication, and below, the KTXT station.

After screening songs sent from promoters and independent artists, Wisdorf said he then creates a 100-song playlist containing popular hits from the last couple of weeks, mixed with new material.

“I wouldn’t say that we play unpopular music, but we’re more on the independent spectrum of the music side of things,” Wisdorf said, listing different styles of music played, such as indie rock, hip hop and EDM.

According to the 23-year-old music director, different students create live mixes for the station to maintain the diversity.

“It’s all student-made programming on the show,” explained Wisdorf, mentioning automation runs pre-programmed playlists for late in the evening and early hours of the morning, so no one from the nine-member staff must work overnight.

Looking back two and a half years, Wisdorf said he originally heard a liner while listening to The Raider, advertising for volunteers. Soon following an email he sent in response to the in-house ad, a former program director invited him to the station to meet the staff.

“I went up, signed a piece of paper and I was on the air like 20 minutes later,” Wisdorf said. “I just kind of fell in love with it. I’d like to continue on this path for the rest of my career.”

Along with Zack Curtis, operations director, Wisdorf runs an afternoon show from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. A different theme characterizes each day of the week, according to Wisdorf, who mentioned “New Music Monday,” “Two-for-Tuesday,” “Woman Crush Wednesday,” “Throwback Thursday” and “F-it Friday,” where the jocks play random selections. The student also has a punk and grunge rock show Monday evenings called “The Garage.”

“The coolest part about college radio and public radio, in general, is you don’t have to be confined to one genre,” Wisdorf said. “So we play what the community, which is Tech students and Lubbock, in general, wants to hear.”

Though another student, Ian Wilkinson, hosts “806 Echo” on 88.1 FM that highlights local musicians, Wisdorf also has the opportunity to interview artists on air.

“We get to hang out with local artists, get behind the scenes,” Wisdorf said. “Sometimes we’ll have them in for interviews. We’ll do live in-studio performances every once in a while, but mostly it’s just going out, seeing shows, talking to people and just seeing what’s going on in the local music scene.”

Wisdorf listed local coverage of The Goners, Dry Heeves, Veda Moon and Ivory & Ash. His face lit up as he described attending a show at Bar PM on University Avenue, with Phlip Coggins & the Lotharios, as one of the first remote broadcasts of the semester.

“While we were there, they had like just this one song they played with prolonged guitar solos,” the music director detailed. “People in the band had, like, really long cables going into their amps and they were just like walking around the bar, playing and getting up on tables.”

Recalling a memorable interview, the host referenced his first on-air interview without a trainer. According to Wisdorf, his planned co-host contacted him five minutes before an interview with experimental rock band Megafauna.

CDs fill shelves in Wisdorf’s office.

“So I was, like, green, I had barely any idea what I was doing,” he said, “but I still interviewed them. It turned out really good. Luckily, the band there, they really understood.”

He explained an hour on the radio can feel lengthier on-air. On occasion, stations hit a gap of silence, often called “dead air.”

“Sometimes you just have to pull someone out, out of nowhere,” Wisdorf said, of subjects to interview. “The easiest trick is the big window that we have in the studio. If you’re in doubt, just look for something out that window and talk about it.”

Aside from discovering interesting subjects to discuss, other types of planning are needed to maintain KTXT.

“Radio is one of those things, where it’s simple,” Wisdorf said, “but at the same time, it’s very, very complex. It wouldn’t be possible without all of the staff members and all of the volunteers we have here at the station. They’re like the little hamsters in the wheels, they keep the station running.”

While technically not employed full-time at the station, the student works almost everyday in the station, either hosting or completing behind-the-scenes work for The Raider.

“There’s a lot of time involved,” Wisdorf said, “but in the end, I’m listening to music for that whole time. I mean, I’m getting to work with what I love. I get to listen to music all day. I get to explore different genres. I get to explore the artists. It’s kind of a dream come true. That’s my favorite part: it gives me an excuse to listen to music all day in the best way possible.”

Currently job-hunting, he said his goal is to continue in radio.

“Music has been such an integral part of my life,” Wisdorf concluded, picking his favorite genre as blues, but with much difficulty.

“Growing up, my parents always raised me to respect music. There was always music playing in our house, so I think that has something to do with it. And I mean, it’s my dream to continue on working with something having to do with music for my life.”