By Victor Meier
For nearly four decades KMMT has been the main
source for music, entertainment, weather, snow reports and emergency
information in the Sierras.
In December, KMMT listeners experienced the
departure of much beloved KMMT DJ Katie McWilliams, known to her fans simply as
Katie Mac. I sat down and discussed the station’s direction with some of the
KMMT crew. “We’re an advocate for Katie,” said the station’s General Manager
Paul Payne, “glad that she was here for the time she was, she made a big impact
and we’re grateful for her contribution.” KMMT has evolved over the past decade
and with the leadership of such people as Paul and the station’s Program
Director Lisa Meuret, KMMT will be moving forward with the same momentum that listeners
have come to appreciate.
“She’s [Lisa] our Program Director and she’s in the
Bay Area; and does a good job of keeping us connected,” says Paul. Dale Yard, who
listeners may recognize as “Dale the Intern”, until in his words, “They started
paying me,” has a firm grasp on KMMT’s target audience having been a member of
the station’s team for a few years now. Both Dale and Paul understand the
importance of genre and intend to broaden the musical landscape at KMMT. Yard
expressed a desire to achieve similar status to the likes of larger market,
independent stations like 91X in San Diego, CA.
“Internally, Lisa and Paul are both very good about giving
their DJ’s the freedom to bring music to the station,” Dale emphasized, then
continued by adding, “We’re trying to throw those classic hits in there so you
recognize the similarities between the bands that laid down that work for the
bands that are here today.” KMMT is a community entity and the team prides
themselves on being accessible to the public. The staff at KMMT encourages
listener feedback and requests. They have a real open door policy.
When asked what they plan to do with the fervently
popular “Fresh Tracks with Katie Mac” [show] Dale answered saying, “We’ve
actually moved forward and have introduced a new show called Freshies.” Freshies
will be a new take on an existing idea and it will involve more perspective
that will come from Dale and new KMMT DJ, Josie B. “Freshies is more of a back
and forth with me and Josie B,” says Dale. Josie made her case to Dale by
telling him that she wanted to see Fresh Tracks continue and that they needed
to let the public know more about the bands they were hearing.
As we sat there on the couch in Paul’s office,
nearly on cue, Josie stepped into the room and joined our conversation. Dale
and I gladly moved aside to provide Josie room to sit with us. Josie is
originally from Sweden and enjoyed a prior stint in Mammoth ten years ago.
Besides being a local musician she is a supporter of local music and adds a unique
element to the station with her eclectic and worldly influence. Josie told me, “Sweden
is where I grew up, but then I’ve been all over the world.”
Veteran DJ at KMMT, TJ Dubs is responsible for doing
much of the news these days and will be hosting a Funk and Jam show. I spoke to
TJ over the phone and he told me that he’s, “excited about the new people in
station and new ideas with eclectic taste,” TJ continued to say, “I’m looking
forward to new opportunities in 2014.” TJ’s show will compliment Dale’s Electronic
Music show called Bass in Your Face. The entire 2014 programming schedule is
evident of the renewed focus that KMMT has implemented. “This team going
forward in 2014 is just a great team,” says Dale. For more programming
information check the website at http://www.kmmtradio.com/shows.html.
“Instead of
us focusing so much on new music, we’re broadening the spectrum of what’s
considered new music,” said Dale, “we’re trying to broaden the term new music.”
Shifting their focus from the more obscure artist (while not eliminating them
entirely) KMMT has committed to including new music from more established
artists as well. Paul helped with perspective on the matter by saying, “There
were over 100,000 new album releases last year; it was hard to get it all.” Josie
continued with the sentiment that, “While we are all still focusing on finding
new artist from all over the world we will also give space to some of those
bands that we all love,” continued Josie, “whether they released and album this
past or not.” Josie finished by adding, “We want to mix the stuff you already
love with new stuff you’ll be nuts for tomorrow.”
The staff at KMMT is strong supporters of local
music and vehemently expresses their affection for local musicians as well as
bands visiting Mammoth. “We are a proponent and advocate for the bands that are
coming here and they’re always welcome in the studio, we like to have the
people in live,” added Paul, “its part of the open-door policy for that.” Josie
B. is a local musician and plays with the band The Grand Sparrow. In fact,
Josie caught the radio bug while performing in studio. “The way she [Josie] got
this job was pretty cool,” says Dale, “she actually came in with Grand Sparrow
to play a show one day.” “Dale interviewed me,” added Josie, “we played some
songs live and I found KMMT to be a very interesting place to be.”
As it appears to me, there is no New Wave music, no
Indie or Grunge, no Alternative, no Acid or Hard Rock, no Heavy Metal or
whatever the latest industry buzz term for good music is. There’s just good
music. If you’re not happy with what you are hearing on KMMT, just wait a song
or two…moreover; feel free to share with KMMT what you would like to hear. You
are bound to find something you like; after all it’s our community’s station.
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