(Sasha Matthews • The Student Life)
You’ve seen them around campus: stickers depicting aliens with headphones, squirrels with 88.7 FM plastered on top and the perfectly to-the-point “I <3 KSPC.” But what is KSPC and why does everyone seem to love it so much?
Although relatively — and literally, as we are housed in the basement of Pomona College’s Thatcher Hall — underground, KSPC 88.7 FM Claremont is the independent, non-commercial, student run radio station of the Claremont Colleges. Originally standing for K Students of Pomona College, KSPC is now the K SPaCe, as we represent the entirety of the 5C community.
First broadcast on the FM in 1956, KSPC is an essential hub for the underground and underrepresented music scene at the Claremont Colleges and wider Inland Empire area.
“KSPC Claremont strives to be a diverse, collaborative, and educational space in which community members of the Claremont Colleges and beyond can participate in their love of media, music and radio,” our mission statement reads. “Through creative programming, live events, and community engagement, KSPC promotes innovation and discovery by providing a platform for new, local, and underrepresented voices, perspectives, and sounds.”
As a KSPC volunteer, students can host live on-the-air music shows and podcasts, help the station review newly released music for radio play, learn live sound mixing skills, gain exposure to audio production and further personal music discovery (as our physical and digital music libraries boast thousands of records to dig through and enjoy).
“First broadcast on the FM in 1956, KSPC is an essential hub for the underground and underrepresented music scene at the Claremont Colleges and wider Inland Empire area. ”
KSPC frequently hosts events for the community and on the air. Currently, we are looking forward to our March Variety Show on Saturday March 30 from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Once a month during the school year, KSPC hosts live, in-studio artists for streaming on the air in the format of our Variety Shows. These shows feature a variety of audio-format acts, such as bands, solo musicians, poets, comedians and more.
As March is International Women’s Month, this variety show will be highlighting female voices and perspectives of 5C musicians. Tune in to 88.7 FM or stream online at www.kspc.org to hear it. Aside from variety shows, individual DJs from the station also host live in-studio sessions — a recent favorite of ours was experimental electronic musician 92Jelani live on DJ A/Ds show SynthdactylProgram — so there’s always new, live music to discover on our air waves.
KSPC is also back with our annual record expo, rebranded as the Music and Art Mart. From 12 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 7 in Edmunds Ballroom at Pomona, come and enjoy live music and buy art and records from student and community vendors. The featured music acts are Fischli’s Animals, a favorite campus band and the Claremont Colleges Irish Music Ensemble!
The event is free with a 5C student ID and $2 for the general public.
College radio allows students to uplift musical narratives important to them and their communities and all of us at KSPC aim to represent these values through our programming and events schedule. Stay tuned (here and on 88.7 FM of course) for more KSPC news and follow our socials @kspcradio.
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