September 6 was supposed to be Andy Barrie’s tenth anniversary on the air. He probably pictured himself spending a nice quiet day at his familiar CBC outpost, taking calls from well-wishers and doing what he does best-talking on air with his team.
Instead, the crowded upstairs radio booth at the University of Toronto station CIUT-FM is a media circus. It’s 6 a.m., and reporters from the Toronto Star, National Post, and the Annex Gleaner are out to get a story. Anyone who walks through the doors is now fair game for interviews, and even as we all try to wake ourselves up with morning lattes and muffins, it’s easy to see that there is tension in the air.
CIUT is not where Andy Barrie and his motley crew of radio and television workers pictured themselves on a Labour Day morning. And while they’ve been locked out of their usual home base, they have to find a way to keep busy when not on the picket line fighting for their jobs.
The labour dispute at the CBC is still ongoing, and Barrie’s new show, Toronto Unlocked (a lockout version of his popular CBC show Metro Morning), is gradually accustoming itself to the more collegiate environment at CIUT. While the facilities may be less sophisticated than those of the Mother Corp., CIUT is giving Barrie a temporary home to do what he loves. In a way, for him it’s almost fitting to be back in the place where he first began.
“I started in student broadcasting in conditions almost identical to what I’m dealing with now,” he notes. “We had to make things work with what we had. In student radio, there’s a sense of freedom, a sense of forgiveness for when you blow it. No one expects you to be as good as you are 30 years later.
“I don’t think we take ourselves seriously at CBC, but we take our jobs very seriously. Maybe too seriously. This was not that kind of thing. I feel like I’m in university again and that’s a great feeling,” he enthuses.
The morning radio program was planned in about a week, and the show’s coordinators, writers, and on-air personalities were pulled from all areas of CBC’s programming. Some members of the crew are from television, some from radio-creating an interesting mix of departments from the public broadcaster.
Still, the show seems to be going well as guests rush in and out, among them musician David Usher, a visiting York professor writing a cultural study on the history of Labour Day, a comedian slated for Just For Laughs, and a flamenco band playing the theme to Barrie’s new show. It’s hectic, eclectic, and amazing. And when Barrie’s voice first hits the airwaves, a few colleagues hug and cry out in amazement that this whole project, pulled together at the last minute, has come to fruition.
“This is so much fun. This is such a big boost for us, and we’re so grateful that we can come in here and share your studio and your airwaves. Sometimes people think of the CBC as a bunch of snobs, and if we have been in the past, we’re sorry!” Jeff Goodes, host of CBC Radio’s weekend morning show Fresh Air explains exuberantly as he watches his coworkers. “I was driving down to the station and I was so happy to hear Andy’s voice.”
Finally at 8 a.m., the program is finished (with a musical send-up from reunited 90s band Moxy Fruvous explaining the CBC situation) and there is a rush of excitement in the air. Four students carrying large boomboxes and cases of vinyl look surprised to see a group of essentially middle-aged CBC folks carrying on. They begin to set up as Andy’s crew disperses. And for a moment it feels like something has really been accomplished. Until tomorrow, that is. There’s another show to do at 6:00 sharp the next morning.
CIUT has been around since 1966, when it was founded by a group of students as an autonomous radio station and a voice for the U of T community. For years, it remained a closed-circuit station broadcasting only on campus, but in 1986, the signal was expanded to reach as far north as Barrie, as far west as Kitchener, and as far south as Buffalo. Not bad for a campus radio station.
Approximately 8 million people can tune in at any given time for an eclectic mix of over 70 shows. The station tries to cover not only the campus, but also the city of Toronto with a mixture of talk and music programming from many genres, from many kinds of people, in many time slots. And the programs are unique.
Visiting the station, I learned that Ska Party is the only music program in all of Canada to focus specifically on the genre. Meeting the host of Emily’s Attic, it was clear what was played on her all-indie show would probably never see the light of day on 102.1 The Edge. If anything, CIUT’s purpose is to promote acts, genres, and music that can’t be heard anywhere else.
They try to focus on Canadian content, to promote viewpoints and discourse that wouldn’t otherwise be broadcast, and to give a voice to the people of Toronto, without corporate influence. That’s where your five-dollar subscription fee goes.
There are two studios at CIUT-a basement space where Toronto acts such as Final Fantasy (a.k.a. Arcade Fire violinist Owen Pallett) have played (live performances are recorded live off the floor). Then there’s the third floor studio where most of the shows go live to air. Either way, the environment is usually full of introspective music lovers who are just as excited about the new Broken Social Scene single as you are.
CIUT’s schedule reflects the diversity of the U of T campus. About the Music, Roadrunner, and Alternative Radio focus on the indie scene. Radio Punjab and Atlantic Ceilidh are all about promoting a specific type of music in a specific cultural context. And shows like Morning Ride, Stylistik Endeavors, and the popular Higher Ground with acclaimed Toronto DJ Jason Palma (who also owns awesome music store Play Da Record on Yonge St.) all have a kick-ass collection of vinyl.
At CIUT, it’s all about promoting good music. They try to encourage an interactive environment for those who tune in, by answering your phone calls and emails. That’s how you get people to listen.
Yet there is also a side of CIUT that prides itself on housing interesting speakers in a talk radio format. Class lectures are broadcast every Thursday at 11 a.m. on the program Beyond the Classroom. And shows like Current Affairs try to focus on alternative viewpoints.
“Three or four companies basically control our media. Everything is being compromised, and there is a filter on your media. The station wants to be able to hear its own voices. And part of going to school is being part of the community that it is in,” says Ska Party host Skip Viitala.
Obviously, the community radio ideology runs deep throughout the station. Or, as Viitala puts it: “Everyone at the station has to have the same core beliefs, or it doesn’t work. We try to support each other.”
Hmm, a community radio station trying to foster a sense of community within itself? Call me crazy, but I think these guys are on to something.
“Volunteering here is a great education,” offers Emily Zimmerman, soon to be ex-host (she’s moving to Saskatchewan) of Emily’s Attic, a program she’s been working on for the past two years.
“Lots of people pay money to learn how to use the equipment we use for free. And by learning (the technical side), by volunteering at station events, and getting acquainted with the staff, it’s easier to get a program off the ground.
“I’ve always been a music geek, but now I have more status in the music geek community. After all, commercial radio sucks,” she laughs.
