“I got into this business to play R.E.M. records.”
Photo credit: Mark Stehle
WXPN DJ Jim McGuinn got into radio by way of basketball. Once the self-described “Shaquille O’Neal of eighth grade” began riding the bench in high school, he happily turned to radio, acting as the color man during varsity basketball games. When he started working for his high school music station—WDGC in Downers Grove, Illinois—McGuinn quickly discovered that being music director meant one thing: lots of free records.
After college, he landed radio gigs in Vermont and St. Louis, before ending up in Philly at alternative music station WDRE.
There was no local general manager, so it was kind of the inmates running the asylum,” he says. After that station folded, McGuinn moved over to Philly’s other alterna-rock station, Y100. In 2005, Y100 was reformatted, but a few loyalists (McGuinn included) kept it alive as Y100Rocks.com. “We were able to see where it would take us,” says McGuinn. “It was kind of an experiment in, ‘Can individuals, without a lot of resources create a new media outlet?’”
In August of last year, Penn’s member-supported radio station, ’XPN, came knocking on McGuinn’s door to form a partnership, Y-Rock on ’XPN. McGuinn is now on air from 4 to 7 p.m. as the drive-time host and also works as the program director for Y-Rock. “Still, the most important part of the job is turning people on to new music,” he says, in between songs one weekday afternoon in the studio. “If I can help, that’s the fun part.”
Q. When Y100 was reformatted, you started operating the station out of your home as Y100Rocks.com. Why did you remain so loyal to it?
A. I thought it was ridiculous that Philadelphia might become a city without any media outlet for this significant audience and chunk of culture. And it was fun and it seemed like the thing to do. … it was so refreshing and fun to be in a situation where there wasn’t a consultant, there wasn’t research. It kind of brought the whole concept of radio and broadcasting back to its essence, which is communication and sharing of culture, music, content, whatever.
Q. Were you jaded about radio after that experience, though?
A. I’ve been very wary of going back into that world because I’ve seen how corporate-dominated commercial media is becoming more cold, more heartless, harsher, as a work environment. ’XPN is a really special place ’cause there’s so many people here that are still doing jobs the way it was done. Now, most radio stations are a computer with a DJ maybe 1,000 miles away, doing voice-tracking and programming off of some central corporate list. It’s just not why I got into the business. I got into the business to play R.E.M. records—and I’m still doing it, 20 years later.
Q. Way back when, DJs were people that listeners knew who championed records or bands. Was there a figure like that for you growing up—and do you hope to be that guy?
A. I grew up in Chicago, and there was a radio station there called WXRT and it’s similar to ’XPN. I vividly remember being in high school and they used to do a featured artist of the day—and it would be Muddy Waters and The Clash. And that sort of musical diversity and passion really shaped me when I was a kid.
Q. You’ve been a musician all along as well.
A. Yes, actually while I was at Y100, I was playing in a band that was touring and releasing records. I would take my vacation by getting in a van with four smelly guys and tour, and play in front of nine people in Cincinnati. I think it helps me here because when I’m talking to musicians—I’ve never had the kind of success that most of the people I talk to have—but I can relate.
Q. How do you keep up on music?
A. It’s a passion for me and I’m a big fan. I do everything from subscribe to Spin and Rolling Stone to read blogs to email other geeky friends to go record shopping.
Q. Any favorite places?
A. My favorite record store around is this place called AKA Music, which is on 2nd Street. There’s Main Street Music in Manayunk.
There’s some good vinyl stores. There’s this place called Beautiful World Syndicate on Passayunk in South Philly. Y100Rocks.com used to have an office above there.
Q. What are you listening to right now?
A. When I’m listening to music at home for pleasure, I’m a really a big fan of a lot of I don’t want to say classic rock—it’s the stuff that wasn’t the big hits of the classic rock era of the late ’60s and ’70s. Because I’ve been working with alternative music for so long, a lot of times for fun, I’ll listen to the Zombies or Small Faces or Beach Boys reissues. I just got into the first couple of Bee Gees records, when they used to sound like the Beatles. I kind of missed the Krautrock stuff, so I’ve been listening to Kraftwerk and Can and stuff like that. I love the Arcade Fire. I love the Shins and I love the new Modest Mouse.
And then there’s the new Sloan record. I have such a soft spot for Canadian rock, I’ve been accused of being secretly Canadian. So, the Tragically Hip and Sloan.
For more on McGuinn, including a list of his favorite bands and the story of the first concert he attended, go to: http://xpn.org/programs/afternoon_mix.php?source=xpnenews.
Originally published May 10, 2007.
