As part of "The BIPOC Spotlights," Live365 is shining a spotlight on Neighborhood News Radio Network! Raymond Quinton shared the station's story as well as some music recommendations with us. Check out their story below!
How did you get started with your station?
I've been thinking about doing this for years, ever since I was exposed to Live365 as Development Director for smoothjazz4u.com. That station failed because they could not afford to broadcast 24/7. That was in the mid 2000s, the early days of the service. I have been planning my own station ever since. My goals are to lift the voices of creative people of color, conquer ageism in the audio arts, and explore my own creative possibilities. Our official launch was June 29 and we now run new programming at the top of each hour during the day and AutoDJ during the gaps in our program schedule.
What can listeners expect when they tune in to your station?
Listeners can expect the unexpected. All of our content is produced by our staff. All scripts are written in-house and all music is produced in-house as well. We basically have a creative troupe that's doing very original and sometimes very sophisticated satire. We are a weekly show, and it's very time consuming to produce original content weekly. Few can do it and do it well. By well, I don't mean polished and perfect. By well, I mean we have no doubts about how good we are, but we need to get it done and have fun doing it. So, it's not perfect. Some segments are completely improvised, but most people will be hard pressed to tell the difference. And, I will say, we're only getting better and better at perfecting imperfection.
There's an honesty to our station that I think can be infectious. We're not afraid to challenge the audience AND make them laugh at the same time, even about things involving race, culture, and class. We emphasize age, ethnic, and cultural diversity. There's a lot of room to grow in that area. I'm Jamaican American and I trained in radio, theatre, and broadcasting, so I have some advantages. Plus, I'm not a bad pianist (I once opened for Dizzy at Union Station in Denver). With that in mind though, my goal is to develop a pool of diverse voices and original satire from creative people of color, so I have to set the stage for that.
I will emphasize, too, that we are not comedians. We are highly creative people of color. We are satirist and humorist and intellectuals. And, that's how we want to be branded. Black people can own and work these roles as well as anyone and if something is sophisticated, it should be acknowledged as such. I love satire, so here it is on Neighborhood News Radio Network.
What’s one artist that you play on your station that is underrated in your opinion?
Our very own Jamaican Star Ship Captain Desmond
What’s one song that particularly stands out to you and that has stayed with you, whether for the storytelling, a lyric, the production, or any other reason?
Fare Well Jamaica - It's the new Jamaican American anthem. Jamaican people are the coolest people on earth. And, I want everyone to know it. It's personal. Plus, I am the executive producer, and did all of the voices, musical instruments, etc. So, you see, it's really personal. My mum is Jamaican and my grandma came to America from Jamaica in 1967. I hear echoes of her in that voice in the song. Yes, it's really truly personal.
What are your top 5 favorite artists?
I like too many to whittle it down to 5. I'm a universal music lover. For my purposes, my favorites are DJ Senior, DJ Franklin, and all of the DJs who contribute original content to our station.
What are your top 5 favorite songs currently?
Since we don't play other people's music on our station, see above the artists that contribute to our station. I will say though, that song Brian Culbertson did with Bootsy Collins is dope!
Listen to Neighborhood News Radio Network on Live365.com and follow them on Twitter and Instagram!
BIPOC Live365 Broadcasters! We'd love for you to share your story with us as part of The BIPOC Spotlights! We invite you to submit by filling out the form at the following link: The BIPOC Spotlights Submission Form. (Duplicate station entries will only be featured once. You must have a Live365 Broadcaster account.)
