Unpolished, amateurish. That's how Natalie Ferri saw herself and why she worried that, despite an interest in radio, she didn't fit the slick, glib DJ norm.
Then the El Camino Fundamental High School senior realized: Maybe that's the point.
"When I first started deejaying, I thought I'd be judged because I don't sound anything like the people on KWOD," Ferri says. "I don't sound like a 'professional.' "
But professional or not, Ferri, 17 – perched on a chair inside a cramped production booth, Chuck Taylor-clad feet tucked beneath her and looking more like "Juno's" Ellen Page than any radio station brass – is running KYDS 91.5, the campus's eclectic radio station.
With a school-funded annual budget of $800 and a mix that includes such varied groups as Black Sabbath, Dr. Dre and Death Cab for Cutie, not to mention Lamb of God, They Might Be Giants and the Beatles, KYDS is arguably the local radio station with the most diverse playlist.
And in our download-crazy, iPod-fueled culture, it's also something of an oddity – a free-form, 414-watt station running on outdated equipment and managed by teens.
Or, as Ferri says, KYDS is all about getting "the chance to break the mold."
"We don't have a schedule, we don't have commercials," she says. "We're not told what to play or when to play it – we just want to play music, and I think that's why people listen."
Founded in 1979, KYDS is part of El Camino's Eagle Polytechnic Institute, a cross-discipline academy focusing on science, engineering and vocational studies. Students must complete an introductory TV and radio course before getting the chance to cram into the station's production booth to host one of several daily live radio shows.
And recently, KYDS' musical might has been amped, thanks to a budding relationship with KSSU, the radio station at Sacramento State.
(In exchange for some free CDs and mentoring, the college DJs rebroadcast their shows on the high school station's signal during various evening and weekend time slots. "We were really big fans of KYDS before this even happened," says KSSU station manager Robert Young.)
The radio diaries
Joey Reynolds loves hardcore metal; Alex Sanchez digs classic and Latin rock. So when KYDS' 17-year-old public service announcement director and 16-year-old music director face off during their shared daily time slot, sonic sparks fly, right?
Nah, Reynolds says. Instead, the pair has devised a pact, trading off days, with Friday reserved as a musical free-for-all.
"We used to battle a lot, but now it really works out," Reynolds says as he adds a Deftones song to the computer playlist, drops in an oh-so-sensitive Bright Eyes track and then slips in some Killswitch Engage metalcore.
The real wars, Ferri says, are actually fought on technical ground: malfunctioning CD decks; stuttering computer programs; overheated, overloaded systems; and the constant threat of losing their aging radio tower.
A 45-hour audiothon scheduled for this weekend will, they hope, address some of the station's financial needs, she adds. For three days, KYDS deejays will camp out at the station, taking requests and offering prizes in an effort to raise $2,000.
The money is crucial for the station's survival, says class instructor Ed Santillanes. Recent computer malfunctions forced KYDS to raid its reserve fund or face outages. ("If you turn on this computer, it sometimes makes the die when we're on the air," Ferri says.)
Additional funding also will allow the station, which dips into a computer- generated playlist when school's not in session, to build a bigger library.
"Right now, we have a lot of limitations," Sanchez says. "A new system means we can store five times as much music."
Turn on, tune in
It's kind of funny, Ferri says. Because the students work at the station during school hours, they're not really playing to an audience of their peers.
"We're not allowed to have radios or MP3 players at school, so our friends don't have the chance to listen while we're on the air," Ferri says.
Call The Bee's Rachel Leibrock, (916) 321-1176. For more on local music and happenings, read her blog posts at 21Q (www.sacbee.com/21q).
