KRUA staff in the Student Union. Photo courtesy of the KRUA website
UAA’s college radio station is pretty tucked away near the back of the Professional Studies Building. If you don’t know how to find it, look for the large red poster of a robot, and take the nearby stairs to the second floor where you’ll find the station.
Everything about the space says that it’s a college radio station – especially the many album covers decorating the walls.
KRUA 88.1 FM “The Edge” has been operating as UAA’s radio station under its current name since 1992; though, the station technically started a little earlier than that, said Willem Krieter, the current Station Manager at KRUA.
Indie and alternative rock are the main focuses of the station, though Krieter said that during his time with KRUA he’s tried to expand the music offerings. Now, Krieter says, the station offers a broader set of indie offerings – with everything from hip-hop to electronic jazz.
Krieter said that another important focus during his time with KRUA was highlighting Alaskan artists on the station.
“I really like to help the local music scene, I think we have a lot of great local musicians.”
Before being Station Manager, Krieter was the music coordinator, and was shocked to find that there weren’t many Alaskan artists in their catalog. Due to his involvement in the local music scene, he was able to find and highlight Alaskan artists.
“I think … that's the coolest thing to me, is that I'm helping promote people that I think are cool and make good music.”
In addition to songs, Krieter said that KRUA offers shows that are created by UAA students and local community members. He said that the content of a show is up to the volunteers: some play music, some host talk shows and they’ve even hosted a poetry show.
The current count of KRUA shows running during the summer is around 15, with closer to 20 shows regularly scheduled during the school year. A list of current shows and the broadcast schedule can be found on their website, kruaradio.org.
Volunteering at the station doesn’t necessarily mean running a show, though. It could mean helping to create one-liners for the station or help with public service announcements or screening music that could be played on the station.
Those interested in volunteering can sign up at https://kruaradio.org/volunteer-hub. Students must be enrolled in three or more credits with at least a 2.0 GPA. Community members have to pay $20 each year to volunteer.
Krieter said that prospective volunteers can expect to go through four training sessions that are one hour each.
Folks interested in playing music on the radio should be aware, though, that a “do not play list” exists. Due to licensing issues, those who are interested in playing well-known artists like Brendan Urie, Drake or The Weeknd are out of luck.
Returning students may notice that KRUA’s remote studio in the Student Union is becoming more active.
Krieter said that during COVID, the remote studio became disconnected from the main studio, but he hopes that all of the technology will be fixed by the start of the fall semester.
“And that will be a really cool thing, because a lot of our shows will start being hopefully from there,” said Krieter.
Cyan Shuman, the Production Coordinator at KRUA wasn’t originally interested in college radio. It wasn’t until a mentor of his at a previous college asked him to join a college station that he fell in love with radio.
“I wasn't particularly into producing music or being a DJ before that. And it's been years now and I've been doing it ever since.”
For those curious about KRUA, Shuman said, “We are always looking to expand and to have new talent, whether that's behind the microphone or behind the board. And that no matter what your interest is, as long as you're interested in some way in college radio, we will be more than happy to have you.”
KRUA staff can be best contacted via email, which can be found on their website.
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