{"id":19923,"date":"2017-06-05T11:57:04","date_gmt":"2017-06-05T15:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=19923"},"modified":"2024-07-02T16:36:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T16:36:12","slug":"folklore-fx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=19923","title":{"rendered":"Folklore FX"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
UNC graduate student Jaycie Vos has been a DJ at WXDU since May 2016. Her show airs every Sunday night at 8 p.m. (photo by Alyssa LaFaro)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1996, on a warm summer evening in small-town Iowa, the sound of an electric rhythm guitar siphons through the speakers of a 1980s Sounddesign stereo. Seven-year-old Jaycie Vos and her dad lounge on lawn chairs in the driveway, sipping on root beer. Her father shares musical memories from the evening\u2019s playlist \u2014 the most popular disco songs of the \u201970s on rotation at the local Des Moines station, Star 102.5. The stillness of this Saturday night ritual is only broken when Vos heads inside to call in a request: \u201cFunkytown\u201d by Lipps Inc.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was when I realized I love radio,\u201d Vos says. \u201cThere\u2019s a freedom and a power in the request. As a 7-year-old, that was wild to me and just very inspiring. It was also an amazing bonding moment that I feel really shaped my relationship with my dad. It was something we both loved and participated in together week after week for a lot of my childhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a roundabout way, Vos\u2019 tradition with her dad continues today in North Carolina \u2014 but now she\u2019s on the other side of the speakers. Every Sunday at 8 p.m., she DJs an hour-long show at WXDU<\/a>, Duke University\u2019s radio station. Her dad tunes in online in Iowa. She doesn\u2019t play the best of the \u201970s, but instead focuses on music from new artists of all genres. \u201cI explore whatever is new,\u201d she says. \u201cIt can be blues, electronic, something from Brazil. It\u2019s not about genre \u2014 it\u2019s about giving new music a chance to be on the air.\u201d<\/p>\n

She loves being behind the controls, but perhaps even more, she appreciates the passion of the WXDU community. \u201cThere is this immense sense of love for the station,\u201d Vos explains. \u201cBoth for the community it provides and the artistic expression\/space for experimentation it offers. People are so grateful that this place is an outlet for them. They are so willing to give their time and energy to it. And it\u2019s 100 percent volunteer \u2014 nobody gets paid for this.\u201d<\/p>\n

That strength of spirit isn\u2019t simply inspiring Jaycie \u2014 it\u2019s fueling her thesis for the folklore master\u2019s program<\/a> within the UNC Department of American Studies. \u201cI\u2019m interested in how being a DJ at WXDU has shaped people\u2019s individual identities and the communities that they are a part of,\u201d she explains. \u201cHow they see themselves within the local music scene, and what it means to them as a person to be able to have access to this physical space.\u201d<\/p>\n

A contrapuntal community <\/strong><\/p>\n

Folklore focuses on the creative endeavors that fill communities with meaning \u2014 \u201ceverything from quilt-making to hip-hop free-styling,\u201d according to the Department of American Studies\u2019 website. To study it requires an ethnographic approach, meaning to immerse yourself into a specific group of people, to become a part of their society, to be a part of something greater than yourself. And the college radio environment is the epitome of that sentiment, according to Vos.<\/p>\n

The opportunity for creative expression comes up often in Vos\u2019 interviews with DJs from the station. \u201cWe all have the same raw materials,\u201d she points out. \u201cThe same records and CDs and playlists in front of us. But no two shows are the same. We all produce wildly different experiences for our listeners. I think a lot of people feel like that is an artistic expression. There\u2019s a freedom in that \u2014 the freedom to make anything you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike other college radio stations, WXDU allows community members to DJ. At least half of the 100-plus-person staff is comprised of people who didn\u2019t attend Duke and range in age from 20 to 50 years old.<\/p>\n

Archiving sound experiences <\/strong><\/p>\n

When Vos isn\u2019t laying down tracks \u2014 or catching live acts at one of Chapel Hill or Durham\u2019s many music haunts \u2014 she can be found at the Love House on Franklin Street. A UNC-trained archivist, she documents community histories for the Southern Oral History Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Her passion for preserving the past translates well in the folklore program and, particularly, this project. \u201cThe big advantage of being an archivist is the active awareness that what I\u2019m doing can be shared with others to capture and preserve what WXDU means in 2017,\u201d she says. Many of the DJs at the station recognize the value of an in-house archive with audio recordings of interviews, photographs, and written text in the form of Vos\u2019 thesis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re happy about my project for that very reason \u2014 because it will give them the ability to look back at this time in their lives,\u201d Vos says. \u201cAt this space for self-expression and self-discovery, with people from all walks of life coming together to share their love for music and desire to learn from one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

A tuneful time capsule <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Vos selects music from the WXDU library, comprised of shelf upon shelf of content that winds in and out of several rooms.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A core component of Vos\u2019 thesis will focus on the fact that the radio station is moving to a new location at the end of this year, and what that change will mean for this tightknit, music-minded group. \u201cSome people feel a little sad to leave the space because it\u2019s like a time capsule,\u201d Vos explains. \u201cIt\u2019s like someone\u2019s basement \u2014 comfortable with a lot of junky old furniture and the walls are covered in posters and stickers. It\u2019s just really lived in and something created over time from DJs past who have left their mark.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

The new location will be within the 71,000-square-foot Arts Center that\u2019s currently under construction across from the Nasher Museum. It will be ADA compliant and feature a state-of-the-art production room that will make in-studio interviews possible. Unlike the current space, the music library will be located outside the production room and will showcase the CDs in clean cases with rolling Plexiglas doors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI keep thinking about how people interact with the physical space,\u201d Vos says. \u201cRight now, our space is organized but chaotic \u2014 very herky jerky. For example, if you want to play something from the classical part of the library you have to crawl into this little nook behind some of our records. There\u2019s a very physical searching and digging element that might not be maintained in the new space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vos sees both sides of the equation, though. She recognizes the need for and understands the benefits of a fresher space. \u201cI\u2019m sad to leave the current station location, but I\u2019m also excited for newer and younger DJs to have the chance to make their mark on it, to make it their own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of the station\u2019s physical location, Vos remains confident that the community within will remain creative and supportive. \u201cIt will continue to be this place for DJs to learn new things, to try new things,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s almost like a lab: Is this working? I don\u2019t know, but we\u2019re going to do it anyway.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Jaycie Vos is a graduate student majoring in folklore within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences\u2019 Department of American Studies, as well as an alumnus of the UNC School of Information and Library Science. She is also the coordinator of collections for the Southern Oral History Program, which has conducted more than 6,000 interviews to preserve the history of the South since 1973.<\/em><\/p>\n

By Alyssa LaFaro, Endeavors magazine<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The experimental environment at WXDU provides an artistic haven for Duke University students and Durham locals alike \u2014 a sentiment that UNC archivist and folklorist Jaycie Vos hopes to 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