A Boston University College of Communication junior is broadcasting live from her apartment after turning a summer internship into her own radio show, taking skills she learned at WTBU and from the Boston music scene with her to Manhattan.
Advertising major Laura Goldfarb said after going home to New York for the summer, she landed “a terrible 9-to-5 secretarial job,” but what she really wanted was an internship somewhere in the city.
“I sent in about 75 resumes to various advertising and public relations agencies, indie record labels and radio stations — anything communications and/or music related,” she said in an email. “One of the ads I responded to was for BreakThru Radio.”
BreakThru Radio is broadcasted over the Internet and “is devoted to giving a voice to talented, upcoming artists and empowering DJs to pick and play their own music,” according to their website.
Goldfarb met with BTR CEO Cal Rifkin, bringing in some DJ portfolio material from her WTBU Spring 2006 show, titled “One Night Stand at the Theme Park,” using a portion of a show she did with Boston indie band Grimis.
Rifkin said Goldfarb’s passion and her knowledge of the “Boston music scene” were what prompted the station to hire her. He said she was originally hired as an intern, but was “accelerated through the program” to where she is now in charge of her own show. He added that he liked her idea to do a show on the Boston music scene, and that they are collaborating with her on another unspecified show.
Goldfarb said after she was hired, she spent a few days each week in Manhattan in June and July being trained on how to be a BTR DJ. She said since BTR is an Internet radio station, all of its shows are pre-recorded and then posted onto the station’s web site. DJs also write and produce shows individually.
BTR workers said they view Goldfarb as an asset to the station.
“BTR intends to have our fingers on the pulse for every local scene that is burgeoning,” BTR Editorial Director Rachael Darmanin said in an email. “Laura has been in school up in Boston for the past two years and [has been] out catching local shows. She has an amazing taste in music and passion for discovering unknown bands. It was only appropriate [that] we gave her a show.
“College students are the ones who are primarily out there searching for great underground music,” she continued. “Whether it’s while they are reviewing for a test or just hanging out with friends, you can bet music is always playing. College students love to talk about music, and the more independent music that becomes readily available to them, the more they have the will to go out there and discover it. College students today have an amazing sense of where music has come from and where it will go in the future.”
Darmanin said the station started its local beats with a popular show in Atlanta and is constantly adding more cities. All of the weekly DJs are recent college graduates in their 20s.
Goldfarb’s familiarity with the Boston scene motivated her to start a show.
“I have been immersed in it for two years already, and will continue to be for another two years at least,” she said. “During this time, I also contacted Boston artists I knew from seeing them over the past two years, and I also looked some up on MySpace.com. I started to build a music library and then began writing the show. After BTR supplied me with my recording equipment — which was foreign to me at the time — I began teaching myself how to use everything and eventually produced the show.”
Goldfarb said her DJing experience on WTBU, her “passion and knowledge of music and [her] interest in new, independent music” qualified her for the BTR position.
“Cal also said to me that I seemed to be a friendly, fun person, and I present myself well,” she said. “As a DJ, those are really important qualities — people only know you by your voice, so you need to exude positive energy and sound appealing. Additionally, I was also obviously qualified to do a show on Boston because I live here and know the scene.”
But Goldfarb’s musical interest did not just begin in college.
“My mom would tell you that at age two, I played a mean Fischer Price maraca and tambourine jam,” she said. “My earliest memory is dancing around the living room with my dad as a little girl with the record player on. He usually played Steeley Dan, Loggins and Messina, James Taylor and other classic rock albums that are now all favorites of mine.
“I come from a very extended musical family — my aunt was a flautist for the New York Philharmonic,” she continued. “My older sister Jillian and I picked up the flute in elementary school. Our cousins, Eric and Colin Jacobsen, are professional musicians as well. Colin plays violin and often tours with Yo-Yo Ma. Eric plays cello and has played with him as well.”
And Goldfarb’s motivation stems from more than just a search for a summer job.
“The older I get, the more I fall in love with music,” she said. “I truly believe in the power of music, its effects on people and relationships in particular. The first tattoo I got last year is of a 16th note with a peace sign in it. I strongly feel that music can bring people together as a universal language. Discovering new music is something I aim to do every day.
“I’ve always felt music is the best lover, because it never breaks your heart,” she continued. “It is also incredible to think how available unique sound is and how everything can be looked at as music. Did I mention I love music?”
Goldfarb said when she moved to Boston her freshman year, she started going “to random shows at venues,” including the Middle East, T.T. the Bear’s, Paradise and Harper’s Ferry, and “fell in love with the energy of Boston bands. As independent groups, they all have a sense of realness and modesty and do not take anything too seriously except putting on a good show and loving their time up on stage.”
She said each “episode” of her show will run from 60 to 90 minutes, with about 15 new artists every six weeks. Talk breaks will be evenly spaced, and they are designed to give her listeners some information on a “band or two at a time — what their sound is all about, where I’ve seen them, what a live performance is like, influences, anecdotes, etc.”
Since she has to “blend the ends of songs to the beginnings of new ones,” Goldfarb takes transitions very seriously.
“It’s unsettling to hear a punk song with heavy bass immediately after a soft, melodic ballad,” she said.
Goldfarb said online radio differs slightly from regular broadcasted radio.
“I would love to have guests [on my show],” she said. “The only problem right now is that because the shows are pre-recorded, and I produce them from my apartment, it’s slightly difficult to set that up. I would need to either invite artists into my home or get portable equipment. But that is definitely something I would like to look into. For now, I tend to go the route of mentioning anecdotes during talk breaks from my communication with the artists.”
Goldfarb said she thinks her show will not be too different from other regional shows.
“The other DJs and I are all playing independent music of all genres from our cities,” she said. “This show has me as a DJ — that’s one difference — and I think that the sound of Boston is a little different from other cities. It’s quirky and friendly sounding.
“I’m not very familiar with scenes in other cities, because I’ve spent the majority of my time following independent music in Boston,” Goldfarb continued. “I think Boston has a lot of different genres, which is refreshing. It’s not just indie rock, but jazz, folk, hip-hop, punk, jam band, experimental, alternative, etc. There’s a lot to choose from, and artists in Boston have a special aura about them.”
Goldfarb said there was not anyone at BU who helped her obtain her current position at BTR.
“I applied and interviewed for BTR on my own, and it felt really good taking charge and being independent like that,” she said. “BTR has given me an incredible opportunity to explore a passion I’ve always had, and in doing so, I’m learning about the ‘real world’ while still in the comforting arms of college life.”