Selling Vinyl and Screening a Hip-Hopera
Music Lovers Rejoice for a Week of CJLO Fundraiser Events
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Concordia’s resident indie radio station, CJLO 1690AM, is kicking off its second annual FUNdrive this week with a hip- hopera and a 24-hour marathon broadcast.
The week-long series of events officially starts April 5 with a marathon broadcast beginning at 9 a.m. The CJLO studio, located at the Loyola Campus, will be full of DJs and volunteers for a high-energy broadcast throughout the day and night.
CJLO is getting the party started a day early, however, hosting tonight a pre-FUNdrive event at Cagibi—a screening of R. Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet.
“We wanted to bring a music-themed film,” said Stephanie Saretsky, CJLO’s Station Manager. “So we threw around ideas of music-based documentaries.”
When it turned out that someone owned the Trapped in the Closet DVDs, that became the obvious choice.
“It’s amazing—hip-hopera,” Saretsky said. “[And] it’s something that’s made a lot better in a group setting.”
“The fact that it is unintentionally genius, does not make it any more genius,” added Alex Massé, CJLO’s program director.
The rest of the week includes events like queer karaoke at The Royal Phoenix, a cupcake competition in the Hall Building and a record fair in the EV Building Atrium.
“It’s going to be a selection of our own vinyl,” said Massé of the record fair. “It’s awesome to have a large collection, but a lot of what we have are doubles, or it’s not appropriate for broadcast given our mandate. But we also have newer CDs that will be available to people who donate.”
CJLO has one-off events like concerts and satellite broadcasts to raise money and reach out to the community throughout the year, but Massé said the FUNdrive is considered the “big one.”
He said that operating a radio station is very expensive and the fee levy keeps the operation running, but investments need to be made to improve the quality and reliability of the broadcast.
Attendees can make pledges at all of the events, with different goodies for each pledge level. CJLO is giving away download codes and branded swag like magnets and T-shirts, and at the higher donation levels, entry into some of their prize draws. Prizes range from gift cards for local retailers, to a POP Montreal superpass, to beer for a year from the McAuslan Brewery.
Winners will be drawn at the FUNdrive closing party April 13. The show is at Turbo Haüs and will feature DJ sets and bands.
CJLO FUNdrive / April 4 to 13 / Various locations / More info: Facebook page
