A new radio station is “on the air,” well, more like on the Internet, and for you Alta skiers around the world, this is good news. Alta Radio fired up the microphones and song playlists this season, spinning tunes and serving the Little Cottonwood Canyon community with news, weather reports, and road conditions, 24/7. It’s got a community radio vibe and fills a much needed media hole in Utah’s most famous ski zone. “For the people, by the people. Sole media outlet in Little Cottonwood Canyon, UT. A voice for snow sliders, no matter what they ride” is their motto.
Mica Brownlie is the man who started it all from his room at the Peruvian Lodge. We hit him up about why he started Alta Radio, how he did it, and what the future holds for this infant radio station.
UO: What gave you the idea to start a radio station at Alta?
MB: I’ve always loved music and grown up around it. My mom was a big music fan so riding in the car, I can remember tunes and songs that were before some of my earliest memories. Every once in a while I hear a song and know I was listening to that in the back of the car at 3 or 4. Can’t remember the words but know it’s from way back.
The radio idea came from sitting around at lunch and dinner wondering why we didn’t have music playing in our dining room. “We should start a pirate radio station.” Started as a joke but had a few minds present and began hashing ideas and developing it further than “wouldn’t it be cool if…” What really got the idea rolling was applying for the ACE (alta community enrichment) community service grant. I received a call back, presented my case and budget, and was awarded the money. “Alright, they believe in the idea, I showed up, better get to work.”
I’ve always liked playing music for my friends, now I play it for a lot more friends.
UO: Why did you think LCC needed a media outlet?
MB: Just because it was absent. There was a niche to fill. This is a tight community so a community station was what I had in mind. As I recorded for a voice over, “A.C.R., we had the community, we needed the radio.” Mostly because it would be fun. I don’t think it’s something that is/was needed in the sense of life or death. People can get their news, weather, avalanche report, and music elsewhere, but why not. I suppose that’s the answer to why? Why not? Because my mind was idle and I wasn’t completely encumbered with other projects and life. Maybe back to fun. I thought it would be fun to play music for my friends, do snow reports from the window, and receive feedback. Turns out, it is.
UO: What did it take to get it off the ground?
MB: About $1000 and a lot of time and frustration. Lots of time! Oh man, I had no idea how much time. Upon being awarded the ACE grant last spring (2013), I decided to take this idea more seriously and try to make the most of it. I enrolled in a crash-course business class through Mercy Corps NW in Portland, Oregon to try to get a bearing on the business side of this. This was in the hopes of making the financial side of this project happen so as to make it financially sustainable. I also started tracking down, talking with, and meeting with people in the broadcasting industry, both community and commercial. I also started my “university of Youtube” education. Many a youtube and google search up to this point. I bought a video series online which was very informative and walked me through most of the basics on how to get up and running.
UO: Where is the studio and what kind of equipment did you need to get?
MB: Currently the studio takes up a corner of my room at the Alta Peruvian Lodge. We’re searching for a more legitimate, dedicated, studio space somewhere here in town.
The equipment consists of two computers bought used of KSL, a used mixer, two microphone setups with boom-arms and shock-mounts, a borrowed “pop” filter, a bit of software (free and purchased), mom’s stereo I already had, a desk and chair with modifications from the wood shop across the hall, a sweet LED “on air” light given as a gift from my good friend Potts, a personal DSL line I contracted to have the delinquent internet company install, and some sound insulation.
UO: Who do you have helping you out? How many?
MB: The help has been in the form of phone calls and interviews from radio professionals on the knowledge side to develop the idea. On the technical side, Ryan Parrish built and maintains the website. Very much in debt to him for making that happen. Website artwork by Erik Exeter of RAWR blogspot.org., technical computer questions answered patiently by two Alta friends and former colleagues, Mike Riley and Shawn Grant, each with their own computer-related businesses. Daily support by my sweet girlfriend, Kara. Other than that, risking hubris, I can say I think I did everything else. Planning, research, implementation. Many many hours doing google searches for how to find some file to make something work, how to download it, where to put it, and now, why the f*&^% doesn’t this work?! Sorry for the language but that’s how many days went. Patience school I call it. Dealing with the internet company for the first month of “service” while they sent me 3 non-working modems/routers and signed my credentials up as the ski shop up the road only to get a frantic call from said ski shop wanting to know why I was “stealing” their internet and that their point of sale system runs off the web and that I’d shut them down. Things like that. Dealing with periferals (sp?) when I should be dealing with moving the station along.
UO: Beside running Alta Radio, what do you do?
MB: Besides running the station, years back I started the Alta Snowboard Team for the shunned half of the town, so I also manage that. That is another job in itself. Managing a loose “team” of competitors (3 on the freeride world tour, 5 or so on national qualifying tour), managing the website and blog, acting as shipping manager for the mail order business that funds it, making the larger decisions as to what direction we’re heading, organizing events such as the annual “Grizzly Gulch Getdown” back-country barbeque and get together, filtering through suggested idea from contributors, etc. As I said above in why start the station, I had a little time and wasn’t completely obligated otherwise. That wasn’t completely true, but we can always do more than we think. All it takes for me is to visit some friends and family with kids to be reminded that I have more time than I thought. Oh yea, I do what I came to Alta for in the first place, play in snow. I snowboard just about every day although this year has seen a large decrease in time and intensity on the snow. I have not done any competing this year in freeride events as I usually do. I feel my riding has become a little “soft” as I’ve not been pushing myself based on training for comps but I do have a radio station to show for it and there’s always next year.
When the season is over, I’ll return to Oregon for the summer, surf, shape a board or two, ride my bike(s), work in restaurants, and do a surf trip or two to Mexico and Hawaii on a shoestring budget.
I also work 40 hours/week at the Peruvian Lodge as the service bartender for the dining room during the winter.
UO: Do you have previous radio experience, or is this all new to you?
MB: Besides a brief stint on Oregon State U’s college radio doing a funk show, no previous experience. This was all completely new to me. That’s why it took so long. EVERY step of the way took research to implement. It seemed so far out of reach at times. I would have a “must do” list to get the station up that seemed so long. I learned that with patience, time, and determination, you can learn and do most anything. Don’t know how to do something? Look it up. Someone has done it and even made a video about it. The internet and technology might make us dumber for lack of memory and laziness but on the flip side, if you’re willing to look for something, it’s probably there. Find a forum and start reading.
This is still all new to me. It’s not done. It may be playing and streaming but we’re still working on it. Making it better, making it more accessible, where does it go and how will we do it?
UO: What is your goal with the station?
MB: Develop it into a legitimate station. Working on a low-power fm permit so we could broadcast over the airwaves. Develop it into a sustainable business and presence here in this awesome place so it can keep on keeping on. Make it a staple of the community. Create a job/career? for myself. I realized I could either keep working for others or carve out a place to work for myself. Here we are.
UO: What is the schedule? 24/7?
MB: We are running 24/7. Still developing the schedule. Trying for as much variety as possible both musically, and format-wise. So far, we’re rock based (60’s to present) with variety mixed in throughout. That includes a blues, funk, soul, reggae/world, hip-hop, and jazz song for each hour of format. Working on a few talk-show ideas, local interviews etc.
UO: Will it continue in the off season, or is this just a ski season type deal?
MB: Currently deciding on off season. That will depend on funding and participation.
UO: Can people hear it besides on the web? Can skiers get it on their phones so they can shred to it on mountain?
MB: Currently web-based only. We’ll see about the low-power FM permit and/or low power AM transmitter. Skiers CAN get it on their phones. We have two streams, a 128 bit mp3 stream, as well as a 64 bit aac+ stream which takes less bandwidth and is intended for use with mobile devices. The 128 mp3 stream is connected to the player on the page but if you scroll down below, you can find the aac+ stream which could offer better playback in low-data situations such as phone use. I was actually listening on top of Mt. Baldy the other day before dropping into the chutes.
UO: What do you hope the future holds for Alta Radio?
MB: Sunglasses. The future’s so bright I gotta wear shades. I hope the future holds a place for the presence of a legitimate station here in Little Cottonwood. I think the fact that it is internet-based means there’s incredible room for growth. At the time of the grant awarding, I contemplated internet vs. terrestrial radio. For internet, I like the idea that people could come to Little Cottonwood as a visitor, then take Alta Radio home with them based on a love of this place. Now, it turns out people like the music so much they’re suggesting it to their friends and the feedback is great based on that, not to mention the cult following this canyon enjoys. I love it when people write and say they’re listening/have been listening. Makes it feel like a community station.
Whether you’re skiing at Alta, or dreaming about Alta from the other side of the world, the best way to discover Alta Radio is to listen to it yourself. Tune in at altaradio.org