Who are you?
Brandon Jaksim

How and why did you get involved with WDBM?
A good friend of mine was doing a DJ shift on our internet training station: “The Fix” and invited me to hang out. Once I saw how everything worked, I thought being a radio DJ was the coolest thing in the world and I knew that I had to get involved with the station. I then began showing up regularly to the panel show Sit or Spin hosted by our good friend and AAM representative ROBB. It’s a show where we play new music for a panel and they decide if it’s good enough to be played on the station, it’s a great way for a new person to get involved. The next year I was a DJ and a studio engineer.

What have been some of your favorite parts of being a music director?
Being able to set up in-studio interviews and performances is very cool. It takes a lot of planning ahead of time but is well worth it in the end when the band is actually in your station. I got the chance to interview My Brightest Diamond, the interview was great and she performed two amazing songs. Another fun part of being MD is holding weekly music review. It is always interesting to hear different interpretations of various bands and albums. Staff members would come up with many creative ways to describe their feelings about music, some that I had never heard before. We got a hold of many “gems” throughout the year and the opinions were priceless.

As WDBM is not a free-form station, what formula do you use to put new music into rotation?
We run very similar to most commercial stations in terms of rotation. Instead of running off of physical CD’s (although we have many of them), we use the radio automation software Scott Studios. This means we will input one single at a time. We have a touch screen in our main studio that includes every song that has been put into rotation recently and in the past. It’s very important to make sure you incorporate many genres of music to cater to all listeners. Also, for albums that have had success at the station, it is important to include many singles over time. While our DJ’s follow music logs during their shifts, they are always encouraged to throw in listener requests. We also have a different specialty show every night of the week that includes genres like: jazz, blues, twang, local music, hip-hop, metal, and guilty pleasures. At the Impact, it is very important to us that we provide a diverse selection of music to our listeners.

As WDBM's audience is both college and community listeners how do you cater to both tastes?
A vast majority of what we play appeals to college students but we do not program specifically for that age group. We realize that our average listener is closer to their early 30’s than 20’s. With that in mind, we always make sure to mix in plenty of old with the new. This is not to say our older listeners don’t enjoy the new music we play, we are constantly getting requests from listeners around the community for new music. In addition, we have shows at our station like: Exposure, City Pulse, and MSU Today that discuss city issues and local events.

What are some of the greatest challenges you face as a college radio station 2009?
Staying relevant is always a challenge. Most college students don’t have to drive around too much and when they are in their dorm rooms they aren’t exactly huddled around the radio. Our job is to get the word out about the station and try to let people know that Impact is just as great as iTunes or an mp3 player. We are always taking requests from listeners and always want to let the public know that they can help shape what we play. What’s cooler: playing a song on your iTunes or having a DJ play a request for you? We also make sure that our DJ’s are keeping the audience involved whether it is giving them information regarding a band or telling them about upcoming community events. It’s important that when people listen to our station they feel like they’re getting a personalized experience.

What have been some of your best memories of WDBM?
When I was first starting out, I was an active member of the promotions staff. Every year we are in the homecoming parade giving out cool swag to all the college kids and local families. The year I was assisting with the parade we ran out of things to give out fairly early so I began doing cart wheels in the middle of the street to appease the crowd. This later landed me the Promotions Staff award so it was totally worth it. Another great memory was making this video for a class about a show that our old MD ROBB used to host. He had no idea I would be filming until minutes before the show and it turned out marginal at best. Still, it was a blast to make.

As music director, you've no doubt put countless albums into rotation, what are the top three albums that you are proud to have broken at The Impact?
1. Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head- Glistening Pleasure, 2. The Avett Brothers- The Second Gleam, 3. Fleet Foxes- Fleet Foxes.

Do you have any advice for other music directors?
Always try to get as many opinions about the music played at your station as possible. I like to ask other DJ’s and staff members about music being considered for the station. The more opinions the better, the MD shouldn’t be the only person deciding what music is being played.

In addition, to holding down the music director job at WDBM, you also help out in the music department at the influential non commercial station in Detroit, WDET [Detroit, MI].  Has working at WDET given you any new approaches to your post at WDBM or vice versa?
Being that WDET receives a lot of college music; I have had an upper hand in suggesting songs for airplay. I see what has done well at Impact and make suggestions accordingly. Thus far, there are many artists that I have recommended that are receiving good airplay. It was nice to be able to step into the station and have an immediate impact (no pun intended). I perform many of the same tasks as an intern at WDET that I would as an MD. What WDET has taught me is to always reach out to your local artists. They do such an amazing job when it comes to promoting local bands and their shows. In addition, WDET has an incredible music library. It has really inspired me to try to hold on to as many albums as I can for the station. A good library is essential to the success of any station. WDBM and WDET have taught me a lot and at the end of the day I can say I worked for both, that’s pretty amazing.

What are your future plans?
Continue helping out at WDET and apply to as many radio stations as I can. I really enjoy radio and would love to make a career out of it.

Anything else you'd like to add?
Resumes available upon request, haha.