Volunteers
Volunteer Profile: Monica
Name: Monica DJ name: Monica Show name: Chilly Down Broadcast time: Fridays 2:30pm-4pm Local or Transplant? Transplant– I grew up in Skowhegan. What do you do at WMPG? I’m a work study student, I do a lot of odds and ends, and I also DJ a show called Chilly Down. How did you get involved at WMPG? I was looking for a work study, and I always wanted to work at a radio station so I jumped at the…
Volunteer Profile: Izzy
Name: Izzy DJ name: Izzy Show name: It’s Not a Phase Broadcast time: Fridays 1pm-2:30pm Local or Transplant? Transplant! I’m from the Garden State of New Jersey… unfortunately. What do you do at WMPG? I DJ a show called “It’s Not a Phase” every other Friday, and I’m also a work study student, so… whatever my bosses tell me. How did you get involved at WMPG? Through the work study program. How long have you been at WMPG? Over a year…
Volunteer Profile: Remy Brecht
Name: Remy DJ Name: DJ Remy Brecht Show Name: Dead By Dawn Broadcast Time: Saturdays, 11pm – 1am EST Local or Transplant? Transplant from NYC via Detroit (and a bunch of other places) What do you do at WMPG? Board member, show DJ How did you get involved at WMPG? After moving to Maine, I had been missing having a regular DJ gig– I’d been a resident club DJ in such cities as Bloomington, Indianapolis,…
Volunteer Profile: Anne Beal
Name: Anne Beal DJ Name: Anne Show Name: Songs To Be Murdered By Broadcast Time: Every other Tuesday 10pm – 11:30pm Local or Transplant? Transplant What do you do at WMPG? DJ METAL SHOW How did you get involved at WMPG? Before I moved to Maine I contacted the station and asked about becoming a volunteer DJ. I had a college radio show in CT and wanted to continue DJ-ing when I moved here. How…
Volunteer Profile: Teresa St Peter
Name: Teresa DJ Name: Teresa (Tee) Show Name: Chickens are People Too Broadcast Time: 8-9 Sat morning Local or Transplant? Maine”ah” all my life (originally from Aroostook County aka “ The County” ) What do you do at WMPG? DJ for Chickens are People Too (currently I’m also involved with collaborating launching Middle School Mic Drop) How did you get involved at WMPG? I received an e-mail from the program director in Sept /October 2012 looking for DJ’s to lead Chickens are…
Volunteer Profile: Michael Manning
Name: Michael Manning DJ Name: Goober Local or Transplant? Somewhat local, grew up an hour south of Portland What do you do at WMPG? I currently sit on the WMPG Advisory Board and serve as the Board’s Chairperson. What does this involve? As Chair of the Board I help formulate budgets and policy in conjunction with management. I preside over the Advisory Board meetings and I also from time to time represent the Advisory Board on…
Volunteer Profile: Pope Brock
Name: Pope Brock DJ Name: Pope Brock Show Name: Dog’s Dinner Broadcast Time: Wed 8:30-10 pm Local or Transplant? Transplanted many, many times What do you do at WMPG? DJ – Dog’s Dinner on Wednesday evenings. How did you get involved at WMPG? I did some acting in Fred Greenhalgh’s wacked-out futuristic radio series The Cleansed, where thanks to the miracle of the medium I got to play three different characters who all got killed….
Volunteer Profile: Low Down Dirty Shane
DJ Name: DJ Low Down Dirty Shane Show Name: The Beat Don’t Stop Broadcast Time: Wednesday Nights from 10-11:30 PM. Local or Transplant? Mainer, born and raised in Northern Maine. Portlandite since 2002. What do you do at WMPG? I host The Beat Don’t Stop, an Old-School (80’s and early 90’s) Hip-Hop show, since September 2015.I’ve also DJ’d the WMPG Fashion show for the past two years. How did you get involved at WMPG? Did my on-air…
The Worm with Tom and Matt Lowell by Helen Crimmins
Q: America wants to know, which one of you is the head and which one is the butt of the worm?
Matt: I think I’m the butt because I’m nicer.
Tom: Wow, that is nice. I’m the face of this operation.
Q: How long have you guys been with WMPG?
Matt: We’ve been here for five years. It was just before the pandemic, and then we went remote for the pandemic.
Tom: Yes, I moved here five years ago and we started pretty shortly afterwards.
Q: Why did you want to get involved with WMPG?
Matt: We have both been doing radio for over a decade now.
Tom: Close to two decades. We both go into it in college—we’re four years apart.
Matt: It was 2008 that you joined WPCR in Plymouth. I joined WUNH a couple of years later.
Tom: But you joined WPCR because we wanted to get all of our friends on the exec board so we could all go on a trip together to Virginia.
Matt: Yeah, to do a college radio convention. It ruled.
Tom: I was the treasurer and I don’t think I did a single treasurer duty.
Matt: I was news director and I did do that.
Q: How did you get involved with WMPG?
Matt: We asked nicely, I think.
Tom: Yeah! We just kind of asked. We messaged them and they told us to come in and we’d get it figured out.
Matt: It was a pretty easy transition since we had both trained at two different radio stations before.
Photo Credit: Helen Crimmins
Q: What’s the best thing about being a part of WMPG and having your own show?
Tom: Spending time with each other.
Matt: That really is the best part of the show—two hours that we get to spend to be brothers together doing the thing that we love, which is music.
Tom: Yeah, that and I don’t have much time to be connected to music anymore. Music is a very important part of my life, and ever since the pandemic plus having a child has made it really hard to get connected and get back into it. This makes me feel connected to music and fills that void in my life.
Q: Do you have a memorable moment from your current show?
Matt: Interviewing Kim Warnick from The Fastbacks, which is an old Seattle punk band. Someone at the station had a connection with her because she lived in Portland, Maine and had offered to reach out to interview. We interviewed her over Zoom and I produced an hour long interview that we ended up airing. The Fastbacks have been doing punk music since the 70’s and they’re some of the earlier women in punk. It was really cool to talk to her.
Q: Any hopes for the future of your show?
Matt: I want to have some live punk bands come on.
Tom: I think that’s both of our main priority and goal for the future, but it’s hard because we’re on at 11 p.m. Bands that are in town are either still at the show they played, so we’d have to squeeze them in from midnight to one. Scheduling is difficult. Or a band has to come here just to do our show. In order to get that kind of reputation, you have to do it a bunch of times.
Q: Are there any WMPG shows that you regularly listen to?
Tom: I love Frothy Cascade’s Diamonds in the Dustbin. I also listened to Autumn’s show today —Gemini Radio. It was all hardcore at 5 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon. It was so sick! Hell yes. I imagine that they’re a young person, but they were playing bands that I was listening to in high school like Poison the Well. I cranked it up in the car.
Matt: I really like Dana Morse’s show, Wax Poetic. It hits me on drive time.
Q: Is there anything you’d like your listeners to know about you that we haven’t covered?
Tom: We’re brothers.
Matt: It’s true.
Tom: And we’re worms.
Matt: We are actually worms.
Tom: It’s important that people finally know the truth. We’re wearing human suits.
Matt: Very bad costumes that we made.
Tom: Worms don’t have hands so they don’t turn out great.
Name: Monica
DJ name: Monica
Show name: Chilly Down
Broadcast time: Fridays 2:30pm-4pm
Local or Transplant?
Transplant– I grew up in Skowhegan.
What do you do at WMPG?
I’m a work study student, I do a lot of odds and ends, and I also DJ a show called Chilly Down.
How did you get involved at WMPG?
I was looking for a work study, and I always wanted to work at a radio station so I jumped at the opportunity.
How long have you been at WMPG?
Since September 2022.
What do you do when you aren’t volunteering?
Working here! Or hanging out with my roommates.
Why is WMPG meaningful to you?
It’s a very close-knit and welcoming community. I feel lucky to be a part of it.
Name: Izzy
DJ name: Izzy
Show name: It’s Not a Phase
Broadcast time: Fridays 1pm-2:30pm
Local or Transplant?
Transplant! I’m from the Garden State of New Jersey… unfortunately.
What do you do at WMPG?
I DJ a show called “It’s Not a Phase” every other Friday, and I’m also a work study student, so… whatever my bosses tell me.
How did you get involved at WMPG?
Through the work study program.
How long have you been at WMPG?
Over a year now! Since February 2022.
What do you do when you aren’t volunteering?
I listen to a lot of music and I go to as many concerts as I can. I like pretty much anything under that huge umbrella term of ‘rock’.
Why is WMPG meaningful to you?
Music is my favorite thing in the world, always has been. So it’s really cool that I get to do this.
DJ Name: Emma / Show Name: What’s In My Mind
Broadcast time: Fridays 1pm-2:30pm
Local or Transplant?
Local! I grew up about an hour from Portland.
What do you do at WMPG?
I’m a work study student, so I’m technically a student assistant. I’m also the student event coordinator for the station, and I DJ.
How did you get involved at WMPG?
My mom had been interviewed by a DJ here a long time ago, and it sounded like a sweet gig to work at a radio station, so I thought why not apply for a work study job here?
How long have you been at WMPG?
Since October 2021, almost as long as I’ve been at USM.
What do you do when you aren’t volunteering?
I hang out with my friends, I swim, I spend time with my cat, and I like sitting in the sun.
Why is WMPG meaningful to you?
It’s been my first real job, and everyone here is just the best. I’ve made some lifelong friends at this place.
Name: Remy
DJ Name: DJ Remy Brecht
Show Name: Dead By Dawn
Broadcast Time: Saturdays, 11pm – 1am EST
Local or Transplant? Transplant from NYC via Detroit (and a bunch of other places)
What do you do at WMPG?
Board member, show DJ
How did you get involved at WMPG?
After moving to Maine, I had been missing having a regular DJ gig– I’d been a resident club DJ in such cities as Bloomington, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, and Detroit. My partner Sam saw a flyer for WMPG radio DJ training, and the rest is history!
How long have you been at WMPG?
June 2020 will be my 8-year anniversary with the station.
What do you do when you aren’t volunteering? (Example: work, hobbies, family)
By day, I am a web designer & developer. Outside of work, I am an active musician in several bands & solo acts, an occasional club DJ, and I am also a filmmaker and producer for the Damnationland Maine film showcase. Until quite recently, I was also the dad to a wonderful 15-year old beagle, Argos (RIP).
Why is WMPG meaningful to you?
WMPG is an increasingly rare animal in a sea of cookie-cutter commercial stations. The variety and diversity of voices and sounds at our station is second to none, and we are fiercely independent and local.
Interview by Annella Linton Date: Jan 2020
Photo supplied by Remy
Name: Anne Beal
DJ Name: Anne
Show Name: Songs To Be Murdered By
Broadcast Time: Every other Tuesday 10pm – 11:30pm
Local or Transplant? Transplant
What do you do at WMPG? DJ METAL SHOW
How did you get involved at WMPG? Before I moved to Maine I contacted the station and asked about becoming a volunteer DJ. I had a college radio show in CT and wanted to continue DJ-ing when I moved here.
How long have you been at WMPG? 25 years ( since around 20
What do you do when you aren’t volunteering? I have my own pet care business which I’ve done for the past 15 years. I freelance in video production work at local TV stations and production companies. I have also been teaching Middle Eastern Dance for the past 14 years, and I’m an avid volunteer with stray animals, doing a lot of foster work.
Why is WMPG meaningful to you? It gives me a chance to explore new metal, play some of my favorites and connect with other metal heads. WMPG is the best because the music changes every few hours and has such a wide variety of shows.
Here’s how to keep up with Anne:
Facebook Page – click to connect with Songs to be Murdered By
Interview by Annella Linton – Date: March 2019.
Name: Teresa
DJ Name: Teresa (Tee)
Show Name: Chickens are People Too
Broadcast Time: 8-9 Sat morning
Local or Transplant? Maine”ah” all my life (originally from Aroostook County aka “ The County” )
What do you do at WMPG? DJ for Chickens are People Too
(currently I’m also involved with collaborating launching Middle School Mic Drop)
How did you get involved at WMPG? I received an e-mail from the program director in Sept /October 2012 looking for DJ’s to lead Chickens are People too.
How long have you been at WMPG? Since 2013
What do you do when you aren’t volunteering? I work with children and families, volunteer as a facilitator @ Center for Grieving Children in TLC, participate in Community Share Garden, Swim, Explore Nature, spend time with family and Friends, create with art, enjoy going to Irish Ceili’s, plays, and performances.
Why is WMPG meaningful to you? I enjoy the Community of people I meet connected to WMPG. I like the Creative Potential as well as providing options geared for Children and families.
Interview by Annella (January 2019)
Photo supplied by Teresa
Name: Michael Manning
DJ Name: Goober
Local or Transplant? Somewhat local, grew up an hour south of Portland
What do you do at WMPG? I currently sit on the WMPG Advisory Board and serve as the Board’s Chairperson.
What does this involve? As Chair of the Board I help formulate budgets and policy in conjunction with management. I preside over the Advisory Board meetings and I also from time to time represent the Advisory Board on the Student Communications Board. My WMPG work these days is very behind the scenes.
How did you get involved at WMPG? I became involved with WMPG in 2005 as a work-study student. I was a substitute DJ for some time. Had my own show on Saturday mornings from 1am to 4am called The Afterparty. I also represented WMPG on the Student Communications Board. After graduating from USM in 2007, I no longer produced the Afterpart, but began engineering for public affairs programming. My public affairs engineering included the shows; Sound Ecology, Safe Space, and Money Talks. I was asked to join the Board in 2008 and I’ve been involved with WMPG in that capacity ever since.
How long have you been at WMPG? 13 years
What do you do when you aren’t volunteering? When I’m not volunteering, I work in the Advancement office at the University of New England. When I’m not working, I’m cycling, running, kayaking, hiking, playing in a cornhole tournament, or just hanging out with my wife and two cats.
Why is WMPG meaningful to you? WMPG is meaningful because you will find some of the best music in the state of Maine on WMPG. The programming is fantastic. WMPG also has some of the best, and nationally recognized, public affairs programming in the country. I’m very proud of the quality of programming on WMPG.
Not only is WMPG’s content meaningful, but also it’s status as a medium for people to have a voice in their community and express their 1st Amendment Rights.
Interview by Annella Date: June 2018
Name: Pope Brock
DJ Name: Pope Brock
Show Name: Dog’s Dinner
Broadcast Time: Wed 8:30-10 pm
Local or Transplant? Transplanted many, many times
What do you do at WMPG? DJ – Dog’s Dinner on Wednesday evenings.
How did you get involved at WMPG? I did some acting in Fred Greenhalgh’s wacked-out futuristic radio series The Cleansed, where thanks to the miracle of the medium I got to play three different characters who all got killed. He told me about WMPG – I was new to the area – and that they actually trained people off the street. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know there was such a thing.
How long have you been at WMPG? I started subbing in the fall of 2012. When I showed up for my first shift, the guy at the board handed me something and said, “Here’s the next promo,” and I said, “What do you mean promo?” Bit of a brain-freeze. I was nervous.
What do you do when you aren’t volunteering? I’m a writer, author of three books: Indiana Gothic, about the murder of my great-grandfather; Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him and the Age of Flim-Flam (he made millions of dollars implanting goat testicles into – well, I won’t spoil it); and most recently Another Fine Mess: Life on Tomorrow’s Moon. The book I’m working on now is set in Africa in the 1930s. Otherwise like most of us I’m doing my small part to feed the resistance and not have a stroke.
Why is WMPG meaningful to you? It’s been a dream come true. In a way working overnights, which I did for the first couple of years, was the best of all because if you’re wearing headphones and sending out tunes to bakers and cab drivers in the middle of the night you can 1) play anything you want and 2) self-mythologize like crazy. Musically it has also expanded my horizons tremendously because you really have to dig like a terrier to keep finding new things so the show stays fresh. Mostly I mean music but without that spur I would also never have discovered and been able to share audio of Salvador Dali giving English lessons or Alice B. Toklas’ recipe for hashish fudge or the interview with Andy Warhol’s hairdresser. Best of all though is just being a member of the clubhouse. I think we all bring our best selves to ‘MPG when we walk in the door there. Seriously.
Here is how to keep up with Pope:
popebrock.com. Stop by!
Interview by Annella Date: May 2018
Photo supplied by Pope Brock
DJ Name: DJ Low Down Dirty Shane
Show Name: The Beat Don’t Stop
Broadcast Time: Wednesday Nights from 10-11:30 PM.
Local or Transplant? Mainer, born and raised in Northern Maine. Portlandite since 2002.
What do you do at WMPG? I host The Beat Don’t Stop, an Old-School (80’s and early 90’s) Hip-Hop show, since September 2015.I’ve also DJ’d the WMPG Fashion show for the past two years.
How did you get involved at WMPG? Did my on-air training in Summer of 2007 after seeing WMPG info at a community event. Hosted my first show as a sabbatical fill in From October 2007-October 2008, it was called Super Dynamite Soul and I played classic funk and soul music.
How long have you been at WMPG? Since 2007
What do you do when you aren’t volunteering? I work with college students! I’m the Director of Student Conduct at the University of New England and prior to that work for many years in Student Life at Southern Maine Community College. Outside of work, I love music and spend a lot of time reading books about music, collecting vinyl records, and watching music related TV shows and documentaries. My whole family loves music, both my kids play instruments and I love introducing them to great music. I’m also an avid lover of the outdoors. You can often find me running, biking, snow shoeing and cross country skiing. I love to camp, hike and fish around Maine whenever I can.
Why is WMPG meaningful to you? WMPG means so much to me because of the opportunity to share the music that I love. Hip-hop has become commercial and pop-oriented but like WMPG it began with a very community orientated, independent, do-it-yourself approach. I love sharing the music that people who love this era a hip-hop remember and maybe even introducing it to a new audience. WMPG is one of only a few outlets on terrestrial radio that you can hear classic hip-hop. Hip-hop is often seen a disposable, trendy music so I love having the opportunity to share the history and culture of the genre. I feel like WMPG gives us DJs the freedom to share our passion and expertise in the music we love.
Here’s how to keep up with Shane:
wmpg.org/wed2200
wmpg.org/author/shanelong/
Interview by Annella Linton Date: May 2018
Photo supplied by Shane Long