Spring Semester 2023
Thanks for a great 2022-2023 year of radio!
Our FM signal (on 88.7FM) is done for the semester, we’ll sign on again September 1, 2023!
WFNP, 88.7FM The Edge will is broadcasting again live from the 4th floor of the Student Union Building at SUNY New Paltz! Our web stream runs 24/7 with student DJs hosting shows live in the studio each day anytime from 9am am until 6pm, while our FM DJs are in studio live, both on the web stream, and 88.7FM (if you are local to the Hudson Valley), Monday-Friday from 7pm-12am, Saturday and Sunday from 10pm-midnight during the months of February, March, April, September, October and November.
You can listen to your favorite student DJs on 88.7FM and wfnp.org!
Interested in getting involved with the station? Sign up HERE. WFNP is open to all majors, all class years, all students. We have opportunities for anyone to get involved in a number of departments both on the air and off. We are always looking for people to join our News Team (covering local news stories, writing stories for our newscasts, engineering, and reporting). Want to talk Sports, both professional and college? Join our Sports Department! We also need student volunteers for promotions, album and concert reviews for our website, and more. Learn about different ways to get involved with WFNP by clicking HERE.
Feel free to visit our studios in the Student Union Building, Room 423!
“It’s all on you now, SUNY New Paltz WFNP 88.7 The Edge. Don’t let me down”
We won’t let you down, Stephen Colbert, we promise.
Click above to read more about our Late Show with Stephen Colbert mention.
Cutting Edge Music Reviews
When you first become a DJ and get your first show, opportunities seem endless. You think of show ideas and themes to feature all of the music you think everyone needs to hear. You share with the world all the feelings, lessons, and experiences this music has given you over the years and overall paint a picture of yourself through the music that has shaped you. This is an incredible experience and is probably why you become DJs in the first place. This is all well and good but after a while, as I’ve discovered being a DJ for over two years now, You finally start to burn through your all-time favorites or find yourself repeating the same ideas. Here are some tips I’ve learned on where to find new and innovative music, as well as some ways you can add to your show to make it more engaging and fun for both you and your deserving listeners. This also applies to any music listeners who simply want to spice up their music life.
TIP #1 MUSIC PLATFORMS
This sounds redundant to say but there are countless places online literally made for the purpose of discovering new artists.
Sites like Last.fm and Turntable.fm make for great ways to have access to wide libraries and see what other music people are playing and enjoying. It is also a good idea to do some digging through music journalism sites with Pitchfork being my go to example. There are more people than just us who wanna talk about the music they find and love, and have built entire careers around it!
Bandcamp is also a go to for those wishing to see curated lesser known artists, from old record releases, to new cutting edge artists. It’s also recommended to find music subreddits for the genres and music scenes of your liking. These are communities dedicated to lifting up lesser known artists and highlighting forgotten gems of their genres and are my personal go to’s when I need to freshen up my music listening.
There are several more sites I could be listing here but you all have access to the internet if you’re reading this so use these as focal points to explore further!
TIP #2: USE THE ALGORITHM
As much as I and many other music minded people have problems with the streaming services at large in the music industry and their payment of musicians It can definitely be used to your advantage as a DJ to discover and highlight lesser known tracks.
Services like Spotify and Apple music are filled with algorithms that find music similar to what you already listen to. A great way to pinpoint this is by going through related playlists or radios based on specific artists. There are also release radars and discover weekly’s automatically updated to give you some new music which works but runs out quick but worth the check every now and then.
It can be very beneficial to use these algorithms but as a good DJ and curator of music it’s always good to make discoveries on your own too and not become dependent on these automated services. It can get a little stale if used too often, but nonetheless is a great way to keep listening to new sounds, whatever they may be.
TIP #3: GET LOCAL
Speaking of making discoveries on your own, your own local music scene is constantly churning out new music from the ground up.
Our college town of New Paltz is a great example to get started as far as an active music scene but also take a look wherever you’re from or have been. Most of the biggest local scenes are in more metropolitan areas but you never know live music finds itself wherever there are people. From Long Island through Buffalo in this state alone there are new artists practically everywhere who want to be heard!
Do these starving artists a favor! Get involved in the scene, make a fanzine, go to that local DIY show in the grimy basement. Not only will you find other like minded listeners but you may just find the new band you’ve been waiting for.
TIP #4: YOUR FELLOW DJS!
This last tip is to look inward at the station itself! There are other DJs in your exact same position, with their own histories and diverse music tastes and wanting more fresh music to listen to. Ask around and find out what other DJs are playing and talking about.
Better yet a way to spice up your show is to have guests! Other DJs not only already know the ins and outs of your studio but also bring fresh new voices to your show. Collaborating with others in the station could bring you new things you never heard of or find that you have a lot more in common with them than you think, and makes the whole station closer as a result.
There you have it! These are just a few of my tips to expand your music listening for yourself and your show. Dive deep into genres you love because there is always more to find and learn about the music you love. Keep an open mind too! There may be genres you’ve written off but I promise you there is a reason for each and every song you hear and someone that loves it. Explore and use these tips to introduce your own listeners to things they didn’t even know existed. [...]
Read more...
Live music is a competition for attention on all fronts. Artists pour their hearts out for an audience, begging to confess themselves to any willing ear. Venues try to gather as large a crowd as they possibly can, doing everything from deals on cheap liquor to themed party nights to accomplish their goal. Then there’s the audience members, the loyal hometown fans, who come by regardless of who’s playing or how much the drinks are. Amidst all of this fanfare it’s surprisingly easy to forget to listen even though you’re there to see the music. The true beauty of live music strikes when all participants truly decide to listen to each other through the music. Tap into what makes us similar see each other’s true selves laid bare. Last Friday, I witnessed a performance where this was truly the case — a band called MJT in Snugs Harbor.
The one decent photo I was able to get before the crowd came in
I made a stop with some friends into Snugs Harbor, a dive bar located in downtown New Paltz, and encountered a band that had my full attention from the first note. Their style was incredible; their performance, their immaculate showmanship, and most importantly, their ability to keep a crowd on their feet for an entire set.
It seemed everyone who strolled in was immediately captivated. The soulful song choices and absolutely stunning transitions, broken up with some great original material, made for one of the best live sets I’ve seen here to date. I should also note that the Friday I came in was World College Radio Day, where I had the privilege as WFNP’s co-music director to host a live, recorded performance that allowed a handful of student bands to add professional recordings to their portfolio. Maybe It was my motivation as a representative of WFNP combined with the electric performance but I knew I had to talk to them and at least get their info to keep in contact with them later. What resulted at the end of that long night was a conversation with MJT that made me hopeful for the future of New Paltz music as a genuine music scene with a bigger scope than the small town wrapped around our quaint college.
“We’ve heard a lot about this place from friends who went to colleges here about this scene saying we “had to get to New Paltz””
David Godfrey, Guitarist and Vocalist of MJT.
To give a little context, MJT is a band of three brothers; David, Matt, and Jordan Godfrey. Their sound takes influence from soul and jazz artists like Herbie Hancock and Weather Report, but incorporate a level of stage presence and emotional vulnerability that heirs on one-in-a-million. David, the guitar player, unexpectedly has a great range and singing voice paired with some pretty immaculate guitar playing. Jo’s drumming perfectly brings up the energy, with fills that show off his chops and for just a split second, completely change the feel of familiar tunes and keeps you on your feet. Matt is the keys player but also does so much more for the track; filling out the bass end on the lower octaves, which is normally something I don’t like as much in live performance. Matt definitely won me over with his incredible playing and bass part mimicry that really fills the space of an electric base while adding flair that can only be played on a keyboard or organ.
Matt Godfrey, after I asked what brought the band together replied “DNA” and then explained they were a band of brothers before I was even aware of that!
The talk we had was really something special. It’s always fascinating to see an outsiders perspective of our small, yet incredibly active music scene. “On Long Island there’s a lot of gigs, bars or other venues, where people aren’t always so willing to give you their ears y’know what I mean,” says David, reflecting on the electric energy of the crowd the night of their Snugs gig. “It’s always nice to come to a place where whoever rolls in there is there to listen, have a good time, and get involved in the performance, which is beautiful.” They even talked about the balance between covers and originals with the band, which even changes in New Paltz. “We feel more comfortable playing more originals and even more deep cuts here because we feel like the crowd here wants that, even in a late night bar gig and everybody wants to be in it.” It’s great to know that we’re viewed as a place where creativity is accepted and kick-ass live music is always playing.
Their performance seemed to really resonate with the crowd, from bouncers to long-time townies, and to new people like me who have only recently found themselves in this strange town. Everyone had something to say after the show to thank the band, and geeked out around their friends and peers about the show. In an ideal performance, to quote David himself: “It’s a sharing of energy y’know? You give a lot of yourself and the audience gives a lot of themselves, and if everyone’s conscious and willing to do so, it’s a beautiful experience.” The take away I got from that night, aside from MJT being an incredible band, is that the crowd and listeners are just as important to the “performance” as the musicians themselves. Some of my favorite parts of the night were seeing the reactions my friends and the good times they were having. This is something that not only musicians can use to their advantage to engage a crowd, but also something show goers and any participants of music. Being aware of that “sharing of energy” connects you to a band more and all those around you, and giving back to performers when they’re pouring their hearts out let’s them know you’re engaged too, which works in a sort of positive feedback loop until you tap into the real meaning of live performance. Dancing around each other and feeling the same vibrations, while expressing yourself to your friends and performers, is the closest thing to magic I can think of, and is something everyone needs to experience more often.
Jordan Godfrey, Drummer of MJT
MJT will be back November 11th. Make sure to catch them! They are also working on a new album since about 2018 which is according to them a “revamp and collection of everything we’ve been doing”. The first single of this project will be out by January, and MJT assured me they will be back touring in New Paltz next year to promote the new release. I’m absolutely stoked to see more from this band in the future. [...]
Read more...
About Our Station
WFNP is the official student run radio station of the State University of New York at New Paltz. We are an educationally affiliated, non-commercial station, striving to serve the community’s best interest. The station provides innovative, cutting-edge music, news, and talk programming. WFNP broadcasts to the campus community, the entire Hudson Valley, and beyond via our web stream and 88.7 FM.
Our DJs work hard to give listeners great shows and keep them coming back for more. Each DJ has the ability to create their own masterpiece for the community!
Learn about the history and development of our station, as told through one of our alumni Maggie Zielinski.