KSCU GM Bobby Curry ‘19 Sings Station’s Praises
Campus radio community is music to his ears
By Ally O’Connor ’20
If you see a student racing into the basement of Benson in the middle of the night, there’s chance it is Bobby Curry ‘19 (Finance and Music), the general manager of Santa Clara University’s radio station, KSCU FM 103.3. Having worked his way over three years from DJ to GM, Curry now manages the station and oversees all employee work.
Curry explains that his passion for music drew him to the KSCU table at the involvement fair when he was a first year. Despite an initial goal to DJ for the station, “it took me a quarter, since at the time KSCU required that first-year students wait until the winter quarter to have a show,” Curry notes. “Since then, policy has changed and I have known students as early as week four [of fall quarter] to schedule a time with us here.”
With broad musical tastes that range from electronica to alternative rock (Tycho, James Blake, and DJ Koze get special shout-outs), Curry has found a comfortable home at KSCU. Like most college radio stations, KSCU has a long tradition of encouraging DJs to play their music favorites. Uniquely, however, alongside its 14 student staff members, KSCU boasts 60 DJs from the SCU community and surrounding city of Santa Clara at large.
In Curry’s view, however, KSCU’s programming and practices go well beyond its multi-music format and outside talent. The station also produces music, talk shows, and sports coverage 24 hours a day; has begun teaching SCU students how to create their own music using advanced systems like Ableton and Logic; and has increased sports coverage to now include full court-side basketball play-by-plays. Curry says these practices allow for “diverse programming that hopefully appeals to a wide variety of listeners.”
While Curry says he is considering going into the business side of the music industry, event planning or concert production, he also admits, “I'm still not entirely sure, but look forward to figuring it all out this year.“ But for right now, his focus is KSCU. "This job is extremely fulfilling. I am always busy, but so grateful for our really hard-working staff," says Curry. “I’m lucky to have found my place on campus.”