Stephen, Over Soup

by Ale Díaz-Pizarro

Stephen Dames is the American Department Head at WKCR, a programmer since Fall 2021, the regular host of the Saturday afternoon blues show Something Inside Of Me— and my roommate, not to mention my dear friend. The start of our friendship is intertwined with our start at WKCR: we met while on the WKCR Record Crawl of our freshman fall, and the rest has been history.

This interview took place in the kitchen of our small apartment, overhead-lit and overlooking Riverside. To set the scene, imagine us at a shitty dorm-furniture table, Stephen recovering from a bout of the flu, with two steaming bowls of homemade matzo ball soup in front of us. In a faithful audio transcript of our interview, every few sentences would be punctuated with a pause to sip from the spoon. From the fridge, a small magnetic puppet of Freud—Stephen's subject of study outside WKCR—watches over us. Our floor lamps are on, and the space beyond us is warmly lit.

I guess we can start with all the housekeeping things, like—well, I know who you are.

You do.

So, Stephen, how did you join WKCR?

It was the first thing I joined when I came to Columbia. I went to the initial meeting on the lawns. I met Red [Stein, former Director of Operations & Engineering], I met Mac [Waters (‘22), former Program Director]. And then I met Sam Seliger, who you know. He was kind of my first friend at Columbia, who was this sort of ghost who haunted the station and programmed every single American show. [At the time, Sam was American Department Head.] And I went on the WKCR record crawl, where I met you for the first time. And then, you know, I got licensed. After I failed my first exam, I got licensed. And then Sam was kind of like, “Please do American shows.” And I was like, “Yeah, wonderful.” So that's what I did.

Yeah, famously, you failed the first licensing exam. I remember how big of a deal this was in freshman year.

Both the practical and the written.

I thought you just failed the written?

No, I failed both. I bet I couldn't pass the practical today.

So why American? Was it just because Sam Seliger said so?

Well, this was also the type of music that I not even necessarily like most, but feel most comfortable working with and probably have the most knowledge with. So freshman and sophomore year I programmed Night Train. I love soul, I love funk, and I also really loved this stay-up-all-night experience. And then sophomore and senior year I've been programming the blues, which I also really love. I program shows in a number of departments, but I've only regularly ever programmed a show in American because I've never felt quite comfortable enough to regularly do a different show.

So why did you go for American Head?

I feel like there's a good answer to this. I feel like there's an inspirational answer for this. But, honestly, because I felt like I could do a decent job. You know, I loved just being a programmer, and maybe I would have even loved just being a programmer more than being on the board. But it feels a little selfish, almost like you actually should help the station run if you care about it. Even if it's maybe not the most fun thing in the world, it's kind of just a good thing to do. And also I wanted—I want— the quality of American shows to be high, and I care about that.

You say you've been primarily a programmer, and that you would have almost been happier with that; I think that's different from a lot of these interviews we've done with folks who are longstanding board members or on the executive board. One of the questions that we always ask them is: what are you proudest of in your time at KCR? And I think that you might give a different sort of answer.

There are a few shows I've done that are probably the proudest I've been of things I've done. Especially in the course of my time doing Something Inside Of Me, the blues show, I've done a lot of themed shows that I think have been pretty good. I am proud, essentially, of the programming I’ve done, both because I think it's good, and I think other people will like it, and because, just for myself, it grows what I like. It grows what I listen to, what I'm exposed to, it expands what my interests are, and it teaches me things. But, honestly, just the week-to-week show is what I carry. I mean, in the end, that's what people are listening to, right? I signed up to be at a radio station, and that is what radio is for.

We've often had this conversation—often over beers, often featuring Sam Seliger—about how American is kind of the best department at KCR. And you've said that part of you unironically believes that. So I'm gonna ask you to elaborate on that a bit.

I mean, look: I think there are arguments to be made that every department has really special things going on, but in certain ways, I think American features a really great diversity of shows. Every single American show is vastly different from every other one, and I think they take a specific knowledge of a genre, of a period. And honestly, I find American shows really fun. I really love the people who listen and call in to them. I love their titles. I love the theme songs. And I also think we have a really great library to draw from in American, which we don't for every department. So yeah, I would be happy programming any American show. And that's probably not the case with any other department. And, I mean, jazz is very special: there's a great history with Latin too. But WKCR American, even if you're leaving aside hip hop—which has its own, crazy history at KCR and is a subset of American—I find each show genuinely wonderful in its own way, with its own history, audience, and impact.

I don't want to ask you the things that are always asked, like what are you doing after graduation? Or what will you miss the most about KCR? Because I think what someone will miss about KCR is almost always the thing they've talked about during the interview, and so often the response just ends up being "the people."

That's actually not what I'm gonna miss.

So what are you gonna miss about KCR?

Honestly, the library. Like, I won't have all those records anymore. That's pretty sad.

But you do have some personal, crazy records of your own. What was the last record you purchased, Stephen?

Oh, yes, thank you, Ale. Let me go get it so I can read it off right now. The last record that I purchased—or rather, was purchased for me by my girlfriend—was the Reverend Gary Davis, 1956 to 1957. Now this record was purchased at a place called the Record Shop in Red Hook, where my girlfriend used to work. I got it both because I like the Reverend Gary Davis quite a bit, and played him on Something Inside Of Me a few times over the past couple months, and also, because I’d never seen a record like this before. It's a completely blank record on the outside. It's hand typed, and there's no lettering on the record itself. And I talked to Carter, I asked him what this was, because I'd never seen anything like this. And he said that this was a test print for a record that never came out, so there maybe are only five or ten of these that exist, which I think is really cool.

What does the price sticker in the corner say?

It says $15 bucks, and it is worth significantly more than that, but I'm never gonna sell it.

You'd never donate it to the KCR library.

No, no, I'm selfish.

Well, what is your favorite item in the KCR library? I kind of feel like I know what you're gonna say. It’s Shaft.

It's Shaft, yeah. We have the theme song [from the 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft]—actually, it's a complete soundtrack, but really you only want to play the theme song. It’s awesome. It's really, really good. The Simpsons do a parody of it. I think maybe I'll give you a more serious answer too, because that's my favorite kitsch thing. My actual favorite album in the library, the one I love the most, is B.B. King Live in Africa. It has one of my favorite songs of all time on it, "Sweet Sixteen." This was recorded during the Ali-Foreman fight in Africa, the Rumble in the Jungle, [whose accompanying music festival Zaire 74] featured such artists as B.B. King and James Brown. It’s one of the most famous fights in boxing history, and also the subject of the movie When We Were Kings—one of my favorite documentaries—which includes a live version of B.B. King singing this song. Incredible album, really glad to have it in the library.

Maybe we can end with a few silly questions. What is your favorite KCR show to listen to?

Oh, that's Across 110th Street, which I listen to every week. Both Ayanna [Heaven] and Deacon [Strange] are awesome: they're very different shows, they have different ways of approaching the stuff, but they're both really, really good, very talented, and I am a regular listener to their shows.

I mostly just want to give you a chance to plug them. What's your beer of choice?

Oh, my beer of choice. I'm gonna be pretty pretentious here and I'm gonna say… What do I want to give this answer to? I mean, I'm just gonna say any English bitter.

That is way more pretentious than anything I thought you were gonna say.

Yeah, any English bitter? That's what I want.

That is good. You know, like that thing about would you have a beer with the President? Would you have a beer with the American head?

Would you have a beer with an American head, and he didn't even pick an American beer? I could have said PBR, and, you know, the people would have clamored.

Has Freud seeped into your shows yet? Has Freud made a cameo?

I mean, there is a sort of—there's an unconscious to the blues. I can't say that I mentioned Freud on air yet, but it's interesting to think about the types of sexuality we see in the blues.

How do you feel about the Beatles?

I'm pro.

Favorite Beatle?

George.

Yeah, good answers. You listened to KCR before you joined, right?

Yeah. I'm a New Yorker.

How is KCR going to stay a part of your life after your time at the station is over?

I hope to be in the city next year, and I don't want to be an alum with a regular show. The alumni who should have regular shows have to be really special. I think I do a good job with Something Inside Of Me, but I think it's a show that other people should program. But I'd like to occasionally fill in a show or two when there's time, and then I'm just going to continue listening like. I don't know how else the station stays in your life, besides the memories you have of it, if it's not just listening to it. I guess we’re gonna do the corny thing you talked about, but yes: if it's not the friends I made, the memories I have of it, or the music that I've learned about from it, then yeah, it's just that I'm gonna continue to listen.

For what it's worth, I think you're really special.

Well. Thank you very much. I appreciate that.

The bowls of matzo ball soup sit, empty, between us. As Stephen grabs the Reverend Gary Davis record to put it back, I push my chair back to stand up and put them in the sink.

In March, April, and May, make sure to tune in Saturdays 2-4 PM to hear Stephen host Something Inside Of Me—and maybe even call in before he graduates.