Interview with Leni Bryan

by Ale Díaz-Pizarro

Can you introduce yourself and tell me a little bit about your involvement at WKCR?

I’m Leni! I started as a programmer at WKCR over the summer of my sophomore year (I think that was 2022) and now I mostly help with audio tech at the station.

You’ve worn many hats at KCR. Do you have a favorite thing you’ve done? What’s been your experience switching between these roles? It’s hard to say any job was a favorite because they are all so different. Starting as a programmer was super exciting. I had always wanted to be a part of college radio, especially something as exploratory as WKCR, so I couldn't wait to start programming. When I saw the library for the first time I was so blown away, and I knew there were so many exciting shows ahead of me. I have a pretty extensive collection of salsa records back at home, so seeing the record and CD catalog in the library was truly out of this world. I remember telling my grandma and grandpa about all of the records from Tito

Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Hector Lavoe, people like that, and talking with them about their time dancing to the music of these phenomenal musicians. Programming these shows also provided an avenue for me to learn more about my own family history and connection to Latin music in the city.

In this sense, the transition to Latin Head felt natural. Of course, the Latin Department at KCR encompasses genres beyond salsa, and I had a lot of fun learning about music from other countries and across the Latine diaspora. One of my favorite elements about the position: I got to meet some really great long-time programmers, like Jassvan who programs Som Do Brazil, a show I still listen to every Wednesday night.

While being Latin Head was great, I think I am having the most fun now as a sound engineer at the station. For people who don't know— Live Constructions is a show where we bring in performers to play a live set at the station that we broadcast onto air. We have had a pretty awesome variety of performers, including experimental saxophone with Sam Weinberg, who used to be involved with WKCR. My job is running the sound for the shows, which includes setup, sound check, live muxing, and breakdown. I am really passionate about audio in general: I love live sound engineering but I am also really interested in audio electronics and tinkering, and running sound at the station has given me a lot of experience in exploring how a variety of equipment works! What I like most about the job though is the social aspect. The show absolutely absolutely not run without me alone—there is a team of students who have commited an incredible amount of time to the show from interviewing artists, taking photos during their set, and learning about the sound aspect of it! The artists that we have on are always so thrilled and kind—we record the set for them digitally and on cassette, so we try to make sure to give them the best mix possible. I love thinking about Live Constructions as an artistic collaboration between the students who run it and the artists who play.

How has KCR impacted your time at college?

So many ways. To start, I wake up to the radio every day from my Sony radio clock, and I have KCR and other station playing in my room through out the day. I have been exposed to so many styles of music that I had never heard of before, and I have met so many wonderful personalities at the station. I have learned so much about perspectives beyond mine here, which has been a truly valuable experience. WKCR is an example of the amazing work that can be done entirely by students. It is something that I am extremely proud to be a part of.

Also, bringing it all back to Live Constructions, the first time I touched a sound board was at WKCR. I had always loved to play music, but my deep exploration in sound and audio really started here because it gave me the space to learn independently and with my peers.

I have made long lasting friendships at the station, but also with people from around the city. A lot of the artists who come onto Live Constructions are super nerds about gear, which is right up my alley, and some very sweet friendships have grown from this shared interest. An adjacent point—being involve with WKCR has also made me a much more confident and social person. Whether that be sound checking bands or programming a show talking to the abyss, it takes a bit of courage to put yourself in those positions. When I programmed my first show, I read from a quasi script, my hands were clammy, and there was defninietly a shake in my voice, and it is so precious to look back on that show and think about how much I have changed from being a part of WKCR.

Do you have a favorite show you’ve done?

I have done a few Afternoon New Music slots, and those have always been my favorite. As much as I love to program Mambo Machine or Nueva Canción, I like to lean into the freeform nature of a New Music show—I once did an auto themed show when I covered the slot for someone last minute. We started at the Ford Pinto controversy and ended at a heated debate about how to categorize highways, freeways, and expressways. Shows like that—telling an odd story through music—have always been really fun.

Recently a show you engineered ended up on an EP. Tell me a little bit more about that! Yes! We had Anthony Fuscaldo and his group on air recently for (the new Jazz Head, yay!) Rachel [Smith]’s recent Sunday Profile. They were one of my favorite performances this year in part because their performance was so beautiful and loose, but also because they were lovely people to talk to. This was a show that really felt like a collaboration because we spent some time discussing how we wanted the music to feel. Was it warm? Inviting? Having conversations like this with artists is always fun because I believe that recording an artists involve imposing a bit of your own artistic vision onto their music, and this way I can do so in a way that respects their musical vision.

What’s next for you after graduation? Does it involve radio, sound, music in any way?

After graduation I will be staying in the city! I am taking a year off before I apply for masters programs in Electircal Engineering, but until then I hope to find somewhere that I can work on audio electronics! It would be really cool to be able to live off of my passion. (Please hire me, please.)

Lastly—what's it like to have WKCR follow you around your other job?

Hungarian [Pastry Shop] is still my stomping ground, and my boss DOES love WKCR—he can name all the shows.