DJs Rob Kelly (a.k.a. Rob Shatzky) and
Jordana Klein share the air at RAV FM, the student
radio station that broadcasts from Vaughan Secondary
School with a limited signal but boundless
enthusiasm.
In tune and turned on Aspiring DJs take to the airwaves Vaughan school
hosts radio station
CHRISTOPHER
HUTSUL LIFE WRITER
There's only one thing missing from Rob Kelly's
all-request radio show.
Stationed at the helm of RAV FM's broadcast console,
deep in the belly of Vaughan Secondary School, he's got the
equipment.
With an Industry Canada radio licence, he's got the
signal.
And with his buddy Phil Esposito delivering hourly
wrestling updates, he's got the sidekick.
He just doesn't have the requests.
Where other DJs sit back and wait for listeners to
call, Kelly must dial out and dig for them.
So he takes himself off the air and calls his brother
at home.
"Eric, can I get you to introduce a song for me?" he
asks. "No? Well, what about Dad?"
While he waits for his dad, he taps the touchscreen
that manages the playlist and cues The Rascalz.
"Hey, Dad."
"Hey, Rob. Melissa called for you."
"Dad, lemme just do this — you're Bill from Markham,
okay? Can you request the new J.Lo song?"
Kelly's recording the conversation on the computer.
He'll edit the audio file and play it as a lead-up to the
track.
"And let's hear some enthusiasm. It's Friday night."
This bunker might seem like an odd place for a
19-year-old to be on a Friday night. While the city unfurls
into weekend festivity, he's tweaking levels, adjusting
microphones, and searching the Web for weather reports.
But Kelly is buoyant in this den. He's living out his
dream of working in radio. Although 90.7's signal is small —
they're only allowed to broadcast to the school and its
surrounding neighbourhood (although at times it can be heard
at greater distances) — it's practice for a career in the
industry.
He graduated from this school a year ago, and with the
RAV experience under his belt, he landed a job doing odd jobs
at KISS92. It's all in preparation for the radio broadcasting
program at Seneca College that begins in January.
"I like communicating," says the clean-cut guy behind
the console. "I love announcing, and I like smiling behind the
mike. People tell me I've got a good voice for radio. But all
it is, is smile and a bit of projection. That's a radio
voice."
He's got a good radio name, too.
In fact, Rob Kelly isn't really Rob Kelly. He's Rob
Shatzky.
His radio name is punchier than his real name, he says,
and it sounds better on the air. It was given to him by the
man he calls his mentor, Rob Basile.
Basile, who works for the IT department for five
schools in the area, is the creator of RAV FM. When Basile
started at VSS, he befriended the director of the computer
technologies department and told him about an idea he'd been
working on.
"I pitched the idea of a radio station to him and he
supported it." Basile says. "He said we could build a course
around it."
Before he arrived at the school in 1998, Basile had
been working in production at two Toronto radio stations. He
turned to those contacts to see if they would donate enough
equipment to get the station off the ground.
He ended up with a broadcast console (valued at
$20,000, Basile calls it the heart and soul of the studio)
from CHUM-FM, microphone arms, speakers, baffling and
wire moulds from CJRT 91.1, processing equipment from CBC and
two turntables from the now defunct Energy 108. The school's
communications department pitched in with CD and mini-disc
players.
RAV (Radio@Vaughan) FM, was on the air in the spring of
1999. Now, music pours through 90.7 on the FM dial and at http://www.ravfm.com/ 24
hours a day. And in the mornings, at lunchtime, and in the
after-school hours, real live teenagers host talk shows about
everything from movies to sports to video games. And, oh yeah,
wrestling.
Stale heat pours off monitors, amps, and processors,
warming the studio on a frosty November morning.
At 7 a.m., Brian Antflick and Zack Teperman have
shrugged off both exhaustion and the deep chill outside to
prepare for their 7:30 a.m. spot on RAV FM.
"First we'll do the weather, then talk about the
Osbournes, then the Leafs. Did you hear about Belfour?"
The earnest Grade 10 students are scribbling notes,
checking facts, sorting through CDs. Antflick is the rookie,
but this is Teperman's second year on air. He'll be manning
the console during the show, which means he'll pick the music.
There's a quiet, relaxed atmosphere in here; it has the vibe
of a pro studio.
Antflick worked at McDonald's last night until 12:30
a.m. He didn't get to bed until 1 a.m. But he isn't
complaining.
Right now, they're discussing timing.
"Am I going to say this or are you going to say this?"
asks Antflick.
That's when Kristin Daniel, program director and Grade
11 student, shows up to make sure everything is unfolding as
it should. She looks through a stack of CDs, checks
microphones, then sits down next to Antflick.
"Okay, fourth is J.Lo. Do you wanna do the riddles this
morning?" Teperman asks, smiling. Everyone in the room knows —
Brian loves riddles.
A glow has erased any sign of fatigue on Teperman's
face. He's bouncing behind the console, pumped for prime time.
"When you're in this room and turn on the lights, it's
natural," he says. "You turn on the mike and say, `Hey,' 'cuz
the people are listening."
Teperman, the station's assistant director and
webmaster, does a show Friday mornings to go with a Monday
sports talk show. And, oh yeah, he works part-time at a
Country Style donut shop.
"I guess we'll just say, `Hey good morning, what's
up?'" Teperman says.
"Talk about how cold it is," Daniel chimes.
Antflick laughs.
"My dad wants to move back to Cali."
"Two minutes," Teperman announces over the punchy beats
of Destiny's Child.
"One minute."
Both boys clear their throats and stand up, adjusting
their mikes.
On Air. And all of a sudden, with the pace and cadence
of a pro ...
"It's Zack Tee and Beman in the Morning with News,
Sports and all your favourite hits."
Teperman hits a button, and Bryan Adams' "Summer of
'69"sends a flare of warmth through the frozen
airwaves.
"We try to be as diverse as possible," says Teperman.
"Most of our music is urban and hip-hop. But we play rock and
oldies, too.
"This is tons of fun," he beams. "I want to go into
broadcasting, and this is a head start. If I have the
experience, I'll know how to do it and go far with it."
It'll be a while before Teperman's ready for college,
but he's got plans to study broadcasting at Ryerson.
"I didn't know I wanted to get into TV and radio. When
I got here in Grade 9, I decided to join. I wouldn't have ever
known that I wanted to do this," he says.
But there's no time to chat. Teperman is back on the
air, delivering a weather report with an unnerving enthusiasm.
"I'm looking out my window and it looks like it's going
to be cold today."
Zack T and Beman are smiling at each other.
There's no window in the studio.
But are there listeners out there enjoying the
repartee? Is anybody listening?
"I don't know. But before I left my house I cranked up
my radio," Teperman smirks. "Whoever's waking up at my house
will hear it for sure."
Ask Basile how he feels when he watches these teenage
rogues run a professional-sounding radio station, and he can
only sputter. He's proud, almost incredulous.
"That is ... that is the biggest reward," he says. "The
sense of gratification I get at the end of the day ... just to
witness that .... It makes it all worthwhile."
From his perch as station manager, Basile looks on the
radio staff with respect and admiration.
He has seen how these kids have embraced the studio,
how they've applied their talent and skill to make it click.
Basile says the studio has offered a venue of
expression for a handful of youngsters who may have never
discovered a knack for broadcasting — although not everyone
plans on being the next Tarzan Dan.
"You get an interesting mix of kids involved," he says.
"You get the Robby Shatzkys who are gung ho to pursue a career
in broadcasting. And you get the others who don't, but who
want to have their voice and they want people to hear what
they have to say."
Basile could be pursuing a more profitable career, but
he's got his teeth into this project in a big way and he wants
be a part of RAV FM's bright future.
"This is good," he says. "I want to see where we can
take this within education. Maybe we can branch it out, get
the community or other schools involved. I want to see where
this goes."
And if things work out the way Basile hopes,
post-secondary institutions will soon be offering advance
standing to students who graduate from his radio program. He's
already had preliminary conversations about such an
arrangement with Humber College.
Basile hopes the stations will take on a more global
feel in the future, possibly swapping programs with stations
in other parts of the world.
And that kind of expansion is possible with the support
that RAV FM has received since its inception.
In fact, Garry Newman, president of Warner Music
Canada, paid a surprise visit to the studio in November to
drop off a $5,000 cheque. The money, which will be used to
purchase better equipment, matches a grant received from the
York Region District School Board earlier in the year.
But if the students are inspired by the station and the
potential it offers, it's an extension of Basile's passion for
radio.
"I love the intimacy of it," he says. "One person in a
control room can talk to thousands of people instantaneously.
It's not like TV, where there's a whole crew. This has got an
intimate feel to it. There's something in radio that hooks
you. It's passion-driven."
At 8:30 p.m., Esposito delivers his hourly
wrestling update. As it turns out, Stone Cold Steve Austin
will be wrestling in Toronto in February. It's possible that
only hard-core wrestling fans — or relatives of the hosts —
are taking notice of these announcements, but that isn't
really the point.
On a Friday night, these friends are camped out in a
high-tech closet at their old school, perfecting a craft they
love, sending radio waves into the empty corners of a
Thornhill neighbourhood. And just like Zack Tee and Beman in
the Morning, Kelly and Esposito love the thrill of
communicating, whether the world listens or not.
And sometimes, on this all- request show, the phone
even rings.
Like right now.
"RAV Request Live, Rob speaking."
"Hey Rob, it's Amanda."
"Amanda? What's up?"
"Can you do me a favour?"
"Sure. Wanna make a request?"
"No. I need Marissa's number."
"Honestly, I don't know it," he sighs. "I think it's
303 something. But do me a favour? Introduce a song, okay?"
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