By Abbi Sleeper, Staff Writer
Student DJ Harry Wolfson, sits at his desk in the WUNH studio. This is his third year at WUNH.
As a freshman, Harry Wolfson agreed to accompany a friend to the bottom floor of the Memorial Union Building, where the college radio station was holding an information meeting for new deejays. Though he had always loved music, Wolfson had no experience working with a radio station before.
Today, the UNH junior is in his third year with WUNH, taking over the airwaves every Thursday morning with his weekly show “DJ Harry vs. the World.” Sitting in the front room of the station this past Thursday, Disc Jockey Harry was enthusiastic and open in discussion of his show and his time with the station.
“It’s mostly indie-pop and electronic stuff,” Wolfson said of his show, which he’s run since being trained as a deejay his freshman year. Recently, Beach House, Grimes and FKA twigs have been some of his favorite artists to play on air.
Wolfson noted that the music played on the show has definitely changed over the course of the past two years or so. “My music taste hasn’t changed, perse, but it’s grown a lot since I started here— mostly because I’ve been working with the radio.”
“DJ Harry vs. the World” runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Thursday on WUNH. Wolfson said that he usually looks through any music the station has recently added to their database as well as tracks he has been listening to lately to gather ideas for his weekly set. “That way I have a general idea before I get in of what I’m going to play,” said Wolfson, “but I play the show kinda on the fly.” The animated DJ pauses “every three songs or so” to credit the artists and make announcements. “There’s no law about saying the name of the song and the artist, but it’s a station policy here— one of the things you learn during training.”
The training process when Wolfson was a freshman included 12 hours of on-air training with an established DJ, as well as both a written and a recorded test. As one of the roughly 70 trained DJs working with the station, Wolfson now assists in training other students hoping to run their own shows. “I was actually in charge of the training last year,” said Wolfson of the training experience, “and this year we’ve changed the hour requirement to 10.”
This year Wolfson’s primary responsibilities at the station have moved from training to scheduling. In the executive board elections last spring, Wolfson was voted to the program director position, which is second in command at WUNH. “It’s kind of like vice president,” laughed Wolfson, “if we had a President. But mostly I do stuff with scheduling everyone’s time slots.”
With almost 50 DJs doing regular shows and others covering sporting events and specialty shows, this is no small undertaking, but Wolfson seems to take it all in stride.
As a prominent member of the executive board, Wolfson takes pride in the station and all it accomplishes. He noted the station’s “tier four” rating among college radio stations, saying that they have one of the widest ranges of any college radio station in New England. Wolfson also emphasized the responsibilities that come along with working with the executive board of such a large student-run organization. “We operate as a business, not an organization,” he said.
Helping run this business-like student organization comes with many serious duties. Wolfson also referenced the more enjoyable aspects, such as putting on student events with the station. One such event is the upcoming Halloween Bash in the Granite State Room on Oct. 24.
“Venetia Fair will be playing, plus there’s a costume contest with a ton of cool prizes- concert tickets, gift cards, that kind of thing,” Wolfson said excitedly. “It should be a ton of fun.”
Whether he’s acting as DJ Harry or program director, Wolfson enjoys his time with WUNH. He confessed that the DJs and board members are like a little community unto themselves, full of firm friendships.
“We hang out in each other’s shows, we sit in the station together, some of us even live together!” he commented with a smile. Of his years at the station, Wolfson noted that they’ve been both educational and enjoyable. “I’ve learned a lot about responsibility, scheduling, music and interacting with people,” Wolfson said, “…one of the best parts of my week is coming to the station.”
