by: William Penne
Adam Porter, faculty member here at Parkland College, has his own radio show called “The Analog Hour,” of which listeners can tune in to every Monday morning from 9-10 a.m. The show consists of an hour of analog music curated by Porter and his co-host Brian Dunn. The two have been hosting the show together for just over a year now.
When asked why he chose to host a radio show focused on analog media, Porter explained that it was a combination of his love of collecting and playing vinyl records and tapes and his desire to get away from the modern radio format of digital files.
“I just thought that it would be a fun way to kind of switch things up on the radio station and give the listeners an opportunity to come out of the full digital world of radio and enter the past where you were hearing analog sources being played on the air,” Porter said.
Porter met his co-host while Dunn was taking some of Porter’s classes here at Parkland. The two bonded over mutual interests such as skateboarding, audio production and analog media. Porter and Dunn became friends after Dunn left Parkland. When Porter knew he wanted a co-host for his show, Dunn was on board.
Porter also talked about why he wanted to get back into the DJ seat after teaching student DJs for years. Not only did Porter enjoy being a DJ when he was a student and longed for the opportunity again, but he also felt that he could use it as a method to improve his own teaching skills.
“I’m teaching radio to these students every semester and I’m teaching them how to be good DJs, but I’m not doing it myself on a weekly basis,” Porter said. “I felt like I could be a better teacher if I was actively participating in what they were doing.”
Porter explained that he had been a DJ when he was in college and wanted to somehow integrate his DJ skills into his future teaching. When he started working at the college, though, he had to devote all his time to teaching and devising his curriculum. However, as he became more confident as a teacher and has realized that he had missed being a DJ and longed to be in the DJ chair again.
“I missed being on the radio, because it’s fun and I love being able to do my thing on the radio and interview guests, talk with my co-hosts and play music that I love,” Porter said.
“I felt like I could be a better teacher if I was actively participating in what they were doing.”
Porter also talked about how he loves that he gets to play local music on the show frequently. As more DIY bands learn how to cheaply make cassettes tapes, more bands are doing so, which means that Porter gets to play them on the air.
In the ever-growing vinyl resurgence, more and more vinyl records are being produced and distributed, and the new abundance of this analog medium is a goldmine for people interested in the format. For Porter, it means more material for his show and more interest from listeners in a fully analog show.
As for the programming of the show, the only rule is that the format must be analog. However, any genre is fair game. Everything from Etta James to local hardcore punk to singer-songwriters to eclectic surf rock has been played on the show.
Tune in to Parkland College’s own WPCD on 88.7 FM on Monday mornings from 9-10 a.m. to hear some of what Porter has planned for “The Analog Hour.”
