by: William Penne
Between his two jobs, his loaded class schedule and his behind–the–scenes work in Parkland’s theatre department, Cole Daniel finds time to host a two-hour radio show on 88.7 WPCD, which is Parkland College’s very own radio station. Daniel is such a busy man that an interview may not have worked out, but I was lucky enough to find time to talk with him.
Daniel is in his third year here at Parkland and is in the Music Foundations program with a focus in music technology.
The radio show is part of the COM 142 course offered here at Parkland College, and while the class is focused on production, all students are required to host a two-hour radio show as part of their grade.
In talking about his interest in radio, Daniel said that he had initially taken the introduction class, COM 141, because it was a requirement for his major. Daniel later found that he enjoyed it so much that he would have taken COM 142, regardless.
“When I first took COM 141 last year, I had never done anything with radio, and had never even thought about doing anything with radio,” Daniel said. “But when I started doing the radio shifts last year, it was really fun, and I wanted to continue to do them.”
Daniel’s radio show is called Fantastic Films, which airs every Wednesday from 2-4 p.m. Each week, he not only plays alternative music and gives listeners the latest in entertainment news, but the radio DJ also highlights a movie by giving a synopsis of the film, providing critical reviews and gives his own review.
“I grew up with movies, and that’s all thanks to my dad. I grew up watching tons of movies like Star Wars, James Bond and Marvel movies. As I’ve gotten older, I started enjoying my own sort of movies. I started really focusing on watching certain director’s movies,” Daniel said regarding why he chose films as the topic of his radio show.
“I started listening to a ton of podcasts that talk about movies and movie news and I realized that I have a lot of knowledge in this, so I should just do it myself,” Daniel said.
Daniel also told the Prospectus about his experience in the class and on the radio. Daniel talked about how he is grateful for the opportunities that Parkland has given him to explore his interests and about how good the media and audio programs are here compared to some bigger surrounding schools. He also mentioned how helpful the instructors are and how being on the radio has been a great learning experience for him.
“Being on WPCD is great because Adam [Porter] and Deane [Geiken, radio director of WPCD] really let you just do your own thing,” Daniel said. “They tell you that it’s okay to make mistakes because they know that we are students and that we are learning.”
On his future in radio, Daniel hopes to continue to do his radio show next semester and hopes to one day work as an audio professional, though he doesn’t know if that will specifically be tied to radio.
Besides hearing his voice on the radio, you can catch Daniel in the library, in the Giertz Gallery or working behind the soundboard in Parkland’s theatre department. Fantastic Films is live on the air every Wednesday from 2-4 p.m. on 88.7.
