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UPDATED: Feb. 26, 2021 at 11:33 a.m.

Asha Fuller is booking performers for the niche communities of Syracuse — not the mainstream listeners — for WERW radio station.

She and co-general manager Jack Franklin are gearing up for the station’s annual Spring Launch Party, scheduled for Thursday, featuring hip-hop duo Coco & Clair Clair and rapper 645AR.

WERW is a student-run radio station on the Syracuse University campus. Fuller and Franklin hope that this year’s launch party will create buzz for the station’s new and returning shows for this semester.

DJs at the station are allowed to curate their own playlists and can choose to talk about whatever is on their mind in between songs. WERW gives their DJs creative leeway with the hope that listeners will find new music either through the party or weekly radio shows, Franklin said. The station hopes their DJs will draw listeners back each week and spread the word about shows.

For the event, the pair worked on posters together and Franklin crafted a promotional video for the event on his own. The posters, featured on the WERW Instagram and Twitter, utilize bright colors and bold letters that seem to come straight out of the ‘90s.

“We’re doing it all ourselves, in the indie spirit,” Fuller said.

Fuller and Franklin have been involved with WERW since the fall of their freshman year in 2018. Now juniors, the two are looking forward to how the artists they’ve selected can create buzz for the station.

Freshman Corey Chun is looking forward to the performances since it’s a great way for her to meet other DJs at the station. WERW will livestream the prerecorded show on Zoom so audience members can see other participants and chat with each other.

Normally, when Chun DJs her show, “You Rock, I Roll,” at WERW, she can only see her roommate, freshman Maria Nido, with whom she co-hosts the show. Chun, who plans to watch the Zoom concert from her dorm, is excited for the show so she can branch out and see other DJs.

Franklin agreed that it is meant to be an interactive experience.

We wanted to make it a live experience for everyone,” Franklin said.

Fuller and Franklin have wanted to book Coco & Clair Clair for several semesters, but something always fell through. So when the time came to plan this spring’s event, she and Franklin crafted a list of performance ideas with the hip-hop duo sticking out as the main candidate.

The juniors also wanted to include rapper 645AR because he matched the vibes of the other performers, Fuller said. Together, the hip-hop duo and 645AR create a vibe that Fuller and Franklin seek in the music their DJs play.

Chun also hopes to discover some new music from the performance. She said she has never heard music from either headliner prior to the announcement, but is now looking forward to seeing how they perform live over Zoom.

WERW is expecting to host over 160 DJs for the upcoming semester, so both general managers are banking on the performance’s success.

“We have a lot in store for this semester,” Franklin said. “We’ve been working very hard these past couple months to make sure everything starts off smoothly. And with a bang.”

Published on February 24, 2021 at 10:31 pm