Welcome to another (and waaaaay late) edition of "8 Questions with....",my ongoing interactive interview series with my friends here on my MySpace page.

It was in San Jose,Calif where I was a talent buyer for a series of clubs that I first became aware of what college radio was. Until I started at Marsugi's, my only contact with college radio was listening to Cal Poly Pomona football and basketball broadcasts..the reception was poor but the students calling the games were always excited even when the team was getting killed by Wyoming or Portland State.

   But at Marsugi's,college radio was crucial to local shows as they helped us get much needed pub for a town that didn't have a strong written music media. It was here I met and befriended legends in thier own right...Big Myke Destiny and Les Scurry of KFJC, the dynamic Tyler Kogura of KSCU and the very sweet and quite sexy Sharon Jennings of KSJS. While KSJS (San Jose State) and KSCU (Santa Clara) had bigger budgets and equipment, Foothill College had the most important station in KFJC. The DJs there weren't 19-22 year old students there for a cup of coffee and then leaving,many of the DJs had been there for years and playing just great unsung artists and bands.

But college radio even back 10 years ago was going under serious change. Gone were the true spirit of indy DJs as more and more stations,looking for money,gave up the right to play anyone and started taking cash from major labels to start filtering in thier artists. More and more commercials also creeping in and soon most stations lost what made them pioneers,this sparked the pirate radio movement as the voice of the indy artist was squashed at the college level.

 But thanks to the internet and sites like CD Baby and powerful groups like Indygrrl and now social networks like MySpace and Facebook, indy artists like Mermaid Kiss and rising young acts like Michigan's Pandora can get their voices out again...and college radio is making a serious comeback with podcasts and webcasts with DJs who are beholding to no one but themselves.

With this said,meet a real musical maverick,John Rose. DJ John resides in Illinois and has his own show whose playlists take me back to the glory days of college radio...he is a real champion of indy artists and I cruise over to see who will be coming down the pipeline next...

And now........8 Questions with DJ John Rose of UIC Radio.

comments and feedback are most welcome!

1. Introduce yourself

I am John Rose,host of the weekly internet radio show,"Hidden Treasures Of Rock'n'Roll",heard every Monday from 12-4 PM CST at www. uicradio. org . UIC Radio is the campus radio station of the University of Illinois Chicago,where I work.

2. When did you discover your love of music?

I have always loved music from an early age. My family is very musical and I have three older brothers who are music lovers including one who is a professional musician. He plays trombone in Lyle Lovett's Large Band.

3. What are three trends in college radio that have changed the most in a positive way?

No comment.

4. What are three trends that bother you most?

Classic rock radio sucks,playing the same songs over and over,with no sense of adventure or experimentation. I have little use for most rap,hip-hop and R&B music. What ever happened to soul music? Most of today's pop music is pretty forgettable and won't stand the test of time. There is great music out there,you just have to find it. Unfortunately,it's not being played on the radio.

5. Is commerical radio still important to artist development?

I don't listen to commercial music radio. From what I have seen in today's artists,it doesn't encourage development,just more of the same.

6. How much control do you have on your show? And how did you get started doing it?

Total control,other than complying to FCC standards. I started doing the show 8 years ago(when UIC Radio started out) because there was so much great music,old and new,that wasn't getting heard on the radio. I have listeners now that tune in every Monday because the show is unique in what is played.

7. What 5 acts in the past 7 years have blown you away when you first heard thier music?

Firebug, Lovers In Arms, Billy D, Drive-By Truckers, and Elisa Toffoli(who is tentatively coming in for my show on Nov. 10th)

8. What are your thoughts in creating a playlist for your show?

I build my shows around the week in rock'n'roll history,with birthdays and albums released during the week over the years. I mix in new music from MySpace artists also,so people come for the featured "older" artists,but they hear great music from new artists as well.

9. How has MySpace affected music in general,do you feel indy bands are being stiffed by Fox from being put on the new "create your own playlist"feature?

I think MySpace has been a great thing for new artists. I have discovered a lot of great new music here. I don't really know much about this new controversy,but I am glad to see MySpace expand the music from older artists and also the new players on the MySpace pages are great.

10. What would be the best way a band could get airplay on your show?

Send me your CD. Email me first,or send me a friend request,and I'll send you my address. I listen to everything that I receive(eventually :),and I play everything that I like.

11. Which of your over 9,100 MS friends will be the first to comment on this interview?

Probably Louise from the UK *s*

To add DJ John as a friend:
http://www.myspace.com/rose60612