Campus radio show features local musicians

Several USD students, one in particular, are coming together to broadcast their passion for music across the airwaves.

Senior biology and English double major Frank Turner hosts a radio show on KAOR 91.1 called “Those Guys,” which focuses on local musicians.

“It’s about connecting and giving exposure to artists, for anyone who has their own project on campus, and connecting them with other artists,” Turner said. “Usually, I try to switch the music every week. I try to make the bands I play match the music that these students make.”

The hour-long show airs at 6 p.m. every Wednesday, and has featured student artists like Totally Rad, Joseph Mammo and Tenenbaums.

“It was the first time I have been on a radio show, and I haven’t been interviewed a whole lot about my music,” said Nick Burke, a member of the pop punk band Totally Rad. “A lot of people I get to converse with don’t get to hear me sing, or they hear me sing, but don’t get to converse with me, so the radio show was good so we could get a little bit of both.”

Burke, a senior economics major, has been in the band with three other people since last summer.

“We originally formed as a Blink-182 cover band, that was a common band we all enjoyed and then we branched out to other music along that same genre,” Burke said. “I play the guitar and sing. It was cool because I was able to play a song on Frank’s show too.”

Burke said after graduation, Totally Rad will be performing in places in Omaha and Sioux Falls. He hopes the band will be together for a long time, but also doesn’t mind performing solo.

“Whether I’m in a band or not, I figure performing solo is something I will continue to do because it allows me to experiment with forming songs on my own,” he said. “I perform solo a lot actually, usually acoustic and piano stuff.”

Another artist Turner has interviewed on his show, junior Joseph Mammo, plays guitar and piano. Mammo is a solo artist, and he doesn’t place himself within a genre, he said.

“It depends, like when I compose music, I make slow EDM’s and instrumentals, because I want to tell a story with my music,” he said. “When I sing, I’ll sing anything.”

A physics and computer science major, as well as a photographer for The Volante, Mammo said he’s yet to perform in Vermillion, but performed with his guitar when he was in high school.

“I started making music when I was in 9th grade. I used to play the piano, and I had no idea how to play guitar,” he said. “But I learned, and then my friend showed me this software, and that’s how I started composing.”

Mammo said he would really like to perform in Vermillion before graduating.

“Classes have kind of kept me down, but I compose my music on breaks and weekends,” he said. “Right now I am part of a worship team at a church here, and I perform, or worship with them.”

Brandon Phrommany and Andrew Helland, both senior Media & Journalism majors, are part of a three-person band called Tenenbaums. Frank has interviewed them before, and said he’s planning to have them back for an interview and hopefully a performance.

Phrommany, lead singer and guitar player, said their goal is to make their music sound “dreamy.”

“We make our songs sound really big and kind of echo with extra noise,” Helland, the drummer, said. “We are a three piece, so we try to create that wall of sound.”

The third Tenenbaums member is Helland’s twin brother, Micheal Helland, who goes to school at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato. Even with the distance, Helland says they try to perform a couple of times a month.

“We are pretty busy with school, but we try to create a good balance,” Phrommany said. “We know this is considered a hobby, but we love doing it, and we want to do this as much as we can.”

Tenenbaums formed in the summer of 2014, Helland said.

“We were surprised, we’ve only had to call to ask to perform a couple of times, but usually we are called and asked to perform, so its really nice,” he said.

They’ve performed outside of Vermillion as well, including venues in Minneapolis and Sioux Falls, Helland said.

“My favorite place to perform in Sioux Falls is Total Drag,” Phrommany said. “I love the atmosphere there. It’s the only all ages live music venue in Sioux Falls, and I think there should be more venues like Total Drag. The bands that they bring in are rad too. It’s a genuine, music-loving environment.”

Phrommany and Helland both plan on focusing on Tenenbaums after graduation.

“I’m really excited that school is almost over, because I really want to focus on the band,” Helland said. “We do want to do this professionally.”

Phrommany said they’re ready to start recording and get on the road.

“We are working on recording right now, and as soon as we get done with that we want to hit the road, and just go from there,” Phrommany said.

When they were on Turner’s show, they talked about the inspiration behind their songs.

“Artists try to really look for ideas, and that creates writers block,” Phrommany said. “We just have to experience life and the music comes.”

Turner said his inspiration for “Those Guys” came from Phrommany and Helland.

“I just thought, ‘Wow, that’s pretty cool that we have a local band and I’ve never heard of them,’” Turner said. “My parents went here and they said they knew all of their local bands, and I feel like we’ve just kind of lost that connection with all of our streaming, like Spotify.”

Turner, a piano player, said he sees himself as more of a creative writer.

“I write short stories with grim humor,” Turner said. “I have had one published in Sun & Sandstone.”

Turner said he plans to continue the radio show next year, and would like to branch out from music to all forms of art.

“Frank’s show is amazing, because first when he told me about his show, I was surprised, because he is a struggling artist, and he is helping other struggling artists to be heard,” Mammo said. “I thought that was interesting because he’s not out there yet but he’s helping us all to get out there.”