college radio – Communiqué

Lowertown Are Ready to Let “Ugly Duckling Union” Go

By Gabby McIlhinney

DJ Gabby Mack, host of Fish Food, sat down with rock duo Olivia Osby and Avsha Weinberg from Lowertown.

Avsha Weinberg (left) & Olivia Osby (right)

After nearly three years in the making, Lowertown’s new album Ugly Duckling Union comes out May 22, and if you ask them, it’s more than ready to exist outside of their heads.

DJ Meow On Next Eras

By Gabby McIlhinney

If you were tuned into WKDU recently, or packed into the studio, you may have caught DJ Meow’s boiler room-style set. Which, for the blog’s record, we do not usually do here at WKDU, though maybe we should start…

“I only prepared half of that,” she told me right after, also visibly overheating. “The other half was just vibes.”

With only about a year into DJing, DJ Meow, aka Jess Urwiler, is weirdly natural on the decks. Originally, Jess was supposed to come in for an acoustic Fish Food set to spotlight her debut EP Roots, which dropped back on September 26 (and is available on all streaming platforms, nudge, nudge). That project lives firmly in the singer-songwriter world, with acoustic guitar and intimate lyrics from songs she’s been sitting on since high school.

Interview with Cassie Ramone

By DJ Gabby Mack – Host of Fish Food

Cassie Ramone is a songwriter, musician, and visual artist who first came onto a lot of people’s radars as a founding member of Vivian Girls, starting in the late 2000s, and later with The Babies, as well as through her solo work. She grew up in New Jersey, moved to Brooklyn in the early 2000s, and has spent years moving between different scenes, projects, and ways of making music.

Her most recent record, Sweetheart, has felt like a really reflective moment in that long arc. Cassie was able to stop by WKDU ahead of her show at Philly Style Pizza with Colleen Green and Jess Urwiler, so we caught her for a quick in-studio and interview!

A Chat with Shallow Alcove at WKDU Philadelphia 91.7FM

By DJ Gabby Mack – Host of Fish Food

Shallow Alcove

Fresh off of their in-studio performance at WKDU presented by Fish Food, the indie folk darlings from Shallow Alcove joined us for a conversation about sleepovers, nostalgia, and various tour tales in promotion for their upcoming EP Doggy Paddle out May 21st. Currently on their “Slumber Party Tour,” the band has been embracing comfort on stage, performing in pajamas and encouraging that same sleepover intimacy among fans.

Interview with hey i’m outside

Noah Kossowsky: Hello, my name is Noah Kossowsky, and this is a very special interview with the band hey i’m outside. Hey, hey i’m outside.

Patrick: How you doing?

Hannah: Hey.

Noah Kossowsky: I’m inside. Yup. I’m surprised by that. I thought by the name that you guys would be outside. But yea, you guys just put out an awesome album, self-titled, and when I heard it, it quickly became one of my favorites of the year. So, I was like, I need to track these guys down, talk to them about it, you know. So, very excited we’re doing that now. So, do you just want to introduce yourselves for the folks that are listening?

Hannah: Yeah, so my name’s Hannah. I play bass in the band.

Patrick: I’m Patrick and I sing and play guitar.

Noah: And I’m Noah and I play the drums.

Noah Kossowsky: Awesome, I’m Noah as well. So, first question, I guess this is a good starting question. What is your band origin story? How did you start, when did you start, where? Give me the tale.

Interview with Scott Hermo Jr. of Boyscott

DJ LSD: Hello everyone, I’m here with Scott from Boyscott, this is DJ LSD, interviewing Scott for WKDU 91.7 fm Drexel university’s free format non-commercial radio station. Scott, how are you?

Scott: I am doing well, technically, I am very good.

DJ LSD: That’s good! That’s good to hear, so I wanted to get your formal apology for eight years of us waiting for this album. Do you have any form of an apology for that?

Scott: I just, I am an anxious person and it took me a long time to write these songs and uhh let me tell you, I was well aware it was taking so long.

Boyscott’s Spellbound: Nearly a decade in the making, but well worth the wait

By Lukas Da Silva

I remember when I first listened to Boyscott when Goosebumps lead single “Nova Scotia 500” popped up on my Discover Weekly playlist. As a 14 year old boy still getting into indie music, this track helped me begin my journey into the scene. Nearly a decade later, the band has returned to drop their Sophomore LP, a worthy successor to Goosebumps. Filled with tracks from deep in the vault,, Spellbound offers an experience similar to getting a group of old friends together to go on a pleasant road trip down the coast.

Opener “Rocky Road”, sees the band quickly hit their stride. With their ability to quickly recapture the whimsical nature of their sound, Boyscott transports the listener to a nice scenic drive down the mountainside. “Rocky Road” manages to deliver in the same vein as “Nova Scotia 500” with its upbeat percussion and stunning vocal harmonies.