By Caitlin Walsh, News Correspondent 

It might be simple to walk by. On the back side of Curry Student Center on the upper level, past the Student Employment office and near the Community Services office, but not quite out the exit, is the home of Northeastern’s student free-form radio station, WRBB. Though small, it’s powerful – tuning into 104.9 FM will delight you with an eclectic music mix, a handful of personal shows by students and, on big game days, live broadcasts of Husky pride.

The station itself is rich in history – this year marks the station’s 50th anniversary, a large milestone for a station that originally aired to just two Northeastern dorms in 1962 and expanded from there. Over time, the station has seen and produced some of the most well-known names in the industry: Wendy Williams is one alumna whose start was at the station.

“Some pretty famous people have been to the station, like the Fugees and Andrew W.K.,” Brinkworth said. “Everyone involved with the station is very passionate about it and wants it to continue to grow and evolve. I know everyone was very busy promoting the Spring Bliss concert last week which featured RJD2, a legend in the trip-hop genre.”

Dennis Brinkworth, a junior English major, DJs there on Tuesday nights from 8 to 9:30 p.m. with his old friend, Alex Taylor. He speaks fondly of the station; the scenery itself, even: “The station is pretty cool because the DJ booth is normally dark and the big pink ‘WRBB’ neon sign just lights up the room.”

He’s been DJing with the station since his sophomore year. The gig fell into his life somewhat by chance and has stuck ever since.

“During my sophomore year, my neighbor, Alex Taylor, was a DJ and did promotions at WRBB and we both had a similar taste in music so he asked if I would be interested doing a show,” he said. “I’d never DJ’d before but I thought it would be fun. So I did a demo, which was like a trial run and they liked it. Then about a week or two later I had my first show, ‘In Search of Roots and Culture’ on Monday afternoons or something like that. Now I do a show with Alex, ‘Polarized Roots and Culture’ from 8 to 9:30 p.m. on Tuesdays. And it’s been great.”

WRBB is entirely student run, only overseen by the media advisor here at Northeastern. On top of that, the station is advertising-free – a truly commercial-free zone with just three PSAs per hour to interrupt the students’ stream.

This allows students like Brinkworth and Taylor to bring their unique tastes to the table. For a little over an hour per week they rule the air, but the next hour could bring a large shift in genre – something most, if not all, radio stations can boast, as they are generally constrained by a higher power’s dictation of song choice.

The staff at WRBB is divided into three different levels. Community members are the non-student members – either alumni or local community members who still want to be involved and are held to the same rules and regulations as student members. Like the student members, they must pass a clearance class learning the basics before they can truly begin – from there, they are allotted weekend early morning time slots, but are active nonetheless.

Prospective members and (full-fledged) members – the other two categories of staff – are students at the school that have passed the clearance class and work with the station. Prospective members are still fairly new; to attain the highest level, full members must have dabbled in the multiple aspects of the station, including promotions and engineering. 

To get involved is simple, really: just attend one of their events, go on Facebook or Twitter, and reach out to them. They’re receptive.

Not every DJ is necessarily interested in pursuing a lifelong communications or radio career, like former start Williams. Some, like Brinkworth, simply just enjoy DJing for now – but would consider it down the line for a paycheck, of course.

“I’m not sure if I am going to DJ after college, I mainly do it as a hobby but if I could get paid to DJ I most certainly would,” Brinkworth said. “Hypothetically, if I was looking to DJ at a station, though, I’d say WRBB definitely prepared me.”