journalism hass0219

By Sarah Hasselquist
Posted Nov. 7, 2006

In a dim room with CDs lining the walls, fifth year UMD student Maria Johnson sat behind the broadcaster’s desk and easily juggled the many tasks of a DJ.

After working with KUMD for five years, Johnson will be leaving UMD this winter, which means leaving KUMD and her three-year-old radio show Femme Fatal, possibly disappointing some listeners.

“Someone pledged during the last pledge drive and said some really nice things about my show and [said] that they were sorry I was leaving,� Johnson said.

Johnson, an art education and studio design double major, volunteers for KUMD both as the Femme Fatal DJ on Wednesday nights from 9 to 11 and as the RPM Music Director.

RPM refers to the Revolutions Per Minute show that comes on mainly in the evenings and features a variety of different music styles. Volunteering as RPM Music Director means Johnson recruits, hires, and fires announcers.

She also reviews the music that comes into the station, sets the musical style for RPM for the week, communicates with promoters on the phone and through emails, and other organizational tasks around the station.

She receives work study money for answering phones and doing office work in KUMD.

Johnson said that she first started working in the office and then developed Femme Fatal later with her roommate, Taryn Runck. Runck started at KUMD as a volunteer DJ with Johnson on their show for approximately a school year before letting Johnson take over the show.

Their idea came from the fact that Johnson and Runck were, at that time, the only girl nighttime KUMD DJ’s.

“We thought that was pretty bogus,� Johnson said.

Their aim was to play some of what Johnson calls “girly� music, but they wanted to play more than just music by independent female artists.

“We didn’t want to play all girl music, because there’s already a program that does that on Sundays, and we didn’t want to be sexist. Boys make good music, too,� said Johnson.

Two independent artists Johnson plays consistently are “Mirah� and “The Blow.�

KUMD Station Manager Mike Dean has listened to Femme Fatal and said the music is high quality and presented well.

“She plays a surprising variety of music - things that I never would hear otherwise if I hadn’t listened to her show,� said Dean. “It’s a very diverse show. You never know what to expect.�

Three years after the start of Femme Fatal, Johnson will be leaving to do her student teaching which might take her to the Twin Cities. After that, she says she wants to study abroad to finish up her studio art degree.

Johnson said her replacement might be Jenny Lennick, the Listening Rainbow’s DJ 11 to 1 on Tuesday nights.

“We’ll see. She plays a lot of similar stuff,� said Johnson.

Mike Dean hadn’t heard that Lennick might be a replacement, but he said it could work.

“They’re compatible, sure, in a lot of ways.� said Dean. “It’s a possibility.�

Johnson said that Listening Rainbow and Femme Fatal often have similar play lists.

“She used to be on right after me, and it didn’t work because we’d play the same songs. One of my friends was like ‘Yeah, Jenny, she’s like the junior Femme Fatal.’ OK, I guess so,� said Johnson.

However, Johnson said that if Lennick took the Femme Fatal time slot, she would keep the show name Listening Rainbow.

“Everything else will probably stay pretty much the same: Girly, cute songs kind of format,� Johnson said.
* * *