Fight Back Fridays

“Metallica sucks now.”

“They still have some good songs!”

Makes sound with his mouth. “Not anymore.”

“You’re wrong!”

“No, you’re wrong!”

This bickering is just an example of the battles listeners can hear on 91.5 WPRK every Friday from 10 a.m. to noon. “Hence the name ‘Fight Back Fridays,’” remarked Rob Stio ‘13 of his show, which is also known as “Grunge Before Lunch.” He hosts under the DJ name Nick Revs. Stio claims he derived his name from Nico, a Blind Melon influence and just one of the ways he pays homage to the ‘90s, one of his favorite music periods to share with his listeners.

“The ‘90s was just a great period in my life, and the music is very important,” he said. While Stio plays many of his ‘90s favorites, he also plays some rock and metal from other genres such as classic Metallica from the ‘80s, The White Stripes and Guns ‘n’ Roses.

His official co-host is Zac Howard ’14, aka “Zilent Zac,” and WPRK team member MJ Brick also comes on air often to share various music (and sometimes miscellaneous) opinions. Stio, Howard and Brick all met on the WPRK team last semester and instantly bonded with one another. “It all just fell into place,” said Howard, who is now on the WPRK director staff, on joining Stio’s show. All three have a rich knowledge of music and are not afraid to voice their thoughts or call out others. There is great camaraderie, however, and they have good chemistry and respect for one another. “It’s basically just a public discourse with good ideas being passed around,” said Brick. Stio added, “It’s controlled chaos.”

When I sat in on Stio’s show on Friday, March 2, the group was taking part in its “Great Metallica Debate,” where Brick was trying to convince Stio that Metallica still came out with some good songs after Metallica, but Stio stayed firm in his beliefs. The group invited me to join in the discussions, which I happily did, even taking part in an argument about who really killed hair metal (I still think Guns ‘n’ Roses built that coffin).

During his March 2 show, Stio also had Dane Hagen come in for an on-air interview. Hagen is the lead singer of the local band A Dying Regime and was promoting the band’s show at The Social that night. He calls his band’s music “street punk.” Hagen also took part in the music debates of the day. “Music doesn’t lie to me,” he said of his commitment to a career in music. Stio has also interviewed the Crazy Karls and will be interviewing Milk Carton Superstars on March 16. “Interviews are a blast. Musicians are unpredictable, and it fits so well with our controlled chaos,” Stio said.

Now into his fifth month of DJing, Stio could not be happier. “The experience has been awesome, and instead of looking forward to Fridays at 5 [p.m.] like most people, I look forward to Fridays at 10 [a.m.],” he said. Stio finds WPRK to be a great outlet for his DJ interests. “It’s really laid back, and I feel very comfortable here. I can play a lot of music I would not be able to [play] anywhere else,” he added.

WPRK is always looking for more talented student DJs, and you can easily apply by heading down to the station in the basement of Mills building and picking up a DJ application, or you can contact Programming Director Casey Korge at kkorge@rollins.edu.