As part of the celebrations of 30 years on the FM dial CKUT put together a Time Capsule to document 30 years of free form independent radio. These interviews tell the story of getting the licence , defining ourself and experimenting on the radio.

30th Anniversary CKUT Oral History

Sue arrived at CKUT in ’86 and was station manager from 1987-1989.

In this clip we talk details on the switch from cable to the FM signal, the controversy of the licence being granted to an Anglo station, digging our way out of financial debt and coordinating a stream of volunteers parading up  and down to the Mountain where our transmitter is housed for frequent – frequency tests. AND- discovering at midnight the night before we went to air for the first time, that we had to be incorporated (first call to the CRTC, second to a lawyer).

Also the writing of policy such as the Statement of Principles (which still is the backbone of CKUT today) ,  understanding what Balance of Programming means and convincing CRTC of it. the origins of “Gay Day” (the brutal murder of Joe Rose and subsequent community outcry) , amazing CKUT staff and volunteers, and a wild Molson fuelled first anniversary including an earthquake at midnight that, of course, did not stop the party.

She mentions Christof Migone, Pat Hamou, Ian Pringle, France Chevalier Stewart, Joel Savage  and has special fond memories of David Shannon and Don Rossiter.

After taking Montreal by storm, Sue moved back to her home coast, Victoria, BC, and now works in podcasting.

Oral History interview with Sue Elrington

Ian Pringle was a Bookkeeper, then Spoken Word Coordinator from 1987-1991.

He discovered CKUT when he was a McGill student, assigned to do a piece on CKUT getting our FM license for the student newspaper The Tribune. Taken with the diversity and excitement of the station he became a volunteer and ultimately staff member.   In this interview he talks about the passion and commitment to diversity and the democratization of media. He also talks about the profound impact people like Martha Marie Kleinhans, Lisa Vinebaum, Christof Migone and especially hosts of the Homo Show, David Shannon and Donnie Rossiter had on him. He also recollects the infamous and historic turning points in the Queer Community, the death of Joe Rose and the Sex Garage raid, police brutality and community uproar.  

He went on to work internationally in communications and radio, and now resides in Ottawa

Oral History interview Ian Pringle

Bryan Zuraw was at Radio McGill/CKUT from 1983-1997 as a volunteer, music librarian and music coordiantor.

He discusses what was going on musically at the time, musique actuelle, (the beginnings of Ambience Magnetique), college indie rock (pre-Nirvana), hip hop, dancehall reggae (when these genres really started to bloom)… the interest of community members to do radio (given that there isn’t an Urban radio station in Montreal)… establishing an identity and mandate for the station, maintaining a diversity of perspectives and benefiting from this process both personally and intellectually. And of course, conducting all station business (i.e. Steering, Programming, Committee meetings) in the hallway as there was no room to do so at CKUT. All of this was pre-internet. It involved writing to labels, researching magazines such as the Village Voice, OP (Option) Sound Choice, The Wire, newsletters and tape trading networks.  He also speaks on picking up the habit of waking up at 3am to make sure that someone is On Air, because if not, he would make his way to the station in the middle of the night.

Bryan now lives in Los Angeles with his wife (ex CKUT programmer Kie Ross Zuraw) and is still finding strange music to vibe to.

Oral History Interview Bryan Zuraw

CKUT intern Eve Fiertag looks at experimenting with the radio on the radio for this time capsule installment.  She speaks to ex CKUT Music Coordinator and Production Coordinator Christof Migone who participated at CKUT from 1987 – 92.  He also hosted the radio show “Dangers In Paradise” which he described as anything other than college rock.  He collaborated with Julia Loktev on a show called Body Map where they took the island of Montreal and imagined it as a reclining body and got people to call in so they could let them know what part of the body they were situated in.  He also collaborated with Margo Lane (also interviewed in this series) called Margo’s Intense Listening Corner.

Oral History interview with Christof Migone CKUT

Stuart volunteered and worked at CKUT from 1991-95.  He worked in the Spoken Word and News Department.  He describes arriving at a time that spawned a lot of activism as it just followed the Oka Crisis and infamous Sex Garage also just following the Gulf War.

He describes what news gathering looked like during this period, receiving communiques in the mail, making cold calls  and organizing broadcasts on a bulletin board.  A time when people smoked a lot, right in the station, and embraced the misfits.

Stuart went on to cover news with Global News, CBS, SKY and is currently residing in Prague working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Oral History interview with Stuart Greer CKUT

As part of the 30th Anniversary Oral History special programming we interview Pat Dillon Moore aka The Dreadhead aka The Empress aka Sistah P, former host of Positive Vibes, former station manager of CKUT and current co-host of Bhum Bhum Time.

Pat tells us what it was like growing up in Montreal in the 70s.  We discuss race relations at CKUT, money, moving the station from McTavish Street to University street we recount the story of when our turntables got stolen and play lots of reggae music.

Oral History with Pat Dillon Moore CKUT 30th Anniversary

Samaa Elibyari is a member of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women and has been doing programming at CKUT since 1997. CKUT Culture Coordinator, Tamara Filyavich, speaks with Samaa (the week after Trump announced the move of the U.S. embassy from  Tel Aviv to Jerusalem) about covering issues affecting the Muslim community for over 20 years.  She began with the radio show, Crossroads with Ehab Loteyef in 1997 while she was working at the Islamic Center. Then started the radio show Caravan .  She recalls being on the air the day after 9-11 and how this event focused and galvanized her objectives for the show.  She was/is alarmed at how reductive the mainstream reporting of this event  was and felt it important to talk about the effects of the sanctions in Iraq, the bias in U.S. policy towards Palestinians and the other issues that motivate young men to such extreme behavior.  She used her voice as a programmer at CKUT to counterbalance the bias against muslims which she sees as a “downward spiral against Muslims” both in the U.S and in Quebec.

Samaa took a hiatus from programming and a new team have formed with a new show entitled Montreal Arab Show that currently airs Fridays 2pm – 3pm.  Samaa continues to provide mentorship to this group and is a frequent contributor.

Oral History in conversation with Samaa Elibyari CKUT

The Montreal Sessions dug into this CKUT Time Capsule for the Month of March 2018.  In this episode we look at 30 Years of feminist radio.  Your hosts, Alex Moskos and Louise Burns interview Penny Patterson who hosted the radio shows CUTS, Thread the Needle and Beach Blanket Bingo on CKUT and who speaks about her experience interviewing Riot Grrrl bands in the 90s (many of those interviews are in this time capsule).

Oral History in Conversation with Penny Patterson CKUT

Andrea Jane began listening to the CKUT radio show AACK as a teen.  When in University Alex Moskos walked into her class and did a presentation.  He mentioned volunteering opportunities at CKUT and before long she was filling in for Where’s the Beat , then became the Music Resource Coordinator and then Music Department Coordinator (2006 – 2011). She talks about the passion she had for the music library and some of the unexpected challenges she faced as Department Coordinator (like the time someone broadcasted a police scanner over the air!). She describes the listening experience as an eclectic mix and “just as you don’t know what your are going to hear when you tune in to CKUT, you do not know what your are going to encounter when you walk into the station”.

Oral History in conversation with Andrea Jane Cornell

As part of CKUT’s 30th Anniversary Oral History project, we interviewed Martha Marie Kleinhans who was one of the key driving forces behind CKUT’s fm licence application and move to FM. She says that Concordia University was expected to get the licence because of their active ties to the local scene however, CKUT’s (McGill) application put a strong focus on community programming and she believes this is what worked in the end. She also said there was some internal resistance as programmers knew that they would be evolving to a different kind of radio station. She volunteered prior to the license and ran for station manager on the basis of delivering the fm licence. She was the first station manager at CKUT 1986-87.  She said she worked closely with Don Rossiter and had the help of McGill Legal Professor Dr. F.H. Buckley who said “they rejected my idea that they go All-Monkees, All the time.”

She and Donnie went around to various cultural communities with a large hypothetical grid and said “should we get the licence would you be interested in producing radio”.

“We got the licence based on a promise.” The rest is history.

Oral History In Conversation with MARTHA MARIE Kleinham CKUT

Suhrid Manchanda was a force in Montreal's music community before decamping to the United States and eventually to New Dehli, India. He was studying at McGil but ultimately spent most of his time playing guitar around the city. The mighty Detroit Metal, the unforgettable Bloody Gashes, with Chloe Lum, Yannick Desranleau and Joel Taylor were both Suhrid's babies. He formed Aum Supreme with Dane Mills, the original drummer in the Arcade Fire. Suhrid booked shows, ran festivals and was generally a personality on the Boulevard. He was eventually hired as Fundraising Coordinator at CKUT in 2004. Suhrid was tireless in his devotion to the radio station's community, the city's musicians and DIY music in general. No one was surprised when Suhrid turned up as Su Real, dj/producer and star of India's Desi Bass scene. Music Coordinator Alex Moskos sat down to talk about it all with his old buddy and colleague Suhrid.

CKUT Time Capsule interview with Suhrid Manchanda aka Su Real

All Da Way Live Radio hosts Widget and Pro-V take advantage of this COVID lock down to interview Montreal OG Don Smooth (former host, producer of Street Sounds on K103 Radio). A two hour discussion on the history of hip hop from early 80s to now. Broadcast June 10th 2020 on CKUT 90.3fm.

Oral History - All Da Way Live Radio interview Don Smooth June 2020

Pro-V host of All Da Way Live Radio and DJ on Off The Hook Radio, interviews Budda Blaze, tour manager for A Tribe Called Red, music producer and host/dj of Off The Hook Radio; bee keeper and podcaster (Oil and Flowers).  Over 20 years of radio experience beginning when he was a teen in Kahnawake. Tons of hip hop history and musical evolution from being a metal kid to hip hop head. Great stories about hosting Off The Hook when it aired late night – 2am – 4am – and the rappers roll in 30-40 deep after the bars close. Take a listen.

30th Anniversary CKUT Oral History

CKUT 90.3FM