Combining several elements of sound, visuals and storytelling, Re-Imagined Radio’s unique broadcast is a staple within Vancouver’s performing arts community. Re-Imagined Radio has hosted live performances at Kiggins Theatre, located on Main Street in Vancouver for the past several years. However, due to safety protocols caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, producer and WSU Vancouver’s digital technology and culture professor, John Barber, was forced to find a new avenue for the show to continue.
Barber originally established the radio show as part of a creative research-based project with his digital storytelling class in 2013. Over the years, Barber has made several community partnerships to improve the assets of Re-Imagined Radio, including teaming up with a local performing arts center, social media management company, a graphic designer and producer. While Re-Imagined Radio’s ways of operating have changed significantly, Barber says this might be an advantage for the program.
(Sydnie Kobza / The VanCougar)
“In October, I was very lucky, and was able to strike an arrangement with KXRW-FM (99.9 FM), the local FM low power community radio station here in Vancouver,” Barber said. “So this seemed like an incredible opportunity to be able to continue Re-Imagined Radio, but also to communicate with a huge audience.”
To continue his legacy of preserving and reviving the “golden age of radio”, Barber asks voice actors from the Vancouver-based Metropolitan Performing Arts center to read different show scripts from old radio shows and record audio from their homes using their own equipment. Barber will then take all of the individual audios and edit them into one whole broadcast. Now, instead of having only a few in-person shows throughout the year, working remotely allows him to play Re-Imagined Radio’s audio through local radio stations in Vancouver. Barber says this will remain a consistent project for him as he maintains the broadcasts, but still looks forward to the return of Re-Imagined Radio’s presence at Kiggins Theatre once it is safe.
“The plan is to return to Kiggins, and we would then be able to offer a live performance, which could be streamed at the same time so people can be anywhere in the world and listen to the performance. Being streamed will also record each performance, and then [we would] edit that recording down to fit inside the constraints of a one hour program. Then, it becomes an archival program too,” Barber said.
“We have tried lately to really bring our designs to calling back to that specific ‘golden age of radio,’ especially with our recent shift back to our traditional roots while we can’t be in person. While having our radio shows, we’re really trying to call back to that, so I think our designs have gone in that direction.” – Holly Slocum
On Jan. 14, Re-Imagined Radio’s first show of 2021 played a resounding broadcast over the air. The show, entitled “New Year,” features episodes from both radio shows “The Whistler,” (1947) and “Guy Lombardo’s New Year’s Eve Party,” (1957). Barber says his inspiration to choose these radio shows comes from Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings, which signifies the meaning of New Year’s Eve to reflect on the past year and look forward to a new one.
“The Whistler” was a popular crime mystery that played over the radio between 1942 and 1955, and “Guy Lombardo’s New Year’s Eve Party” was one of the yearly New Year’s Eve performances by violinist, Guy Lombardo, and his orchestra. While doing extensive research on the shows, Barber had his heart set on choosing these two episodes as part of his first 2021 broadcast. Barber also was able to use sound editing and add his own remastered twist to the audio, making the show a huge success on-air.
As for other members of Re-Imagined Radio, graphic designer and WSU Vancouver alumna, Holly Slocum, works on making advertising posters for each performance occurring on the live radio show. Being a digital technology and culture major, Slocum began working with Barber and Re-Imagined Radio in WSU Vancouver’s Electronic Literature Lab. Her role with the program was originally to create social media posts, but has now transitioned to Re-Imagined Radio’s graphic designer. Although Slocum says she might not have called herself a graphic designer in school, she has since found her passion for graphic design by making sleek, modern and professional posters for the performances.
“I think I would describe my designs as very modular and clean. Something that calls to modern-day interface design. I kind of translate that into graphic design, so I don’t have a lot of really detailed illustrations or anything like that. … I work a lot with silhouettes,” Slocum said.
As for the direction behind some of Slocum’s designs, she explains her inspiration comes from Barber’s goal to preserve the “golden age of radio” within a new on-air platform.
“We have tried lately to really bring our designs to calling back to that specific ‘golden age of radio,’ especially with our recent shift back to our traditional roots while we can’t be in person. While having our radio shows, we’re really trying to call back to that, so I think our designs have gone in that direction,” Slocum said.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly presented new challenges for Re-Imagined Radio, Barber and his team are presented with new opportunities to grow while the broadcast’s fans continue to listen over the airwaves.
Olivia is a senior studying English at WSU Vancouver.