CKUT Time Capsule

Suhrid Manchanda was a force in Montreal’s music community before decamping to the United States and eventually to (his motherland) New Dehli, India.

He was studying at McGill 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.

In 1969 a group of students occupied the 9th floor computer center of Sir George Williams University (currently known as Concordia University) to object to racial bias in academic grading.

50 Years later we revisit this page in Montreal history through an event called Protest & Pedagogy. Khalid M'Seffar of Funky Revolutions interviews Kaie Kellough, spoken word artist, (& Soul Perspectives alumni) one of the event organizers to discuss the events that shaped this incident.

This piece explores racial tensions, student activism, Montreal Black history through the music of the era, through documentation of the event, personal connection and historic legacy.

Sunday Aug 19th The Goods Radio show went live from Casa Del Popolo for a live interview with Andy Williams conducted by Doug Miller (co-host of Amandla, CKUT's African News Programme since 1987). They go through Andy's musical origins in Derby, England, Jamaica, Toronto, Lennoxville and now Montreal. He speaks of the music he listened to growing up and his insatiable hunt for sounds that are sweet to his ears.

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.

Andrea Jane Cornell began listening to the radio show AACK as a teen, and soon after she began volunteering, subbed for Where's the Beat and then became CKUT's Music Resource Coordinator and Music Department Coordinator (2006-2011).

In this interview she talks about her passion for the Music Library, the massive toolbox of skills she acquired and some of the more unusual challenges she faced while at CKUT.

Ian Pringle was a Bookkeeper and 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.

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.

Stuart volunteered and worked at CKUT from 1991-95 and 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.

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

All pre-internet, thus writing to labels, researching magazines such as the Village Voice, OP (Option) Sound Choice, The Wire, newsletters and tape trading networks.

He also speaks of 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 - and of conducting all station business (ie Steering, Programming, Committee meetings) in the hallway as there was no room to do so at CKUT. Bryan now lives in Los Angeles with his wife (and ex CKUT programmer Kie Ross Zuraw) and is still finding strange music to vibe to.

As part of CKUT's 30th Anniversary festivities, we hosted a panel on the evolution of CKUT's News Department. CKUT has covered issues from street level emphasizing the voices of those not heard in mainstream media, namely those affected by the policies, regulations and political decisions.

In this panel, past Community News Coordinators, Gretchen King, Aaron Lakoff and Courtney Kirkby recount the numerous ways their department covered the prevalent news items of the times. The panel took place at the Anarchist Bookfair in Montreal.