Pop Rocks

In the bowels of the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music, only a narrow window and bumper sticker-sized sign distinguish its door from any other, save for the on-air light.

The floor is linoleum, mostly bare and more spacious than one would expect in an otherwise cramped area. A couple of announcements pepper the walls, but it's mostly music advertisement posters: Nas, Taking Back Sunday, Coco Rosie, "Rock Against Bush" and local concert flyers.

Countless CDs and vinyl records fill large drawers and milk crates, but it's a fully alphabetized, organized chaos. Two turntables and a microphone, multiple CD players, CD burners and some gadgets that are difficult to identify cover two desks and a shelving unit.

The walls are soundproof, but even though some of this equipment is in use, the door is left open. "So, it's a friendly place," Matt Popchock, a fourth-year electronic media student, said.

Welcome to the deejay booth of Bearcast radio.

Popchock is the host and creator of Pop Culture with Matt Popchock, an '80s music program/variety show that airs online every Tuesday at 10 p.m. at www.bearcast.uc.edu. With a Mac laptop in one hand and a stack of CDs older than he is in the other, this deejay is going online to party like it's 1989.

Pop Culture is "a variety show in the true sense of the word," Popchock said. "I play '80s music of all kinds, not just the hits, juxtaposed against entertainment news. And I satirize the news in the same way that Jon Stewart or the folks at Saturday Night Live [do]."

Last year Popchock won the Bearcast College Radio "Specialty Deejay of the Year" award, which sits proudly on a shelf in his dorm room.

Two posters hang near the plaque: a UC Bearcats football calendar and a pinup of Tom Welling, the former Abercrombie and Fitch model who plays Clark Kent on Smallville. Popchock loves this television show and its Superman mythos so much that he will sacrifice the otherwise macho appearance of his dorm room for it.

A cultural recycler, Popchock has no problem taking inspiration from things that are older than he is. However, because he was only six years old when the '80s ended, he can barely remember its music being played the first time around. So how did he discover it later?

"I don't know what started it, but I do seem to recall seeing one of those cheap infomercials for one of those 'best of the '80s' collections that they sell at all hours of the night," Popchock said. "Brief snippets of those songs in the commercial - I like the way they hit my ear."

His playlist is mostly happy and upbeat, almost an aural Prozac. The reasoning behind this mood is simple: "Because the '80s was the Me Decade," Popchock said. "It was materialism and excess and celebrating how much we had and how much we still wanted." When he's reminded of his youth at the time, he said, "So, I didn't have that much."

Popchock's show always opens with Duran Duran's "Rio."

"I don't know about you, but I feel like reaching up for the sunrise, now that Duran Duran is back," Popchock said of the group's reunion and comeback. And the show always closes with Ozzy Osbourne's "Goodbye to Romance."

On air, Popchock's voice is electronically enhanced. Its sound is smooth, cool, energetic and light, just like a Hollywood movie star... and rather unlike Popchock himself.

Besides '80s music, Popchock's show also pays attention to current events and newsmakers. During a show last spring, Popchock announced, "Prosecutors in the Michael Jackson trial are opposing a motion to lower Jackson's $3 million bail. Earlier today, they also opposed a motion to lower his $3 million pants." Off-air, he said, "Never got enough Michael Jackson jokes. Gotta get in at least a couple per show. He's screaming to be made fun of."

Jokes about the Gloved One are not unique, but Popchock's dedication may be. He spends 10 to 12 hours a week (mostly Mondays and Tuesdays) on pre-show preparations alone. Yet, in spite of this, it's the on-air spontaneity that appeals to him most. "I always wanted to do live radio or television because I love the anything-can-happen aspect of it."

But who's listening? This is Internet radio, not broadcast.

Ben Koch, a UC electronic media graduate and a friend of Popchock's from their work on the UC cable show 51 Sports, claims that most of the listeners who tune into Bearcast are friends and family of the deejays. Even the most enthusiastic proponent of the technology must concede that for the moment, at least, Internet radio's exposure is nothing next to broadcast radio's.

Still, Popchock doesn't resent his online status.

"I certainly think that it's an inconvenience that you can't just dial it up on a regular set," he said. "But, it's actually pretty cool, because the way I see it, I'm live to the world. Anyone anywhere with a computer connection can listen. People in Croatia listen to us."

Popchock, grinning, said, "That's my kick. I love performing to a live audience."