HCAU: Tell us about yourself.
Emily White: I’m a senior at AU. I was born in DC but I grew up in Charleston, WV. I try to see live music as much as possible, be as close to nature as possible in a city, read a lot of music tech blogs and run on 85% dark chocolate, oatmeal and pure ambition. I’ve worked a lot of odd jobs…including but not limited to: running the consumer hotline at AARP, promo for a teen web series set in the 90’s, cater waiter at the West Virginia Governor’s Mansion and barista at a bagel shop. My latest job was as an intern for NPR’s weekly music podcast, All Songs Considered. I am currently managing AU’s student-run radio station, WVAU.
HCAU: How or why did you decide to get involved with WVAU, and what motivated you to run for general manager? What do you do as general manager, and are there any upcoming events?
EW: I started DJing at WVAU my first semester of college and I have had my weekly show, White Noise, ever since. Coming from a state and city where finding another person who liked David Bowie felt like finding a soul mate, I was eager to get involved with the radio station when I moved to DC. Since my freshman year I’ve served as an assistant Music Director, Librarian and Music Director for the station. I always knew I wanted to run the station. I am always thinking of ways to harness the potential of such a huge staff (130!) of music obsessed people– it’s a really challenging and rewarding job.
As general manger I oversee the day-to-day operations of our 24/7 station, our overall look and outreach efforts as well as our finances. I manage our wonderful staff of music, events, promo, station web, design, program and technical directors.
We have two more concerts and an open mic night coming up this semester– on November 9th we are bringing Fang Island, Eternal Summers and Sun Club. And on December 1st two local DC bands (announcement coming soon!)
HCAU: How has WVAU impacted your experience as an AU student? What is your favorite aspect about the organization and/or favorite show you’ve done?
EW: WVAU is absolutely my favorite thing about AU. Doing my radio show has consistently been the highlight of my week. It’s almost a therapeutic experience. I try to have fun with it and I’ve done some pretty goofy themes over the years … one of my favorite shows was when I only played songs with instructions on how to dance in the lyrics. WVAU turned me from someone interested in music to someone obsessed, knowledgeable and passionate about music.
HCAU: What is the one thing about your organization that you would like students to know?
EW: I want students to know that we are an all-inclusive organization. We really are accepting and interested in every type of music. Our mission is to foster a community of music lovers on campus and to expose alternative music to the campus, community and beyond.
HCAU: What other extracurricular activities are you involved with?
EW: This semester, my life is very much WVAU-centric. It’s really a full time job. But I’m always working other odd jobs, going to as many concerts as possible and I’ve started DJing at Comet Ping Pong occasionally too. (If the hurricane dosen’t ruin it– I’ll be playing the house music at the Sic Alps show this Monday night!)
HCAU: What is your major, and what motivated you to choose that field?
EW: Like a lot of AU Students, I started out as an International Studies major. But after a semester of World Politics I quickly realized that it wasn’t for me. I started taking a few Comm and Audio Tech classes just to try it out and decided to become a Communication Studies major with a minor in Audio Technology. It’s just a hodgepodge of what interested me at the time.
HCAU: Describe your professional goals and intended career path/post-graduation plans.
EW: It seems silly to think back to when I first came to school and thought music was my hobby but could never be my career. I am now 100% committed to working in some aspect of the music industry…but I’m not really sure where i’ll land. I love the process of booking and planning concerts for WVAU, I’m very interested in radio management and production, I’m also fascinated by the future of the music industry in general. And on top of that, I’ve always dreamed of being a music supervisor for film. Graduation in May is becoming all too real and I will likely just go wherever a job takes me- whether that’s LA, NYC here or anywhere really.
HCAU: What is the best advice you can give to AU students?
EW: Try everything. Intern and work in as many different occupations and positions as possible. The only way to figure out what you want is to first find out what you DONT want (for me, it is a 9-5 desk job, music criticism or promoting anything I don’t personally feel passionate about.)
Best AU memory: That’s tough … my freshman year my friends and I journeyed to the mall for a huge snowball fight durring snowpocolype. That was cute. Or last Spring, WVAU hosted Dan Deacon at Comet Ping Pong and that was an ecstatic experience.
Favorite spot on campus: Besides WVAU…I am a huge fan of Megabytes. Doing work at the counter facing the window with an egg bagel and a smoothie.
Favorite place in DC: Oh I can’t pick. The Blackcat backstage, Flying Fish Coffee, the National Cathedral, The Rock and Roll Hotel, Surfside, the Hirshorn Sculpture Garden.
Follow Emily @emwhitenoise on Twitter and visit WVAU’s website to learn more about the organization.