Valentina and the Power of Radio

I just came to a conclusion. Reports of Radio's death has been greatly exaggerated.  I read a lot that radio is dead especially music radio.  Sites like Last.FM and Pandora will replace music radio and the DJ. Well I have to completly disagree with that, and its not because I am a DJ, but because of a new unknown, unsigned artist and the reaction I got from playing it on 88Nine RadioMilwaukee.

Who is this artist?  Her name is Valentina.  She is originally from Italy, but currently resides across the pond in England. I first came across her almost two years ago by accident on Myspace.  I was truly blown away by not only the production but her songwriting.  I emailed her to see if I can get some of her tracks to play on the radio.  She sent some tracks over and we added to our rotation in radio.  When we started playing Valentina's track "Guilt Trip".  I was really surprised by the reaction that the song got.  Then I notice at her myspace page, that there were a lot of comments from people from Milwaukee.  The comments not only moved me, but it gave me back my faith in the power of radio.  Yes maybe commercial top 40 radio maybe dying, but good non-profit public radio is not only not dying it is gaining strength becuase people are looking for something different and new.  Check out some of these comments and tell me that radio has lost it mojo.

Another observation, technology will never replace a good DJ.  A good DJ can find a song that can evoke an emotion.  Music is nothing but the sonic representation of human emotion. Not to belittle what Pandora and last.fm does, but what better than a  good DJ (who is human) to pick out music to appeal to people by emotion and not by some fancy algorithm. I became a DJ because of other good DJs expose my soul to beautiful music.

These comments are from Valentina's Myspace blog.

I am a faithful 88.9 listener and my little boy and i keep our ears peeled for your songs all the time. I finally found a spare minute to look up your myspace and am amazed to discover that you are not...well...how do i put it? I thought you had cd's out and were already a millionaire!!! no worries tho...with a talent such as yours it will happen soon enuff! dunno how it happened that milwaukee has begun this love affair with your music, but you'd better promise to make our little piece of earth one of your first stops on your first ww tour! dawn & tristan sending much love from mke!

Valentina!

Keeping it fresh from Milwaukee! Heres my story:

Im originally from Madison, WI (about 140 clicks west of MKE), where unfortunately, we do not have a station like Radio Milwaukee. I started going to UWM (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) as an Engineering student, and naturally at first didnt listen to Music that often, especially on the radio. As We Grow changed all that. Such a clean and fresh sound, I instantly fell in love with it. Unfortunately your name eluded my mind (all I remember is them saying how you had a Myspace Music Page, and basically ran your operations from there) however the sound was there. I finally found it today after some extensive searching... I really hope you come to Milwaukee, perhaps visiting the Eagles Ballroom (pretty bloody famous, just Wikipedia it), or Summerfest (possibly the most famous of all, as the Worlds largest music festival.) Either venue (with Radio Milwaukee giving you another media flooding, as they did before.) Well anyways, best of luck, from Milwaukee to London!

hey hey, another from Milwaukee, The first few times I heard "as we grow" I was so deeply moved I seriously had to stop and sit and collect myself. Now after hearing it almost every day on 88.9 I still stop to listen and smile really big and keep smiling well after. We here would love to see you perform. Thank You soooo much

Yesterday was a sunny, then rainy and then sunny day in Milwaukee. Kerri and I were driving through the rain and as the sun came out.....and the water stopped hittin the windshield, out comes this cool groove that was playin on the radio in the background....such a good groove, we sat in the parking stall untill the song ended. Just had to hear it through y'know. It was "As We Grow", loved it, Cheers from Milwaukee!

Also check out this interview with Valentina.  The interview was by Liledeshan Bose who wanted to the interview becuase she heard Valentina on the radio!