As KWVA’s 20th birthday neared, Thor Slaughter knew he wanted the station to celebrate by putting on something big — really big. He wanted something that would showcase the University of Oregon radio station’s plethora of alternative bands, be free for university students and ultimately bring the community together to listen to what he describes as “kick-ass music.”
“I wanted to do something we’d never done before,” said Slaughter. “Something that would make everyone shit their pants because it’s so awesome.”
So after sitting through a grueling nine-hour ASUO Senate meeting and contacting more than 40 booking agents, Slaughter funded and coordinated Betterfest: A week-long music festival from May 13-18 that will showcase 12 bands at the WOW Hall over the weekend with events leading up to the shows, including a kickoff at Party Downtown on Monday, an MC freestyle tournament at Diablo’s Downtown Lounge on Tuesday and a “Small Howl Showcase” at the Wandering Goat on Wednesday. Its name is meant to imply exactly what it suggests — it will be better than any other music festival. At least that’s what Slaughter hopes.
“I told my boss I wouldn’t sleep until I made sure the festival was happening,” Slaughter said. “It would be KWVA’s present to the community.”
Slaughter is KWVA’s music director and assistant general manager, a station he insists is the musical refuge for dozens of volunteer DJs, all of whom work together to provide the community and the world with music and talk shows 24/7 through radio and online streaming. They interview bands, host live performances and bring in community personalities. Basically, Slaughter said, it’s a station that brings in a lot of different tastes and people.
“Picture this: A really cool group of people who are all not just interested in music, but who are obsessed with music, nerding out and having a good time,” said Slaughter. “It’s like a bunch of 12-year-olds at a sleepover party, every day and every night. It’s really too good to be true.”
And Betterfest is meant to celebrate this fun, dedicated atmosphere. The festival’s sounds range everywhere from the heavy rock of FUZZ and the ’60s garage-rock of the Beets to the rebellious punk-rock of Naomi Punk.
In addition to representing a multitude of genres, the festival will showcase international talents. Some of the festival’s bands call Portland home, like the Helio Sequence, while others come from as far as Canada, such as Cascadia — a band who will call Betterfest their first American music festival.
“Each band has its own unique flavor and place in the spectrum of college indie music,” Slaughter said. ”My goal for the lineup was to pick cool, alternative bands that many don’t know about. People with their ‘ear to the ground,’ will be the only ones who know all of these bands. They know that they’ll destroy. Others will only find out.”
Betterfest’s lineup is evidence of KWVA’s own broad range of musical tastes. The station’s programming veers from experimental “noise shows” to late-night hip-hop masterpieces, from college indie tunes to alternative underground. No matter the genre, the station prides itself on playing the newest, most obscure alternative artists. To Slaughter, it’s about veering from the norm and creating one’s own musical taste. It’s about finding the golden nuggets in a world filled with mainstream glitz and glam.
In other words, you’re never going to hear any Taylor Swift or Lil’ Wayne on the station’s airwaves.
“We basically listen to all the music in the world so you don’t have to,” Slaughter said.
“The station has always made a point about not following the crowd,” said Scott Drew, KWVA’s music director from 1993-96. “It’s not going to play anything you would hear on other radio stations. It strives to be unique, strives to show its listeners great music they may have never even heard about.”
Drew said he agrees with Slaughter that Betterfest is a great way to honor music and the station’s history. If one thing’s for sure, he said, the station’s musical drive and passion has never faltered.
“It was always an exciting atmosphere to be in. It was basically a bunch of DJs sharing their passions with one another,” said Drew. “It was — and still is — about reaching out to the community, affecting the student body and developing connections.”
Craig Leve, the DJ of KWVA’s Friday-morning show, “Snap, Crackle, POP!” which he describes as a “celebration of melody in pop,” became a volunteer at the station in 1996. Having been a committed DJ for KWVA for 16 years, Leve has witnessed much of the station’s evolution over the decades.
“When we were first there, it was under a very old system,” said Leve. “There was no professional general manager. Students were working for a small stipend and the station was a program of the EMU. Now, all of that has changed. Over the years, the station’s strengths have constantly been enhanced by the skills and passions of the people who are part of it. Betterfest is evidence of that.”
With the festival a mere week away, Slaughter’s excitement is at an all-time high.
“It will be a festival that brings music lovers together,” Slaughter said. “It’s run by students, free for students and gives a face to all of KWVA’s awesomeness. I’ll challenge anyone who thinks there is anything cooler than that.”