Musical Experiments on Air
    - His sound is different and his audience loves it.

    by Allan Wishart

    Steve Marlow puts together a lot of talk and lot of music in a two-hour radio show.
    Marlow's Friday night show on CFBX, the University College of the Cariboo campus station, is all about experimental music. He says this is one of the main reasons for having to talk.
    "I like to give a lot of background for the bands. A lot of people have never heard this stuff before."
    He defines experimental music as "music which takes a non-traditional approach to the creation of music." Industrial music from the early 1970s was quite experimental, he adds.
    "A lot of the bands weren't using instruments. They used what they called 'found sounds'. They might beat on a metal can for the rhythms."
    These beginnings may be found on his show any Friday between 8 and 10 PM, along with a lot of other things.
    "My show tends to have a fairly expansive focus, if I can use those two words together. I could play anything from the experimental electronic music of the '70s to modern rock, such as Beck or the Talking Heads."
    A campus station is just right for this kind of show.
    "People tune into CFBX to hear something different. I won't pretend my show isn't challenging to listen to. I imagine it attracts people who believe in having their beliefs about music challenged."
    Anyone thinking this might be for them is advised to tune in early on Fridays. "The show tends to get heavier as the evening goes on."
    Marlow did an industrial show in Lethbridge for a few years before coming to Kamloops. With two industrial shows already on CFBX's airwaves, he says the decision to go experimental was a natural progression.
    "I consider myself something of a historian on electronic and experimental music. I try to keep my ear on what's going on."