Co-chairs of WMLU’s Bandfest committee Jake King and Keith Baldwin had a whirlwind couple of months. The committee started getting everything ready for this April way back in November. Baldwin and King realized that now that Bandfest is over and went on without a hitch, they had a lot of free time to sit down and talk with me not just about Bandfest and the process of organizing it, but also about other things they are involved with around campus.
King is a member of the Cormier Honors College and is studying chemistry secondary education. King was just elected as the new music director for WMLU. He is a new member of Phi Mu Delta, and in his spare time he records and produces music. King plays guitar, bass and “a little bit of everything.” When asked if he is open to recording students at Longwood, he said the door is open and others are welcome. On Wednesday’s starting at 10 p.m., he works at the radio station during his radio show, "Ultimate Kickback."
King decided to come to Longwood because his older half-sister went here, and he really just wanted to get out of Northern Virginia. Apparently, he applied everywhere, but was offered a scholarship to come to Longwood, and that pretty much made up his mind. When he first arrived in Farmville, he had no idea that Longwood even had a radio station. It took him until his junior year to really get involved. King always wanted to do something relating to music. He once had a blog, and has always kept up with his instrumental talents. Once he started getting more involved with WMLU, he realized it was a place he could really fit in.
“Everyone was so diverse, but all worked together well,” he said. He seemed to really find his place on campus with his WMLU family.
Baldwin, the other co-chair of the Bandfest committee, is studying communications with a concentration in public relations. He was recently re-elected as WMLU business manager. Around campus, he can be seen with his Gamma Psi brothers and jamming out with friends.
When asked what he does for fun, Baldwin said, “Bandfest took up so much time; I really don’t know what to do with myself.” Baldwin is usually busy on Sunday nights at midnight with his own radio show, "Don’t Just Listen, Experience." Baldwin’s catchphase is, “Experience this.” He is all about getting people to listen to the experience of the artist. Baldwin is also in a band, which needs a name, so suggestions would be welcome.
After high school, Baldwin had planned on going to culinary school in Rhode Island, but instead took a year off, took a few classes at a community college and then decided he wanted to go off to college for a bachelor’s degree. He called all the schools he had been accepted to right out of high school, and Longwood was the only one that said that they would re-send his letter. After being here for a semester, he heard about WMLU and attended the last meeting of the fall 2011 semester. The next spring, he had his own show and then decided to step up his game and started shadowing the former business manager. Since then, Baldwin has held the position.
If you didn’t know better, you would think Baldwin and King had been friends for years. They play off each other well and set a very “here for business” tone. Surprisingly enough, they only really met each other a few times before deciding to come together to run for the co-chair position for the Bandfest committee. Originally, they were both running separately against a team of two WMLU veterans.
When Baldwin and King decided to join forces, it was a breath of fresh air for both of them. They won the election, much to their surprise, and immediately started work to make the twentieth anniversary of Bandfest the best one yet.
Shocked that they won, the two new guys realized that with Baldwin already holding the position of business manager, they were essentially cutting out a middleman. Both King and Baldwin look forward to working together again in the future and would jump at the chance to run Bandfest again if given the opportunity.
It was up to both co-chairs to narrow down a list of nearly 250 bands to just eight that would play at Bandfest. There were many hard decisions made, and both were very happy with the day and the bands they chose to bring to Longwood. They knew almost immediately that they wanted to bring in a rapper because there had never been one at Bandfest. They ended up bringing in Immortal Technique, who ended up being Baldwin’s favorite of the day. Many of the bands were received with open arms. Baldwin and King were so amazed that they had the chance to really touch so many people with the artists they brought to campus. King said he was a huge fan of Hurt’s performance. Feed God Cabbage was such a hit with King and Baldwin, that they want them to come back to play at other events that WMLU might put on next year.
Both Baldwin and King had very kind things to say about all the bands that were given the opportunity to work with this year.
