Katherine Wong/Staff Writer
Every Wednesday, local musicians perform live on FIU’s student-run radio station on The Pipeline.
The show runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and is hosted by Anabelle Torres and Max Harrison.
“I’ve hosted The Pipeline for three years now and it’s been through many iterations and names during its time,” said Torres, the General Manager of The Roar.
The show consists of a live performance, an interview and local playlists – where the band provides a playlist of their music.
Because the show hosts local artists, DJs go to shows all around Miami before artists are put onto the radio.
“Anabelle actually went to one of our shows,” said Harrison, co-host of the Pipeline and singer of the Wax Worms. “Anabelle and her co-host at the time came up to us after the show and asked us if we wanted to play on The Pipeline.”
Max Harrison (left) and Anabelle Torres (right) are hosts of The Pipeline, a live show on the student radio station, The Roar. Katherine Wong/PantherNOW
Once Harrison became an FIU student, he joined The Roar and went on to co-host the show.
“Now that we have somebody in a band, it definitely gives me a broader understanding of what the bands need,” said Torres.
The show was created with the intention of being passed down to other DJs. But that doesn’t mean that Harrison and Torres aren’t putting their own spin on it. Once Harrison was onboarded, the idea of creating a YouTube channel sparked.
“We film the whole set, we film the whole interview and later splice it up. The whole point of this is to start our own version of the KEXP live sessions or NPR’s Tiny Desk,” said Harrison.
Once she started working on the show, Torres started doing acoustic sets and hosting her own interview sessions.
‘I’m able to host a pretty mean interview and I can come up with my own questions on the spot. It’s really fun and it helps to showcase my personality on air,” she said.
The Roar doesn’t only boast a local show. DJs can also host their own shows, also known as specialty shows, where can play music adhering to a particular genre or theme of music.
“This is my first real semester doing a specialty show or The Pipeline. With a specialty show you put a playlist together – I do my playlists weeks in advance and I have everything set,” said Harrison. “With the Pipeline, however, I feel closer to the audience. There’s this whole live aspect of the bands that makes it stand out. While specialty shows are live on air, our show feels more intimate.”
The Pipeline has changed the atmosphere at The Roar over time.
“This show is my baby,” said Torres. “Because of The Pipeline, people recognize me when I go to shows, which definitely creates this aura around me and around this station. We’ve been able to establish that we, The Roar, are the link between the local scene and the airwaves.”
The Pipeline is open to all communities in Miami and the greater South Florida area.
“It’s really about discovering these really small bands and giving them a chance. We want to expose FIU to these gems that we have in the city – and we do have FIU students come onto the show pretty often,” Harrison said.
Harrison said that the point of the show is to connect Miami to its local music scene.
“We’re doing this through the power of the radio station. It’s all about discovery – maybe you listen to a particular band and you hear that they’re playing at a radio station at FIU and you didn’t know FIU had a college radio station. That’s something special we’ve been able to create,” he said.
The Pipeline is currently fully booked for the Fall semester. If you want to appear on The Pipeline during the Spring semester, you can contact Max Harrison at max.harrison247@gmail.com or Anabelle Torres at anabelle.torres@fiusm.com.
The current lineup schedule for The Pipeline is:
October 16th – Wax Worms
October 23rd – WomanHouse
October 30th – RG
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November 6th – Mood Theory
November 13th – Yucky Poor
November 20th – WAN
November 27th – Birthday Wish
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December 4th – The Ruffans
December 11th – Las Nubes
December 18th – Holiday Shebang
You can listen to The Pipeline every Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on 95.3FM on the MMC campus, 96.9FM on the BBC campus, and 88.1FM in Kendall and Homestead. You can also follow The Roar on Instagram for updates on The Pipeline at @theroarfiu.
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