With more than 40 student DJs, indie rock to the Golden Oldies and shows like “Burger Bros” and “Nerdy White Kid Talks Hip-Hop,” Pizza FM prides itself on being the quintessential college radio station.

“We’re really just about the most stereotypical college radio station that’s produced by students for students,” said Evan Rogers, general manager of Pizza FM and junior in LAS. “Day-to-day Pizza FM is a collection of tons and tons of music shows by just some of the most creative students we have on campus.” 

Established in 2011, Pizza FM is a free-form, noncommercial college radio station steaming online at pizzafm.org out of Allen Hall at the University. On Wednesday, it will host its spring benefit concert at The Canopy Club. Tickets will be sold at the door for $5 at 8 p.m.

“The really cool thing about our benefit concert is that most of our performers are students at the University,” said Matt Shancer, treasurer of Pizza FM and junior in Media. “We have a wide variety of bands playing, but we also have local musicians playing, and this is really a show for the local music community.”

Wednesday’s line-up includes Phantom Broadcast, Resinater, Jeremiah Fisher and Blade Runner, along with Shancer and Raymond Johnson performing stand-up comedy. There will also be a pizza-eating contest and proceeds will go to Pizza FM to help continue broadcast.

Pizza FM was created to fill the University’s lack of a college radio station where any student can have their own show and they get to fix the music, said Tyler Cochrane, senior in Engineering and former treasurer of Pizza FM.

“Creating this radio station has been a very long process,” Cochrane said. “We started as an RSO, and we worked hard to get a space in Allen Hall. Since then, we’ve had some very dedicated people join on and helped us turn an idea into a fully-functioning radio station.”

One of the most important elements of Pizza FM is the idea that it is student-driven with student-generated content, said Rogers.

“Pizza really just kind of serves as a community public space, where our DJs can come express themselves,” Rogers said. “And it’s really just interesting to see what people come up with and the stories that they share, and it’s interesting to learn about their lives and the lives of people around them during these shows.”

DJs are encouraged to play any type of music from any genre except for Top 40 hits.

“We broadcast 24 hours all week, and DJs are in full control of what they play,” Rogers said. “We have shows that play anything from indie pop, J-pop, rock, punk, electronic, and our shows are very specific and very niche.”

The camaraderie is also one of the most rewarding aspects of the Pizza FM experience, Shancer said.

“I love seeing all the DJs talk and get to know each other,” Shancer said. “And I really love seeing the friendships people make in Pizza and referring to people by their DJ names and all of the fun that we have together.”

Currently, Pizza FM is looking to expand its reach and gain a wider audience.

“The goal of Pizza FM is to always expand and get more listeners,” Rogers said. “We always want more diversity and more variety in what we can play, and we would like to be more involved with the community. Pizza is very much a student show, but we want everybody to be able to enjoy it.”

Julianne can be reached at [email protected].