KZSM: Music for Heart, Mind, and Soul
Each of our many music shows at KZSM.org offers a unique sound that expresses the host’s personality, perhaps sending listeners down a familiar path or inviting them into new territory. Our newest offering, “Melancholy Tea Party” (Tuesdays 9-10 a.m.) adds yet another color to the spectrum. “I came up with the title after recognizing the lyrics behind the music that I felt compelled to listen to most,” host Mark Decker explains. He originally imagined a dance/rock hybrid, but then “came across a series of songs that were slower tempo in nature, with many in a minor key, and the lyrics largely represented broken or hampered relationships.”
Intrigued, he began creating playlists: “my personal library can range from classical to industrial rock,” he explains, including David Bowie, Tritonal, Futurebound, Pat Benatar, Ariana Grande, U2 and Snoop Dogg. His musical interests run through “multiple genres, many of which won’t likely be heard on this show.” Rather, “the show will attempt to stay within a slower tempo framework of electronic and R&B.” Because “any good program sports variety,” some songs will be more upbeat. “My blueprint is to try and group songs with lyrics that create a storyline of sorts.” The first “Melancholy Tea Party,” aired last week, “focused on the hazards of taboo relationships.” The second show, broadcast right after Valentine’s Day, will showcase romantic longing.
Whatever the theme, the playlists will engage listeners’ emotions and imaginations. The songs will “allow people to understand that whatever hardship they might be going through, they are certainly in good company.” Listeners fortunate enough to have no hardships will find that “the music will in some way increase their awareness of others’ troubles.”
Music and radio are Decker’s “first loves.” He began helping out at a radio station at ten and was announcing weather by sixteen. He continued in radio for years after that and joins KZSM after a ten-year break from radio. He looks forward to “getting back into my persona.”
Community radio offers a new opportunity—“having the freedom to completely program a show from scratch. Previously, I made tweaks to an already selected format.” On “Melancholy Tea Party,” he can create his own “sweet music mix”—an inspired playlist “that could help make [listeners] more at peace with their lives. Perhaps that will be enough to help them along in their life’s journey.”
