I began hosting In My Room in 2006 as a back-up host covering for local dj/producer DJ Barbi. The show was originally broadcast on CKLN 88.1FM at Ryerson Campus in downtown Toronto and was shared between 4 programmers that rotated throughout the month. Barbi’s show was the last Sunday of the month and her show was known for it’s eclectic vibe blending: punk, hardcore, new wave, synth-pop, disco, house, and electro and everything in between. When I took over, I tweaked the format to be more focussed on classic and underground electronic dance music but I wanted to keep the same spirit of genre crossover, albeit without the focus on rock, punk, and metal within the pre-existing programming.

The early shows featured guest djs that I was working with to promote parties within Toronto. Later on, when I was given the slot as my own, I reached out to other djs and producers in the community and invited them to share their musical tastes and thoughts on the Toronto scene on the show.

Over the next couple of years CKLN experienced a slew of difficulties and eventually ran afoul of the CRTC in early 2011 resulting in the revocation of the station’s broadcast license.

The news was devastating and shook the Toronto arts and media community. Many people encouraged us to continue to fight the ruling and not give up. I was encouraged by the support and decided to stay on with the station even if it was only going to broadcast online for the time being.

In the summer of 2011, the membership of CKLN was able to come to an arrangement with Regent Park Focus that provided the station with a home in the newly renovated Regent Park Media Centre. The move came at a critical time for the station and provided a much-needed “shot -in-the-arm” to help re-invigorate the programmers and community members to make good on CKLNs original mission: to be a voice for the under-represented populations in our community, to provide access to media for those who eschew and are outside the corporate  and commercial structures of power, to provide a space for emerging artists, and to build a spirit of community through  non-oppressive, tolerant, and diverse programming.

Along with the move to Regent Park came a shake-up in the programming grid; I now have a weekly spot on Wednesday nights from 10pm -12am EST broadcast on www.radioregent.com