KRTU is the independent radio station owned by Trinity University which plays jazz music from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. and indie rock music from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. every day on channel FM 91.7. The station has an on-air schedule that includes a variety of hosts during different times of the day — all at no cost to listeners and advertisement-free.

Students are sometimes given the opportunity to host the Indie Overnight show as part of a KRTU internship experience. The internship also includes listening to and reviewing new music that is sent to the KRTU station and helping organize local live music festivals.

Anna Shockley, senior geoscience major, is currently the host of one portion of the Indie Overnight show on Wednesdays from 11 p.m. until midnight. Shockley’s internship also includes the responsibilities of listening to and importing new music that promoters send to the station, as well as writing a monthly review on a chosen album, artist or song.

As the host of the Indie Overnight show, Shockley has the opportunity to curate an hour’s worth of songs each week. Shockley explained that they get to play about four sets of songs, each set with three or four songs for a total of 12 to 15 songs per hour.

“I get control over what songs I play and what I talk about … and if I wanted to I could go on and on about whatever I really wanted to, within limits of the FCC and KRTU’s overall theme. But I have total autonomy, and that’s really cool,” Shockley said.

Jack Powers, graduating senior communications major, has been an intern with KRTU for a month and a half. He hosts the Indie Overnight show on Thursday nights. Along with Shockley, Powers is tasked with sorting through new music sent to the station by promoters. He also has the responsibility of charting KRTU’s most played music on the Indie Overnight show each week.

Powers said he secured the KRTU internship position by taking all of the KRTU classes offered by the communication department. Powers explained how the department offers classes such as audio production or host training.

“If students want to get involved with the radio, I’d encourage them to take those one-hour credit classes if they have the time. Those classes are a good little gateway just to see if you can do it. In the host training class they put you on the air halfway through the semester, so that’s as pretty hands-on as it gets for a pretty respected radio station, especially in San Antonio,” Powers said.

Even if you aren’t interested in communication or the KRTU internship, listening to radio stations (instead of streaming) can be beneficial. While streaming music can be monotonous and confined to your own personal tastes, listening to a radio station presents listeners with a diverse range of music. By listening to KRTU, you can expose yourself to the sphere of jazz as well as that of indie music.

Powers explained what he thought was beneficial about supporting KRTU.

“I think, for KRTU, you have human beings sifting through all of the music, curating, telling you this is good stuff … as opposed to a major station, which would just shuffle through the most [played] stuff and it’s a little more robotic,” Powers said. “It also definitely gives you more of a diverse perspective on music than streaming would.”