KYFC offers edgier options By JONATHAN DALE, Staff Writer
Monday, August 20, 2007 10:48 PM PDT
JOSELITO VILLERO PHOTOS
“The Edge” radio station director Daniel Chairez adjusts the volume levels of a mixing board inside the on-air room at Youth For Christ of Imperial Valley office in El Centro on Monday.
Demon Hunter. Embodyment. Zao. Underoath.
The above bands could look and sound like they belong on the CD shelf next to Pantera or Rise Against, but there’s something these metal bands have in common that separate them from the hard rock pack.
All four are Christian bands signed to Christian record companies — and can be heard on the Imperial Valley’s newest rock station 95.3 The Edge, run by the Imperial Valley Youth For Christ organization.
“We’re playing the music that we want, and I think the response we’ve gotten is great,” Valley Youth For Christ director Todd Evangelist said. “Nobody else is doing this down here.”
In addition to the Christian rap and punk found on The Edge, some might find it odd that the hardest music to be found on the radio dial locally is off a 50-watt station playing nothing but Christian bands.
But to Evangelist and KYFC 95.3 FM station manager Dan Chairez, The Edge provides the perfect medium to provide music with a positive edge.
“I think this station is going to give a real positive view to the Valley, because we’re the first Christian rock radio station here,” Chairez said. “I think it’s going to give a real positive image to the kids as well, because they can listen to the lyrics, and the music is real positive.”
After getting its start in June, The Edge can be heard from Calexico to the southern portions of Brawley, providing most local kids with music from bands such as punk trio MxPx and Vans Warped Tour vets Underoath.
“I like Demon Hunter and Underoath,” Chairez said. “It’s cool because it’s not like other metal out there where they tell you to stay depressed, or rebel against your parents or be angry.
“These bands are telling you there’s always something better for us,” he said. “It’s not that negative message.”
Both Evangelist and Chairez were quick to point out that The Edge is not meant to compete with stalwart local Christian radio station KGBA 100.1 FM, but rather to accompany it.
“The existing Christian radio station primarily targets adults through its programming,” Evangelist said in a copy of KYFC’s mission statement. “The addition of KYFC to the airwaves is hopefully welcomed because it would enable KGBA to focus on its primary target audience.”
On top of providing a new outlet for teenagers and adults who prefer a harder brand of rock, The Edge will be providing play-by-play coverage of Central Spartans and Southwest Eagles football games this fall.
Local station KXO will continue to rotate between coverage of Southwest and Central, so Evangelist decided he and his father, former Southwest Principal Joe Evangelist, would cover whichever game KXO does not each Friday.
And the music?
“I think it’s really important to offer this type of music to the kids because right now kids listen to anything and everything out there,” Chairez said. “This is providing kids with an extra option of what there is out there to listen to.”
" I think KYFC is doing a fine job with its music programming, and I can't wait for the football coverage to start. If Coach Evangelist doesn't make things happen in the broadcast booth, then we must be listening to a knitting contest! "
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sbritchky wrote on Aug 23, 2007 2:24 AM: