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What's the Buzz? |
| By: Maurice Singfield |
| A few summers ago the Buzz hit the airwaves taking over from B-100 at 99.9 on the fm radio dial. With a play list of Alternative rock, and disk jockeys in their early twenties, the Buzz has made Burlington Vermont the capitol of cutting edge radio in the Montreal, Burlington and Plattsburgh areas. | Having worked in major radio markets before, Buzz disk jockeys were surprised to find a void in the region's radio scene, left by radio's lack of interest in the Alternative format; Steven "P" Picard is from Boston, while Stephanie Hindley ("Cap'n Steph") is from Providence, Road Island. | |
 "I had no Idea the market would be as large as it is, and was surprised to find we reached across the boarder into the Eastern Townships and part of Ontario."~ Hindley ~ |
 Cap'n Steph & Picard @ the Knowlton Pub |
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Hindley, mainly responsible for the Buzz's beginnings, found: ... |
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....." the Montreal, Burlington & Plattsburg scene very clued in and ready for Alternative radio." |
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| With their recent Buzz Above the Boarder promotion, that the Knowlton Pub has bought into, one can say that publicity is the other big factor in 999's popularity. |
| For Lance Boulet, the Buzz attracts one of the Pub's largest crowds, which is in keeping with its history of being a focal point for many generations, including the time it was a stagecoach stop in the eighteen hundreds. |
| Lance Boulet, x-manager of the Knowlton Pub, in the Eastern Townships, points out that: ... | ....."Alternative means, the music can be very different or eclectic." | |
| ....."When the Buzz comes to the Pub it is very different. The crowd used to be made up of mainly one age group, but now we have a mix of older and younger people." | ||
| Almost over night, the Buzz has become a major player; providing a long overdue reflection of real people bored silly with corporate rock's idea of a good time. |
| Hindley thinks of music as people, and ... | ....."as an extension of what we are inside, like a banner representing a generation." | |
| ..... "At the Buzz we all love the music we play and are devoted to the generation it represents, and I think this attitude is responsible in a large part for our current success." | ||
| History does tend to repeat itself, and the Buzz mirrors the success story of CHOM-FM in Montreal; a station which also responded to the needs of a generation crying for attention. | Like Hindley, Doug Pringle was in his twenties when he started Montreal's trend setting rock station in the late `60's, and took full advantage of an industry that had difficulty focusing in on current musical trends of the time. |
 Cap'n Steph @ the Sunnymead Picnic Playoff |
 "The Buzz & Sunnymead thank you to bands" |
"At the moment we're becoming a full service radio station, with a morning show and other features" said Hindley, and "we're not afraid of becoming mainstream as long as we continue to reflect the needs of our audience." |
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