Music after midnight

It’s 3 a.m.

Campus is deserted. Students are either sleeping soundly or tucked away studying in a library.

In the WXYC radio studio on the second floor of the Union annex, freshman Elizabeth Morris’s first night as a DJ has just begun.

Photos, posters and stickers line the walls of the station, promoting eclectic bands and boasting snarky phrases. A stuffed figure of Father Christmas is strapped by his arms next to a CD rack, surrendering to the continuous stream of music.

The chaos of the room is more of a comfort than a nuisance to Morris, whose first graveyard shift was Wednesday morning.

“It feels like there’s a lot of history here,” Morris said.

WXYC, the University’s student-run public access radio station, hired a new batch of DJs in early September.

And for 14 fresh-faced trainees, it’s a rite of passage at the station to work the wee hours of the morning.

Station manager Nicole Campbell, a junior, told her trainees not to worry about mistakes.

“Always try,” Campbell said. “If you say it with some weird accent, people will probably think you’re saying it right.”

Morris’ on-air name, Trillian, has been a part of her identity since middle school. It comes from the novel, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” which she read as a kid.

Morris said that Trillian is more memorable than Elizabeth. With a voice that she calls “forgettable”, it’s helpful to have an interesting name.

In the studio, Morris can explore new genres of music while developing her own tastes. WXYC requires certain songs to be played each hour on rotation, but there’s still freedom to explore different artists.

“It keeps me from staying safe in one genre,” Morris said. “I put on a lot of stuff that just looks interesting.”

With shelves packed full of CDs and records to choose from, getting stuck in one genre is a difficult task.

“This is, like, Egyptian,” Morris said, holding up a CD at 5:30 a.m. “I normally wouldn’t even be able to find Egyptian music, but here it is.”

Campbell encourages her new hires to expand their tastes.

“Find new music, share new music,” Campbell said.

Campbell trained the new DJs to use the station’s equipment.

“It’s pretty intimidating,” said Morris, just before Tuesday became Wednesday.

Although her shift didn’t start until 3 a.m., Morris was in the studio by midnight to pick out music.

For these early mornings, Morris relies solely on stamina.

“Coffee’s not my thing,” she said. “I’m too delicate for coffee.”

In the time between her arrival at the station and the start of her shift, Morris searched the archives to plan her show. As she grows more comfortable in her position, Morris hopes to plan playlists to prevent dead air.

Morris has no plans to make a career of her late-night DJing. She doesn’t want to be repetitive and predictable, she said.

“People who are into music go find their own music,” Morris said. “But I guess those people also know what they want to share so they end up going into radio.”

For now, Morris will continue as a DJ for WXYC — leading her audiences on a musical exploration into the early morning.

“The goal of the radio station is to be educational,” Morris said. “It’s an educational resource.”

“But I don’t consider myself to be a teacher because I’m still learning, too.”

Contact the Arts Editor artsdesk@unc.edu.