KMBR, Marlborough’s new radio station founded by Kendra ’20 Fiona ’20, began broadcasting at the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year. KMBR broadcasts four days each week from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., with a show hosted by a different person every hour, and the station can be found at http://www.kmbrradio.com. Hosts of the show can either talk for their allotted hour of radio, connect the station to their music streaming service and play music, or both.

Kendra thought a radio station would benefit Marlborough because she wanted a place where everyone could share their ideas.

“It started from the fact that, somehow, Fiona and I are able to talk for hours on end. We wanted a place where we, along with other Marlborough students, could talk and share music,” Kendra said.

Any Marlborough student can join KMBR and apply to host a show. The time commitment is one hour a week after school, and members of the club have the freedom to talk about any topic of their choice while broadcasting. Julia ’20, a member of KMBR, decided to join the club to broadcast and share her love of music.

“I’m really into and interested in music, so the club seemed right up my alley. I think it’s really cool to have the opportunity to show music I like to whoever is listening, and I also have the freedom to play and talk about whatever I want when broadcasting,”
Julia said.

Minnie ’22, host of the show “An Hour of Slightly Pretentious Music,” said she enjoys the station because it gives her the opportunity to expand her music taste.

“I get to make playlists for the show, so I can discover more music for myself and look at different genres. Broadcasting is a really easy thing to do –– you only need to press a button –– but it makes you feel very productive and is a very fun thing to do,” Minnie said.

Though KMBR hopes for more listeners, the station has a few dedicated fans. Sophie ’19 started listening to KMBR after she found out that one of her friends hosts a show.

“I really enjoy listening to the station because I don’t think there are many other opportunities to listen to friends’ music taste without other people influencing it, and it’s nice to hear music that I usually wouldn’t listen to,” Sophie said.

Fiona said she hopes more people will listen to KMBR because she believes there is a station that will appeal to everyone.

“We have such a nice variety of shows: we have musical theater shows, talk shows and all different genres of music,” Fiona said. “I really think that there is something for everyone to enjoy.”

KMBR currently has 10 weekly shows. Kendra and Fiona encourage anyone who has an interest in music or broadcasting to contact the club leaders to apply for a show.