Face it: CORPORATE RADIO SUCKS! Companies like Clear Channel and Cox are allowed to own several radio stations per market area, which translates to no competition and nothing unique. Everyday, listeners are subjected to the same songs, by the same artists, no matter what station they tune into. The voices on the radio aren't even disc jockeys anymore; they're "On Air Personalities." They don't play any of the music. It's all programmed into a computer and the play list is pre-determined by program directors and other corporate schmucks that probably wouldn't know a fresh and innovative artist if one sat on their faces and wiggled.
However, there is hope.

chris from totalpunkradio.com

Thanks to Al Gore and his little invention, the Internet, anyone can be a disc jockey or a program director and run their own radio station online. With broadband access so readily available, people can broadcast and listen to these audio-streams at near CD-quality. Rather than broadcast over radio waves, which require powerful transmitters, deep pockets and FCC licensing, the audio is streamed over the Internet digitally. That allows for global transmission of whatever suits the broadcaster. The possibilities are endless. There are hundreds of stations to choose from all over the world. Total Punk Radio is an online station based in Phoenix, Arizona. They boast a playlist of nearly 30,000 songs - all punk. There's no Staind. No Britney. No Creed. And best of all, no DJs telling the listeners to come to New Deal Used Cars to get a free bumper sticker. In terms of the music library, it is the largest online punk station in the world. The station's Web page also features a very active message board, where punks from all over the world congregate to discuss music, life and whatever else anyone else wants to discuss. The site is so organized it even has its own mafia. Chris Lawson is the mastermind behind Total Punk Radio.

TooSquare: How long have you been running an online radio station/audio stream?

Chris: I've run Total Punk Radio for about three years now. When I first started out, I was calling it Radio Ground Zero. I changed it about a year ago to better reflect what the site is all about.

TooSquare: Who actually plays the songs? Do you have somebody feeding
songs into WinAmp constantly?

Chris: The play-list is totally automated. I designed a play-list database that feeds the songs to WinAmp. If there are no requests in the que, the database picks and plays songs randomly. The database usually has tons of requests all throughout the day and those get play first, in the order they're received.

TooSquare: Do you have commercials?

Chris: The closest things to commercials that we play are station IDs. These are the standard "you're listening to total punk radio" type thing. I usually bring my MiniDisc (recorder) to shows and get members of bands to say a few words. Mikey from Boney Fiend even put together a few funny ones for us. The station IDs get played once about ever 20 minutes.

TooSquare: Who listens to Total Punk Radio?

Chris: We have listeners from all over the world. Here's a short list of some of the locations: South Korea, China, Brazil, Columbia, South Africa and Russia. Basically, we've reached every continent but Antarctica.

TooSquare: Will you play music from unsigned bands?

Chris: Absolutely! We probably receive two to three new CDs a week from unsigned bands (who) want to get added to our library. Unsigned bands are the best! It's so awesome to get a cool CD from a band you've never heard of. And they're always so thankful when we put 'em online. We're here for them. They're doing us a favor.

TooSquare: Punk is such a generic term today. What do you consider punk?

Chris: To be honest, I stopped trying to fit things into a punk category years ago. I'm 31 years old and I sure as hell don't give a fuck if some 15-year-old with a green mohawk thinks he's more punk than I am. Seeing Britney Spears in an "I Heart Punk" shirt ... now that's punk! Shoot me now, please!

TooSquare: Green Day has some acoustic ballads on their album Nimrod. Is that punk? Do you play it?

Chris: I'm certainly not an authority on dictating what's "punk." I've never been a Green Day fan, either. Back in the day they were one of those "new poppy groups" that sucked. I guess they can be equated to a New Found Glory today. I wasn't interested then and I'm still not today. We don't play them.

TooSquare: New Found Glory, Saves The Day and Blink 182 are all about to die in a plane crash. You only have enough parachutes to save one band. Which band do you save and why?

Chris: Considering I'm not a fan of any of these bands, I'd do myself a favor and let 'em all die.

TooSquare: We all know the big names in punk, like Rancid, NOFX, Less Than Jake, etc. Is there anybody that is going to be big that the rest of us haven't heard yet?

Chris: There are so many great bands out there today but I wouldn't wish "big names in punk" on any of them. I'd much rather go see a small show where maybe 50 people show up than go to one with thousands. Here's (some) bands that I hope will stay small: Pistol Grip, the Bodies, Beltones, The Wretched Ones, Beerzone, and the list goes on and on and on.

TooSquare: Who do you consider to be your competition?

Chris: I don't really view any other punk sites as competition. I'm not trying to compete with any other sites. If there are other radio sites out there that play punk I say good for them! Keep PUNK Alive!

TooSquare: If anyone else wanted to start something like TRP, what would they need?

Chris: A lot of dedication! It's almost like a second full time job. There are a number of tools online for running your own stream. Do a Google.com search on "streaming audio."

TooSquare: Who is the TPR Mafia? Are you the Godfather?

Chris: The TPR Mafia is a group of guys on the message board we run on the site. They're always quick to "whack" someone for getting out of line. There's Balls, BiBS, JohnnyTwoEyes, Snotty, Alchy, Flaco, LittleJimmy and a few others. If you mention Blink182, Green Day, New Found Glory or any other shitty band, they won't think twice about sending you to swim with the fishes.

TooSquare: When I saw Agent Orange at the Brass Mug in Tampa back in
March, I found a Total Punk Radio sticker on my car. How do you explain that?

Chris: That's an easy one. I put it there. I have a huge box of TPR stickers and I usually have a small stack with me wherever I go. If I see a cool place that's devoid of a sticker, you can bet that I'm gonna put one up. They're all over the place here in Phoenix. Bars, fast food drive throughs, cars, libraries, buses, dogs, you name it!

TooSquare: So how often are you planning to advertise in TooSquare, and
when will you be paying?

Chris: As soon as I receive fully nude 8x10s of Eva Dark, TooSquare will get my order and payment. Total Punk Radio can be found online at www.TotalPunkRadio.com.

Other online stations can found at www.live365.com. Bands can send their CDs to: TOTAL PUNK RADIO, P.O. Box 64862, Phoenix, AZ, 85082-4862. Online radio is the future of music. It can introduce listeners to different bands and different styles of music that corporate radio stations won't touch. Virtually unknown bands can be discovered on a global level without having to get corporate sponsorship or major record label support. This is the dawning of a new medium, and the corporations will eventually find their way in. However, with people like Chris Lawson and Total Punk Radio out there, listeners will always have an alternative.