Dylan Peterson writesCHIRP Radio Features Director Dylan Peterson on What Makes CHIRP Go

Chicagoans are notoriously proud of their hard work ethic, so a volunteer-run community radio station like CHIRP has pretty much always been inevitable. What makes CHIRP run is a bunch of self-motivated lovers of A) music and B) Chicago. Sure we live in different neighborhoods, have different tastes and personalities, but when it comes right down to it we are a collection of people that want the best for their city when it comes to music, and we're willing to put in the work for it.

In the department I run at CHIRP, Features, we're eager to interview bands not merely because of a sense of journalistic duty, but because we sincerely want to talk to the artists who are creating the art that moves us on a personal level. We're enthusiastic, and it shows. When one of our interviewers has a podcast posted on the CHIRP website, Soundcloud, or on iTunes, that interviewer shares the link on their twitter and Facebook with exclamation points, joyously tagging the radio station that made their conversation possible.

When Katie Owens interviewed The Orwells, when Alli Klein interviewed The Lawrence Arms, when Alex Dziura interviewed Metronomy, when Cher Vincent interviewed Majical Cloudz, when Blake Burkhart interviewed ...Trail of Dead, and when I interviewed The Growlers (listen this Wednesday night at 8:45 for that one), you can hear it in our voices. We love music, and we love talking music. Especially when we're talking about it with the musicians themselves.

My proudest moment as a CHIRP volunteer (so far) came this year when CHIRP won runner-up for Best Local Music Podcast in the Chicago Reader's annual Best Of Chicago reader's poll. For me, this was a special sort of affirmation. It proved that the work I do with CHIRP does not go unappreciated, and that I really do have a community of people around me that cares as much as I do about Chicago's music scene. Chicago will always be my home, but not simply because it's the place where I grew up. Chicago is where my music community is at, and I never feel more at home than when I'm listening to a good song. And I've never felt this more than during my time with the Chicago Independent Radio Project.

Live. Local. Independent. And always eclectic. Support CHIRP Radio with your tax-deductible contribution!