For many, North Central’s own radio station, WONC, is the stepping stone toward a career in broadcasting or the broader realm of entertainment production. For second-year student Brandon Herman, however, it is not his first foray into the world of broadcasting. He is the host of “The Herman Show,” a radio show that he began in 2013 at Lyons Township High School in LaGrange, Ill.
Although you wouldn’t know it talking to him now, Herman started out like many others auditioning for radio: nervous. He wanted to begin a talk show at Lyons Township High School’s radio station, FM 88.1 WLTL, but first, he had to audition. He humorously referred to it as “an absolute horrendous failure.” Thankfully, he made a comeback. He took a summer class with the radio club, and at the beginning of his sophomore year, The Herman Show was born.
Photo courtesy of Brandon Herman
What started as a simple talk show turned into something more when Herman began to reach out to bands in the Chicagoland area for interviews.
“I started to realize… Chicago has a lot of artists and bands centered here… and a lot of that goes back to the ’60s,” he said. Herman looked into the garage rock band culture of the ’60s and saw a chance to spotlight these artists through his show. From there, the floodgates opened and Herman went on to animate no shortage of musicians throughout his remaining years at WLTL.
This didn’t escape the notice of big names in Chicago’s broadcasting community. Herman was featured on Steve Dahl’s Dahlcast, the Matt Dahl and Brendan Greely podcast, the Bill Leff and Wendy Snyder show, the Gary Meier show and the WBNR Brandmeier Nation podcast.
Now in his second year at North Central, Herman continues to interview and promote musicians from all walks of life. “I want to do what I can… helping to promote live music and helping to promote these people’s careers,” he said.
With the landscape of media constantly shifting, it is often pondered as to what radio’s future might be. Herman said, “I would have loved to have seen radio in the ’60s, the ’70s and the ’80s… there was a lot more room for personality.”
Herman is unsure of the future of radio and criticizes the industry’s lack of personality. “If you want to listen to people talk, you go to AM radio,” he said. Nowadays, the big radio personalities are doing podcasts but Herman said “there is no telling where (radio) is gonna go… it’s very interesting to see what’s going to happen.”
You can check out The Herman Show with Brandon Herman on Thursday nights from 8-10 p.m. on WONC FM 89.1.
