We Top Your Taco ...

New Programming


This site is designed to describe KCPR and how they are restructuring their organization to provide San Luis Obispo with a top-tier radio station.


Cal Poly’s student-run radio station, KCPR, has been making changes lately. Since Fall of 2014 they have adopted more styles of programming. KCPR only ever played music for it’s Central Coast audiences, but now they also provide several talk shows featuring many of their student DJs. One of these shows is called “Guitar Talk.” The show features hosts Connor McQueen and David Garges along with a weekly guest. David Garges is a second year Cal Poly student pursuing his Master’s Degree in electrical engineering. He has been playing the guitar for four years. “I started playing guitar because it isn’t boring. I used to play the clarinet,” Garges said. “‘Guitar Talk’ is all about guitars. We talk about bands, performing, crowds, money and the girls.” Connor McQueen is a local guitarist whose influences include Led Zeppelin and Joe Walsh. He has been hosting Guitar Talk since the beginning of 2015. “The show is really unorganized,” McQueen said. “We’re just two guitarists who love music and go in every week to talk about it. We never really plan it out.” McQueen wants the show to be improvised because he says that’s how guitarists usually function. “We just like to wing it,” he said. “Guitar Talk” is on every Monday from 6PM to 7PM. The January 26 show featured, from left to right, McQueen, local musician Matt Suarez and Garges. The show included some music but mostly covered topics like music festivals, different styles of Jazz and becoming famous on YouTube. Suarez is a local singer/songwriter who plays at bars, including Creekside Brewery and Frog and Peach Pub, almost every week. He has been on KCPR twice before to perform but this was his first full-length interview. “I thought being on a talk show was really fun. It went much more smoothly than I thought it would.”

The Vision


KCPR is trying harder to connect with Cal Poly students and the Central Coast community by diversifying its programming. KCPR now includes talk programs that both entertain and inform its audience. The radio station is also putting more emphasis on providing educational opportunities to its student DJs.



The Station


KCPR is located on the third floor of California Polytechnic University's Graphic Arts building. The station is no bigger than a classroom but has a DJ booth, a production room, a lounge and an office. KCPR is filled with artifacts from days past that help DJs and visitors understand the culture they are in.