For the past few years Statesboro’s local music scene has seen a multitude of artists come and go. From performers like Orange Constant, BiRDPERSON and Solomon’s Ghost, Statesboro has been the home of many up and coming musicians.

While Statesboro may offer opportunities for these artists to practice and perform their craft, many still find it difficult to launch their work to a wider audience, and promote themselves to the public, which is where The Radio Buzz Project comes in.

Origins of the Project

Brought to life by senior multimedia journalism major, Les McFadden and junior public health major, Drake Battle, The Radio Buzz Project is a weekly show broadcast on WVGS 91.9 where McFadden and Battle host and interview musicians from Statesboro and other areas of the country.

Past guests have included local hip hop artist CWiLLtooiLL, South Carolinian band Atlas Road Crew and The Districts. McFadden believes the project can serve as a means for artists to get more in touch with their fans and listeners

“[The Radio Buzz Project] was built with the intent of being the bridge of communication between artists and fans,” McFadden said. “So we built a platform via Facebook, radio and Instagram, and more recently, Twitter.”

Another major motivation for the project was McFadden’s desire to gain experience in his field, and become more competitive in the job hunt after graduation.

“Just because you graduated with a four-year [degree] in journalism doesn’t mean much,” McFadden said. “I wanted to stay ahead of the curve, and outthink the competition, when on the market for a job.”

When setting out to start this project, McFadden immediately reached out to Battle, his long time friend, for aid and although the project wasn’t closely related to his field of study, Battle was still ready to help get the project off the ground.

“I’m actually a public health major,” Battle said. “[McFadden] is probably my closest friend, and he came to me and told me what he wanted to do for the show, and I was down for it, I’m all about networking and positivity.”

Getting started

Despite encountering some problems and struggles along the way, both McFadden and Battle cited their passion for music as the motivation to keep trying.

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“Music has been played throughout all of my life in the background, it’s just [I’ve come] to an age where I started listen to it, oppose to just letting it play in the background and I just wanted that to be a part of my life and profession,” McFadden said.

Battle also expressed a deep appreciation for music as well.

McFadden cited the music scene in Athens as one of the inspirations for the project as well.

“This summer I moved to Athens due to their exuberance and culture in music, and I knew it would be a great opportunity, and we were able to land a lot of our interviews there,” McFadden said.

While the show has found its legs in recent weeks, McFadden and Battle noted that they encountered plenty of issues in the early stages of the project.

“Typically when reaching out to a more established band, it’s hard to deal with rejection,” McFadden said. “Rejection is a struggle, and sometimes getting everyone on the team on the same page. But to balance it out, it does teach us about leadership.”

McFadden and Battle talked about how their team has dwindled over time, which has also been a source of frustration. While some went on to pursue other endeavors, McFadden also mentioned that he works better on smaller teams.

Looking Forward

scene here and Statesboro and continuing to provide a link between artists and the public.

McFadden hopes that by growing a larger fanbase, he and Battle will be able to learn about and reach out to even more artists and musicians, and hopefully broaden their audience’s music tastes.

When asked how students can get involved with the project and help, McFadden and Battle stated that the best way is for students to follow them on social media, and contact them with any artists they believe would be good guests on the show.

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McFadden and Battle also expressed their excitement over possible advertising partnerships in the future, including one with the Alcohol and Drug Council of Bulloch County.

“We try to keep our show progressive,” Battle said. “We like to address social issues and use music as a medium. We’re going to set up a medium where anything they have going on that they want to get out to the public, we can help them out on social media. They had a TIPS training course last semester and we really helped them out with that.”

The Radio Buzz Project airs every Friday from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on WVGS 91.9, and is also broadcast on Facebook Live, via their Facebook page. You can also find them on Instagram (theradiobuzzproject) and Twitter.