PART ONE: MONDAY’S ENCOUNTER AND ASIAN SOUNDS
As we near the golden 50th anniversary of CKCU FM next year, we want to celebrate familial ties at the station, highlighting the bond between families and community. Over the past month, I had the pleasure and privilege of speaking with four families contributing to CKCU. Boba and Mihajlo from Monday’s Encounter, the Asian Sounds quartet, as well as the Hunter and Walker families. Each of the families offer a unique approach in their broadcasting to CKCU’s audiences, be it through cultural and communal awareness, or by shining light on artists and creative minds that make up Ottawa’s music melting pot and other less mainstream scenes.
With a lot of ground to cover, this article will be presented in two parts, the first focusing on the shows that are centered around distinct cultural communities. Monday’s Encounter and Asian Sounds dive into the Serbian and the Indian subcontinent communities. The second part of the article, that will follow shortly, will cover the music-driven shows of the Hunter and Walker families.
Boba and her son, Mihajlo, seek to showcase their Serbian heritage with their program Monday’s Encounter. It allows them to express themselves and share their culture with the citizens of the greater Ottawa area. Boba, a former teacher, launched Monday’s Encounter in 2002 on CKCU’s airwaves. It began out of a passion to showcase the beauty of Serbia after being vilified by mainstream media, who had blamed the war and atrocities in Yugoslavia on the Serbian peoples. Mihajlo, a former Carleton student, joined her initially as a co-host, helping to take some of the pressure off that came with running the show solo. Having moved to Ottawa at a young age, Mihajlo found that the program provided him with the ability to expand his knowledge about his Serbian culture and connect with the diaspora within Ottawa.
In addition to Mihajlo, Boba’s daughter Ivana (also known as Chef Iva-B) occasionally joins the program to share her experiences with Serbian cooking. She has used the program to tie in more contemporary media with Serbian cuisine, such as the adoption of a Serbian dessert called tufahije from the popular video game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
A wonderful unification of Serbian cultural, music, and current events from Boba, Mihajlo, and Ivana make Monday’s Encounter a refreshing and educational program to tune in to. With 22 years under their belts, the show has, and continues to, maintain strong ties with longtime CKCU personnel such as Lindsay Morrison, Dylan Hunter, and Dave Aardvark; who welcomed them with open arms and supported Boba and Mihajlo’s creative endeavors akin to their own family.
The Asian Sounds team is rounded out by a family of Carleton alumni. Working alongside Suraj Harish and David Liebold, the predominantly family team bring Ottawa the latest in music from the Indian subcontinent and topical conversations. Spearheading the operation is Jagjeet Sharma and her co-host husband, Surinder. Initially doing the show solo, a pivotal moment for the program happened when Surinder joined. He was coaxed into the studio by his wife, instead of sitting in the car waiting while she was on-air. With both parents involved in the show, the children eventually joining made it a full family affair.
Their children, Meenakshi and Tejeshwar, were introduced to radio at very early ages. Before the children understood what their parents were doing behind the mic, they sifted through records, played, and hung out at CKCU while their mom and dad hosted the show live. They have experienced the evolution of the format by which the program is delivered, from early on with 8-tracks and vinyl, to later CD’s, and online production. As they grew older, they began to join their parents, turning Asian Sounds into a family activity every Wednesday.
With the 25th anniversary of Asian Sounds approaching, the family highlighted the importance of having multiple generations at CKCU. They praised the station’s sense of multiculturalism through its embrace of traditional non-western music and the close-knit community built around it. CKCU provides a platform by which local and global talent can be showcased and creates a space for artists and creative projects to shine.
When COVID-19 struck a critical blow to communities across the country, Jagjeet and her family felt the effects of a lost sense of community as the show had to change to being pre-recorded instead of live in the studio, which they felt impacted its feel. However, the family banded together and weathered the storm, continuing to produce a program full to the brim with content and connecting with community.
Should you find yourself listening to Monday’s Encounter or Asian Sounds, you’ll be delighted to hear what these families create together and have to offer the listener and community. Monday’s Encounter airs Mondays at 6:00pm and Asian Sounds can be heard Wednesdays, also at 6:00pm.
Stay tuned for the second part of this article coming very soon, as we dive into the Hunter and Walker families, explore musical influences, and the power of music as the universal language.
– Ethan Arthorne (supported by Simon McKeown)