Maybe you get all of your music from Pandora or your iTunes library. Maybe you don’t because you get your music from BLUJ Radio.

Creighton’s very own radio station re-launched for its second year last week. The station was started last year by John Brennan and Dave Fuxa. Fuxa graduated in the spring, but Brennan, an Arts & Sciences senior will be overseeing the station as president this year.

It has been a long time coming for BLUJ Radio. A project that started more than three years ago as just an idea Brennan had when he was home for Christmas break has turned into the station finally getting their own window cling like IRHG’s in Swanson Hall – something the group is very excited about.

“After freshman year, I went home and found out all my friends had gotten jobs as DJs at their campuses and thought ‘Creighton is big enough to have their own radio station,’ so I talked with CSU (Creighton Students Union) to make some head way and it sounded like the demand was there, so I went for it,”

Brennan said.

Last year, BLUJ Radio had a soft opening in the fall where tech issues were rampant, but finally got a solid signal in the winter thanks in large part to Ryan Cameron, the executive director of DoIT and BLUJ Radio’s mentor.

Cameron described himself as a terrible student, but someone who loved to talk. Cameron was cool and collected as he sat back in his chair regaling me with stories about how he broke into the radio and television business and how he eventually ended up at Creighton. It was obvious sitting in his office in Lower Reinert that the man was comfortable with a microphone in front of him.

He found out about the project last year by accident during a speech given by Fuxa at a prospective student day. Fuxa was talking about the Creighton experience and what it means to go to school at Creighton and mentioned off-handedly that he was starting a radio station on campus along with another student.

This peaked Cameron’s interest. His background was college radio.

“I started out doing college radio, then after graduation I worked at a rock ‘n’ roll radio station in Colorado where I grew up, then television for a while before I got into technology,” Cameron said. “I have a real soft spot for college radio and was real excited when I found out we had it here at Creighton.”

While Cameron and Fuxa were waiting for lunch at this event last year, Cameron offered Fuxa any sort of help he could with the station.

“Maybe we can find you some equipment or something,” Cameron told Fuxa.

The trio of Cameron, Brennan and Fuxa searched high and low for anything that could help them make this dream a reality.

“We went through broom closets and saw what kind of old equipment we had that wasn’t being utilized trying to spruce up the studio,” Cameron said. “We got a sound board, some speakers and monitors.”

When Fuxa and Brennan asked Cameron to join them as their faculty mentor, Cameron was very excited and immediately said yes. Like any faculty mentor, he knew that this would be a lot of work, but over time, he knew they would get there. However, that could not have been further from the reality.

“I walked into the studio and it was set up, programming was organized on the wall and they had a set schedule of what shows were going to play when and what content they were going to cover, and they had I think a dozen DJs already committed to the program, they had advertising deals set up.  I just walked in and said, ‘you guys did all of this alone?’” Cameron said smiling clearly recalling the memory. “I mean, how could you not want to help a group like that, so I jumped at the opportunity.  It’s my privilege really.”

One of the DJ duos Cameron would have seen on the wall last year in their studio in Swanson Hall was Brennan and his roommate Dominic D’Costa. They had their own show on Tuesday nights.

“We just play music we like and talk about who is coming to Omaha to the Slowdown or The Waiting Room,” Brennan explained.

The musical tastes of the DJs are as varied as Brennan’s own tastes in music.

Adam Kinsinger, a College of Business junior and executive vice president of BLUJ Radio, joined the station thinking it would a cool way to express himself.

“I tried to stick to one genre of music, but I couldn’t.  I’m a guy of all tastes, except country,” Kinsinger said most assuredly as he sat in front of the soda machines in the Library Commons.  “I’m just not a country person, but everything else goes.  I’m a big Childish Gambino and Bastille fan.”

Brennan admitted he himself is a “weird case” with musical tastes that range from folk alternative and artists like Fleet Foxes to old school hip-hop and artists like Wu-Tang Clan and NWA.”

“We don’t want to limit the DJs,” Brennan emphasized.  “I think that’s important with campus radio— the diversity of each DJ.”

Other students around campus are starting to take notice too.  The station currently receives 250 listening hours each week. Kinsinger even had his very own Creighton famous moment last year.

“I was walking down the mall and some girl who I had never met before asked, ‘Are you Adam Kinsinger?’ I said yeah, and she said ‘I totally listened to your DJ show the other day and absolutely loved it.’”

But Brennan wasn’t just content with having a radio station. He is still trying to grow the station. The biggest goal this year for the station is to increase its campus reach. They are currently working with CSU on passing legislation making BLUJ Radio the default station played in the Skutt Student Center and the Kiewit Fitness Center.

Like any good radio station, there will be giveaways on BLUJ Radio this year.

“We just entered a partnership with the Slowdown,” Brennan said. “We get to give away four free tickets each month to shows at

“the Slowdown.”

There have also been some changes to the website. A new feature called “Professor Playlists” has given students a window into the musical musings of their professors.

“Dr. Mark Reedy had the best playlist,” Brennan said without hesitation.

I could tell Brennan was still clearly thinking about his swift endorsement of Reedy as if he had to validate the choice.

“Early 90s rock,” Brennan said quickly, just as I was about to ask him what kind of music Reedy’s playlist consisted of. “It’s fun to think of him listening to that music.”

BLUJ Radio will have its live broadcast each week Sunday through Thursday from 6p.m. to 12p.m., but Brennan and Cameron are working to expand the station’s reach outside this window into Friday and Saturday nights.

“One of our goals this year is to find some money to get a mobile DJ setup,” Cameron said.

Brennan added, “We are trying to get into the date party scene. I want to be cheaper than other DJs.”

Brennan is currently fundraising for their own DJ setup, mixers, lights and amps.  The next step he confirmed will be talking to Greek Life.