Meet WTJU’s New Assistant General Manager, Lewis Reining
By WTJU
We celebrate Lewis Reining, whose birthday is on December 25. Lewis started at WTJU 15 years ago as a volunteer, eventually was hired as our lead audio producer, and recently was promoted to Assistant General Manager. Lewis is also a co-host of WTJU Folk program, Silk Roads (Thursdays, 12 – 2 p.m.). Happy Birthday Lewis, we are so grateful for your leadership! Enjoy Lewis’ thoughtful responses to a series of questions, below.
Music may be the primary way we connect to one another but, fundamentally, WTJU matters because the best parts of it, the people, care about other people. That’s true of the DJs and the audience. – Lewis Reining
When did you start working at WTJU?
I started as a volunteer back in 2010; a UVA student doing rip ‘n reads where you walk into the station 10 minutes before 5pm, print off some local headlines and then read them right at 5pm. It was supposed to be a two person job, one to read, one to work the tech but often the tech person wouldn’t show up. So I taught myself how to use the board and after I was familiar, I started helping out other people and my involvement gradually deepened. By the time I graduated, this was where I wanted to be and so I did part time for a short while before becoming full-time in 2014.
What drew you to working at the station and/or how did you end up here?
I grew up listening to WAMU in DC and so it was a dream, going into college, to do public radio professionally. When I first got involved with WTJU, it was all public affairs: rip ‘n reads, Soundboard, community podcasts; local news drew me in in the early years. But our DJs’ passion and enthusiasm for music is infectious and I was slowly converted to a believer, that there are ways to help the people around you beyond journalism, though that’s also incredibly important.
What have your various titles been through the years?
For a little bit of time I was the Public Affairs director while I was still at UVA. After college, when I started at WTJU, I became a Producer and Content Director. And just recently, after 15 years with the station (technically 11 as a full-time employee), I’ve upgraded to Assistant General Manager. It’s honestly surreal.
Tell us a bit about your title and tasks at WTJU
I think the core of my work has always been on station support. So whether it was tracking down guests for a Tuesday morning Soundboard show or managing staffing for our outdoor Freefall concert series, or helping someone edit a phone interview so it can air during their next show, I’ve always tried to be where there’s a gap or a need.
I will say, one thing I didn’t expect when I first joined is how full my metaphorical toolbox would grow to be: engineering live concerts, running student summer camps, analyzing website analytics, installing door locks, doing sound effects for a live audio drama performance, setting up a video streaming rig for our live concerts, translating for a no-nonsense seal.
What have you loved about running sound during WTJU’s live shows? What are the challenges?
Both the highs and lows are centered around the fact that you’re working directly with an artist, a human being. It’s something truly special to be, not only present, but involved in helping someone share their music, to be a part of the process of recreating an art piece in real time.
On the flip side, the challenge is that you are the final arbiter for what the radio and online audience hears. What the band hears onstage is totally separate from the radio and online mix and so if you misjudge how loud the kick drum should be or whether a banjo sounds muddy, how the band is presented to the world changes.
Do you have any live shows that stand out as your favorites, either because of the music itself or because of some aspect of running the sound?
After a decade of running live sound (now in the much more capable hands of Ben Larsen), I feel like I’ll want to change my answer right after I finish writing this, when it gets published, and also when I read this later. I’ve been privileged to work with some exceptional bands over the years. But off the top of my head, there’s two instances that stand out.
The 2022 performance of John Doyle and Mick McAuley. I was just really swept up in their music and happy with how it turned out; one of those moments where it felt like I knew what I was doing and things really clicked for me. Though it helps when you’re working with world-class musicians who have decades of experience.
The other is a 2022 performance by Rushad Eggleston. Rushad is such a powerhouse, a genuine force of nature on stage. I distinctly remember rushing out to fix a camera that was in the middle of the stage, I think the focus or the angle might have shifted after setup, and I was trying to be subtle about it but Rushad saw me and came over and got really up close and personal with the camera. Naturally I have to pause what I’m doing because we have to switch to my camera. So I’m kneeling there, one hand hovering over the buttons as Rushad is a couple inches away playing his heart out. It resulted in some great shots though. And I was able to finish adjusting after he went back on stage.
What was your biggest gaffe when running sound?
I know one of the things, as a sound engineer, that I’m still trying to work on is being more inflexible when something isn’t working rather than just immediately adapting or accepting. A lot of the other aspects of my work are about exactly that: adapting and improvising solutions.
But as an engineer, I need to be more decisive in saying, “This isn’t working, let’s change it.” Rather than, “well this is pretty good” when I know it can and should sound better. Recently, I had an idea for a recording setup that I thought would result in a clear sound and clean visuals. But the actual sound wasn’t balanced and that was because of how I placed the mics and what style of mic I was using. I should have gone back to my tried and true method but I convinced myself that it was fine if we did a little tweaking.
What do you love about working at WTJU?
The thing I love most about WTJU is the people.
It’s the volunteers.
There’s nothing more energizing than someone who’s passionate about something and whose deep love is tied not to its outcomes or benefits but from the sheer experience itself. Our volunteers are some of the most passionate music lovers I’ve known and had the pleasure to work with. Their deep commitment to music, community, and WTJU (many have been here for multiple decades) is inspirational.
It’s the staff.
It’s hard to overstate my admiration and trust for everyone on staff. There’s so many hidden aspects to keeping a station not only running but thriving and with a small team, even one weak link can make the whole thing crumble. Even on the tough days, I know everyone here believes in WTJU and fights for it in all their work.
It’s the audience.
All of this only works when it reaches and resonates with people. I had the distinct privilege of hearing from a listener, during one of the early Silk Roads, that her late husband loved modern Japanese music and that she was so glad to hear it over the airwaves. With her permission, I dedicated a couple tracks in that show to him so that we all could keep his memory alive. The audience is the final piece of the puzzle that gives WTJU its identity and its meaning. And why I love it.
How long have you been a DJ at WTJU?
I’ve been a regular DJ for about a year on Silk Roads; before that I only did a couple sporadic marathon shows. Trying to do a regular show, even once a month, has really renewed my respect for all of our DJs who regularly do 2-3 hour shows each week. It’s an enormous amount of work.
Did you have any idea or desire to become a volunteer DJ when you were first hired on staff?
I’ve always loved music and I love how passionate our DJs are but I think my tastes were initially much more limited so I felt like my love of Kpop and Jpop would be a little out of place. It was actually because of WTJU that I started expanding my musical knowledge. I got really curious what kind of Korean jazz, rock, traditional, and classical was out there. As my knowledge grew, I got more confident that I could do a show that fit the WTJU ethos but was still uniquely me.
What do you love about DJing at WTJU?
I really love being able to take an idea and realize it. It’s extremely satisfying to start with a blank space and two hours and like a puzzle, slowly build something from nothing. It’s like having a million puzzle pieces and you’ve got to end up with a 100 piece image.
It’s also fun just being able to share music that I find. Very little of my music is commonly known among my friends so personally it’s also great just to be able to introduce all this music to more people.
How would you describe your process of building programming for Silk Roads?
Every show has a script and a spreadsheet. I usually have 8 blocks of time (15 min each) and a 9th slot for the finishing song.
Since Silk Roads follows Jazz & Blues (All that Jazz and Wild Women & Friends) and goes into rock (Carry the Zero), I usually try to put more acoustic, folk, classical, jazz works in the first hour and save more electric or harder genres for the second hour.
With that framework, I’ll sometimes start with a concept like all music from this year or a celebration of pride month but just as often, I’ll stumble onto something that sounds good and that’ll become a jumping off point.
I might hear a great math rock track and then I’ll try to decide if it feels like an opener, closer, or middle material for the set. There’s no hard science, it’s a very fluid and vibe-based analysis.
“Oh, this fusion track ends with a real sonic punch, it’d be great to make that the last song in the set.”
“And this hip hop piece is good but the energy is really different so let’s separate them and put hip hop first.”
And then I’ll have a gap between hip hop and fusion that I need to fill. So I’ll go hunting.
Sometimes I’ll already have a bank of songs on the side that I want to include but don’t know where they fit so I’ll revisit them. Other times, I’ll just start searching and listening and following any breadcrumbs I can find till I hear something that clicks.
The last step, after I’ve got a working playlist, is listening to the whole thing on repeat a few times before finalizing. My imagination isn’t bad but nothing compares to experiencing your playlist in real time.
What is your biggest gaffe in the studio?
I’ve so far managed to avoid accidently swearing on air or leaving the mic on. Fingers crossed my luck holds.
I think my biggest gaffe has been mispronouncing a couple band names even after practicing it 10 times.
What is a favorite moment from being in the studio?
Listener calls and chat definitely dominate most of the top moments. But I think the very top is chatting regularly with a couple on our webchat and then finally getting to meet them in person. It was great to be able to put faces to names and they also gave me a solid music recommendation.
If you could interview anyone on air, dead or alive, who would it be?
There’s a lot of people who would be interesting but if I think about an interview that I’d want to do that would really matter to me, it’d be my birth mother. I’m adopted from South Korea and I’ve never met my birth mother.
I’m curious about the life she lived/is living. And in the spirit of music, the soundtrack of her life, whether intentional choices or the hits throughout her life. I don’t think I’d need to answer any great mysteries or fill any void but I just think the chance to really sit down and listen would be meaningful.
What are your passions outside of radio?
I’m a big homebody so a lot of pc gaming and reading.
Gaming is a combination of online games (FFXIV, Black Desert Online) and more narrative-focused ones. My partner introduced me to horror games a few years back (I’d neglected them before) and that’s been a game-changer. From Voices of the Void to Alan Wake 2 to Silent Hill 2, I’ve really come to appreciate how the genre tries to immerse you and pull you into a moment.
For reading, a friend coerced me into starting on Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere books and I’m very slowly making my way through those. I’m also a xianxia addict; I read far, far too many Chinese and Korean light novels about fantastical martial arts where characters are casually hurtling planets at once another and crossing distances the length of our solar system in a single step.
Why does WTJU matter?
Recently, one of our DJs played a song lamenting the holiday season for the difficult emotions it brings. Afterward, they gently reminded those of us listening that this time of year can be really challenging for a lot of people and to be gentle with those around us.
There was nothing they were trying to sell.
They hadn’t played that artist because they were paid to or because they were popular.
But it stuck with me.
The string of words they used wasn’t particularly profound or movingly poetic. Any machine or AI could have created the same sentence.
But it took a person to create the sentiment. To pair the music with the reminder wasn’t uniquely human, but the emotion and the weight were. You could feel the intentionality and thought, the lived experience giving rise to advice, that turned a couple ordinary words into ones that left a lasting impression. And to pair it with meaningful music was simply quintessential WTJU.
Music may be the primary way we connect to one another but, fundamentally, WTJU matters because the best parts of it, the people, care about other people. That’s true of the DJs and the audience.
This whole thing only works because we all share a desire for earnest human expression and connection. And so long as that’s true, WTJU matters.
