Spring semester is quickly approaching a short summer off for many students. But for some, this summer is a little different. This changing of seasons brings with a change of scenery, occupation, and a new stage of life. Such is the way for this year’s batch of graduates. As we quickly approach the end of an era, I sat down to interview WEGL’s fearless leader, Grayson Moyer. Grayson’s departure is emblematic of more than just a changing of semesters at Auburn, but of a changing of guard within the WEGL organization. Grayson has seen many station managers, and for many of us he is the only station manager we have served under. As we approach a time of new era of WEGL, I had the pleasure of sitting down and getting to know our current leader, Grayson Moyer. Currently serving as station manager, Grayson has seen his fair share of changes throughout his four years at WEGL. As a Computer Science major and audio engineer, Grayson has held down the front lines of WEGL’s technical department, as well as providing entertainment as News Director and producing his own shows. So read along as Grayson and I talk future plans, Christmas albums, and sad tunes.
What shows have you run with WEGL?
“I used to run a talk show called “Are We Doing This Right?” with my co-host Ezra Mill. The elevator pitch for that is we would tell interesting stories about boring things. So, we would try to pick stuff that you wouldn’t expect to be interested in, and then talk about that for an hour. It worked out pretty well, we stopped around COVID, and our schedules changed. I also used to run a music show, that was “Sad Boy Hours” that was from 12 – 1 AM on Sundays. That was right when it [COVID] all came down, so I only got through 4 or 5 episodes. As far as staff, I started out as the News Director in 2019, which at the time was a fancy title, I would produce podcasts for external clients like The Plainsman and Student Veteran’s Association. From there I moved up to being Chief Engineer, and from there Station Manager.”
You ran “Sad Boy Hours”, what’s the go to sad song?
"Part of the deal with 'Sad Boy Hours' what that not all of the songs were explicitly sad, they were just songs that I listen to when I’m feeling bad. So, I also just like them as playlists. Not to toot my own horn, but I liked how they were put together. Go to sad song, 'Them Changes' by Thundercat. I think that’s more of a vibe, than it being explicitly sad. That or 'Sparks' by Coldplay."
Do you have any favorite musicians or artists?
"Musicians, I have a bunch. I think the one that I always keep coming back to since I was a kid is Ben Folds and Ben Folds Five. Which is like piano rock would be the best way to describe it. They Might Be Giants, another big one that I’ve always come back to. And then I could think of probably thirty others. But those are the ones I’ve been stuck on for years and years at this point.":
What is your favorite part of being in WEGL?
"It's kind of twofold. I think first and foremost I love the community and the people that I get to work with. Its meeting all the DJs working with my staff and just the people that have become my closest friends over the years. And that is only been possible through WEGL. But just from a bare bones work perspective, its just all the stuff hat it’s given me access to. The great thing about WEGL is that, at the end of the day, its college radio. So, if you screw up or you don’t do a good job mixing a session or anything like that, its college radio man let it fly it’ll be fine nobody’s losing any money or sleep over the quality of work were putting out here. And because of that attitude that’s like, ‘Hey everybody’s learning its ok to be pretty mediocre at this’, it’s allowed me to learn a lot faster and it’s gotten me access to my TV job where I’ve been able to move so much faster and even like my engineering internship over the summer was primarily because of stuff that I picked up at WEGL and picked up at that tv job. Its an environment where failure and mediocrity is somewhat ok and in a weird way that helps you learn and grow faster than in a lot of environments can let you."
What is your funniest memory with WEGL?
"There are a lot. I think the one that always sticks out the most is the mythical WEGL Christmas album. We were all sort of delirious, this was two years ago when I was just the News Director, but I was the one around who new how to operate audition on the computer. It was exam week; we were all kind of losing it. I was at a low point… just sitting down with my friends, forgetting that for a few hours, and recording a stupid Christmas album kind of made that go away, and sort of engrained me in WEGL a lot more. Like ‘ok this is what I wanna do, this is where I wanna spend my time, these are the people that I want to spend it with.’"
What is the coolest opportunity you’ve gotten from WEGL?
"I’d definitely say its my TV job. I work at War Eagle Productions. Basically, if you watch any Auburn sport if its on ESPN or ESPN+, if its not football or basketball games, it was produced by us. I’m an audio engineer there, I also do some video stuff. The only reason I was able to get that job was because I was able to walk into that interview and confidently speak about audio. And also just speak about being an engineer, and the process of that, and that’s because of WEGL. I would have never even known that place existed because of WEGL. I only knew to apply because our old Sports Director Jared also worked, and occasionally still works there. That was a path I never would have gone down if it weren’t for WEGL and the stuff I’ve learned here. It [WEGL] has completely changed what I thought I was gonna do in college by a really wide margin."
When did you first hear about WEGL and decide you wanted to join?
"I actually first heard about it before Camp War Eagle. My sister went here before me, and she told me about the radio station. I’d never expressed interest about it but she expressed interest in it, she was a campus tour guide. So id known of it, my old co-host Ezra, he and I were both big talk radio podcast listeners. And we had this running joke where wed kick around bad podcast ideas and wed see who could come up with the most entertainingly bad idea for a podcast. And then we got to college, and he went to the first WEGL meeting, I didn’t because I wasn’t that interested on pursuing this. I kind of had my eyes dead set on band, and marching and all that. And he was like ‘hey man its really easy to get on the air if you wanna follow one of these through.’ And one of our ideas was 'Are We Doing This Right', which was interesting stories about boring things. From there I started going to the meetings, and I got more involved in the production of the show, and I wanted to edit it and make new intros every week. That’s where I first learned to do the audio editing and it kind of snowballed from there."
What are your plans for after graduation?
"I have at least a summer off. I have a software engineering job up in Nashville at a consulting company. Which, don’t get me wrong, is a great job and I’m very lucky to have that opportunity and I’ve had to since august. It’s made my life a lot easier this past year. That being said, my goal is to stay in broadcast. I’ve been working in radio and tv for four years. I have never felt the sense of satisfaction that I’ve had at the end of every show in a normal engineering desk job. And it doesn’t compare to this, especially the tv side. I never left a shift at the tv station feeling drained, or bad. You may be physically tired, but you will be happy with the work you’ve done, or at the very least feel the drive to get better and rectify the mistakes you’ve made. That’s something I haven’t been able to replicate in an office yet. My goal is to find a way to stay in broadcast. I don’t know if that’s in the cards right now, or immediately, but that’s what I’m gunning for."
Do you have any fun facts?
"Any fun facts? None that don’t make me seem like a weirdo. I’ve slept in a hammock the last six years. I used to sleep in one because of camping because I was a boy scout, in fact I was an eagle scout. I convinced my dad to put anchors in the wall in my room. Its like an Eno, its not a netted hammock. After while I started sleeping in it. I thought ‘I could have a lot more room in this room if I got rid of this queen bed,’ so I did. Then I came to college, and I intended to buy a bed at some point, and I never got around to it. I’ve got a hammock on a stand. Even when I moved out, I lived on my own for the first time this year. I don’t spend enough time at my apartment that that’s a priority for me."
Any final words to give to WEGL before you sign off?
"I think my big one is, do a better job than I did. I’m happy with what we’ve done this year. We’ve come a really long way, especially with recovering from COVID, and I’m so happy with how this station has grown. There is still so much work to do. So, take what we’ve done this year, take what we’ve succeeded at, especially what we’ve failed at, really evaluate that. And that should point you moving forward. I want to see this place do so much better than I’ve been able to help it do, and I wanna see where y’all are at after that."
