Coog Radio broadcasts live from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. from campus everyday. The radio station was recognized for its website and original mixtapes. | Courtesy of Nine Nguyen/The Daily Cougar
Fans, students and good music were all present for Coog Radio’s first anniversary celebration Thursday evening at Mango’s music café.
The University’s student-operated online radio station welcomed more than 100 people to the venue and organized a set list that included various local and non-local performers to entertain the crowd for the night.
The set list featured a two-member female band from Austin and a local classic-blues-rock infused band. Josiah Gabriel, The Roosevelt House Band, FLCON FCKER, Agent Ribbons and The Beans were dubbed as the 2012 “Houston Press” Music Award winners
Director of Music Alex Segura, Director of Public Relations and Marketing Joyce Lin and disc jockey Giovanni Guillen were all smiles Thursday and proud to talk about Coog Radio’s performance throughout the past year.
A year’s worth of work and long hours put in by the station’s staff paid off when its website, coogradio.com, was named “Best Music Blog” by the “Houston Press” in June.
“We’ve had two pretty successful music compilations that we produced on our blog, which is part of the reason we won the award,” Segura said.
UH alumnus Christian Puente was there to support the radio station and expressed his excitement for the night.
“I’m so stoked to be here. I drove all the way from Austin to catch this tonight,” he said.
The staff explained that the station’s devoted listeners and social media presence continues to make Coog Radio a successful destination for music lovers everywhere.
“We actually have a lot of international attention. Our use of social media — utilizing Facebook, Twitter, Reddit got us a lot of listeners,” Segura said.
The staff acknowledged its international following, but is ambitious to capture many more ears in 2013.
“2013 — the year of Coog Radio. We have many plans in the works for next year,” Segura said.
The plans include live broadcasting play-by-plays of athletic games, collaborating with the Student Video Network and getting into music journalism.
“Were going to get physical with the station,” Guillen said. “A lot of the publications in Houston focus on specific scenes and genres. We don’t hide from our diversity. We like music in different languages. Music with genres that shouldn’t mix, but they do. If you look at anybody’s iPod it doesn’t just have rap, it has everything.”
