Indie 103.1 = Done

Los Angeles radio station Indie 103.1 went to static this morning at 10:00 am. They’re going to keep broadcasting online, according to their website, but they’re on the FM dial no longer.

It’s a sad day. Although I had listened to Indie 103.1 less and less in the last year, the little band I’m in had been on their live shows many times.

It was always an incredibly fun, friendly, and exciting experience. Mark Sovel (aka Mr. Shovel) let us guest host for his “Check 1, 2″ show one weekend. (Hopefully that didn’t contribute to their folding, but I imagine it couldn’t have helped.)

We’re by no means a national act, and Indie 103 always extended a warm and welcome hand to us, allowing us to headline one of their summer shows at the Hammer Museum. It was one of the best shows we’ve ever played, in large part due to Indie’s tenacity and talent for bringing out crowds and turning people on to the local music scene.

As printed media struggles to compete with online outlets, so too has radio. I often listen to commercial free, customizable Pandora internet radio in my car via my iPhone, so it makes sense that a self-proclaimed “indie” station wouldn’t be able to stay afloat. Services like Last.fm and MySpace stream music anytime, anywhere, with no pitches for matresses and car dealerships interrupting the experience. Satellite radio offers the same for a premium, with more channels and higher quality.

But the real shame in losing an FM indie-rock outlet is that the “stumble-upon” effect loses another champion. Although “indie” music has merged with the mainstream, and people are just as likely to know about the Shins, Modest Mouse or Arcade Fire as they are to recognize more pop-centric bands, there are still approximately 50 billion unheard, unsigned, and truly talented musicians out there who are rarely broadcast anywhere but MySpace.

And while blogs do their best to trumpet the latest, greatest and coolest new bands, there’s something to be said for driving on the freeway late at night and hearing a completely unexpected and undiscovered song come on. It takes you by surprise, and it comes without qualifiers and the cultural weight of a blogger’s voice attached.

Let’s not forget the dedicated employees of the station. I know many of them, and they worked extremely hard to make Indie a success of taste and attitude. According to a close friend, many (if not all) of the employees at Indie 103 had no idea they were going off air until this morning. That’s a difficult and painful pill to swallow on a Wednesday morning. They said their on-air farewells, and turned on Sinatra’s “My Way” before turning off the mics.

As the economy continues to founder, we’ll continue to lose luxuries like Indie 103.1 FM. The good news is that the music is still out there, even if it’s a bit harder to discover. So go support your local music scene, and see what they have to offer. You might hear less of it on the radio, but it’s still there for the listening.

Stuff to Listen to in LA:

Indie Online
Little Radio
KCRW 89.9 FM
KXLU 88.9 FM