By Julianne Homokay
Special to the Alpine Mountaineer
If you’re like me, the only disappointing thing about the ascent up the hill back to our mountain homes is that the radio stations begin to fuzz out and disappear, leaving us with precious few options.
As much as I appreciate KOLA 99.9 FM, I do get tired of the same 15 songs they seem to rotate in and out of their playlist. And while it’s great to hear about the fun things going on down the hill, that awesome-sounding festival going on in Riverside on a Thursday night would take, what? Three hours to get to in drive-time traffic? And what about local news?
Lucky for us, there is a brand-new radio option available to us: Top of the Rock, an entirely online, streaming station serving the San Bernardino County mountains.
Top of the Rock is the brainchild of Scott Boyer, a modern-day renaissance man whose c.v. includes being our graphics guru here at the Alpine Mountaineer, among many other talents.
The station has been in the making for some time. “We need a central location for information,” Boyer thought to himself years ago in 2017-2018. When Boyer joined the Alpine Mountaineer, he received enormous support from our then-owner/publisher, Aaron Creighton, and the monumental snowstorm of 2023 sealed the deal for him as far as the need for a local radio presence.
Boyer manages the radio station through an online platform called Live365. The server allowed him to upload 7,000 songs that it will continually shuffle through, which, unlike KOLA FM, allows for immense musical variety. Boyer did his homework before he settled on that first playlist, however.
“The demographic up here skews a little older,” he said, so listeners will find a wide array of classic rock and poppy 80s and 90s tunes, augmented by alt rock, blues, punk, a little bit of jazz and even whimsical choices such as cartoon and film scores by Carl Stalling, most known for his contributions to Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes, and Danny Elfman, the Oingo Boingo frontman best known for his theme to The Simpsons.
Boyer would like to add even more variety. “I would like to do more jazz, even some classic country,” he said. Once he gains more listeners and signs on more local advertisers and sponsors, Live365 will grant him additional space on the server, allowing him even more of a range.
“Listenership is still a little low at this point,” Boyer said. In addition to his efforts to procure more local advertising, he hopes to erect billboards at the bottom of Highway 18 to attract more listeners, especially visitors to the mountains who might take advantage of his frequent road condition, weather and arts and entertainment reports. (Disclosure: This reporter contributes the arts and entertainment spots.)
Ultimately, he envisions adding a local musicians’ show, local news programs (paging Uncle Mott!), a terrestrial broadcast tower for the station so that it could remain live when the power goes out, and a dedicated “Top of the Rock” app.
Boyer, who works as an office manager for the Helen Keller National Center in addition to creating the layout for this paper, has had a lifelong interest in radio. “I was part of the DJ club in high school,” he said, and he went on to study in the radio program at Valley College. He did mornings on the college’s FM station, but “I was horrible!” he laughed.
Through his past stints in teaching, stand-up comedy and open mic nights, he overcame whatever fear of public speaking he had. “I’m naturally hammy now,” he joked. Listeners can expect to hear his smooth and slightly wry voice frequently on the station, as Top of the Rock is a fulfillment of an interest he’s had for a long time.
Ultimately, though, his primary motivation is to provide a service to the community, eventually including Big Bear in the mix. “”I would like the station to serve the entire mountain community.”
To listen via computer, visit live365.com and search for “Top of the Rock.” Via smartphone, visit Google Play or the Apple app store to download the Live365 app.
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