Righteous Radio, breaking Christian music stereotypes since 1998
WINNIPEG, MB—Ask Alyssa Rempel about her radio show and she becomes almost giddy.
For the past 13-and-a-half years, Rempel has volunteered her time as the host of Righteous Radio, a Saturday night radio show on 101.5 UMFM, the University of Manitoba's campus station. The show focuses on musicians in a variety of genres who are ardent about their love for Jesus.
While co-hosts have come and gone, Rempel has stayed with the show and says her goal today is the same as it was when she started Righteous Radio in September 1998: Break the stereotypes people have of what Christian music is.
"I realized even at that time that a lot of people thought Christian music was just Sandi Patty and Amy Grant," says Rempel, who works as a web designer and photographer.
Rempel became a Christian when bands like dc Talk and Jars of Clay were becoming popular, and she wanted to turn audiences on to their music, as well as lesser-known Christian bands like punk power trio MxPx.
"I think every DJ probably wants to play music that they're passionate about, that they think doesn't get enough of an audience," Rempel says.
Along the way, Rempel became an integral part of the southern Manitoba Christian music scene that peaked in the early 2000s. Rempel fondly recalls the plethora of local bands that existed back then, from punk bands like The Undecided and The Rock Band, to hardcore bands like Figure Four.
"I liked getting to know them (and finding out) why they did what they did, why they wrote what they did," Rempel says. "There was something about just knowing the guys, and trying to help them spread their music. I could see that the church did not embrace their music (and) perhaps I wanted to know why."
During her time as host of Righteous Radio, Rempel has witnessed many trends in Christian music come and go. She has seen Christian bookstores, record labels and distributing companies shut down.
On the one hand, it's a shame. On the other, she believes it forces bands to hone their craft and produce better music.
"(Labels) can't survive on badly-produced or badly-written music anymore, or artists that sound like carbon copies of each other, because (people now have) the power of listening and buying over the Internet," Rempel says. "They don't have to buy what their radio station or Christian music store is telling them to buy."
Michael Elves, UMFM's program director, has known Rempel for nearly 10 years and describes her as dedicated.
"She's really done a good service to the music community, whether she's supporting local acts or international acts that aren't as well known in Winnipeg," Elves says. "She's really passionate about the music and her faith, and how the two commingle."
Rempel says that while the supportive community of volunteers and staff at UMFM are a large part of why she keeps doing her show, the purpose is really to acknowledge God.
"At the end of the day, it's about Jesus—connecting the listener to Him in the best way possible," she says.
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