Ever wondered what a bag of psychedelic mushrooms can lead to? Turns out a #1 campus and community radio station, according to the 2021 Canadian Radio Awards. After a few too many of the aforementioned refreshments, Douglas McLean, UFV student at the time, thought about how UFV and its community were disconnected and was inspired to make a change.
Thus, CIVL Radio was born.
On Apr. 5, CIVL 101.7 FM celebrated their 20th anniversary at UFV’s Chilliwack campus — the location of their newest repeater tower. Once the tower is granted approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), it will allow the station to broadcast at 92.3 FM in Chilliwack permanently. This move will further CIVL’s goal of reaching not only UFV students and staff, but the wider community as well.
At the anniversary celebration, their new documentary, COUNTERCULTURE: 20 Years of CIVL RADIO in the Fraser Valley premiered. The idea of “counterculture” — lifestyle or attitudes that stray from the social norm — is well expressed in the documentary as we follow CIVL’s journey and how the station paved the way as a countercultural means of programming in the conservative Fraser Valley.
Kier Junos, CityNews journalist and the project’s filmmaker, spoke with The Cascade, sharing where the idea for the documentary originated from, and how it came to fruition.
“I’m just going off of project proposals I had seen in the past, [but] they wanted to be able to define the NCRA [National Campus and Community Radio Association] and its work in starting campus and community radio. They wanted to outline CIVL’s work in the community as well, and the impact it has had, and the involvement of its volunteers.”
Junos expressed how he wanted to do more with the documentary by explaining the struggles behind campus radio and aligning CIVL as part of the counterculture.
“We were able to take it beyond what the project prompt was of just defining the NCRA and its part of campus radio and what CIVL’s work [is] in the community. That stuff is well defined, but I’m happy we were able to maybe press the institutions that CIVL is pulled into and call into question whether or not they are participating in [and] uplifting CIVL in the right way, in what it could be, in terms of being a beacon for arts and culture in the Fraser Valley.”
The event itself featured performances from local musicians including Franklyn Currie, a born and raised Abbotsford artist. Between songs, Currie shared some of his history with the underground culture that the CIVL documentary highlighted. The live music elevated the atmosphere of the event as everyone jived to the local talent.
Jordan Turner and Sara Church, two of the founding members of the radio station featured in the documentary, were in attendance at the celebration. Church helped in designing the original advertising campaign that would permit CIVL to collect a $3 fee from students to fund the radio station — a fee that still needs advocacy to this day in order to keep the station up and running.
Following the premiere of the documentary, a panel was held featuring members involved in the production, including Kiara Okonkwo, Lance Skullz, and Stephen Munga alongside Junos. Led by CIVL Executive Director Aaron Levy, the panel answered questions about the filming, how the documentary turned out, and what they were surprised to learn during the process. A key question was what they felt success for the film would be. The consensus was simply getting the documentary out there, having students connect with it, and hopefully even get inspired to start their own creative community. Junos offered further thought on where he would like to see the film go.
“It would be nice to see this screened in the campus community radio sphere and show other stations or fledgling stations … if people in universities see this, they might be inspired to create a similar hub for community … maybe it’s a lit mag, or [an] online arts blog or something. Because I think the film really shows how many people [CIVL has] touched, and the breadth of community that is created as well.”
From a documentary premiere to live music, the CIVL celebration was one to remember, sparking a conversation about arts, culture, and community. There is hope that flame will continue to burn and spread, igniting the desire to further bridge the gap between community and culture, and make way for more creativity in the Fraser Valley.
