LouLife

Most 18-year-olds try to get every ounce of morning sleep they can get away with.

Most aren’t like New Albany High School senior Frank Austin.

Better known as "Frank the Tank" to the thousands of listeners who tune in to him each morning on the school’s 57-year-old radio station, WNAS-FM 88.1, Austin awakes at least 45 minutes earlier than required for his 7 a.m. shift weekdays.

"A lot of times I’ll come in here and I won’t be able to talk properly until after I drink a Coke," he says. "The listeners know that and they understand."

Rise and shine: WNAS morning DJs "Frank the Tank" Austin (foreground) and Travis "Big T" Boling.

"We add a personal touch to it," Austin says.

"We do everything we can to make it fun for the listeners," Boling adds.

Part of that fun was a recent theme hour titled "Motor Mayhem," during which callers were invited to pick songs related to cars from the more than 11,600 tunes on the WNAS master playlist. The result? A varied list of classics like The Beach Boys’ "409," Bruce Springsteen’s "Pink Cadillac" and Aretha Frankin’s "Freeway of Love."

"I just think it’s awesome because we’re high school students, but it’s such a big responsibility," says 17-year-old fellow DJ Chelsea Waldrews. A lot of that obligation is toward people at least twice staff members’ age. "I think we’re geared toward an older crowd because of the variety we play," Waldrews says. "You never know what’s coming up next."

From Green Day to BlackHawk, Ernest Tubb to Chumbawamba, WNAS plays it all. Listeners are as likely to hear Linda Ronstadt or the Bay City Rollers as they are Conway Twitty or the Fugees. "It’s whatever, whenever," says 33-year tutor and station general manager Lee Kelly.

The "whenever" is 24/7. (Students man the studio from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays during the school year. Programmed music takes over nights, weekends and throughout the summer.) "Whatever" comes from an automated system that randomly programs 16 songs an hour. The software allows disc jockeys to slide a song into the rotation at their — or listeners’ — discretion. Yes, they take requests, and plenty of them. Some audience members call (812)949-4278 so often that the disc jockeys know them by name, such as Pepe, a Frenchman in Louisville who calls most every morning.

"We hardly ever get calls from teens," Austin says.

"We get a lot of calls from the (Floyd County) jail," Boling chimes in. "They’ll call collect and say, ‘Guns ’N Roses,’ because that’s all they can get out."

"It’s whatever, whenever," says tutor and station general manager Lee Kelly.

WNAS doesn’t play rap and tends to avoid current hits in favor of music that’s not likely to be heard on other outlets. "If I get calls or e-mails telling me, ‘I can hear that on WDJX,’ that’s when I know we’re playing too much new music," Kelly explains.

Chances are, listeners won’t have to worry about the infancy of the playlist Austin or Boling select. Classic rock, especially Creedence Clearwater Revival, tops Frank the Tank’s favorites, while George Jones leads the pack for Big T. "I’m a ‘Possum’ head," Boling proudly proclaims.

When on the air, the two teen DJs share spontaneous appreciation of what they do and for whom they do it. "It’s not like getting up in front of a bunch of people and singing," says Austin. "But you know you’re being heard and you get energy off that."

"I’ve met some of our listeners," adds Boling. "With some people, we play a big part in their lives and that means a lot to me."

One of those people is WAVE-TV chief meteorologist John Belski, a Floyd County resident and admitted "election junkie." Despite having seven televisions spread out across his living room on election night, Belski says, he still has a radio nearby set to WNAS. "On election nights, I always tune in," he says. "You get the fastest Floyd County numbers right there."

Bill Amerson, an assistant principal at New Albany High School, echoes Belski’s admiration for the station’s prowess. "They’re the first place to get the latest election results. They’ll have all of the numbers crunched by 6:45 or 7 o’clock," he says. That comprehensive tradition is due to Kelly, who has at least one of the 110 WNAS students at each of the county’s 34 precincts. Kelly says he’s proud of his station’s reputation on election coverage, but admits to a potential for error. "The only thing I caution them about is that we have kids using calculators," he says. "So there’s always an element of risk."

That element of danger can arise even during a normal shift, as Austin discovered in early September when he made an off-the-cuff remark about the "broken heart" death of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin after playing Elton John’s "Crocodile Rock" in tribute. "Every now and then, I crack jokes without even thinking about it," the young DJ explains. "We learn from our mistakes. I still feel bad about that one." He says he considered apologizing on-air to the hoards of angry listeners calling the station, but decided to let the anger run its course.

Lessons learned the hard way are part of the WNAS program, which was started in 1949. Students must audition for the course by reading a script and pronouncing a series of words, as well as the station name. "It’s not ‘dubya,’" Austin says. "It’s ‘double-U,’" Boling distinctly enunciates.

Beyond broadcast duties, each student has to annually solicit $200 in underwriting grants from area businesses. Amerson says the sales responsibility helped his two daughters gain real-life training and more when they were WNAS staff members in the 1990s. "I just think it has the type of projects that build confidence in kids," he says.

Belski, who also had two daughters on WNAS, says the sales component of the class was a great experience for everyone involved. "It was fun watching them go out on their own," he muses.

In a day when communication is vital to success, WNAS may be more relevant than ever. "You’re learning how to communicate to people through that microphone," Belski says.

"I want them to be able to stand on their feet and talk to somebody, whether it be in a job interview or an interview for college," Kelly adds. "I actually try to talk them out of going into radio (as a career) unless their heart is set on it."

At least two former students are radio professionals. Walt Ferber has been a longtime fixture on WITZ in Jasper, Ind., while Ron "Michaels" Badger broadcasts in at least six markets from his Tampa base. "(Program alumni) are kind of out and about in different places," notes Kelly, who counts several lawyers and an anesthesiologist among his former students.

Back in the studio, Austin and Boling say they’ve come to realize how the class helps them in their lives. "It’s kind of like my sanctuary," Frank the Tanks says. "If I’ve had a rough day, I can just come into the soundproof booth, dim the lights and have a world of my own."

"I just thoroughly enjoy doing this for the listeners’ sake," Boling says. "If they aren’t happy, I’m not happy."