WONC 89.1FM

Pure Rock FM89: The Radio Voice of North Central College

Featured Posts

Bruner’s Beat: A Final Farewell

by Evan Bruner For the first time in 17 years, I’m going into the fall without having to worry about school, and the feeling has made me uneasy. For almost as long as I can remember, I had classes of some sort consuming me during the weeks and tormenting me ...

Featured

NCC Students: Join WONC Today

If you’re a student at North Central College, you NEED to join WONC! Whether you’re interesting in a career in radio broadcasting or you just want to have some fun, there’s something for everyone here. Our staff is comprised of students with all kinds of majors, not just Journalism and ...

Featured

Try Our Exclusive Coffee Roasts

Need a pick-me-up? We have our own coffee roasts! We worked with the North Central College Coffee Lab to create two delicious roasts to pair with our music. You’ll also support WONC with your purchase and help us continue to play the best music on your radio! To keep you ...

Music

Featured Local Artist

Featured Local Artist: Sweetie

Our featured Local Artist for August is Sweetie, a Chicago-based lipstick-punk band with a femme fatale ferocity and a French attitude, thanks to frontwoman Birdy Vee, who blends her francophone background with her fervor for punk and drag. Voted first runner-up for Best Punk Band in the Chicago Reader’s Best ...

Music

Riot Fest 2024: Welcome to Riotland

by Jesse Hudgins Well, it’s finally here. Riot Fest, or should I say RiotLand, has been revealed to the world with a new venue and lineup. On June 11, Riot Fest took to their social medias to reveal they’ll no longer operate out of Douglass Park and will move to ...

Featured Local Artist

Featured Local Artist: Selenoplexia

Our Featured Local Artist for June is Selenoplexia, a four-piece from Chicago that formed in 2021. Last October, Vocal Distortion welcomed Selenoplexia on FM89 to discuss their full-length album Exalt and Despair, an outstanding debut that skillfully explores all spectrums of extreme music through otherworldly atmosphere, heartrending lyricism, and pummeling ...

Music

Cultural Fusion: The Evolution of Rap Rock

by Josh Stevens Rap rock is a music genre that took rap and rock to create a new, exciting listening experience. Rap uses lyrics and rhythmic flow, combining that with rock music’s energy and instrumentals to create a sound that’s powerful and new that people weren’t used to. Rap rock ...

Music

The Beach Boys Today!: A Shift in Sound and Style

by Ashly Rico The Beach Boys are most famously known for their catchy, fun songs about surfing, girls in bikinis, and for their revolutionary 11th studio album Pet Sounds. Pet Sounds has been hailed as one of the greatest and most influential albums of not only the 60s, but ...

Featured Local Artist

Featured Local Artist: Space Age Zeros

Our Featured Local Artist for May is Space Age Zeros, a Chicago area power pop/pop punk hybrid that formed in the spring of 2022. Made up on five scene veterans who all have history together in sharing the stage with each other’s bands, the band’s initial mission was to blend ...

Music

Olivia Rodrigo Rocks the Boat

by Jade Reynoso At 21-years-old, Olivia Rodrigo has made an explosive transition from pop balladeer to punk rocker with her sophomore album, GUTS, released last September. The singer-songwriter’s new sound has won over established rock artists but may face skepticism from traditionalist fans. Shedding Her Disney Image Rodrigo’s ...

Music

Lollapalooza Through the Years

by Mia Sciabica Summer in Chicago will have you going to nonstop events. From live shows and festivals to the beautiful Lake Michigan, there’s something for everyone to enjoy in the windy city. Arguably, though, the biggest event of the summer is Lollapalooza, and it has been since 1991. ...

Music

Metallica: A Fan’s Reflection

by Erik Batkiewicz The preteen version of myself had no real idea of rock or metal. I was just listening to the Top 40 tracks on the radio back in 2014, but my world would soon be turned upside. My brother, Kyle, who’s 15 years older than me, grew up ...

Jesse Hudgins

Riot Fest Headliner Predictions

by Jesse Hudgins Festival season is upon us! Coachella just went down, Lollapalooza, Summerfest, and Sonic Temple have had lineup announcements, and Riot Fest typically announces their lineup in May with the single day lineups revealed in mid-June. Still, it’s never too early though to start the predictions for the ...

WONC Sports

Sports

The Fighting Illini Fastbreak: Transfer Portal and Recruiting Update

by Drew Hackler It’s no secret to anyone following men’s college basketball that the transfer portal has almost completely washed away any sense of loyalty left in the sport. For the majority of the top teams competing at the high major D1 level, the transfer portal has become the ...

Sports

Recapping the Madness of March: My Personal Experience

by Devin Braden March Madness isn’t just an annual basketball tournament, but a cultural phenomenon. As far as I can tell, there aren’t many other sporting events where people fill out more brackets than they can keep track of and watch four straight days of basketball action over the opening ...

Sports

Top 5 Quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft

by Jake Lynch Quarterback is one of the most important positions across all sports. There are only a couple of quarterbacks in the NFL that can take over a team and win right away. Patrick Mahomes had a terrible wide receiver group all year with drops and fumbles at crucial ...

Bruner's Beat

Bruner’s Beat: Can the Caitlin Clark Effect Permeate the WNBA?

by Evan Bruner What is there to say about Caitlin Clark that hasn’t already been stated one thousand times over? She’s approaching a point where merely calling her a star is an understatement. She’s a supernova, her own entity, and a trailblazer who’s helped change how women’s athletics is covered. ...

Sam Fretto

A Wish List for EA College Football 25

by Sam Fretto After an 11 year wait, we’re finally getting another college football video game from EA. With the last installment being NCAA Football 14, released July 9th, 2013, fans of sports video games have grown a love for the game and have been hoping for a revival of ...

Specialty Shows

Jesse Hudgins

Joker: Folie A Deux Trailer Finally Debuts

by Jesse Hudgins After years of anticipation and speculation on whether the movie would even be happening, the sequel to the 2019 movie Joker has gotten its first trailer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy8aJw1vYHo Dropping on April 9, the trailer gives us our first look at what to expect from what’s said to ...

Jesse Hudgins

The Crow Needs to Be Left Alone

by Jesse Hudgins This year, we’ll be getting a new adaptation of The Crow, the first in 19 years. It’ll star Bill Skarsgard as Eric Draven (The Crow) as he takes revenge on the group that killed him and his fiancé Shelly, played by FKA Twigs. This is a project that ...

Alternage

Contemplative Pop Punk: Neck Deep at The Salt Shed

by Chloe Kallberg After four months across the pond and on the road, Neck Deep’s second American tour came to a close in Chicago on February 25. Tucked into a tiny and expensive parking spot, my friends and I emptied our pockets, flashed our tickets, and permeated the Salt Shed ...

Jesse Hudgins

The Time Has Come for Sony to Sell Spider-Man

by Jesse Hudgins For nearly 25 years, Sony has owned the rights to Spider-Man and the characters connected to him. In that time, we’ve had 11 films using the Spider-Man characters under the Sony banner, nine live-action and two animated, with the latest being Madame Web with Kraven the ...

Jesse Hudgins

Jesse and Evan’s Oscars Winner Predictions

by Jesse Hudgins and Evan Lindstedt It’s that time of the year for the movie industry. The Oscars have released their nominations for the best of the year 2023. While a lot of nominations aren’t surprising, there are several snubs that can’t be ignored. Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig not ...

Alternage

2024 Music Predictions

by Jesse Hudgins and Chloe Kallberg Alternage is approaching its third birthday, which means we’ve been closely following release schedules of our favorite punk, pop punk, emo, and alternative genres since we began college. Meshed with our own personal wish lists, here are three predictions we have for what’s in ...

Jesse Hudgins

FX Deserves Their Flowers

Over the years there have been TV channels that have reigned supreme as those with the best original content. Whether it be AMC with Breaking Bad and Walking Dead or HBO with Game of Thrones and The Sopranos, each channel had their time at the top. There’s been one channel, ...

Crossroads

The Crossroads Artist Highlight: Colby Acuff

By: Sam Corbett Hailing from northern Idaho, Colby Acuff’s voice and guitar sound like old-time country musicians telling stories through their music. Seriously, close your eyes and listen to him. It’s like Willie Nelson. His latest deluxe album, Western White Pines, dropped on September 15th. Totaling 16 tracks and 52 ...

Crossroads

The Crossroads’ Month in Review

By: Sam Corbett Well, welcome BACK to The Crossroads! I know we’ve been away, and I have a lot to catch up with. First off, I found a new cohost. Zane has graduated on to greener pastures, and Andy has taken his place. He’s done well, learning more and more ...

Alternage

The Comeback and Evolution of Hardcore

by Jesse Hudgins Hardcore has been a genre since the late 70s, originating with bands like Black Flag, Middle Class, and Circle Jerks. In his book, American Hardcore: A Tribal History, author Steven Blush states that the original hardcore album to come out was Out of Vogue by Middle Class ...

Reviews

The Brilliance of Community’s Writing

by Sean McMahon Community was a sitcom that first aired September 17, 2009, and was created by Dan Harmon, who people may recognize as the co-creator of Rick and Morty. The show starts with lawyer Jeff Winger who’s just been fired from his job since the state bar found out ...

Reviews

Fallout and the State of Video Game to Screen Adaptations

by Cassie Schneider With over 1 million screens in the past month, Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout has been met with great acclaim. The first season (with an already confirmed second season) provided awesome sound effects, great acting, multiple callbacks to the game franchise, and above all, a great group of ...

Reviews

Exploring Taylor Swift’s Complex Tortured Poets Department

by Emma Wadley Taylor Swift has once again broken records and my heart with her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department. Swift loves to surprise fans, and I wasn’t surprised when she dropped a second album at 2:00 am on Friday, April 19, calling it The Tortured Poets ...

Reviews

Taylor Swift Does it Again with The Tortured Poets Department

by Brooke Schultz Taylor Swift is back with a new era. After having released her albums Midnights and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) last year, Taylor announced her newest album, The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD), earlier this year at the 2024 Grammy’s, and it dropped on April 19, just in time for ...

Reviews

A Rollercoaster of a Time: Lively Reviews for Ride The Cyclone

by N Klepczarek The haunting North Central Theatre Department musical, Ride the Cyclone, enthralled students this semester and gathered significant reviews. After viewing the whimsical production myself, I interviewed three students about their experience visiting Uranium City’s carnival. To set you up with the background on what Ride the Cyclone ...

Reviews

Maggie Rogers Doesn’t Disappoint With Don’t Forget Me

by Olivia Rosenberg On April 12, Maggie Rogers dropped her latest album, Don’t Forget Me. The 36-minute record is her shortest yet and was written in its entirety in only five days. The album is a balanced blend of indie pop, rock, and folk, with tight production and story-infused ...

Jayden Lawrence

Sankofa 2024: My Personal Reflection

by Jayden Lawrence Traveling is a beautiful thing. A new backdrop to life tends to relieve the stress that the world brings you, especially with just the right people, and with the right circumstances. Sankofa 2024 brought the opportunity for me to relieve my stress. We were able to ...

Reviews

Ride the Cyclone: A Fantastic Journey

by: Lola Furbee Ride the Cyclone recently donned the stage of Meiley-Swallow Theatre on the campus of North Central College. Directed by Claribel Gross and Jeremy Ohringer, with music direction by Kevin Disch, this musical served as the second NCC Theatre Department production of the semester. Ride the Cyclone tells ...

Jayden Lawrence

1619: The Journey of a People

by Jayden Lawrence 1619: The Journey of a People was a captivating experience hosted by a Chicago native group. This musical transcended entertainment by holding itself to a higher standard and ended up being an emotional rollercoaster that delved into the dark history of America that we continue to ...

Reviews

Shattered Noodle Scrapbook: A Review

by Lola Furbee Shattered Noodle Scrapbook recently played on the campus of North Central College in Madden Theatre. It was the NCC Theatre Department’s collaboration with the Neo-Futurists Theatre Group from Chicago. Under the direction of Neil Bhandari and Abby Pajakowski, the play was set in a 30/60 format, ...

Alumni Spotlight

Brian Iossi

Years at WONC : 2006-2009 In his time at WONC, Brian hosted one of the longer-running specialty shows, Precious Metal, with a number of people. He also spent time hosting Vintage Rock, and called baseball, softball, and basketball games. After graduating from NCC, Brian began a career in teaching and ...

Alumni Spotlight

Bob King

Years at WONC: 1977-1981 In his time at WONC, Bob wore many hats. He was an on-air DJ, specialty show host, newscaster, and occasional color commentator for sports broadcasts. He also served as the News Director from 1977-1978, and was the Station Manager from 1980-1981. In 1981, he was named ...

Alumni Spotlight

Greg Williams

Years at WONC: 2017-2021 In his time at WONC, Greg was a force in the WONC Sports Department. Starting as a color commentator for football, he soon took on the role of play-by-play for almost all NCC football games, and covered baseball, softball, and men’s and women’s basketball games.In December ...

Alumni Spotlight

Megann Horstead

Years at WONC : 2014-2015 During her short stretch at WONC, Megann made the most of her time, hosting various DJ shifts, as well as frequently covering news, sports, and traffic reporting duties. She used her experience at WONC to earn a programming internship at WDCB Public Radio. After graduating ...

Alumni Spotlight

Lucas Burris

Years at WONC: 2019-2022 Lucas began his time at WONC doing only newscasts and sports, but his involvement in the sports department was quite heavy. He called many baseball and softball games his first year, even earning Best Play-By-Play (Baseball) at the 2020 Intercollegiate Broadcasting System Awards. His sophomore year, ...

Concert Photos

WONC 89.1FM/North Central College