Free-form rock & roll: Feasterville’s Music Guru celebrates three years on the air

By Jack Firneno
Wire Editor

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JACK FIRNENO / WIRE PHOTO In addition to owning his own store — Comic Collection in Feasterville — David Schwartz has his own radio station, Music Guru Radio, which broadcasts 24 hours a day.[/caption]

Man cannot live on progressive rock alone. At least, not the man behind Music Guru Radio.

Sure, the Internet station plays plenty of groups with epic-length songs and grandiose musicianship. In fact, its proprietor, David Schwartz, got his start on Internet radio thanks to his extensive knowledge of those bands.

“I started off with [Internet station] Prog Positivity, but I wanted to do more than just that,” he explained. “I wanted to always be in radio, I just never really had that shot. So I made my own.”

That was back in 2004, when he’d host a two-hour show exclusively featuring progressive rock bands. And while he still delivers a pre-recorded two-hour show every week for that, his main ax now is his own Music Guru station, which broadcasts 24 hours a day.

Schwartz goes on live every Monday night, and occasionally uses his audio software to automatically choose up tracks from his library. But usually he’s behind the board, so to speak, uploading more songs to his physical library or queuing up more tracks to play, either from his home or while working at his store, Comic Collection, in Feasterville.

“It’s fun, I love picking out what I want to hear. Music has always been a passion for me,” he explained.

October marks the third anniversary of Schwartz’s station. There, along with classic prog-rock outfits like Yes and contemporaries like Dream Theater and its members’ many sidebands, listeners can also hear anything from pop ballads to power metal. That translates into literally everything from Gloria Estefan to Conquer in a single hour of airplay.

“It’s everything from the fifties to today,” said Schwartz. Most of the songs are ones he enjoys but, he pointed out, he’s playing for other people, too, so he’ll look for music he otherwise wouldn’t have found.

“For me, it’s got to have melody,” he said, explaining his basic requirements. “If it has melody and I like it, I’ll play it.”

The freeform approach harkens back to the golden age of FM radio. Schwartz speaks fondly of the original deejays from WMMR and Helen Leicht on WIOQ (now Q102), and the influence they had on his own format. But, the roots of Schwartz’s approach grew a little closer to home.

“I have two older brothers, and the next is eight years older than me,” said Schwartz. “My one brother was a Beatles nut, and the other was a Deadhead. I started really young.”

But that was when the now 53-year-old was just a kid. Since that start, he’s expanded his collection to more than 200,000 songs, almost all on either CD or vinyl.

“I’m a physical guy, I like to have the lyrics and the artwork,” he explained.

And, he likes to share it. Schwartz has thousands of listeners each month, a couple of paid sponsors, and a deal with the Keswick Theatre where they occasionally send him concert tickets in exchange for him promoting the show and writing a review.

“The Keswick is a great place to see a concert. It’s so small and intimate. Even if you’re in the worst seat in the house, you’ve got a good seat,” he explained.

He also gets to meet some of the talent: over the years, he’s interviewed people like Carl Palmer of Emerson Lake & Palmer, and the band Volto, which features Danny Carey from Tool.

It’s a cross-generational approach that attracts listeners of all ages. Schwartz doesn’t get a lot of official demographic information, but based on anecdotes and emails — and the fact that he aims to please — he can confidently say he serves a wide range of ages.

“I know my son and his friends listen to it, and so do their parents,” he offered. Schwartz’s son and daughter, twins, are both 15.

“My daughter doesn’t listen as much, but she likes whatever 15-year-old girls like. Boy bands, I guess,” he laughed.

Does he play boy bands?

“Not really, I have a few,” said Schwartz. “Maybe I’ll add them next.”

For more information or to listen, visit www.musicgururadio.com