Star’s End and Space Music
Star’s End and Space Music
Produced by Michael O’Reilly
Chuck Van Zyl is a letter carrier during the day and a DJ at night playing space music on STAR’S END. Currently in its thirtieth year, it is one of the longest running radio shows devoted to space music in the United States. The show began at what was a tiny student-run radio station at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Chuck hosts concerts in real-life and on the radio, and he invites Jason Sloan, a Baltimore “contemplative electronic musician and composer” to play an overnight concert on STAR’S END, where Jason is surprised by the positive reception in Philadelphia to his brand of music. But just what is this kind of music? We talk with John Diliberto who (along with Kimberly Haas) co-founded the nationally syndicated radio show, ECHOES. Now entering its 20th year of production (and produced by Jeff Towne), ECHOES presents many musical styles from ambient to space. Diliberto came to Penn on a football scholarship and was soon exploring the fertile fringe of many types of music in the same tiny radio station that still goes by the call letters, WXPN. In this FRIDAY ARTS “ART” segment, we explore the seemingly inexplicable popularity of this type of music and talk with the makers and the movers of this decidedly alternative music scene featuring performances by Jason Sloan, Ian Boddy, Chuck van Zyl and Terry Furber.
Web Extra: The Message
Chuck Van Zyl is the host of WXPN’s weekly ambient music broadcast, “Star’s End” and works as a letter carrier for the United States Postal Service. In this video, he talks about the similarities in delivering “the message” for his neighbors on air and by foot. Edited by John Shirk
Web Extra: Timbre and Space Music
Chuck van Zyl, host of STAR’S END (one of the nation’s longest running space music shows heard on WXPN in the wee hours of Saturday night/Sunday morning) holds forth in this unedited interview excerpt on the place that “timbre” holds in the creation of “space music”. Edited by Michael O’Reilly
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