Get Psyched with the Psychic Mothman

 

by Brooke Buchanan

Psychic Mothman, hosted by digital communications major Stephen Storey, psyches listeners up during its hour playing time by giving an ample amount of music as well as a few talking segments twice a week.

The show’s title represents not only a piece of West Virginia folklore, but also a rock band Storey wanted to form. “When I wanted to be a musician, when I was 19 or 20, I had an idea for a rock band called, ‘The Psychic Mothmen.’ I decided I wanted to be a broadcaster when I was 24, and when the time came to name my show, the Psychic Mothman came to mind,” Storey said. “The Mothman is also West Virginia folklore, and I’m proud to be from the state.”

Storey is the only host on his show due to the fact that he believes it is easier to come up with ideas when all of the responsibility falls on his shoulders. However, in the future, he would like to have different special guests for each episode. “I’d like to have a different guest each episode that has a business, music, movies or other radio shows to promote. “It’s kind of like a win-win,” Storey said.

When Storey was 22 and living in Morgantown, he listened to music often and began listening to podcasts as well. Listening to these podcasts made him interested in creating a career where he could do his own, so he went online to see what degrees television networks like Turner Broadcasting was looking for. After his research, he began pursuing a communications degree. “Listening to personalities run their own shows and get paid to do it sounded like something I would be more than happy to do for a living,” Storey said. “Radio is great, and I would be happy to do it forever. But, I’d like to save my money, and play my cards right, to have my own production company instead of working for an already established radio or TV station.”

After wanting to do a radio show for a while, and discovering WVU Parkersburg had a radio station, he decided to give it a try. “I’ve always liked playing music for people and stealing the Aux cord in my friends’ cars to show them songs. I’ve loved music all my life, and it drives me to do the things I want to do,” Storey said.

Psychic Mothman is all about the music at its core. “I play mostly alternative rock that is popular in the moment. I pick an artist every three shows who had an album come out really recently, like Lorde, Beck or King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, and play one song at the beginning of three episodes in a row so the audience should know what to expect,” Storey said. “I also try to play some electronic, hip-hop and R&B when I can, but sometimes the songs are too dirty or I can’t find a clean version, so I can’t play as much hip-hop as I would like to.”

Storey hopes that listeners feel entertained by the show. “I want them to turn it on to hear music that makes them happy or to find songs they have never heard before,” Storey said. “I try to have a relaxed persona so people don’t take me too seriously and just enjoy the show.”

Right now, Storey has two segments on his show. “‘Getting Psyched with the Psychic Mothman’ is a segment where I pick a topic and talk about it with another person to ‘Get Psyched’ about life in general. My other segment is ‘Soundcloud, SoundClown’ where I find a terrible song from Soundcloud and critique it on air,” Storey said. “I think it has potential to be funny, but it’s still a work in progress.”

In the future, Storey would like for his segments to grow. “I want to have a ‘grab bag’ of segments where I would have seven or eight different games or topics and pick two random ones to do each show so listeners could have something to anticipate each show,” Storey said.

Tune-in to WPKM 96.3 FM, the Beet every Tuesday and Thursday from 6 p.m. until 7 p.m. to hear the Psychic Mothman.