GRA AUX: 
A Q & A with Allegra Jones
By Sarah Elizabeth Fernandez
S: What is it like to be part of 
WWHRC? What steps do you 
go through every Monday to 
set up your show, now that 
you’re part of the team?
A: The radio show is so fun. It 
is very individual. We have one 
group training set at the begin­
ning, but since then, it’s mostly 
very individually led, which 
really reflects the self-driven 
nature of the radio show. So, 
each Monday, the setup looks 
like: I make a playlist over the 
weekend where I first decide on 
a topic. I try to pick something 
very different each time to give 
a very broad scope. And then 
I’ll do some music research. I’ll 
ask people I know about music 
that they listen to in the similar 
genre, and then kind of build a 
playlist out from there. And then 
I listen to it over and over until I 
get about an hour’s worth. I go 
to a cafe the day beforehand 
and listen to it with a friend, do 
some final transcript making. 
I write out a full script before­
hand as well. And then get into 
the studio, add the playlist, and 
then just play from there.
S: What inspires you to cre­
ate the playlist every week? 
What inspired you from the 
beginning to even have a radio 
show?
A: I applied with one of my 
friends, Emma Lee, who’s also
doing a show (in the time slot 
before me). It just seemed like 
it would be a fun group activity 
to do, the two of us. We each 
listen to very different music, so 
it’s fun going in, one after the 
other, and comparing and con­
trasting. I like that we both have 
time to do our own thing and 
listen to our own music while 
also having a joint parent thing 
that we do together. I’ve always 
just been really interested in 
the idea of radio, especially an 
independent college radio. The 
liberty that you have within that, 
to not be really under anyone 
else’s purview. I like that aspect 
of it a lot. 
The name of my show, Gra Aux, 
is inspired by my nickname, 
Gra. Whenever I’m in the car 
with my friends, I’m inevitably 
the person who gets put on 
aux. So, my friends have started 
calling it the Gra Aux.
For making a playlist, I listen 
to a lot of different genres of 
music, and I wanted to repre­
sent that. I start off each week 
by picking a specific genre or 
theme—I’ve done UK Under­
ground; or Nevada was just a 
theme for one of them, with 
music that reminded me of 
Nevada. After I have my theme, 
I go through old playlists from 
the last few years. I start to build 
something, and then just sparse 
it down. 
S:  Okay, sick! I’m excited to 
hear what the most enjoyable 
part is of having a radio show.
A: There’s a lot of different 
aspects that I’ve found very fun 
to it so far. One thing that was a 
little unexpected is that I send 
the link to my family each week, 
and I kind of did not expect 
them to listen to it. I just kind 
of did it as a courtesy of, “Hi, 
guys, this is what I’m up to.” But 
shockingly, they’ve tuned in [al­
most] every week, and they’ll all 
be texting me throughout the 
show, which is so sweet. Even if 
it’s music that they have abso­
lutely no interest in, like Finnish 
club music. My mom is texting 
me, “Oh, my God, I love that 
song.” That’s been really en­
joyable. Also, friends who have 
graduated within the past year 
or two, they’ll tune in as well. It’s 
a nice time for people that I’m 
not in as direct contact with to 
have an hour of something in 
common.
For the playlist curious aspect, 
it’s an exercise for me to find 
new music. I’m spending so 
much more time listening to 
music, which I really love, and 
making a more diverse music 
library. I feel like it’s really ex­
panded how I listen and what I 
listen to.
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