Laguna Beach’s radio KXFM 104.7 gets new digs in the H.I.P District

Billy Fried blasted out a riff to “The Weight” by The Band on his harmonica during a celebration for the grand opening of KXFM 104.7’S new digs in the H.I.P District of Laguna Beach.

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The festive atmosphere at the celebration of the 14-year-old station’s move from South Laguna to Glenneyre and Oak streets drew a horde of onlookers who rolled by in golf carts, on bikes, or walked over as they passed by. The patio — the station’s new listening lounge — was like a lively town square, which is exactly what Fried, the station’s chairman and chief listening officer, thinks 21st-century radio should be.

“I remember in my younger days when we all hovered around the radio listening to the same station, and it was a sense of shared experiences and community,” Fried said. “I think by having a physical space where people can gather, it’s accomplishing the same thing.

“Having a public space where people can sit around and enjoy the radio brings the community together, which I think is our highest role,” he added. “To express voices, tell stories, and it’s important that we have a safety function. We want to be the town crier, a place where people can listen and feel good.”

The move to the new location, which is also the headquarters of Fried’s outdoor adventure company that does private, guided surfing, SUP, hiking and biking tours, was partially made possible with $100,000 in funding from the county, earmarked from the Fifth District’s discretionary fund by OC Supervisor Katrina Foley.

Since 2012, Laguna Radio (KXFM) has connected the community’s residents through broadcasts on air, online, and on demand. More than 80 dedicated volunteers – including artists, small business owners, students, activists and storytellers – create programming that reflects the diverse voices and experiences of the community.

Programming is focused on “conscious elevating music and conversation,” said station general manager Jonathan Tufano.  The playlist draws from jazz, dance, classic rock, alternative, doo-wop, Americana, ska, and local music.

“Laguna Radio provides a powerful platform for local voices, community connection, and civic engagement — while also serving an essential public safety role during emergencies, including wildfires and evacuations,” Foley said. “This relocation helps preserve an important community resource while creating new opportunities to inform residents, support emergency communication, and bring people together.”

Foley said she was contacted by Fried and some of the Laguna Beach City Council members to see if she had an interest in supporting moving the station. The ask matched something she wants to do, Foley said, which is to invest the public’s tax dollars into their community.

“This isn’t just about radio and about stories that we all love,” she said, noting that the local Laguna Beach station is only one of two public radio stations in Orange County. “It’s also making sure the community stays informed about local issues. Making sure that when there’s an evacuation or some kind of disaster, they have access to communication and that the cell phone towers are working. So there’s a practical reason to have public radio, but there are also a lot of great social reasons like keeping our community united.”

Foley said she recognized that the district’s contribution is sizeable, but also noted that radio stations in general have difficulty meeting operational funding goals. Similarly, she’s earmarked district discretionary funds toward the Helopad in San Clemente, $100,000; the Laguna Art Museum, $50,000; and the Costa Mesa skatepark, $2 million.

“Just running the equipment and the everyday operation is tough,” she said. “To get the capital to be able to build a new station was going to be a long haul. What I’ve done with our district’s discretionary fund is that I’ve tried to find out, ‘What does the community want, what are the things that a good portion of the community says, ‘yes, I need you to invest in this because there’s a gap and we don’t have the funding to finish.’ That’s what I did here.”

She also added that Laguna Beach councilmembers had underscored the importance of the radio station in providing information during emergencies.  And, to follow on Fried’s emphasis of community, Foley said the station also helps preserve the vibe that is the identity of Laguna Beach.

“It’s so critical,” Foley said. “Laguna Beach is in a transformative phase. There are a lot of tourists that come here. What I hear from the residents and the council is that sometimes it feels like there’s a tug-of-war between tourism and the community that sees this as their home. They want it to remain homey. So these kinds of spaces are where the community can gather, can share ideas, and can socialize and share information about the local community for the local community.”

For those, like Sharen James, who has been part of the station since it was founded by Tyler Russell and who hosts the weekly “Sharin’ Hour” at noon on Thursdays, interviewing the “fascinating people” and discussing interesting topics, the new location brings a fresh opportunity.

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“We have a patio that we’ve never had before,” she said, adding that in the former spot, the station was upstairs and had a “little outdoor space, but it was cut off from the world.”

“I think now people will see this, musicians will be hanging out on the terrace and people will be drawn in,” she said.

The community is going to be what helps the station thrive, Tufano said. “One thing Billy and I needed to do when we took over the operation two years ago, when it was in dire straits, was to go all in on community.”

“The only thing that would allow us to save the station and to continue our path forward was to truly serve the community in a unique and special way,” he added. “That’s bringing people together through conscious conversations, shared passions, and that’s what we’ve been able to do.”

Tufano said the new location also supports improved technology and will enable better broadcasting, allowing shows to be live from new physical locations and to pipe audio into the board from disparate locations, even outside Laguna Beach and the country. There will also be video podcasting and live-streaming capabilities, allowing people to perform in real time through a video and editing production room.

In all, Tufano estimates the cost of the move and the rebuild was about $160,000. In addition to the county help, he said there was also a $75,000 grant from the Samueli Breakaway Fund.

“We’ll be able to tell deeper and more immersive stories about Laguna Beach and Orange County,” he said. “People are stoked, people are happy to be amongst other people.”

Tufano said what he and Fried have observed about people is that “we are more connected than ever to things that trigger our nervous system, but we’re more disconnected from each other as individual human beings than we’ve ever been before in the history of time, it seems like.”

“One of our primary drivers is to bring us all together through the unity in community,” he added. “We’re only stronger together.”

Tufano said programming at the station often comes from an idea from someone in the community.

“People have an idea, a concept, a passion, and want to see it come to life,” he said of pitches he gets. “Other times, we have an idea, we look to draft and recruit hosts in the community that we think would do a great job and get referrals from existing hosts. We found over time, the people who reach out to us and really want to do (something) are the ones that stand the test of time.”

Fried believes the new spot, just a block along Oak Street from Coast Highway, will be perfect for weekend events and music showcases, and that it will be a new attraction for visitors to town.

“At the on-air window, we’re inviting people to hang out with the DJ and the host and watch radio get made,” he said. “I think it’s something we can also offer to visitors, and I also think it’s good for tourism because these people will leave thinking, ‘Wow, how cool this town has a radio station.’

“I know for a fact that a lot of past visitors listen to our station at home, whether it’s in Europe or on the East Coast. They stream it,” Fried added. “I think we’re the goodwill ambassadors for Laguna.”

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