Sandy 101 is back! One of the most dominant and influential radio stations in Cagayan de Oro from the mid-’90s to the 2000s is back, bringing in the old and the new generation of DJs in one radio station. This time, they are not just exclusively heard in one airwave – but throughout the entire world.
During the mid-’90s and until its final airing in 2005, Sandy 101 was one of the dominating FM radio stations in this city during its day, that provided the best music all day, every day. It was also the station where young aspiring DJs were born in the likes of Sandy 101 online founders R-Funk and Judge J.
As I mentioned before this is no ordinary radio station as they could be heard online through its web portal Sandy101online.com. The love for both music and passion resonates among its pioneering DJs Judge J, and RFunk who both founded and helped to revive the nostalgic radio station and level up its reach through the help of technology.
We had a glimpse of the entire operation and how they brought back the nostalgia in an interview with one of its pioneering DJs and one of the founders R-Funk at Sandy 101 online’s headquarters in RDCY Building in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
“When we started the whole process of thinking of what we can do with an online project we really didn’t think of Sandy at first we were juggling between creating a new online radio station or bringing back something. My partner and I, who’s also a pioneer DJ at Sandy 101, Judge J, when we were discussing this we thought, why not bring back Sandy?”
R-Funk shared that during their discussion with Judge J there was always that nostalgic factor from the people that recognizes them. Throughout the years that Sandy was off-air, there are still those occurrences that someone would say that they missed Sandy, the shows (segments), and of course, who could forget those commercials they used to play that we still hear up to this day.
“I guess it was on our end we were thinking to bring it back since a lot of people have always wanted to hear it to come back and at the same time bring a more modern force to it and the music that made Sandy a hit back then,” he said.
Adding that they owe it to their listeners who have supported them all throughout the years despite Sandy being taken off the air all these years there are still Sandy 101 loyal fans out there.
“We owe it to them as well as for those who haven’t heard Sandy 101 before we would like to let them know why it was an amazing time,” R-Funk shared.
The name itself (Sandy) brings back nostalgia for anyone who got a chance to listen to it back in the day.
“That’s why we’d like to label ourselves (Sandy 101 online) as a nostalgia station because we play all of the music that was really big in during the 90s and 2000s. Because most of the hits that made an impact were during the late 90s and early 2000s is around that era. But we do play a lot of latest music today,” R-Funk said.
Aside from the wide array of music that Sandy 101 online plays is the personalities behind them, it’s not just a Dj who’s talking on-air but it’s a personality that people can relate to.
“Every handpicked dj that we have, they have this certain personality that people can vibe to and relate as well,” he said.
Sandy 101 online is very different from other radio stations wherein you can just press play and listen to and hear music. They carefully chose the segments based on the personalities of their DJs and the mood of the crowd. They also provide relevant news, but R-Funk shared they would only share lifestyle news as they wish to stay as vibrant and positive as possible.
“The internet is already filled with bad news, we here at Sandy prefer to provide news that is relevant and leaning towards lifestyle news and share it with our audience. There are already a lot of stations doing that (hard news). But we prefer not to include the hard news as we want our listeners to have a chill and relaxing time with us enjoying the music we play,” he shared.
“With every song that we play, we want our listeners to say, it's either OMG I miss this song, OMG this is my jam or OMG I can’t believe this song is actually playing at this exact moment. Because we try to try to envelope what people are feeling at a certain time. The DJs are a very factor as well they gave off a lot of energy, personality, and relatable topics,” R-Funk said.
One amazing feature of Sandy101Online.com is unlike any online platform where you can’t listen to music in the background. At Sandy’s platform, you can even listen to them when your phone is idle, or you're using another browser and app on your phone. This is a big plus for us music lovers that want to listen to non-stop music all day, every day. And soon they will be launching their first official App to serve music lovers in a much convenient way, so stay tuned.
“Tune in to Sandy 101, we are the newest online radio station platform playing music from the past and present. We are hoping that you could listen to us on a daily basis. The easiest way to do so is through Sandy101Online.com,”
To know more about Sandy 101 you can email them at Sandy101Online@gmail.com, follow and like their page on Facebook Sandy 101 online @HowYourRadioShouldBe.
