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Four University of Washington students launched KCMU from the basement of the Communications Building, broadcasting a 10-watt signal on 90.5 FM from atop McMahon Hall. The call letters came from the building: CMU.
KCMU switched to 90.3 FM, relocated its transmitter to Capitol Hill, and boosted to 400 watts. Hip hop, roots, blues, global music, reggae, and jazz joined the lineup. Jonathan Poneman and Bruce Pavitt met at the station. They went on to found Sub Pop Records.
Seattle's grunge scene detonated and KCMU was already there. Kurt Cobain walked into the station with the demo for "Love Buzz." KCMU was the first station to air Nirvana's debut album "Bleach." Soundgarden. Pearl Jam. The station that championed local artists before anyone else knew their names.
Paul Allen's Experience Music Project partnered with the station. New call letters — a nod to Jimi Hendrix's "Radio Station EXP" on Axis: Bold as Love. New studios. 720 watts. The first station in the world to offer uncompressed CD-quality audio streaming. The first real-time playlist.
John Richards played The Lumineers' "Ho Hey" back-to-back on the Morning Show. The band had mailed him a CD demo. That year he declared it the best song of 2012. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis performed live in the KEXP studio. A 10-watt college station was now breaking artists to the world.
KEXP opened its doors at Seattle Center. A record store, a coffee shop, a live room with public viewing. 12,000 people showed up on day one. Over a million YouTube subscribers. Half a billion views. From a dorm roof transmitter to a global music institution, still listener-powered.