Taking the reins as this year’s station manager, Ethan Cabrera has some fairly large shoes he’s hoping to fill — but after only a brief conversation, I’d say they’re exactly his size. Alongside his co-host, Katya Zakarian, you can tune into his show “Anima Sola” from 12-3 pm every Wednesday. He calls it “one of the weirdest shows on UTD air,” and he goes out of his way to line up songs he hasn’t yet played from a variety of genres for his listeners. The show creates a multifaceted, explorative approach to radio that matches the fluidity that helps him adapt to the many challenges that come with being the new face of the station.

Although his show features a plethora of different songs and styles, he certainly has his favorites: namely electronic dance music, followed by indie, jazz, and world music. For the most part, instead of matching his tracks by genre, he aims to go for a specific mood — whether that’s upbeat, more relaxed, or something else altogether. It’s not just music he shares in his show, however.

“I’m always reading artist bios on Spotify,” he says. “I like to share cool tidbits that I find on there about each song.”

This tradition of exploring the quirky contexts of the artists and music he plays began in his previous show, “Labyrinth,” and he describes his part in “Anima Sola” as a continuation of his previous work. While “Labyrinth” was a solo act for him, he’s planning on spending his time in the studio this semester expanding on the chemistry he shares with his co-host, providing more of a back-and-forth dynamic for listeners to enjoy. In both shows, he drives no central message or theme, just good vibes and good music.

Even without knowing his approach to radio or his show, it’d be easy to link Ethan to “Labyrinth,” and now “Anima Sola.” In his spare time, he listens to and even creates electronic dance music and has two new singles on the way at the time of writing. He has a natural love of learning, to the point that he describes himself as a “Wikipedia dude,” and he enjoys opportunities to share the breadth of his knowledge when he can. Something that might be a little harder to spot, however, is the way he seeks to push himself in his work, contrary to his otherwise low-key demeanor.

“It’s so cool knowing I can put something thoughtful out there into the world. One thing I try to hold myself to with my show is to mostly play tracks I haven’t played before… It’s an extra challenge for me, but it keeps things fresh and builds up the catalog.”

Ethan’s passion for music started with his mother, with whom he would often listen to alternative rock, as well as classics from the ‘80s and ‘90s. It wasn’t until high school that he branched out into other genres, but the chance to really explore his music taste through expansive libraries like Pandora Radio and Spotify redefined his perspective on the medium. Nowadays, he recommends artists and bands like Jai Paul, Machine Girl, and Women.

It would ultimately be this passion for music that defined a lot of his experience at UTD. As a senior in business this year, his college experience started with the pandemic, and he actually attended entirely online from Houston. Feeling the bite of that isolation, he stepped beyond his typical introversion to make connections through his interests for his sophomore year in person.

“I applied for Radio super early in the summer, and I didn’t hear back anything, and I was like, ‘Oh, I guess they don’t want me,’ but I had just applied [too] early,” he explained. “From there, I just kept growing my relationship with the organization.”

Within RadioUTD, Ethan found a community that he’s been able to grow alongside for the past few years. The DJs have some differences, but Ethan gave me a little insight on what makes everything work.

“Not everyone likes the same music, but everybody knows an artist that somebody else likes, so there’s always that common thread. I feel like that keeps everyone in Radio pretty close and able to relate to each other. It’s been a pretty good place for me to be.”

As for his responsibilities within the organization, Ethan’s definitely stepping up to bat this year. He certainly wasn’t slacking in the past — he played a pivotal role as programming director in maintaining a quality and diverse selection of music with the other DJs — but as station manager, he’s focused now more than ever on keeping everything afloat and expanding the influence of the station (which is why you should follow their Instagram at @radioutd).

That said, Ethan has a lot of trust in his management team, and under his leadership he says there’s going to be a new style coming to radio this semester, as well as plenty of ideas he and his team have that they’re excited to put in motion. All in all, the station is in fantastic hands with plans for an incredible fall semester.