Major? Studio art
Grade? Senior
Name of show? Theme Party
How long have you been DJing on the SOCC?
Since November 13, 2010. It’s my one-year anniversary!
Does your show have a concept, genre, or theme guiding it?
I choose a different theme each session. For instance, this week the theme was crime. DJs typically devote their shows to specific musical genres, but I ran with the theme idea because it provides cohesiveness to a session while allowing me to pull from whatever genres offer songs relevant to the theme. I love lining up songs from disparate genres in sets that allow you to hear their similarities. The sets can also be like the game Telephone or Six Degrees to Kevin Bacon. Like last week, I started a set with Janet Klein and Her Parlor Boys, and ended it with The Velvet Underground. The fun is how a set gets from A to Z.
Additionally, every Theme Party starts with a rundown of “This Day in Music.” So if it’s, say, April 3, I report on significant album releases, concerts, birthdays, deaths, etc. in music that took place on April 3 in whatever year. I spin related songs as I go. Major events sometimes determine the theme–I’ve done a Great Guitar themed show in honor of Jimi Hendrix’ birthday, and a Muddy Waters Blues Memorial.
5 Favorite Bands/Songs?
Only five? I can’t do that! I’ll feel guilty about the ones I leave out. To be unbiased and to show a little more range, here are the top ten most played songs in my iTunes library:
Casa Abandonada–Julieta Venegas
Victim Of Circumstance–Joan Jett
Motorcycle Mama–Neil Young
London Song–The Breeders
Intro–Ojos De Brujo
Sleep To Dream–Fiona Apple
South Side–Moby
Barefoot Rock–The Blasters
Truckin’–The Grateful Dead
Rockaway Beach–The Ramones
Why do you DJ, what value do you see in Student radio?
I got my ears pinned to the radio at a young age. When you like something, especially when you’re a kid, you try to do it too. But how do you “do” radio? You DJ. In elementary and middle school, my friends and I huddled around a tape recorder on the floor in my room, singing and talking into the microphone for hours. One friend and I improvised a housekeeping show hosted by two British ladies, Victoria (me) and Petunia, who turned out to be strict German governess-types named Gretchen and Doris (me). We also did an improv “radio play” about Valley girls gone camping. The tape is mostly screaming. By middle school, another friend and I were captivated by the different formats a radio show could take. The elderly woman who lived next door to my friend listened to a late night show on AM on which lonely truckers called in on their CB radios and told their stories. I think it clicked that a radio show could be humorously idiosyncratic, as well as play excellent music. That is, DJing could unite my love of music with my propensity toward improv and silliness.
As for student radio, I think it’s musically healthy for our generation. It probably goes without saying that websites–particularly ones anyone can contribute to like Last.fm and MySpace–allow the individual to easily listen to new music, that genome-based sites like Pandora cater “radio” to personal taste, and that features like iTunes playlist basically make anyone a DJ. These are all good resources, but what is missing is the traditional radio experience of tuning in with many other people in your community to hear what a musically knowledgeable person has to share. Tuning in or streaming a radio show to hear what a student DJ has to offer, what they are being intentional about sharing with their peers, is a genuine treat. It’s like eating out. It’s public, and something has been prepared for you. There is a shared element of surprise.
[audio: http://www.thesocc.org/audio/Featured Shows/Theme Party with A-Strauss Nov. 12.mp3]
(Setlist)
Dion — “A Teenager In Love”
Booker T. & The MG’s — “It’s Your Thing”
Neil Young — “Comes A Time”
The Velvet Underground — “Rock and Roll”
Sex Pistols — “God Save The Queen”
Rex — “Ride a White Swan (BBC Live – Top Gear 26/10/70)”
Germs — “Richie Dagger’s Crime”
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones — “The Rascal King”
Bob Marley and the Wailers — “I SHOT THE SHERIFF”
Taj Mahal — “Frankie And Albert”
Woody Guthrie — “Pretty Boy Floyd”
This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb — “Rebel Girl”
X — “Johnny Hit and Run Paulene (Live)”
Dead Kennedys — “Stealing People’s Mail”
Dead Kennedys — “I Kill Children”
Iggy Pop — “Little Electric Chair”
Blondie — “Kung Fu Girls”
Joan Jett — “Victim Of Circumstance”
Sublime — “Date Rape”
The Brian Setzer Orchestra — “Switchblade 327”
The Ventures — “Fugitive”
The Ventures — “Slaughter On Tenth Avenue”
The Slackers — “Married Girl”
The Ramones — “You’re Gonna Kill That Girl”
Violent Femmes — “Dahmer Is Dead”
Son House — “Mississippi Country Farm Blues”
The Aggrolites — “Prisoner Song”
Babyshambles — “Pentonville”
The Clash — “Stay Free”
Queen — “Killer Queen”
Elvis Costello — “Watching The Detectives”
Adam & The Ants — “Killer In the Home”
Neil Young — “Human Highway”
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