Author: KMRD

What is your name and DJ name?

My name is Corey and my DJ name is Little Queen Trash Mouth.

What is the name of your show and when is it on?

The Hatch Attack Hour, on Friday mornings from 10 to 11.

Please describe your show. What is its format?

It’s a mix of music and talk. Left-leaning talk and pretty eclectic music situations. I’m not committed to one genre of music. I stay away from country and bluegrass, generally, because there’s enough of that in this area.

What drew you to participate in KMRD?

I went to a DJ training because I thought my mom should have a show, and so we went and trained together. But then I ended up with a show… I don’t mean to say this in a way of simplifying the experience of being a DJ, but it was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be, as far as equipment. It wasn’t as technical as I thought it would be, so it felt like something I could do and there was a time slot that just really worked out for me, and I love doing it so now it’s been almost two years.

What is the appeal of doing a radio show? How does it fit into the rest of your life?

I really love doing a radio show because I feel like it is one of the few activities I have that is purely an enjoyment hobby-based activity. Most of my hobbies end up also being jobs, in some way or form, and this one doesn’t. Planning my show and playing my show are some of the only times in the week where I am just doing one singular activity, and I really like that. It helps me slow down.

What difference has being a DJ made in your life?

I think it really helped me connect to people living in this area that I didn’t know before, that aren’t necessarily centered around the bar, drinking life – it helped me branch out my Madrid community and kind of find more likeminded neighbors and friends. 

What are your hopes for your show?

I want to keep growing the talk portions. I think I’d like to dedicate more time to researching the topics that I decide to talk about. People have asked me to record them and upload them and put them out in the world in some other way, but I don’t know if I actually want to do that because I kind of like the in-the-moment-ness of radio broadcast. I don’t know right now – I’m kind of just on the ride. 

What are your hopes for the station?

I’m really excited for KMRD to be in a permanent location. I think that is a big key in being able to grow KMRD at all, with activities. I’m excited for live broadcasts to possibly come back, like live shows. I think the youth program that happened this summer is a very exciting endeavor that I want to see grow. I can’t wait for that next year. The recording studio is exciting – or potential recording studio. All the opportunities, I guess, that come with having a new permanent home. 

Thanks to all the volunteer DJs, because even doing an hour of radio takes a lot of time and effort. I think it’s cool that so many people are willing to put that it to keep the station going. 

What is your name and DJ name?

Aubrey Ann (do we do last names in Madrid?) and my DJ name is Annomaly.

What is the name of your show and when is it on?

Spinning Saturn, Fridays 3-6

Please describe your show. What is its format?

My show is rather all over the place musically. I touch on many genres from many places. Maybe not always within a single show, but over the course of a few months, you’ll hear a lot of different things. Sometimes I get on my soapbox and talk for a few minutes but mostly I play music. I have a few backburner dreams of structuring something else in, but for now it is what it is!

What drew you to participate in KMRD?

I’ve been a listener since the beginning but I never thought I would actually have a show. I’m just too shy and quiet, mostly. Becoming a mother during covid (and everything else that was going on politically and socially at that time) gave me a lot of feels and thoughts. I suddenly needed to become less shy and needed to get out of the house more than ever. I have always been told that I have a good speaking voice so I dipped my toes in by doing several PSAs for DJ Otto. It all moved forward pretty quickly after that. 

What is the appeal of doing a radio show? How does it fit into the rest of your life?

I have always enjoyed music of various types. As a kid I was restricted to what was on the radio (always predetermined, commercial crap, but I loved it nonetheless). I slowly started borrowing from my older sister’s CD collection (to the horror of my parents!) and then in my mid-teens I got a good handle on the internet. That opened up the ability to listen to and download literally anything. My collection and tastes have only continued to grow. The appeal to having a free form radio show is that I get to share that vast (and always growing) collection with others! That’s the main appeal. I also love that it gives me a voice within my community. A way to share my thoughts and opinions without having to look anyone directly in the eyes while I do it. Haha. I also feel in a way that I am showing my daughter positive qualities; such as being responsibly committed to something on a weekly basis, having that commitment being voluntary, being a part of something bigger than oneself.

What difference has being a DJ made in your life?

Just like I had hoped, becoming a DJ has emboldened me to become more active in the community and more social in general. I’ve gained new friends, new musical tastes, new techniques for my shows. It’s really opened up the door for me to be able to talk to others by first starting with music and then sharing ideas and emotions through sharing music. I’ve made meaningful connections with others which I feel wouldn’t have happened were I not a direct part of KMRD. Sometimes the feeling of being connected comes without even being directly social with other DJs, many of us will play songs we heard someone else play earlier in the week. It feels like a friendly dance between DJs that you only get to be a part of if you’re in the unique position of being a free form DJ! Also, it’s just so cool to walk through town after a show and hear multiple people humming whatever earworm I just played!

What are your hopes for your show?

My hope for my show is that it continues to get better. As a very Saturn-ruled person (hence my show name) I put a lot of planning in to everything I do and nothing ever turns out as perfectly as I want. In the time I’ve been on KMRD so far I’ve toyed with various ways of coming up with and organizing my playlists. Sometimes I’m trying to tell a story or hold a theme. I often hope those convey as I intend them to. In the end, each show is really a snapshot in time of what is going on in my life and the lives of those around me-whether intentional or not. (Sometimes it is very serendipitous!) I think my playlists, transitions, and themes have gotten better with time, but I also think there is always room for improvement. 

What are your hopes for the station?

I hope the station continues to…be! So many very different shows and DJs have come and gone… And even come back again! This always flowing, never stagnant lineup is so inspiring as a listener! All the different sounds and opinions feel like an essential service to our community as a whole and the individuals within it. Even if I stop being a DJ at KMRD I will always be a listener. I hope that the opportunity for listening always exists!

What is your name and DJ name?

My name is Ethan. My DJ name is DJ Libre, which my wife suggested, based on the name of a street we used to live on, and because it worked in the context of freeform radio. 

What is the name of your show and when is it on?

Old News, Monday 10am to noon.

Please describe your show. What is its format?

On the schedule I describe it as “classic alternative rock, alternative classic rock, and more.” That obviously gives me a fair amount of wiggle room. I guess what I’d say I’m really looking for is music that conveys sincere feeling, whether it’s country or jazz or rock ‘n’ roll or soul or tropicalia or what have you. And I’ll deliver a little spiel once in a while if a song moves me to say more than just its title. 

What drew you to participate in KMRD?

The first thing I focused on was the Sunday morning gospel show, which stood out to me because of all the amazing artists I’d hear there, like Reverend Charlie Jackson and the Louvin Brothers. That kind of set the hook. Then, as I started listening to the station more, so many of the DJs’ tastes and sensibilities resonated with my own that KMRD became almost like a constant soundtrack in my life. I donated a little money to the relocation fund and found myself daydreaming about what it would be like to do a show myself: songs I’d play, things I’d say about them, etc. One day I finally sent an email asking if the station needed more DJs. 

What is the appeal of doing a radio show? How does it fit into the rest of your life?

It’s so much fun. I love it. I’ve spent most of my adult life working as a journalist, a lot of it writing about music and the music industry. That’s all super-interesting to me, but it’s also a bit removed from actual music. Having a radio show gives me a chance to share music with other people, and also gives me an impetus to stay on the lookout for new music—or at least music that’s new to me. 

What difference has being a DJ made in your life?

It’s sort of rekindled my connection to music. I had a weekly radio show in college, and it’s been interesting to see what parts of my taste have and haven’t changed since then. On top of that, we don’t live in Madrid—we live a bit to the north, in a town called Santa Fe—and it’s great having a reason to travel here every week. “Community” is a word that gets thrown around pretty casually, but Madrid strikes me as a true community, and I very much appreciate having even a minor connection to it. 

What are your hopes for your show?

More listener requests!

What are your hopes for the station?

With the new, permanent home, I hope KMRD will be a long-lasting presence in Madrid. And awesome DJs keep joining up.

What is your name and DJ name?

My name is Caitlin, and my DJ name is Caitlin.

What is the name of your show and when is it on?

It’s Mustard Palace, and it’s 12 to 1 on Tuesdays.

Please describe your show. What is its format?

It’s just what I imagine the soundtrack would be in this big beautiful yellow palace. 

What drew you to participate in KMRD?

My friend Colleen told me about it during Covid, which was nice. And then my brother Arpi went with me to DJ training. Colleen was already at the station, and she got my brother and me involved, which I was very appreciative of.

What is the appeal of doing a radio show? How does it fit into the rest of your life?

It’s a really great creative outlet, and a fun way to work with music. 

What difference has being a DJ made in your life?

It’s the most fun way to be a volunteer, because it doesn’t even really feel like volunteering. It’s nice being involved with a community, especially outside of Santa Fe a little bit. Even though I don’t really know a lot of people who are DJs, but I can listen to them and become a fan. I just love being around people who have really serious relationships with music. 

What are your hopes for your show?

Just to keep going, to be able to continue to do it. I’m trying to work on a book soundtrack thing, maybe working with authors, exploring the relationship between music and writing. 

What are your hopes for the station?

I hope that it keeps thriving; I’m excited about the new location. And that more and more people become familiar with it.

What is your name and DJ name?

Jesse Lion: My name is Jesse, and my DJ name is Jesse Lion.

L’Raine: And my name is Cathy – Cathy Weber Colvin – and my DJ name is L’Raine.

What is the name of your show and when is it on?

L: Mondays –

J: 2pm, Cerrillian Afternoon –

L: 2 to 4pm.

Please describe your show. What is its format?

J: It’s an hour of me playing a mix, and then it’s an hour of L’Raine playing different stuff:

L: This is what they’re going to print, spice it up!

J: Well, I play all kinds of stuff from all kinds of eras from Bach to Roll Over Beethoven, and L’Raine plays more of a sweet, introverted, kind of looking out the window and thinking about my problems type music.

L: [laughs] Ok, I play a mix of classic, and modern, and millennial, and gen x alternative rock.

J: Well, I’ll be playing everything from Paul Revere and the Raiders to Pussy Riot to Mitski to Frank Zappa to the original soul music cut of Mr. Moonlight, which was covered by the Beatles, Roy Johnson. So I got a way big mix. 

L: Well, I’m playing…

[both laugh]

What drew you to participate in KMRD?

L: I live with this guy, and it just doesn’t seem fair to keep him all to myself!

We’ve been interested since Dan first started, and Dan would come by and say he had a radio show, and got us very excited. We were off raising our kids, but we tuned in and were interested.

J: I wanted to do something I hadn’t done before, something new, something I had to learn. It was a little leap into the void.

L: I was always a film and video maker and teacher, and it’s so much fun to just do radio.

J: As you age, you gotta learn new things or else – it’s either progress or regress. 

L: I grew up with really great radio, and everybody listened to the radio all the time, and I love to get back to it. You can listen to it when you’re doing stuff – we turn it on all the time, we love it. 

What is the appeal of doing a radio show? How does it fit into the rest of your life?

J: Down there in Cerrillos you don’t see a lot of other people; I feel like I’m seeing a lot of people when I’m on the radio.

L: We love to be part of the community, find out what’s going on. Madrid’s gotten so vibrant and continued to grow, from the anarchy of the ‘70s and continued to move forward along those lines, and it’s just really unique. 

I love the live nature of it – 

J: Yeah, it’s fun, to connect –

L: And it’s a performance, that part. Every radio show, all day long, you can listen to different performers. It’s a happening, right?

What difference has being a DJ made in your life?

J: It’s helped me reconnect with music I used to really dig, but forgot. My daughter’s a musician, so she’s turned me on to new artists and I like to mix them. What’s good is good, a hit from 1720 plays today like great.

L: I love the no-commercial format, and I’ve just gotten so tired of radio – the stations, they all have an agenda, and it feels like there’s not really an agenda here other than just connecting. I love that. It’s unique, it’s a rare thing, I think, in the whole country. We’ve gotten calls from people – 

J: From classrooms –

L: We’ve got kids in a classroom, we got a call from Maine – 

J: Somebody in Indiana – 

L: Not people we know! So that’s pretty cool. It’s just great to have a megaphone for the sister/twin cities, Cerrillos and Madrid. I know that a lot of people in Cerrillos listen to it, and so it’s nice to have a little bit of the Cerrillos vibe going on. I know there’s a lot of Cerrillian DJs, and we like to be part of that. It’s great to be part of the community. 

What are your hopes for your show?

J: Syndicate it, go worldwide, make a ton of money, and buy up everything in Madrid and just give it away. 

L: It would be fun to do more stories, and we love doing the current events. We’re writers, so it does kind of keep the creative juices going. We look forward to it every week.

J: It’s like, taking part of Monday off to do it is really fun.

L: It’s part of our creative menu.

And then, we hope people are listening!

J: We don’t know. Are you out there? Am I in my closet having a show by myself?

What are your hopes for the station?

J: Keep on keeping on. Maybe get some more power. There’s this other 96.9 on the other side of the mountain that’s like this fascist gun bible thumping bizarre, so they’ll be coming in and out…

L: We would like to crest the hill and take over the other station!

J: “The seven headed dragon of revelations has come” … and then, “Meanwhile on introverts” – so we want more power, for the station to go farther.

L: What I would like to see is, I think there’s a lot of fun shows and there’s some really unique voices – I would love to continue to grow the audience and knowledge of it, so that we can do more stuff. Get more equipment. At the same time, I love the local nature of it. Lake Wobegon wasn’t a real place, but Madrid is.