Author: KMRD

What is your name and DJ name?

My name is Raven and my DJ name is Raven.

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

My show is called The Sugar Show, it’s on 8 to 9 on Sunday nights.

Please describe your show. What is its format?

I have no format, really. There’s some loose format. I play whatever I want, and that’s really fun. I try to share interesting tidbits of information about the artists, and I like to let people know what year the record came out and what record it’s on. So I do a little more of a formal back-announcing than some people do. But other than that, there’s no format, really. It’s mostly music – pretty much entirely music. 

What drew you to participate in KMRD?

I knew about KMRD as soon as I moved back to Madrid in 2017, so it had been going for two years by then. I was super excited to come back to town – I grew up in Santa Fe, and a little bit in Madrid too, and to come back and find out that there was this incredible collective effort for community radio was invigorating, and I was so psyched. Being the nerdy person that I am, I looked it up and read as much as I could about it. I remember reading about how KMRD got started, and the licensing window for Low Power radio stations and so it was like I knew I wanted to take part in it just seeing what it did for the community, but then also reading about what you had done to make it happen as a small group in the genesis days of KMRD made me really want to be part of it. But then I was really shy and didn’t feel really ready for the public presence that I would have to bring to doing a show, so I put it off for years, and then didn’t start until 2020. I spent three years thinking about it…

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

Learning new technology and new ways to present myself, or my creative mind, has been really exciting. The idea of radio before doing the show and training here felt impossible, like something that only radio people do. It’s almost like you have to already be in it, or you have to be invited by the radio gods, or something, or be that person in college or something – I felt like I missed my window in school. And I just never felt welcome to this space. So something that’s really exciting to me is feeling welcome to the space. The appeal is really rooted in that it is so community-oriented and accessible and diverse. I feel like no matter where I’m at – however weird or not weird my show is, if it’s expected songs, or if it’s really whacko songs that I’d be nervous to play to a party – I feel like there’s space for it here. There’s so many cool things coming out of this radio station, but I think it lacks that cool kid affect that can be really exclusive and exclusionary. That’s what I want to be part of at this point in my life. I feel way more comfortable expressing myself now, through the radio, than I ever thought I would be. It’s built confidence in this really unexpected way, and it’s an anchor for my week now: it’s the only thing I do consistently, other than work, and like, eat. I don’t have any social engagements that are as consistent. It’s a really positive challenge that’s just anchored at the end of my week – to be creative and make space for that every week, and that’s awesome. 

What difference has being a DJ made in your life?

I think the biggest difference it’s made in my life, aside from what I’ve already said, is I listen to music differently than I did before. I have always been kind of nerdy about music to some extent, in my own weird way, but now it’s like I see a lot more potential in music than I did before. I think before I saw music as an expression of my identity, like the things that I liked were somehow ways of expressing my identity, now there’s still that, but I listen to music in a way broader way. I allow myself to openly enjoy much broader things, because I’m just thinking about what’s interesting – not what’s cool, or what’s “good,” or what’s good enough to play in front of other people, or good enough to admit liking. All those weird shame processes – it makes me think of school, going through public education and just getting made fun of or something. I’ve totally been able to let go of that and just been like, what’s enjoyable? or what’s interesting? I play things I don’t even always like, because I think they’re interesting. And that’s really different, that’s changed my relationship to art, and to music especially. It’s a really cool different lens for art and artists and what people are making and how it fits into the bigger world of art-making. I’m enjoying music in a different way and it’s also changed me just because I make time for creativity every week, and that’s the biggest thing. Even when I don’t want to, then I have to, and it always feels good.

What are your hopes for your show?

I really want to learn how to actually DJ, like Will does. I want to learn how to mix and layer things. I think the feminist approach for me is really exciting, wanting to get skills that I feel like I’m not welcome to, like technical skills that I think I could totally learn here. 

I want to incorporate other forms of art in creative ways, in imaginative ways – like how can I weave in little tidbits of writing or of maybe my own writing and art-making into it. At the end of the day, I think I want my show to be a little more textural than it is now. Right now I play songs, and then I’ll back-announce them and then I’ll play another set – I do like sets, and it’s kind of more simple, kind of classic radio structure. It feels like a very simple format, and I’d like to still have that human, accessible, live DJ vibe, but have things be a little more textural, where it can be a little more of a feeling or an idea than just like these segments, like a little caterpillar. 

I also want to do collaborative shows. I’m thinking of music as an interview, with friends and stuff, and as excuses to connect with people I haven’t talked to in a while, to build shows together. And probably not even have them and their voice in it very much, if at all, but hear them through the music that they pick, and do little interview sets.

What are your hopes for the station?

I want to up my participation in the space, I want to be a little more involved in what’s keeping this place up. I want to ask more people to do the same. I want work to be spread a little more evenly, because I want it to last for – I’d love to have a kid who knows about this radio station. Or gets to have like a 10-year-old’s show. Either we get money, or get work spread out more. That’s the big one – I have lots of dreams, probably, for this place. 

What is your name and DJ name?

My name is Dylan, and my DJ name is also Dylan.

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

The HipHopapotamus Show, and it’s on Sundays from 9 to 10.

Please describe your show. What is its format?

I noticed that there was a minimal amount of hiphop in the area, in general, so I decided to focus mostly on hiphop, but I deviate to soul, and neo-soul, and funk and r&b.

What drew you to participate in KMRD?

Kate and Adrian told me to do it and I thought it was a good idea.

I used to DJ in Denver a little bit, but I was helping behind the scenes  – it was like a podcast/DJ thing, and I was doing the online editing stuff while the video was going out. That was mostly like a radio talk show about hiphop in the area – it was community radio there. I have experience with sound boards, and I like music a lot. 

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

The appeal for me, specifically for hiphop, is that a lot of hiphop on the radio is overplayed, like one or two songs from the newest artist, and they don’t play a lot of the underground stuff or DJ instrumentals or anything like that. That also is what drew me to KMRD – is that it’s freeform, you can do whatever you want. The appeal is to play underrated music.

I actually was not listening to music that much until I started doing the show, and then I started finding more music. I do professional cleaning on the side, too, and you listen to music while you’re cleaning a lot. Before I was just playing whatever, like old stuff I listened to, but I found a lot of new music since I’ve started doing this, so that’s exciting.

What difference has being a DJ made in your life?

How DJing has changed my life is introducing me to more music – and more people, on the station, and their taste. More music in general. 

What are your hopes for your show?

I hope that I can get it together each week – before the hour of. That would be nice. My other hope is to eventually get (partner) Xochitl to collaborate with me. For a while I thought it would be cool if we did hiphop history, because I’m just always playing music but I never really talk about what I play. Some of it you don’t really need to talk about – like the classic stuff and instrumental stuff – but talking about where they got the influence from…

I hope that people who don’t listen to hiphop might start to.

What are your hopes for the station?

That it never dies!

What is your name and DJ name?

DJ Thrifty.

What is the name of your show? When is it on?

The name of the show is The Junk Joint Jukebox, on Thursday nights from 9pm to 11pm.

Please describe your show. What is its format?

My show takes place in a a junk joint in an abandoned mine shaft under Madrid, with a secret passage from KMRD to the junk joint, in which sirens (that I’m a little bit afraid of) and blind albino reindeer roam. I have the world’s largest jukebox, with every song in the world, so I have the ability to play any song.

What drew you to participate in KMRD?

I was originally encouraged by the DJs of The Nightjar to participate, since I had had public radio experience.

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

It feels good to give back to the community once a week, and share music that has influenced my week or is pertinent to the global condition. 

It gives me the ability to share all the new music that I load in the junk joint jukebox from the thrift stores around the world.

What difference has being a DJ made in your life?

It’s continued to expose me to more music and keep an open mind with new music and all genres of music.

What are your hopes for your show?

I hope to be able to have a global dance party every week, with positive vibes for the whole world.

What are your hopes for the station?

I hope the station lasts longer than I live, and continues to be the bright light in the south Santa Fe County (and the world, via the internet). 

What is your name and DJ name?

My name is Elle LaGuardia, and my DJ name is DJ L Boogie Woogie.

What is the name of your show? When is it on?

My show is Moonday Medleys: The Moon at Six, formerly known as The Moon at Noon.

Please describe your show. What is its format?

Usually what I tend to do is pick a theme, and that usually kind of gets the whole flow of the show going. I will pick anything from a color to a fruit to a subject, and I tend to flow my show around that. What I like about picking a subject is that it helps me kind of get a flow, but get comfortable using different genres. 

What drew you to participate in KMRD?

I was having a difficult transition in life and I needed an outlet. Being a radio DJ here and volunteering for our radio station was something I had thought about for a few years, and it was actually a really difficult time in my life that drew me to come here and take on a new hobby. I am so grateful to have this medium in my life and I truly enjoy it, and I cherish it. I’m grateful to have KMRD and it helped me through a difficult time in my life. And I would recommend it to anybody who is having a hard time.

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

One of my favorite things about being a radio DJ is introducing myself to so many new songs. That is so fun for me – in the past two years, almost, as a DJ, I have introduced myself to hundreds of new songs that I would have never heard if I wasn’t taking time to research my shows. Just researching a show and putting it together forces you to sit down and explore music, which is pretty amazing. And I wouldn’t be doing so if I wasn’t a DJ.

What difference has being a DJ made in your life?

For me, it’s actually an art form. It’s a medium for me, it’s my artistic outlet, and it may not be visual but it allows me to express myself in another way, which I absolutely love. Moonday Medleys is my schedule. I look forward to sitting down and creating my show on Sunday, and I wake up on Mondays and I get excited. I may not be sitting down with a canvas, but I am creating a canvas, and I’m sharing it with the community, which is pretty awesome. 

It’s really nice to be able to have a voice in the community as well. Being able to express something that you’re feeling. For example, doing my suicide awareness show was super important to me. It felt really great to have a way to share that with my community, of something that I was feeling and I wanted to share, that I thought might help one listener. And that felt really huge to have the opportunity to do that.

What are your hopes for your show?

My hopes are to continue to have something to look forward to, week to week. It’s truly something that’s in my agenda that I look forward to, when there’s so many things in my agenda that I do not look forward to. My hopes are just to keep me uplifted as a DJ and to keep me excited and to keep me open-minded and continuing to discover new music. And being able to share my discoveries with all the listeners – I mean, that’s what excites me. It’s like at least one song a show I find gold – and I’m like, “Oh my god, I need everybody to hear this song!” So my hope is that when I put on that golden song, I hope everyone’s listening. Being able to take my personal time to discover really beautiful music, and then being able to share it with the listeners.

What are your hopes for the station?

I want us to live on forever and ever, of course!

My hope for the station is that we continue to receive the donations to be able to stay afloat, without struggle. 

To continue to be this beautiful KMRD community that we are. To continue our gatherings, and our fundraisers, and our amazing little family parties. It does feel like a family. The Christmas parties are so amazing, and they make me feel included. I hope to see it continue. I hope to never see an end. It’s really a beautiful amazing special unique thing, that KMRD offers to our community. And community’s really important. So to have something like this, I just never want to see it die. It’s really special to be part of something so unique. In order to continue being part of it, I want to see the success of the station and we rely on our supporters for that. So I just hope to continue our support, and I hope our support grows.

What is your name? DJ name?

My name is Jada White and my DJ name is Dream Queen.

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

It is called “In the Cab with Dream Queen” and it is on Saturdays 8 to 9am.

Please describe your show. What is its format?

Stream of consciousness, really. I think of it often as a mixtape for myself and my people that listen – like I’m putting together a mixtape every week. Sometimes I’m influenced by current events and other times it’s just to get people moving, get myself moving in the morning.

What drew you to participate in KMRD?

I’ve always loved music and radio, and I just really appreciate the endeavors and the success of KMRD. It’s great programming, great people, and it’s a way for me to get creative, spread my toes out a little bit here.

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

I wrestle with the idea that, am I just stroking my ego? Just talking to the air? And then I think, I hope that nobody’s listening, so it can’t be that much of an ego trip! Being a board op for so many years, and a musician and a writer, I guess I have wanted to be on the mic. So it fulfills that need – that creative outlet – that I can’t really do with my own music right now. I just let other artists speak for me. 

What difference has being a DJ made in your life?

I don’t get so much sleep! 

It’s made me feel like I’m filling some sort of purpose. I feel like I have a voice in a way that I hadn’t felt like I had a voice in the past few years, since I stopped writing. So it’s fulfilled that and I really enjoy getting comments that they loved my show, that it affected their mood in a positive way, that it made them think. Another DJ told me that she can hear that I have something to say, and I say it through the music, which just made me really feel like somebody got me. It’s always lyrics for me – of course it’s beat – but when somebody says “you’re trying to say something and I hear it in the songs you choose” it makes me feel affirmed, and it also makes me feel that I have things in common with folks that maybe I don’t see all the time. I have people listening that hadn’t heard my voice in years because we don’t talk on the phone. My mom is 1500 miles away, and my aunt same thing, and they’re like, “it’s just great to hear your voice.” That makes me feel good, it makes me feel connected. 

What are your hopes for your show?

That I just keep getting to be a better DJ. That I can find a way to say things and make people think and make a difference in the world in a consciousness way. I just hope that I can continue to find spoken word pieces or say things from my own mouth a little bit more. My music spot’s getting a little bit shorter, because I give myself a chance to rant a little bit… I want to do more meaningful expression. 

What are your hopes for the station?

I hope the station stays on the air forever. I hope that more people can be involved, that it keeps growing, that more people can listen on the internet. I just hope that we keep growing and people tune in more and more.

Thanks for rolling with me!