What’s your name, and your DJ name?
My name’s Caiti; my DJ name is DJ Barnacle (I just miss the ocean).
What’s the name of your show? What’s its format?
The Ear Candy Hour, Thursdays, 12:00 to 1:00.
The format is whatever I want, from musicals to Snoop Dog.
What drew you to participate in KMRD?
I actually never thought I’d participate in radio—I’m shy about talking on the air—and I didn’t think anyone would want to hear the music I listen to. But I had two friends who wanted to do a show together, all three of us, from 11:00 to midnight on Saturdays. So we did, and it was fun, but then our schedules ended up being all crazy, so I ended up doing this show, The Ear Candy Hour, by myself, because I loved being on the air so much.
For me, it’s an hour to do whatever I’m feeling like doing in the studio, and it’s also a pretty cool way to connect without having to talk to somebody—some conversations are overwhelming for me. You can be personal [on your show] if you choose to, which is really great, rather than having to succumb to a predictable format.
What’s the appeal of having a radio show? How does it fit into the rest of your life?
I guess the appeal is that no matter how crazy my life gets, I still have one hour to just sit in a room and listen to music by myself, and I don’t feel like I should be doing something else. It’s good to know that I can just depend on one hour a week to have my own little dance party. It’s a nice component to my life—it’s a part of my life, I look forward to it, even when it feels like I have nothing to share.
What difference has being a DJ made in your life?
It’s definitely made speaking on the radio not as scary. I’ve gotten to form a lot of new friendships and meet a lot of people that I love and am happy to know. My favorite thing to do on Christmas now is to be at the radio station, leading carols—I wanted to do karaoke but with Christmas carols, on the air. In a lot of ways, we’re like a family; there’s a lot of special commonality based on the appreciation of music and storytelling, of all genres.
What are your hopes for your show, and for the station?
My hope for my show is that I can do it forever.
For the radio station, I hope that it continues to grow and be a positive outlet for all members of the KMRD community, and that it keeps the soul of independent, local, community freeform radio alive in a world of Pandora and Spotify. The DJs have such eclectic tastes, you can hear just about anything—sometimes you even hear a song that you thought you were the only person who knew it (that’s happened a couple of times for me on Li’l P’s show) and you think, “I have a music soul mate!”