Category: DJ Features

What is your name and DJ name?

My name James Mann. 

My DJ name is James the Music Man, in honor of my father, who was an actor and an incredible vocalist and played show tunes while I grew up. And he was a DJ. 

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

Southern Accents, Thursday nights 6 to 7. 

Please describe your show. What is its format?

I am a transplanted Southerner, and my show is pretty much all Southern artists, or Southern songs, or Southern locales, and I want to show that not all Southern music is hillbilly or Southern rock. I think it kind of surprises people when they think, “Oh wow, I didn’t know that was so-and-so.” I’ve kept pretty much to that; I sometimes play different artists because of the studio they recorded it in or something like that. I make the rules, so if I want to play somebody during Stax that wasn’t a Southern artist then, you know, sue me.

What drew you to participate in KMRD?

We’ve owned property out here for ten years, and we didn’t live here until about a year ago. My wife and I were always saying, “When we get out here and retire, you gotta get on that station.” We would listen and everything, and I’m not normally a radio listener, but I did because it’s so much a part of this area. I wanted to be a part of it all the time, since we moved out here.

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

I am a walking Amazon algorithm for music – when somebody tells me, “Well, I like so-and-so,” I say, “Oh you’ll like this,” and “Have you heard this yet?” and “You oughta go see this person.” It’s just one of my true joys in life to turn people onto something that they might not have heard before. 

I think in the last year or so music has become far more important to our inner space and our soul than it previously had been. Certainly in my life, it’s moved from being soundtrack or a wallpaper to really integral. And I think that’s true of a lot of people. I don’t know if this whole Covid thing or Trump thing is going to produce any great art, but it potentially could. 

What difference has being a DJ made in your life?

I’m normally very antisocial. At least I was in Georgia, that does not seem to be the case out here so much. It’s given me something to focus on. My wife and I used to have a food blog. She would write the recipes, I would give music suggestions, and she would take photographs. Now she’s my producer, and it’s a way for us to do something together. She texts me through the entire show: “No music!” “Don’t say ‘uh’ again!” or “Ok ok ok, you’re not Matthew McConaughey.” And that’s great. Being able to talk, freelance, has given me a lot more self-confidence which I did not have before. So that’s cool.

What are your hopes for your show?

I hope it enlightens people, makes them get a smile. I’m the biggest naysayer of the South, especially after having been there recently, but have them look at it in a different way – I don’t think a lot of people out here know what it is, so much. 

Hopefully when I retire maybe I could get another hour or something and do a different kind of format, because I just love it.

What are your hopes for the station?

I hope we find someplace permanent. I’d like it when we can have music here, when we can host things, because I know that that was a part of this community – I can look at the pictures and see sixty people in this room, or so-and-so played here. I’ve only been in here most likely with Amy and I’ve met other people, but I’d love to be part of the family. Because this whole area is so connected, which is not something I really had in Decatur.

What is your name and DJ name?

My name is Amanda, and I am DJ IDK.

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

My show is The People’s Harvest, and it is on Wednesdays from 2 to 4pm.

Please describe your show. What is its format?

Well, we’ve got lots of music, focused on bluegrass, western, folk, and Americana, and talk segments focused on food, farm, and future.

What drew you to participate in KMRD?

I was really bored during Covid lockdown!

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

I love it. I get to be part of a community, I get to meet lots of other cool DJs… I love the power of the airwaves. 

I’m kind of on my little journey of growing things and starting a farm and homesteading, so it’s fun to get to share all the updates with everyone, like tips and tricks we learn along the way.

What difference has being a DJ made in your life?

I definitely feel way more connected with the community down in Madrid. I definitely have a lot more appreciation for music, like I’ve explored music and new artists and things a lot more than I ever did before.

What are your hopes for your show?

I hope it’ll continue, I hope people enjoy it, I hope people learn something from it.

What are your hopes for the station?

I hope that we are the greatest radio station in the world one day! Of course.

I hope the station keeps on keeping on, I hope we stay freeform, noncommercial. I would love to experience the KMRD of social interaction. I’ve heard, in the past, we had guests? And more than two people? And we could touch things, without sanitizing everything every fifteen minutes? So, I look forward to that! 

What is your name and DJ name?

My name is Paris Mancini, and my DJ name is DJ Post Meridian.

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

It’s called Where Is My Mind? after the Pixies song, and it’s on Tuesdays from 3 to 5pm.

Please describe your show. What is its format?

It’s as freeform as it gets. I basically DJ everything live, to suit my whims in that moment. And if people call in I’ll take requests, and I kind of treat it like the way someone would during a dance party, where you’re doing everything in the moment.

What drew you to participate in KMRD?

I was in a band with Lilia, who is a DJ, and she said it was so awesome. And I was a DJ in New Haven, Connecticut, where I’m from.

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

In pandemic times, it’s certainly the highlight of every week. It also anchors my week, which is very nebulous. In regular times… I’ve always been a radio listener – as a really little kid, and my whole life – and I love being able to control a broadcast, and add to the collective broadcast that’s out there. Musically, I am a big music nerd so I love playing stuff you probably wouldn’t hear on the radio. More local bands, underground things, stuff I wish I could hear on the radio. 

It does tie into my life, because normally my life is pretty full-time to half-time musician. So it gave me a great excuse to listen actively to music that’s not just what I’m playing and what people I know are playing, but kind of looking for new things and gathering them each week. Kind of harvesting, and then putting them back out there. It ties into my life as a loudmouth, a creative person, someone who is interested in current events. I feel like people who do the radio kind of are at the forefront – it’s kind of journalism, in a way, although what we’re doing is more art-focused. It’s definitely a necessary ingredient.

What difference has being a DJ made in your life?

It definitely gives music listening more significance, because I can then share it. I think being an extrovert, I don’t do a lot of stuff if it’s just for me, but if there’s other people in my mind – so if I hear something great and “ooh, I can share it” that week, that’s really nice. The radio community is amazing, and meeting lots of different people, but likeminded in that we love the radio, is wonderful. I think in Madrid in particular, is extremely unique, because it’s such a strange, tiny place. And we’re broadcasting out of it! So that’s very cool. Madrid having a voice is very cool.

What are your hopes for your show?

I hope some people listen to it! I hope people enjoy it. I like to take an Afrika Bambaataa approach, which to me means hitting people with really disjointed songs, things they wouldn’t expect, lots of deep cuts, lots of songs that may not flow together at all. So I’m trying to educate people, find lots of new tunes for myself to keep myself interested… I hope people leave surprised, even a little disturbed is ok. I think if they’re moved in some way or touched in some way, that makes me happy.

What are your hopes for the station?

I hope it, obviously, continues. I hope that in the “after times” of pandemic, that we can start to bring people in again and have interviews and have live shows and live recordings, and more interaction with the station, like we were before. It’s kicking ass. We have so many DJs! I guess I would say I hope it keeps growing, but I also love that it’s so local, and I don’t think it could become like a corporate-ish monster-ish horrible thing. I really like how it is! I hope it stays the same, kind of. 

Sometimes I’ll be in here, and I think especially during the pandemic, I’ll be like, “IS ANYONE OUT THERE??” and I had a lot of callers last week, and someone even said, “Hey, long-time listener, first-time caller”! My take-away, or my message to leave with people is that, and the radio reminds us of this: even though you might feel so alone and like no one is hearing you, your existence, and certainly your radio existence, ripples through the world. Literally, theoretically, figuratively, whatever. That’s my takeaway from the radio experience. 

What is your name and DJ name?

My name is Gaby, my DJ name is DJ Raindrop.

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

Foggy Morning Portals, it’s on Sundays from 9 to 10 in the morning.

Please describe your show. What is its format?

My show is – I wake up really early in the morning, and I try to absorb whatever the vibes I’m feeling or I feel like the community might be feeling, and I kind of let that resonate for me. I wake up at like 5 and I do that all the way until like 10 sometimes, if I have the opportunity. And then usually that’s how my playlist looks. That’s why it can look anywhere from pop music to psychedelic to all kinds of stuff. It’s been really fun to take those quiet hours and transmute it into something. 

What drew you to participate in KMRD?

I loved it and was really impressed with it and the format and the history of it. We moved here five years ago now, and I just really wanted to get my talons into a little and feel it, and I’m so happy I did.

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

It really has gotten me back into music, in ways that I didn’t know was missing until I was doing it again. The communal love note that music and art and spoken word transcends, I really appreciate that. It’s been a really good destressor to a lot of parts of my life, and then a really good creative source to other parts of my life. 

What difference has being a DJ made in your life?

It’s reminded me of a voice that I thought I didn’t have any more, but it’s given me that voice again. And then given me a voice to kind of say things to people, when I probably don’t put myself in a situation to say them. I’m awkward, and very grateful of my awkwardness, but the DJ show has kind of given me a place to be like, “I just want to hug you all!” 

What are your hopes for your show?

My hope is to get more spoken word poetry in there, to amplify artists that I’m really impressed by and that I think would resonate with the culture and community that’s around. And maybe bring a good shift to my world and maybe, in a cool way, someone else’s.

What are your hopes for the station?

My hope for the station is that it grows – or stays exactly the same. It does what it wants. I hope the station stays, and does what it wants. Which is a radical notion in itself these days, no? 

What is your name and DJ name?

My DJ name is The High Priestess. My government name is Alina.

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

I do Office Hours with The High Priestess, every Monday noon to 2.

Please describe your show. What is its format?

The format is a playlist of whatever I feel like playing that week, of music and sometimes words. 

An organizing theme that I think about is using the metaphor of the Priestess as a channel for a consciousness that’s out there and I like how that ties in with the way that broadcast and live radio works – it’s like a tangible material thing, but contained in the immaterial waves. I’ve really just been thinking a lot about how powerful information is this past year, and so I really want to use my energy to find the most healing and beautiful parts of expression and information. 

What drew you to participate in KMRD?

I was always interested in radio, live radio, and I wanted a community to plug into, to feel like I was part of something creative. I moved out here a couple years ago, and it took me a minute to get acquainted with everything in town, in the local scene. 

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

It’s a really nice structure to have. I think that this year – this past year – it’s been a really positive space for me to come into every week, and it keeps me interested in all the new music that’s always coming out. And it keeps me interested in old music too, and just finding things that I’ve never heard before, because there’s always more stuff that I haven’t heard.

What difference has being a DJ made in your life?

It’s given me more experience in public speaking. It’s been helping me keep my tech skills sharp, which is something I appreciate since I’m not doing making any money off of those skills right now. And I think it’s helped me get more comfortable with myself in my own voice. I feel like it’s helped me grow some parts of myself that are kind of shy, and to kind of get a feel for what it’s like to be presenting. 

What are your hopes for your show?

I hope to just keep getting better, and I’m always working on making my transitions smoother. I hope to keep engaging with the local community – because that’s the coolest part about it for me, is getting to amplify friends, or bands that don’t have a big studio behind them, a big company behind them. My hopes are just to keep improving at the skill – I feel like the overall skill is creating a wavelength, not a brand, but like a recognizable tone or recognizable voice, and like keeping that consistent and making it a space that people can tune into consistently. 

What are your hopes for the station?

I just really appreciate being part of a group, a community, and I hope that I get to keep making new friendships and getting closer to the other DJs. And I hope that if we can do live music again, that I’ll be able to be an audience and participate in that, because that’s the best thing in the world.