Last week, the Sajhammer and I were joined by some local guests to promote the Do Itcha Damn Self show at the Pinhook last Friday night. The premise for the event entailed taking some of your favorite local musicians and allowing them to perform on stage by themselves. Vocals, instruments, and abundant creativity were needed in order to play in sync and pull everything together.

Phil Cook and Catherine Edgerton. Photo by Elyse Hopple.

Phil Cook of Megafaun and Catherine Edgerton of Midtown Dickens were two major proponents in starting the inaugural event. We asked them various questions, such as the types of instruments they planned to use as well as the ideas that jump started Do Itcha Damn Self. Check out the full interview below:

Part I:

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Part II:

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Take a few of your favorite local artists and stick them on stage by themselves to perform songs both familiar and original. Essentially, that’s what Do Itcha Damn Self aims to accomplish. The event at the Pinhook marks Durham’s inaugural one-man-band jubilee and art fair, which will feature select band members from Triangle favorites like Megafaun and Midtown Dickens. In order to promote the event a bit further, Phil Cook of Megafaun and Catherine Edgerton of Midtown Dickens will come chat with DJ Special K and DJ Sajhammer at 11 a.m. this Friday morning (July 16).

If you have questions you’d like to ask our guests, be sure to tweet at us at: wknc881. Listen only on 88.1FM or streaming online.

The Hopscotch Music Festival has now become synonymous with headliners: Broken Social Scene, Public Enemy, and Panda Bear. However, the Triangle’s largest music festival features plenty of local acts. That’s why every Friday for the next few weeks, Special K will be getting back to North Carolina’s musical roots by keeping spins local and giving away Hopscotch festival wristbands to lucky callers during the Local Lunch (12pm-1pm).

Listen only on 88.1FM or streaming online during Local Lunch for your favorite local Hopscotch bands like The Rosebuds, Bowerbirds, The Love Language and many more! For the full line-up of Hopscotch bands, visit their website here.

A few hours before Kooley High performs at the Pour House for their farewell Raleigh show, Foolery and Charlie Smarts wanted to come in and chat about their hip-hop legacy in North Carolina as well as their expectations for their futures in New York. The band plans to continue to make new music up north, but not before they have a great send-off tonight which will include classic Kooley High tracks mixed in with some new surprises.

Kooley High's Charlie Smarts and Foolery with Special K and the Sajhammer

Listen to part of the interview here:

Part 1: Introductions

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Part 2: A Changing Environment

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Join Special K and the Sajhammer this Friday at 11 a.m. as they will be talking to local hip-hop band, Kooley High. The band plans to discuss their upcoming performance with Carlitta Durand at the Pour House, May 28.

Kooley High

During the show, Kooley High will also be giving away tickets to their show. Be sure to tweet questions you’d like the WKNC deejays to ask the band. Listen only on 88.1FM or streaming online.

Oddsac’s name, in my opinion, is very fitting. After witnessing the cinematic events unfold at the special screening at Varsity Theatre in Chapel Hill, Animal Collective’s “Visual Album” has left my mind opened with many odd impressions. (And no, I haven’t been doing any hard drugs. The good news is you don’t have to do drugs to “understand” the concept. I’ll explain later.)

Oddsac is an experimental film featuring psychedelic visuals and music by Animal Collective. However, don’t make the same mistake I did and assume it’s a string of music videos that mix seamlessly together for the entire fifty-four minutes. If I had to sum up my experience in one or two sentences, I would probably include the following phrases, “snippets of horror, Itunes visualizer, and classic Animal Collective sound.” All in all, I will admit I was a bit disappointed. The musical interludes of Animal Collective were short lived, pasted periodically amidst the chaotic splash of color, which at first were captivating, but then grew mundane. Instead of constant music, director Danny Perez, who worked closely with the band, chose to add periods of noise, crashes, screams, and everything in between.

Speaking from my film student perspective, I felt Perez’s strengths with Oddsac lay with his captivating live-action footage. There is a strong focus on nature itself, where we find the camera placed in the darkest of forests, beside the murkiest of waters, and stranded in a desert of stone. These are breathtaking spectacles, which are something to appreciate despite the confusion and short attention span of the film’s editing pace. After the screening, the audience was fortunate enough to hear from Danny Perez himself and the Geologist, electronic specialist of the band, who were present at the screening. Perez seemed to calm my uneasiness as I sought answers for the on-screen events. After an inquisitive student asked about the symbolism of the film, Perez reiterated his distaste for films that promote a message or agenda. Instead, the director expressed his view of the film as music. With music, a listener can hear the same song multiple times, but express different emotions each time he or she hears it. With narrative films, that message is locked into a single idea that cannot be manipulated or changed. Oddsac isn’t meant to press into a hidden or higher meaning. Instead, we can only open our minds to the film and take it for what it is.

For more information about future screenings, go to the film’s website.

If you’ve been following along with us these past two Fridays, you’ll know that we’ve been participating in a small interview series featuring many of the talented acts at this spring’s Shakori Hills Grassroots Music Festival. Last week, DJ Mick and DJ Kligz sat down with Bowerbirds and the ever so comical Inflowential. On this particular Friday, I had the pleasure of interviewing two great local bands, The Beast and Orquesta GarDel.

DJ Special K with Eric Hirsh (Beast & GarDel), Pierce Freelon (Beast), Justice Freelon (Little Beast), Nelson Delgado (GarDel), and Andy Kleindienst (GarDel)

As an avid local music lover, The Beast, of course, was no stranger to my earbuds. I last caught the band last at WKNC’s fall Fridays on the Lawn series where they opened for Kooley High. Obviously, I was going through a bit of a withdrawl, and with promises of on-air free-styling from Pierce Freelon, the Beast’s front-man, the interview was too hard to pass up. Orquesta GarDel was a newcomer to my music pallet. Based in strong Latino roots, GarDel plays classic and modern salsa music with a sound heavily influenced by the New York-Puerto Rico connection of the 1970s. Eric Hirsh, Beast’s keyboardist, is also a major part of GarDel, which has ultimately led to some interesting collaboration in the past. I won’t give away too much, but I experienced firsthand the powerful forces and talent when these two groups collide. Be sure to check out the whole interview including the free-style performance:

Part 1: The Beast. 

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Part 2: Orquesta GarDel.

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Part 3: Shakori Hills.

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Part 4: Free-style “Ahora” GarDel and Beast. 

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Next Friday, tune in to DJ Kligz as she will be talking to The Honeycutters as they gear up for their performance at Shakori that weekend.

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As most of you know, the spring edition of Shakori Hills Grassroots Music Festival (April 22nd-25th) is rapidly approaching. For those of you who don’t know about the festival, Shakori Hills is a four day experience, which exhibits various dance, art, and music. With over 50 bands performing on four stages,  we wanted to give you a taste of some of the talented acts of the festival. Due to various N.C. State baseball games interrupting the much beloved Local Beat during April, we’ve asked some of our favorite Shakori Hills musicians to join us in the WKNC studio earlier on Friday afternoons for the remainder of the month.

Take a look at who’s dropping in:

This Friday — April 9th, 2010

Inflowential

Inflowential (1-2pm w/ DJ Mick and DJ Kligz)

Bowerbirds

Bowerbirds (2-3pm w/ DJ Mick and DJ Kligz)

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Friday — April 16th, 2010

The Beast

Gar Del

The Beast and GarDel w/ Special K 2 to 3 p.m.

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Friday — April 23rd, 2010

Photo by Ryan Hebert

The Honeycutters (11am-12pm w/ DJ Kligz)

If Fridays weren’t already your favorite days of the week, then hopefully WKNC will change that with these great interviews. Be sure to tune in online or at 88.1FM. Also, check out our spring Fridays on the Lawn concert this Friday on Harris Field at N.C. State featuring local bands Aminal and Bright Young Things. The show is free and so are the t-shirts and pizza. Don’t you just love Fridays?

The North Carolina State University Student Media Board of Directors has selected Tommy Anderson, a junior in political science from Concord, as the new general manager of WKNC 88.1 FM. Since joining the staff in fall 2008, Anderson has held numerous positions at the station, including board operator, daytime music assistant and personnel director. He most recently served as the station’s program director. Anderson begins his one year term Thursday, April 1. Anderson replaces Rocky Mount senior Mike Alston, who will graduate in May with a degree in civil engineering. Kieran Moreira, WKNC’s promotions director since Jan. 2009, will take over as program director.

WKNC's new general manager Tommy Anderson after completing DJ training in Sept. 2008.

The KNC KKC crew, looking not too shabby the morning after DBB7 night one.

WKNC had the great pleasure of supporting the 2010 Krispy Kreme Challenge as a silver level sponsor. We also sponsored our own team of runners – an amazing challenge since the race fell smack dab in the middle of Double Barrel Benefit 7.

If you read Special K’s preview of the Krispy Kreme Challenge, no doubt you having been waiting with glazed breath to hear how own crew fared.

Max Power blew the rest of the staff away with the astounding time of 47:33. DJ Two Sheds and his training monkey Molly came in next, at 50:03 and 54:21. Major props also go to DJ Mick, Sweet Melissa, Special K, Will, Agent Orange, Osh-Tosh, Mz Kelly, Riff Raff, Hot Tamale and May Day for crossing the finish line.

Check out Technician’s Sights and Sounds of the event and their photo slideshow. If you caught any pictures of our crew, decked out in custom KNC wearables, send them over to us and we’ll put them in our end-of-year slideshow – unless they prominently feature regurgitated doughnuts, of course.

With only a few days left before the Krispy Kreme Challenge, many of the deejays are beginning to mentally prepare for the arduous task. The benefit for the North Carolina Children’s Hospital has two physical challenges that competitors must overcome. The first is the two mile run from the NC State Bell Tower to the Krispy Kreme Store on Peace St. and then the two mile run back to the Bell Tower.

The second is the overwhelming 12doughnuts each runner must eat before returning back to the starting line, all within the hour. Over the past weeks, many deejays have been spending time outside the studio and on the track, building their frail skinny deejay bodies into lean athletic beasts. Others have taken more unconventional approaches such as avoiding physical exercise altogether and have just been binge eating. (For many this hasn’t been much of a lifestyle change.) With fighting style will win out? One can only wait to see the results this upcoming Saturday.

Now to meet the brave deejays willing to take on the Krispy Kreme Challenge. Each has selected a top playlist of songs they will wield to push them to the brink during the race.

Agent “Glazed and Confused” Orange

• Death From Above 1979 - “My Love Is Shared”
• Mindless Self Indulgence – “Tom Sawyer”
• Muse - “Knights of Cydonia”

May “Hot and Ready” Day

• Jay Z- “Run this Town”
• Muse- “Time is Running Out”
• Florence & the Machine- “Dog Days are Over”

DJ Audity

• Metric – “Satellite Mind”
• Metric- “Help, I’m Alive”
• Cut Copy- “Hearts on Fire”

DJ Jenna

DJ Hot Tamale

• Drake- “Best I Ever Had”
• Coldplay- “Life in Technicolor ii”
• The Who- “Baba O’Riley”
• The Killers- “Mr. Brightside”

DJ “Original Glazed” MICK

• Dan Deacon - “Build Voice
• Akron/Family- “MBF”
• My Morning Jacket- “Anytime”

DJ Two “Baker’s Dozen” Sheds

ASH “Gotta Eat’em All” G.

• The Juliana Theory- ”We’re at the top of the World”
• Kid Cudi- ”Day ‘N’ Night”
• Linkin Park- ”New Divide”

DJ “Doughtnut Hole” Nicole

• Amanda Blank- “Make It, Take It”
• Duck Sauce- “Anyway (Armand Van Helden and A-Trak Remix)”
• Thieves Like Us- “Fass”

Mz “Hot-N-Now” Kelly

• Thin Lizzy – “Cowboy”
• Built to Spill- “Goin Against My Mind”
• Anything from LCD Soundsystem
• Anything from The Light Pines

DJ “Donuts and Coffee” Cioffi

DJ Riff “Ka-Tose Intolerant” Raff

• DeadMau5- “Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff “
• Kanye West- “Stronger”
• Vampire Weekend- “Run”

DJ Special “Tasty Fingers” K

• Animal Collective - “What Would I Want? Sky
• Gray Young- “Tilling the Wind”
• Flo Ride- “Sugar”

Eye on the Triangle’s own Saja “It’s Fresh” Hindi will be doing live air breaks on site during the race periodically through La Barba Rossa’s Mystery Roach show. The race is this Saturday (February 6) on Double Barrel Benefit 7 weekend. This year the challenge will boast 6,000 eager competitors. Be sure to check for the WKNC banner at the finish line this year as WKNC is partnering with the Krispy Kreme Challenge as a Silver Level Sponsor.

Be sure to listen only on 88.1FM or streaming online.

With an unconventional Pack Howl concert this year, featuring College Humor comedians Jake and Amir with Dan Levy, many music enthusiasts were happy to hear that the 2009 NC State Homecoming concert would also be featuring a band. The fact that it was a local North Carolina band was an added bonus. The originally based Chapel Hill band, Roman Candle, will be performing on Lee field Friday November 6.

Roman Candle

The indie rock band formed in 1997, when Skip Mathney, along with brother Logan and wife Timshel attended UNC-Chapel Hill. The band has found their hometown a place for southern authenticity, a perfect environment for this family based band to set their roots in. However, inevitably enough, their talent and success could not be contained. The Rolling Stone magazine took notice and labeled them as a “daring band on the rise.” Roman Candle has also seemingly captured the attention of other media giants such as Paste Magazine, Boston Globe, and Pitchfork for their 2006 album release of The Wee Hours Revue.

The band, now currently based in Nashville, will be welcomed home on Friday. But before rocking out on Lee Field, Roman Candle will be hanging out at the WKNC studio at 2pm, where DJ Special K will be finding out what bright future is in store for this up and coming band. Listen on 88. FM or streaming online.

Most people might recognize the powerful and beautiful voice of Lizzy Ross as the lead singer of Chapel Hill’s own Lafcadio. With  booming success within the Triangle and a recent performance at Shakori Hills Grassroots Fall Music Festival, it’s a wonder how Ross, a full time philosophy and music student at UNC-Chapel Hill, has time to embark on her solo career. However, the future looks bright for this young musician who recently received praise for her tracks Maria, Slave to the Muse, and No Man on Lafcadio’s self-titled LP. She also plans to graduate this December.

Lizzy Ross

Be sure the check out the interview and live in studio performances from Lizzy Ross this Friday at 2 p.m. with yours truly, DJ Special K.

Listen streaming online.

With a busy schedule of new concerts this year such as the Hear Here Compilation shows and the new Fridays on the Lawn Series, WKNC was unsure that it’s now three year old shack would stand again in the Brickyard for Habitat for Humanity’s yearly Shack-a-thon. However, after combating a plethora of disgusting (and probably undiscovered) spiders who had taken up residence in the structure as it sat in DJ Mystery Roach’s backyard, WKNC’s leading team of engineers (consisting of three humanities majors and two actual engineers) managed to bring the beloved Shack back to N.C. State (in quite a few pieces).

Here are some of the pictures of the building process:

The actual brains behind the operation: John and Austin direct the reconstruction of the shack

Taking A Break Before The Actual Assembly

She lives!

The conception of the shack’s design and actual construction came from, NC State graduate student and WKNC engineer, John Jernigan. The shack itself is constructed to look like a giant boom box, complete with it’s own retractable cassesst door that opens automatically when you hit a built in eject button. One of the new and most popular features this year for the shack, however, was the addition of a roof. As I had experienced last year, Shack-a-thon always seems to conjure up the monsoon rain storms which can catch a very cold and tired deejay by surprise in the middle of the night. Needless to say, we were glad to have it when flash flood rains hit the Triangle late Tuesday night.

Although the shack building officially started for student organizations on Sunday, overnight participants weren’t required to spend the night in the shack until Monday. WKNC, however, was the exception. With a booming new set of trainees eager to jump into the fray, staff members manned the shack on Sunday night and have been alternating two hour shifts all week.

During the day, WKNC deejays asked (and sometimes begged) for donations to support the Habitat for Humanity cause. Donors received various KNC apparel like WKNC koozies, stickers, cds, and WKNC t-shirts. One of the new features this year was wireless live broadcasting from the Brickyard, which aired in the early hours of Wednesday morning.  Eye on the Triangle’s own Saja Hindi and myself walked the bricks to speak with the various organizations who were participating this year, including Men Against Rape, Caldwell Fellows, and Inter-residence Council.

Now with only two days left of Shack-a-thon, WKNC looks forward to the Shack-a-thon live music performance by local band, The Pneurotics. Show begins at 7 p.m. and is open to public. The Pneurotics will be performing right next to WKNC shack and will hopefully be giving a live wireless broadcast interview to yours truly, DJ Special K, before the show.

Click here to listen streaming live