Category: DJ Highlights

WKNC DJs share their musical interests, personal anecdotes, etc.

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DJ Highlights

DJ Profiles: President Shrimpo

Red background with white text that reads dj profiles president shrimpo. Speakers in the middle of the image nd little cartoon characters on the side.

DJ Name: President Shrimpo

Show Name: Fireside Chats

Show Description: Do you like rock and roll? Do you enjoy eating raw onions like apples? Would you vote for President Shrimpo for four nonconsecutive presidential terms? If you said yes to any of these questions you should listen to Fireside Chats with President Shrimpo! Fireside Chats is the preeminent place to find music on this hemisphere of the Earth, so listen or you’ll feel a great sense of emptiness in your life!

I know the music you grew up listening to is a big part of the music you gravitate towards… What other influences are present in your sets?

So much of my taste in music definitely comes from my parents, but I’ve been really fortunate to have a lot of friends who also loved music a lot. And so like, I have a friend who was like, super into Oingo Boingo and that got me into a new wave phase and that definitely has influenced me. I’m also watching video essays about music which has helped me broaden my horizons and pick out stuff that I don’t think I would have ever found just by, you know, listening to the music my parents do.

What is the story behind your DJ name and show name?

Okay, so there’s layers to the story. Over the pandemic, I really fixated on American, presidential, and political history. I liked the idea of theming myself around that. I also find silly little critters like shrimp and worms and stuff funny. There was a live stream series that this guy Zach Hadel did, called the very positive stream, where he would draw things and take suggestions. One of the things that he drew was the assassination of President Shrimpo Jones. And that was just such a silly thing to me that I sort of thought of that while I was coming up with my DJ name, so I pretty directly lifted that. And then Fireside Chats is a reference to FDR and his Fireside Chats because it was like, you know, that’s sort of like the most famous thing a president has ever done on the radio. And so I thought, I should have my own Fireside Chats.

What is your favorite aspect of being a DJ?

I love the sense of community that we have here that I like and like the friendships that I’ve built with other DJs. I love being around people who care about music in the same way that I do, even if it’s not the same music. That’s just something that’s very special to me. For example, young iowa has a metal show and I don’t personally like metal but I love hanging out with young iowa during his set, Feedback, just because he loves that kind of music in the same way that I love my own music. So that’s something that’s very special to me. I also love being able to share my music with complete strangers. I have a number of people who regularly call into my set. I don’t know them… I might know some of their names but they’re essentially strangers to me. But we are able to talk about something that we both really love and that’s very special to me.

Do you have a favorite phone call you’ve ever gotten?

Okay, so I have this guy who regularly calls into my set. Before I even knew his name, I always knew that it was him calling me because he would always tell me what he was doing while he was listening to my set. He would call in and say I’m doing the dishes or I’m out in my garage or whatever. Most recently, he called in and told me after we were done talking about the music, he said, I’m gonna go back to cooking my beans now, and I just thought that was a really funny moment.

How has your show evolved over time?

I would say, like, on a technical level, my show has changed because the first semester or so of me being a DJ I would always script everything I would say beforehand. I also didn’t have a good system of structuring how many songs I would put between air breaks. But I ended up doing a joint set with my friend young iowa and he does his shows very differently from how I did mine. He improvises everything he says and has a very strict pattern of blocks of three songs in between air breaks. I tried that and found that it really worked for me and I was able to have more structure to my sets and also gave me more room to improvise more and talk more naturally on air. I also changed the sort of music I play. Early on, I just wanted to exclusively play punk and post punk. But over time I have mellowed out and have been more receptive to playing more pop stuff. I think in the beginning I had some misconceptions about what was acceptable to play on college radio, and so I think my intentions of what I want to play changed over time. 

Do you have any guilty pleasure music?

I definitely have some stuff that I would not play on air, but mostly because it’s, like, more popular. Like I love Nirvana and I really enjoy The Beatles and Arctic Monkeys. But like, none of that stuff would fit in with my show and I might also get some flack for playing that on a college radio station because those aren’t like… deep cuts.  I also love really goofy old country music. I play some of that on air but that’s mostly self indulgence.

Any messages for the constituents of your nation?

My 2024 campaign trail is in full swing. I’m going to keep fighting hard to institute a shrimp backed currency. Additionally, in my second term I’m going to mandate free ponies for everybody. If I’m re-elected to a second term things are going to get way better.

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DJ Highlights

The Seven Year DJ, Spaceman Spiff

Randy Woodson with Jeremy Leonard and Kirsten Southwell at the WKNC Station
Chancellor Randy Woodson made visting NC State Student Media part of his first day in office on April 5, 2010. He stopped by the WKNC studios and chatted with DJs Jeremy Leonard and Kirsten Southwell during their on-air shift, then sat down for an interview for "Eye on the Triangle." Photo by Amanda Wilkins

I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Jeremy Leonard, also known as DJ Spaceman Spiff, who was a WKNC DJ for seven years between 2008 and 2015. Jeremy fulfilled a variety of roles within his time at WKNC including Station Librarian and Daytime Assistant Music Director. 

Within his time at NC State, he received his Bachelor of Architecture within the College of Design, receiving numerous awards and recognition. Jeremy later went on to receive his Master of Architecture from Yale University.

 I met Jeremy last semester, who at the time was my architecture studio professor. Upon learning of his involvement with WKNC earlier this semester, it was only fitting to set up an interview.

I would like to highlight, there are very few students that have the opportunity to be involved with WKNC for such a long period of time, let alone the sheer drive and love for it.

It was clear in our interview that Jeremy has a profound passion for local and underexposed music, a love that was curated throughout his life and prospered within WKNC. 

My discussion with him really opened my eyes to how passionate DJs can be about the music they put on the air. Radio is so much more than music– it is an outreach, a platform for underexposed music and a powerful form of self expression. 

Our discussion also introduced me to some absolutely phenomenal bands. If you are interested in hearing some of DJ Spaceman Spiff’s picks, he created a playlist of some of his favorite and nostalgic tracks from his time at WKNC. You can find his playlist on Spotify.

Below are some of the highlights from our discussion.

Read more

How did you get involved with WKNC?

I grew up in Raleigh and went to high school in Garner. I used to listen to WKNC in high school and my older sister listened to it too. I very much looked up to my sister so I gravitated towards WKNC to be more like her in a way…. also the show The OC. My sister bought the show soundtrack which had some awesome indie rock songs featured on the show, and I was craving more of that style. I started listening to WKNC to find more bands that had that sound.  I used to listen to WKNC on the way to my high school. My favorite DJ was Rochester, who had a show called “Carpooling with Rochester”.  He had a great personality and played killer music. 

I knew as soon as I became a NC State student I wanted to be a DJ. In my first week of school, I attended Welcome Week and signed up for a training session… DJ Sweet Annie Rich was my trainer. She had an Americana show but I ended up going the  daytime rock route. 

The coolest thing about WKNC is that they play everything.  I’m not into Chainsaw Rock, but I love that they play metal and have a devoted audience.  I wouldn’t have heard great electronic music if not for Afterhours.

Can you describe your involvement with WKNC? What year did you start and what roles did you fulfill in your time at the station?

I started in 2008 when I was a freshman. I graduated in 2013, but Jamie let me continue my show into 2015.

During my freshman year, I was the librarian and I helped organize the CD collection.  I was also an assistant daytime music director for my first couple years at the station.  In that role, I would review five to ten albums a week.

There is an unbelievable amount of music released every month.I had to open my mind and expand my taste so that I could be better at my job.  Between me and the other music directors, we would select the songs that would be put into rotation–I wanted to make sure that our selections were catchy but also boundary-pushing. By reviewing so much music, I listened to albums I wouldn’t have otherwise.

Are there any artists or albums that you found during your time at WKNC that you still listen to? If not, what do you find yourself gravitating toward today?

I still listen to many of the albums I discovered at WKNC. There is this band called Royal Bangs, whose music is unbelievably rambunctious and infectious.  Their second album, called “Let It Beep“, I thought was just f—ing awesome.

Another was Casiotone For The Painfully Alone. He makes these melancholy, two-minute pop songs built around warbly synths and lo-fi percussion.  Throw Me The Statue and Portland Cello Project are two others that I particularly liked from my time reviewing albums. 

All just really good music that I wouldn’t have been exposed to otherwise.

My musical interests are still focused around sad people with guitars, but  I’m a musical omnivore, and listen to a little of everything. I listen to bluegrass and Robyn… I still love indie music and I love a good pop song. 

What was the origin of your DJ name?

My DJ name was Spaceman Spiff, which is an alter-ego of Calvin from the comic Calvin and Hobbes.  He would daydream being a lonely space explorer when he was supposed to be paying attention at school. I’d like to think my time as a DJ was my escape from the intensity of my college classes.

Are there any particular artists or songs that motivated you to join WKNC?

The station’s support of the Triangle’s music scene is what I found most appealing.

I remember being blown away when I heard Hammer No More The Fingers song “Vodka Grasshopper” on the airwaves.  This was music you could only hear on WKNC–no one else was covering it, except for the Independent. 

I also love Double Barrel Benefit. Max Indian’s set in 2010 was a major highlight for me.  On their album, their songs sound lo-fi, but on stage, it sounded like blistering, stone cold classic rock.  They’re a band that I think should have been huge.  

Without WKNC’s guiding light,  I never would have heard the album  “Antarctica” by The Never.  Their lush pop-rock soundtracked an exquisitely illustrated storybook by singer Noah Smith.    WKNC is so important in my life for introducing me to this music and a multitude of phenomenal NC-based artists.

Given your experience as an Assistant Music Director and DJ, where do you recommend finding artists that don’t get a lot of exposure?

The radio, of course!  I’m always jotting down songs that I liked on WKNC.  I used to have a piece of paper in my car where I would log the times to look up when I got back to my computer, but now the station provides scrolling text that displays directly on my dashboard!  . 

When I was in high school my options to discover music were the radio or I would go to amazon.com and listen to 30 second clips of songs. This around 2004 to 2006 when I was first finding music on my own and platforms like Spotify were not around.

These days, YouTube and Spotify have good algorithms. If you listen to things a little off the radar they will feed you things similar to that. I know I’m praising the dark side.  Although these platforms can be the enemies of smaller artists, they also provide a good platform to discover them.

In my experience, Bandcamp is the best platform for discovery.  I’ll click around on people’s pages and find what they’re enthusiastic about. 

One band that I found this way is default genders.  They make really emotional  synth pop music.  Their album “Main Pop Girl 2019” is jaw-dropping.  It was only after I heard that album that I realized  I heard of them originally on WKNC, back when they made music as Elite Gymnastics Bandcamp + WKNC for the win.

How did WKNC benefit or influence your college career?

Finding all this new music was incredible, but I also became really good friends with my co-DJs. I had a show with my friend Kirsten (DJ Vice) and Justin (J Town) for a couple years called the “After School Special”, which usually was Wednesdays from 5 to 7pm. The three of us would push each other really well. We would bring in music the others didn’t know, and we would all bring different music together and suggest things that the others would like. 

It was also nice to get out of the College of Design for a bit. I would  go to the literal opposite side of campus and engage with the broader college. WKNC allowed me to get outside of the bubble. I love architecture but I love music just as much if not more. I would say more.

Concluding Thoughts

If you are interested in reading up more on Jeremy and his architectural work, you can explore his online portfolio. Beyond having a large array of musical knowledge and DJ experience, he has a stunning array of architectural work.

It was a treat to interview DJ Spaceman Spiff and get another perspective into the WKNC experience.

Stay tuned for more DJ interviews in the near future.

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DJ Highlights

WKNC wins Spirit of College Radio award

WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2 is one of 10 winners of the Spirit of College Radio Awards 2021.

Written by Grant Eubanks, WKNC promotions director

Student radio station WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2 is one of 10 winners of the Spirit of College Radio Awards 2021.

WKNC celebrated World College Radio Day on Oct. 1, 2021 with a 24-hour lock-in in their studios in Witherspoon Student Center, complete with a 24-hour YouTube live stream, 24 one-hour DJ sets on WKNC’s HD-1 channel, 16 hours of live DJs on WKNC HD-2, live posting on social media and a documentary-style recap.

Produced by WKNC video content creator Elle Bonet, a third-year student studying communication-media, “WKNC 24 HOUR LOCK IN RECAP” documented DJs and staff celebrating the day and hosting NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson on an episode of Three Bears In a Coat’s radio block “Ride Along” all while fighting off sleep deprivation.

“This was the first time WKNC has ever done a 24 hour event to celebrate World College Radio Day,” said Maddie Jennette, a fourth-year computer engineering student and WKNC general manager. “To have planned all of this only a few days before it happened, and then win a Spirit of College Radio award for everything we did, is such an honor.”

More than 600 college radio stations in 40 countries participated in World College Radio Day, founded in 2010 to highlight the importance of student-run college radio. The Spirit of College Radio Awards are presented annually by the College Radio Foundation to “shine a spotlight on stations that not only go above and beyond to celebrate the annual [World College Radio Day] event but also embody the passion and mission of college radio.”

Below is the complete list of the Spirit of College Radio Award 2021 winners.

  • Aggie Radio 92.3 KBLU LP Logan — Utah State University (USA)
  • RADIO-E — Universidad de Costa Rica (Costa Rica)
  • The Revolution, Rev 89 — Colorado State University- Pueblo (USA)
  • UPFM — University of Patras Radio (Greece)
  • UST Tiger Radio — University of Santo Tomas (Philippines)
  • WKNC 88.1 HD-1/HD-2 — North Carolina State University (USA)
  • WLMC Landmark College Radio — Landmark College (USA)
  • WMSC 90.3 FM — Montclair State University (USA)
  • WOLF Radio — University of West Georgia (USA)
  • WWSU 106.9 FM — Wright State University (USA)
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DJ Highlights

Set Highlight: Liminal Spaces with cow ball, “Warm Rain at Night”

A hallway that should feel like any other hallway, but somehow feels...unstable.
Image used under the Creative Commons License. https://tinyurl.com/aaxs3ce7

A liminal space is: “a location which is a transition between two other locations, or states of being.” Liminal spaces like airports or staircases are fascinating to conceptualize and a DJ at WKNC, cow ball, has a new show dedicated to putting a soundtrack to these kinds of spaces. So far, she has done a set about art museums, sparse snow, twilight, and this past week she did a set about warm rain at night. 

These sets truly transcend you into another space, and for an hour bring an otherworldly sense of peace. And cow ball is truly dedicated to bringing listeners to this world with her: finding images every week that correspond with the theme and uploading them to her Spinitron. She describes these sets as “​​an exploration into various moods and atmospheres, often ones best described by images.” On Liminal Spaces, you can expect to hear artists like Broadcast, Hop Along, Stereolab and Sylvan Esso  (although it varies from week to week).

If you missed her “Warm Rain at Night”  set, you can find it on Spinitron, and the songs are also listed below.

  • “Apartment Song” – Really From
  • “Al oeste” – Juana Molina
  • “Yonder Blue” – Tortoise 
  • “Chegada” – Joyce, Baba Vasconcelos & Mauricio Maestro
  • “Find It” – L’Rain
  • “Trouble Found Me” – Hop Along
  • “Hey, Who Really Cares” – Linda Perhacs
  • “You Are Not an Island” – Vanishing Twin
  • “Midnight, The Stars and You” – Deerhoof
  • “Poly Blue” – Jessica Pratt
  • “Orange Moon” – Erykah Badu
  • “Run” – Andie
  • “I Found the End” – Broadcast

You can listen to Liminal Spaces with cow ball every Wednesday at 5 p.m. 

Happy listening,

Caitlin

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DJ Highlights

2010s Indie-Pop: Set Highlight

Green and yellow gradient background. Pink pixelated text that says "I Mustache you a question, but I'll shave it for later." Black glasses and a mustache, both pixelated, in the center of the screen.

Remember 2013? Packaging yourselves into Tumblr aesthetics, extremely synthy indie-pop music and “The Fault In Our Stars” being the biggest novel. I long for that simpler time, and have been thinking about it recently. So, naturally, I decided to do a set revolving around the music of the early 2010s indie-pop including all of the usual suspects: MGMT, STRFKR, Passion Pit, Phoenix, HAIM and more. 

Making and airing the set filled me with a warm nostalgia to the Nth degree, and I figured I would share it with the blog. Without further ado, here are the songs I chose to include in my 2010s indie-pop set. You can find this set on Spinitron or as a Spotify playlist.

  • “Intro” – M83
  • “Follow You (pangea version)” – Future Islands
  • “Honey & I” – HAIM
  • “Ready, Able” – Grizzly Bear
  • “Myke Ptyson” – STRFKR
  • “It’s Working” – MGMT
  • “It’s Not My Fault, I’m Happy” – Passion Pit
  • “Love Like A Sunset, Pt. 1” – Phoenix
  • “Obvious Bicycle” – Vampire Weekend
  • “Transpose” – Bad Suns
  • “Paris” – Geographer
  • “Atop A Cake” – Alvvays
  • “The World Is Watching” – Two Door Cinema Club, Valentina Pappalardo
  • “Lately” – Washed Out

Until next time,

Caitlin

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DJ Highlights

Thanksgiving Dinner Set w/ carbon copy

WKNC 88.1 blog

A few months ago, my family came to visit me, and it was then the idea was born that me and my father should do a radio set together. I figured the Tuesday before Thanksgiving would be a good time for that (for travel reasons), and I gave my dad free reign on what to put on the set. He decided to make a set themed around Thanksgiving dinner and the progression of the night and foods you might eat. I love how creative he was with it and was very impressed with how all of the songs mesh together perfectly.

Without further ado, here is DJ GCarr’s Thanksgiving playlist:

  • “I Thank You – LP/Single Version” — Sam & Dave
  • “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf)” — Sly & The Family Stone
  • “Be Thankful For What You’ve Got” — William DeVaughn
  • “Save The Bones for Henry Jones” — Nat King Cole
  • “(Do The) Mashed Potatoes” — James Brown
  • “Mashed Potato Time” — Dee Dee Sharp
  • “My Sweet Potato” — Booker T. & the M.G.’s 
  • “Sweet Pea” — Tommy Roe
  • “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy” — Ohio Express
  • “Cold Turkey” — Lenny Kravitz
  • “Mother Freedom” — Bread
  • “Long Tall Glasses” — Leo Sayer
  • “Apple, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie” — Jay & The Techniques
  • “Pecan Pie” — Golden Smog
  • “One More Cup Of Coffee” — Bob Dylan
  • “Goodbye” — Mary Hopkin
  • “Leaving on a Jet Plane” — Peter, Paul and Mary
  • “Take Me Home Country Roads” — Ray Charles

It was very fun to switch up what I normally play on my sets, and it really renewed my creative interest in what is possible for future sets of mine. The set is on Spinitron and Spotify.

Until next time,

Caitlin

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DJ Highlights

Halloween History with dj mozzie

Howdy y’all! Halloween has some of the best holiday music around, and I wanted to write a bit about the history of the holiday and the music! Halloween originated from the Celtic festival named Samhain, which was celebrated in ancient Britain and Ireland. Ancient Celts believed that November 1st marked a new year, and that the souls of those who had died would revisit their homes the night before. People took part in rituals and practices to try and scare away these spirits, like lighting bonfires or wearing masks to be unrecognizable to the spirits. Today, we still dress up in costume, but it is not to scare spirits away. 

Halloween music has that spine-shivering feeling because of the use of dissonance and minor chords. In the Middle Ages, they referred to this as the “Devil’s interval.” The Devil’s interval was an augmented 4th interval and was banned in Renaissance church music because of its association with evil. This interval can be heard in the opening of Danse Macabre. Part of the reason high-pitched nonlinear noise and dissonance in music is seen as scary is because of the association we’ve given it with scary movies. The other reason is because these sounds remind us of animal distress sounds. In the 20th century, blues was associated with the devil because of the secularity of the lyrics. A lot of blues music reflected the experiences of oppression Black Americans faced. Blues artists were accused of selling their soul for success and talent. Blues music uses the blues scale, which features a flat fifth note. This scale creates a similar interval to that of the devil’s interval.

One of my favorite Halloween songs, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” (1956) was part of this labeling of “the devil’s music.” Halloween specific songs did not come out until the 1950s-1960s. After this, Halloween music moved to the rock realm, with hits like AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.” The 1970s and 1980s was the peak for Halloween horror music from films. These years were also when cult classic horror films were being released. 

Now, here is my Halloween playlist to get you ready for the best holiday of the year!

  1. I Put a Spell on You by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
  2. Halloween by Phoebe Bridgers 
  3. The Way Some People Die by Yo La Tengo
  4. Strange Things by Marlon Williams
  5. Ghosting by Mother Mother
  6. You’re Dead by Norma Tanega
  7. Hudson by Vampire Weekend
  8. Season of the Witch by Donovan (was mentioned in last week’s blog, but you can’t have a halloween playlist without it!)
  9. House Of The Rising Sun by The Animals 
  10. Dead Man’s Party by Oingo Boingo

<3 dj mozzie

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DJ Highlights

Ride Along with Chancellor Randy Woodson

Friday, October 1 was World College Radio Day. WKNC had a jam-packed 24 hour schedule that included nonstop DJs on HD-1, various sets on HD-2, and a full livestream of the event on our YouTube channel. We’re still processing all the footage from the event, so stay tuned for a video recap.

The climax of the entire event was a special guest appearance by Chancellor Randy Woodson, who appeared as a guest on 3 Bears in a Coat’s show Ride Along at 3 p.m.

Chancellor Woodson split his set into three parts; the Muscle Shoals sound, Southern Rock, and songs he’s enjoying now. Although we can’t share his recorded set due to music copyright law, we can provide the playlist– which we also uploaded to Spotify for you to enjoy.

Below you can find 3 Bears in a Coat’s reflection on the event, a transcript of Randy’s air breaks, as well as some pictures from the event.

Continue reading “Ride Along with Chancellor Randy Woodson”
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DJ Highlights

DJ Profiles: Big Hoss and DJ Lizzo

DJ Names: Big Hoss and DJ Lizzo

Show Name: Girls’ Guide to the Outlaw Spirit

Show Time: Thursdays 9-10am

Show Description: Feelings music – country, rock, Americana, cowpunk, alternative for listeners who enjoy Waylon Jennings, Liz Phair, Guided by Voices, Tom Waits, etc.

Where was the idea for “Girls’ Guide” born?

BIG HOSS: We both had shows originally on our own. And we were like we want to do a show together that would be fun, and the whole concept and the name and our first set pretty much was all conceived on her parents for the porch, one night at the end of summer over that first COVID summer.

DJ LIZZO: Yeah, we were like sitting on the porch, I guess maybe we were making a playlist first. And we were like, and we were trying to think of what to call it. And we spent like an hour just trying to think of a name. And there was this book called girls guide hunting and fishing that Big Hoss introduced me to and we were obsessed with and still are still are. 

BIG HOSS: And then we spent a long time trying to come up with what it was the “Girls’ Guide” to. I think we were going through colors for a while and listing color names we liked. But then we were looking on Wikipedia pages of music we liked trying to find common description words. And one of them was on the “Outlaw Country” Wikipedia page, it talks about the outlaw spirit. Yeah, so we were like, that’s it. 

How do you go about curating sets, is it a collaborative process or more of a trade off?

DJ LIZZO: Yeah, it’s definitely collaborative. Usually, it’s just like, throughout the week, one of us makes a playlist and then we both add songs. And sometimes it’s like, I don’t know we’ve gone through little “Girls’ Guide”phases… like, when was that, last fall?

BIG HOSS: Yeah, last fall we went through a really big, like, 90s girl phase, where we would play Poe and Garbage and stuff like that every week. We definitely have the phases and sometimes we’ll make the playlists together at night. 

DJ LIZZO: Yeah, that’s really that’s really fun. 

BIG HOSS: Those are some of our favorites. 

Do you guys have any guilty pleasure music, stuff that wouldn’t normally make it on “Girls’ Guide”?

BIG HOSS: Yes, but sometimes I’m like “maybe we should put this on the show.” Yeah, we definitely do. Honestly it’s been really hard for me over the past year to not put Lana Del Rey. I don’t feel guilty about it, but you can’t play her on WKNC because she’s too big. But she is one of my top artists. 

DJ LIZZO: Actually the first night we planned out our name, it was like a week after “folklore” by Taylor Swift came out and we were listening to “mirrorball” all night.

How has your show evolved over time?

DJ LIZZO: I feel like in the beginning we had this specific sound in mind. I think a lot of it was like, both of us brought our music tastes from each of our separate shows. So we had an idea of what our sound would be and how our tastes overlapped. 

BIG HOSS: Yeah, I feel like our first set. We were like, this is the perfect set. And for a little while we thought “this is the formula for every other set” and were like, “we need a song that sounds like this and we need a song that sounds like this” and so on. I think over time, we’ve definitely loosened up the boundaries of our show.

What are the stories behind your DJ names?

BIG HOSS: Big Hoss is a country term of endearment and Waylon Jennings was called  that, people always called him “Hoss.” And it’s just like, what you would say to a country man: “Hey, hoss what’s the deal with this?” But I don’t remember how I came up with it,  it just appeared one day. 

DJ LIZZO: I guess not as many people called me “Lizzo” in college, maybe or something, but it was a nickname I’ve had since preschool and I wanted to carry it on into college. So I thought that like it being my DJ name would be good. But, pretty much everyone just calls me “Lizzo” at the station now. 

When I first saw your DJ name was Lizzo, it did not occur to me that Lizzo could be a nickname for something, so for a little while I thought you named yourself after Lizzo, the pop star. 

DJ LIZZO: I think that a lot of people probably think that. Sometimes I forget there’s an actual famous person who goes by Lizzo so that’s what everyone associates the name with. 

Favorite aspect of being a DJ?

DJ LIZZO: I like that I have an outlet for doing things I love, like making playlists or talking about music and  learning more about music. I’ve been given an amazing outlet to do that. And I get to do that with my best friend, it’s so fun.

BIG HOSS: Yeah, it’s something to focus our energy on. We both just enjoy making and creating things, And it’s nice to have something we can gravitate around and have it be the basis of what we’re doing.

DJ LIZZO: And it’s every week we have this thing that we work on together and create together.

BIG HOSS: I like our show being Thursday mornings. It’s nice to have that thing to wake up to and now Thursday is our favorite day of the week.

Do y’all have a favorite phone call you’ve ever gotten?

BIG HOSS: There have been a couple times where somebody will call and follow up with an email.

DJ LIZZO: When anyone calls, the fact that they had they cared enough to call in and tell us means a lot.

BIG HOSS: Yes, especially because you don’t have to do that, listeners can listen and just not do that. For people to take that extra step is very meaningful and we appreciate it a lot. I just remembered my favorite. Last fall, I played “The Highway Kind” by Townes Van Zandt, which is a soul crushing song and it’s a journey to get through because it’s a super harsh song on the soul. Someone called in and said “That song killed me.” I feel like sometimes when you play a song that you have a lot of emotion with, it can just go out there and you feel like nobody is responding. To me, it was proof that people are having an emotional experience with what I play.

DJ LIZZO: You can be connected to on a very intimate level that you’re having through the air waves, it’s so cool.

Do you hope to do radio after college?

DJ LIZZO: I definitely think working at KNC has given me an idea of what sort of job I would want to have post-college. I don’t know that it would necessarily be being on the radio but maybe something where I’m somehow involved with music. It would be cool to do radio as a side-thing still. I know a few people in the workforce that are able to do radio as a hobby and I would love to do that.

BIG HOSS: I’m not going into a career related to radio, but if there are ways I can do it outside of my career I would like to keep doing it, it’s just fun.

DJ Lizzo and Big Hoss have been creating a lot of content recently, including their Instagram for their show @girlsguidetotheoutlawspirit. They also recently attended MerleFest, and posted a few videos to the Youtube Channel as well as created a blog about their experience. Be sure to check that all out, and to listen to Girls’ Guide to the Outlaw Spirit every Thursday at 9am. 

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DJ Highlights

Set Overview: 9/28 “passing by”

As I’ve written about previously, “passing by” is my show on WKNC where I put a soundtrack to life’s big and small moments using the best of indie and rock that airs every Tuesday from 1-2pm this semester. This past Tuesday, I curated a set I really loved, and wanted to share it here on the blog in case you didn’t get to catch it through the airwaves.

The set was centered around Elliott Smith. The show was divided into four themes: his inspirations, Elliott Smith himself, covers, and artists who are inspired by him.

His Inspirations

  • “Summer’s Gone” — The Kinks
  • “Rocky Raccoon” — Charlie Parr, Nicholas Mrozinski1
  • “Bob Dylan’s Dream” — Bob Dylan
  • “No One Is There” — Nico
  • “Parasite” — Nick Drake2

Elliott Smith Himself

“Everything Means Nothing to Me” — Elliott Smith

Covers

“The Biggest Lie” — Bright Eyes
“Ballad of Big Nothing” — Julien Baker
“Clementine” — The Decemberists

Artists Inspired By Him

“Ceilings” — beabadoobee
“How Long” — Palehound
“Big Surprise” — Prateek Kuhad
“Deep Sea” — Snail Mail
“Stranger Things” — Yuck
“It Just Is” — Rilo Kiley3
“Punisher” — Phoebe Bridgers4

  • 1: This is a cover of a song by The Beatles, off their self titled album (known commonly as “The White Album”). Smith cited this song as a huge inspiration for him.
  • 2: Although Smith never explicitly cited Nick Drake as an inspiration, people often draw comparisons and parallels between the two.
  • 3: This song is about Smith’s tragic death, as Rilo Kiley were close to him and opened up for his final shows prior to his passing.
  • 4: Bridgers has stated that this track is about Elliott Smith, and how if she got to meet him, she would have made a fool of herself by being such a big fan.

If you want to listen to my set in its exact order, you can queue the songs based on their appearance on my Spinitron page, or if you’re a Spotify user like myself, you can stream it via the playlist.

Until next time,
Caitlin (a.k.a carbon copy)