Host: It’s A Nice World to Visit (Every Saturday, noon-2 p.m. PST)
Instagram: @itsaniceworldtovisit
Year you joined Freeform Portland
I joined Freeform Portland in late 2015, a few months before the station began broadcasting. I joined in order to have a radio show, which became part of the schedule when the station launched in 2016.
Tell me about the role that music plays in your life and why it’s important to you
As far as I can remember, music has always been in my life. When I was a small child, music would have come from the radio in the car. And it would not have mattered what was playing: rock, soul, ballads. I was maybe three or four years old, and had no context for feelings. But looking back, music would have been a source of happiness. And also an escape. All my memories of my childhood, my earliest memories until I am about 17 or 18 are void of my parents. But I do remember playing the few albums we had in our house, over and over in the afternoons. And when I was old enough to work, I remember spending my own money on records, blank tapes, a walkman and batteries. I made my own soundtrack to my life with cassette tapes I recorded myself, putting together my favorite songs in a way that I recognize was practice for putting together radio shows.
Tell me about your show
My show is called “It’s A Nice World To Visit” which I started in 2006 on a station called The Portland Radio Authority.
The show itself is based on a simple premise. I assume that for my two hours, the show is a form of entertainment or distraction to the listener. With that in mind, I try to put together a selection of songs, some new, some old, that sound good together. I tend to play a lot of punk rock, new wave, post-punk, garage rock, instrumentals, cover songs and psychedelic music.
Since the show does not have a narrow genre-specific focus, I am free to play all sorts of music.
Can you share A favorite musical memory
Sure, it is one that I have discussed often, but that does not diminish the impact of the moment.
My favorite music memory is seeing Devo perform on Saturday Night Live in 1978. Those few minutes changed my life completely. I was stunned by the robotic mechanical precision of their movements and the way that was presented in the music itself. I had never heard anything like it even though I had been listening to the radio my whole life; I was accepting whatever music was deemed suitable for the public. I had no context for what I was seeing and hearing, and my mind literally exploded at that moment. After that, I began to seek out my own music. Started reading music magazines, record reviews and band interviews to seek out records that were mentioned. Reading credits on record covers to find other records with the same credits, such as producers and labels. Sire Records for instance was a consistently good label.
Tell me about some musical artists that inspire you
Central to me, in every song, is the sound of the guitar–I love original sounding, signature sounding guitar.
Tom Verlaine is one of my favorite musicians. His guitar playing is fraught with an array of emotions, very expressive. I can listen, and have done, to his records with his band, Television, and his solo records, over and over.
I am also quite fond of Will Sergent, guitarist for Echo & The Bunnymen, who has managed to blend a love of psychedelic music with a punk attitude. He has often cited his lack of technique or knowledge about guitar when he started with his band, but those limitations resulted in a singular sound that only sounds like Will Sergent.
Another guitarist I find inspiring is Andy Gill from the band Gang Of Four. His unique style somehow incorporates soul, dub and punk into a noise that can only be his, and his alone.
Aside from those, I would also mention Mickey Baker, Link Wray, Sterling Morrison, Ricky Wilson, Glenn Mercer, Craig Scanlon, Tom Herman, Richard Lloyd, Peter Buck, Billy Childish, Kevin Shields, Tom Dowse…
Why is Freeform Portland and community radio important?
Easy, it is a freedom of speech issue. Access to forms of mass communication, such as radio, is a matter of free speech. A right that is granted to us, the citizens of this country by our constitution. A right we should take seriously and exercise as we see fit.
Freeform Portland is an all music station, so it may not seem to be in any way political. But the freedom of the station itself, not having limits or barriers to what the DJs can play, is a form of self-expression. A freedom I am so happy that exists, and of which I am proud to participate.
Given everything happening in the world today, what is one song you turn to for comfort or inspiration?
If it has to be one song I am going to have to say “Marquee Moon” by Television. A song I can listen to, over and over, and would take with me to a deserted island. I think of this song as being perfectly positioned to show the past, and point the way to the future of music. The lyrics are poetic, playful and may show influences such as Dylan, while the two guitar interplay of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd seems to be inspired by garage rock and psych, as well as jazz artists like John Coltrane. As for the future, the record was an inspiration for bands such as U2, Echo & The Bunnymen, R.E.M, Rain Parade, and many more.
Tips for aspiring DJs
Take a deep breath and trust yourself. The Instinct that made you want to do a radio show is right. You’ve got this. Mistakes are bound to happen, we all make them. Embrace them and move forward.
