Orange County Music Blog

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Irvine band Entice beat out four other bands--from an initial field of 120--Friday night at Citywalk in Universal City to win the grand prize of 98.7's "Rockstar" competition, netting them $10,000 in cash, $5,000 at the Best Buy music store (yes, some Best Buys sell instruments) and a smattering of other fab winnings; by far their biggest achievement in three years as a band.

We caught up with Entice singer/guitarist Isaac Leland to get his thoughts on the big win, and what's next for the band now that they're insanely rich and all that. (Well, by local band standards.)

Non-P want you to remember their name.

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The top five finalists of 98.7 FM's "Rockstar Contest" were announced today, and two of the chosen acts are from Orange County. Not a bad ratio, no?

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Of all the ways to make your band's wildest dreams come true, winning a radio station contest might not have the most street cred, but it certainly seems efficient.

​It's OK. We've all had those moments. You're reading Heard Mentality at home, work, or risking your life by checking it on your cell phone in traffic (safety first, please, but we appreciate your dedication). You start thinking "yeah, reading what Albert says is great, but if there were only a way I could hear his rich baritone deliver these wonderful, wonderful words!" Well, you'll have a chance to fulfill those deep-seated desires, sort of, by hearing me on KUCI today, where I'll be on (most of) the locals-only Press Pass Music show, hosted by friend of the blog Ashley Eliot. It's from noon to 2 p.m., and please do give us a call and request some Orange County tunes at (949) UCI-KUCI. We're going to play some BLOK, who are performing tomorrow at the Lucky Owl, that much is guaranteed. Everything else, less so. (Exciting! Right?)

In a story first reported by Martin Cizmar over on Up on the Sun (the music/culture blog for our sister paper Phoenix New Times) long-running Phoenix-area alternative rock radio station (and a former employer of mine) The Edge 103.9 has debuted a new logo; one that looks eerily familiar.

Here's the new Edge logo:



Ringing some bells? Yes, no, maybe so?

Back in February, I visited KOCI, the low-power FM station broadcasting out of Costa Mesa. The resulting story was here, and basically, even though the episode of their "Backstage Pass" local music show I witnessed was rather awkward--with woefully miscast host "Dr. Barry" trying, and failing, to relate to band members much younger than him--it seemed like the station had some great potential, and that they're worth rooting for.

So, happily, they've reached out to tell us that they're celebrating their one-year anniversary soon (July 1). They're also going to be present at the "Rendezvous Surf Fest" event on July 18 at the American Legion Post 291 in Newport Beach, full details are here. Surf bands Honk, the Chantays, the Surfaris and Fabulous Nomads will be playing, and the whole thing will be broadcast live on KOCI, which if they can pull it off (hey, live remotes are tricky!) would be pretty neat.

Up until relatively recently, I wasn't even aware that KROQ had a local show, but then I learned about Locals Only (good name), which airs Sunday nights.

Given the huge area that KROQ covers, I figured that it would be 95% LA bands, but, surprisingly, they do an alright job of representing OC and the LBC as well (though it's often only one OC band a week--that's more than I'd expect from a commercial radio station, really). And it's not just the Matt Costas of the world, either. In recent weeks, the Kat Corbett-hosted show has played the Union Line, the Jakes, the Fling, Venus Infers and Pop Noir. Check out the show's space on KROQ's site, and they've got an interview and video with the Jakes up.

KROQ Locals Only has even be sponsoring local residencies; last month with the Jakes at eVocal, and the Union Line's Thursday night June residency at Gypsy Lounge in Lake Forest, which started off last night (check out pics and live commentary from there on our Twitter). Either way, it's sorta nice to see that one of CBS Radio's few surviving modern rock stations at least pays a little attention to us here in Orange County, proving that even if we are the red-headed stepchild to LA in their eyes, at least we're one with a few good bands.

Apparently you can do more than kvetch about the demise of Indie 103.1. You can fill out an online petition that essentially tells station owners, "Nooooooooooooo!" Log on to LetIndieLive.com, and you'll be greeted by this message:

On Thursday, January 15, 2009, LA and the OC's only radio alternative shut down.
Please sign this petition and tell the people at Entravision that INDIE MUST STAY ON THE AIRWAVES.
Not only is it vital to keep it on-air for the loyal listeners but, for our music community.
We won't go quietly.....

Included is this disclaimer: "Please excuse the simplicity of this web page as I am a music lover, not a website builder." That music lover would be former Indie employee Katie Laster, who conceived the idea for the site after hearing program director/on-air host/"Mr. Shovel" Mark Sovel suggest during an interview with Kevin Bronson on Little Radio that listeners start petitions to bring the station back. "I called Mark to see if he was serious," Laster tells LAist, "and Let Indie Live was born."

Her initial goal was to generate 2,000 signatures, which was reached near instantly. So many people have volunteered to collect signatures that she has had to turn them away, asking they instead spread the word about LetIndieLive.com and its online petition. She is under no delusions thousands of John Hancocks will change the minds of Entravision, but as LetIndieLive.com proclaims, "It is better to do something than nothing."

If you need an Indie fix, you can stream to what's left of the station here. Sadly, no Jonesy, though.

Well, then, you should probably attend KUCI's DJ Training Class, which begins July 8 at 7 p.m. in HICF 100-P on the University of California Irvine campus (map here). You don't have to be a student at the school to participate; you just need a powerful urge to become a component of what the Weekly has judged to be the best radio station in Orange County. Here's your big chance to potentially foist your musical taste on the world.

From the press release:

"The 8-week class will provide the participants with a instruction on FCC rules and regulations, KUCI policies, KUCI history, as well as, training in basic radio engineering, podcasting and audio editing software.

"KUCI, broadcasting from the University of California at Irvine, offers the most extraordinary lineup of talent on the air and online. As one of the very first radio stations to broadcast via the internet and one of the first iTune podcast stations, KUCI provides the widest array of voices and music imaginable.

"Since its beginning in 1969, KUCI has produced non-commercial talk and music programs that expand the universe of its listeners, introducing artists and thinkers before their work hits the national and international spotlight. Today, every sound organized in time — political right, middle and left, classical music, punk, reggae, world, experimental, indie, goth, jazz, rock, and folk — is heard regularly on KUCI programs.

"For further information please contact KUCI Training Director, Brian Quon at training@kuci.org or General Manager, Mike Kaspar at gm@kuci.org or 949.338.0646."

And now, with staggering obviousness, I present to you David Bowie's “DJ.”

University of California Irvine's radio station, KUCI 88.9FM, is in the midst of its annual fund drive (it runs through May 10). This student/volunteer-run, listener-supported source of unconventionally excellent music and commentary won the Weekly's Best Radio Station last year. Here's what we said about it:

KUCI... really has no competition on OC airwaves. For its diversity of programming, desire to broadcast music that doesn’t even get considered by 99.7 percent of its competitors, and, uh, let’s say idiosyncratic on-air personalities, KUCI towers over its rivals. The station’s DJs may not have the smoothest, most well-modulated deliveries nor always stay on message, and they occasionally allow some DEAD AIR, but they’re certainly passionate about the music they’re playing or the issues they’re discussing, and it makes a helluva difference if you’ve had it up to hear with cookie-cutter corporate radio.

Eclecticism and obscurity are most college radio stations’ lifeblood, and this applies to KUCI. A scan through the schedule reveals shows devoted to left-field global music, jazz, reggae, blues, hip-hop, girl bands, Latin, various underground beat-centric styles, electronic music, local punk rock, underground metal, witty unconventional news commentary, progressive public affairs, tons of rock in its myriad styles, and much more. You may not like everything KUCI airs, but if you possess an open mind and a three-digit IQ, you’ll enjoy a lot of it. If nothing else, you have to admire the sheer unpredictability of the whole enterprise in a medium dominated by companies where the bean counters declared decisive victory decades ago.

To make a tax-deductible donation, you can call 949.824.5824 or go to KUCI's site. Premiums are available for contributions $35 and up.

The Fall: Lawrence's—and John Peel's—favorite band.

In this week’s Sprawl of Sound, I feature KCRW DJ/librarian Eric J. Lawrence. As is often the case, there was not enough space in the print version of the paper to run the entire interview. However, I think that this one is interesting enough to publish in full on the generous expanses of the intraweb. So here it is, Q&A-style.

What are your criteria for determining what you play on any given show? Do you strive for a balance of old and new songs, a fair representation of many genres? Are the shows dictated purely by your whims or are they meticulously planned?

I'm particular about incorporating a high percentage of older songs into my show. Too often, I feel the music industry is hyper-focused on promoting only the newest of the new. But I like to organize my show in the same way my own musical discoveries develop: by hearing something new (or new to me) that I like and working both vertically, with finding similar-sounding artists, and horizontally, by tracking down older artists who might have influenced this new thing. The word 'eclectic' is an important touchstone for us here at KCRW, and I like to make sure that I keep as chronologically eclectic as I do with genre. Frankly, more so.

My shows are hardly meticulously planned—if they were, I'd be happy not to slog the couple hundred CDs I bring with me every week, just in case I might need something obscure on a whim. But I usually go in knowing a lot of what I'm going to play that night, whether they are from newly acquired items or songs related to a theme I'm going to play with on that show.

Do you view your show mainly as an outlet to expose music that doesn't receive attention by other KCRW programs?

My show is not meant to be a venue for exclusively unheard music. I'm perfectly happy to 'play the hits,' if they strike me as good songs. I do like to champion unfamiliar music, but that can simply mean something that hasn't been heard on the radio in a while—something 'off the radar,' as it were. [I]t's all about context. Hearing the latest single from Gnarls Barkley next to a game-show theme from the '70s allows you to hear both songs in a different light.

But I admit I started dabbling in radio during my college days at UCLA, when the so-called genre of 'alternative music' had just broken out. For us at KLA, the UCLA student-run radio station where I worked as DJ, music director for two years, and General Manager my final year, that meant playing things that were true alternatives to what you were going to hear on commercial radio. I continue to be motivated by this 'alternative' spirit, and however alternative KCRW is to other stations (and it truly is), I aim for my show to be somewhat of an 'alternative' even within KCRW's own diverse programming.

Local musician/DJ/rekkid collecta übermensch John Basil (a.k.a. Heru Avenger) has a "pop"-oriented podcast up over in this dusty corner of the 1nterw3b.

Odds are you haven't heard most of these odd ditties from the man's deeper-than-hell crates. I'm listening to it now and it's hitting my sweet spot from all sorts of crazy angles.

Extraordinarily popular Santa Monica-based radio station KCRW 89.9 FM is introducing a new cutting-edge media player that, its publicist claims, “will empower online listeners to make KCRW their own.” (Does that mean we have to make the coffee, too?)

KCRW’s Director of New Media, Anil Dewan, explains that “The player allows [listeners] to access playlists, subscribe to podcasts, embed content on blogs, buy a CD from an artist or a book of the author being interviewed, and share links to their favorite programs with friends.” Rumors that, for a nominal fee, a KCRW intern will come to your home and alphabetize your CDs and LPs have not been confirmed. Yet.

But, seriously, this upgrade looks like it will be very beneficial. You can preview the media player here.

View the complete press release after the jump.

Soup of the Day program host Gorgeous Jeff graciously asked me to join him in the KUCI studio tonight at around 7; he'll be interviewing me about my job and having me spin a few tunes for all the good, discerning folks who listen to his outstanding show. I'll be playing tracks off some of my favorite releases of 2007. I hope you can tune in.

KUCI is located at 88.9FM and www.kuci.org. Gorgeous Jeff's on the air Mondays 6-8 p.m. The station's number: (949) 824-5824.

Chuck D: Give this man a Classic Rap radio program, stat!

Way back in 1991, I made a prediction that the airwaves would be saturated with Classic Rap Radio by the late '90s/early '00s. That sparkling future obviously hasn't come to pass. Although there are a few such stations on the 'Net (here and here) and the odd show devoted to it on terrestrial radio, not much '80s/'90s rap gets excavated for public appreciation (see this blogger's take on the subject).

It seems like the time is way overdue for such a format, but hip-hop — at least mainstream/major-label hip-hop — is notorious for not paying proper respect to its history and being much more concerned about what's HAWT RIGHT NOW and drilling a small handful of songs into your memory banks with nauseating frequency.

It would be easy to find plenty of DJs who could competently program such a niche medium, but the catch is to convince the bean counters there's a demand/market for old-school/Golden Age hip-hop. Considering that so many radio stations are fueled by nostalgia, Classic Rap seems like a surefire winner, as the genre has nearly 30 years of catalog from which to draw. (You could also do special segments just spotlighting the major sources of samples for hip-hop classics.)

Get people like Chuck D, MC Serch, the Ego Trip dudes, Dante Carfagna, DJ Shadow, Kool Keith, Steinski, Coldcut and Biz Markie to host some shows and you're in serious (or Sirius, if you dig satellite radio) business. I think this format has amazing potential. Who has the vision and financial wherewithal to execute it?