DJ Hari remembers Carl Kasell
I remember the car rides to my grandmother's house every Sunday. At 11 am, my father would always turn the radio on, turning the dial until it reached 89.3, KPCC, one of the NPR affiliates in Los Angeles. A low…
KZSC Interviews: DJ Fizzi Pop Interviews Minnesota!
Last Friday, I got the chance to sit down with former Santa Cruzian Christian Bauhofer, aka Minnesota. His hits such as “HiLow” and “Stardust Redux” highlight Christian’s unique sound of mixing heavy bass rhythms with musical elements of melodic synths…
COLUMN: Pussy Riot Invites Santa Cruz to Protest… and Santa Cruz Fails to Show Up
UPDATE 12 April 2018, 11:20 am: This article was substantially updated with new reporting and additional analysis. When Pussy Riot, Russia’s premiere feminist art collective known for its rotating and balaclava-clad cast of political performers, announced a gig in Santa Cruz, I bought a ticket and readied myself for something historic. Surrounding the evening was a hailstorm of misinformation regarding scheduled times for doors and music, and some late-comers, perhaps expecting an opening act, arrived at the venue as Pussy Riot left the stage, missing the performance completely. Pussy Riot failed to meet our expectations, varied as they were, but as I peeled back the layers of my disappointment, what I found was not a laundry list of injustices committed by an artist I did not know well, but Santa Cruz, my city and my home.
Rusko’s Comeback & His “5 New Songs” by Joshua Vargas aka DJ Iehoa
Recovering from his latest battle with cancer last year, Rusko has come back in 2018 with a plan to take over the world. His awaited return began in February where he immediately picked up where he left off with a…
DJ Fizzi Pop Attends SCMF 2018
Written by Sarah Woolley, a.k.a DJ Fizzi Pop From March 10-11, 2018, Downtown Santa Cruz experienced the whirlwind that is Santa Cruz Music Festival, featuring 200+ artists of musical and visual talent. A unique part about this festival is that…
What’s on DJ AWKCUARD’s Radar?
I wanted to share some love to these artists who have been on repeat for me this past month. I encourage you to keep these artists on your radar, if they aren’t already on there. Ruby Ibarra - Us I…
In Our Time of Need, Pop Music Divas Save Us All
As we approach a late-Rome, end-of-civilization scenario in the United States, hope for the future evades us. It seems that our final bastion of good in a world that seems exclusively evil is the sweet escapism of pop music divas…
Review: Burger A Go-Go Night 1
Written by: Maddie Kringel Burger Records, known by some as an independent record label based in Fullerton, CA, who really like cassette tapes. This February, Burger put on a collective West-Coast tour Called Burger-A-Go-Go, which stopped for two nights in each…
Interview: Awakebutstillinbed
Foreword and Interview by: Ryan Cormack “When I hear the word extremo… I think of me.” I had the pleasure of chatting with Shannon Taylor, singer/songwriter of the extremo punk band awakebutstillinbed, right here at the KZSC station! Based…
Concert Review and Interview: Caleborate at the Catalyst (2.28.2018)
Interview and Review by: Julissa Garcia Caleb Parker, once a young boy from Sacramento, blossomed into an artist who makes music to inspire change. Now greatly known as Caleborate, his persistence and humility has moved him towards doing what he loves…
Band Interviews: Exmag Interview with DJ Fizzi Pop (2.11.2018)
Interview by: Sarah Woolley Over pesto pizza and motown soul playing in the background, I got to sit down with Brooklyn-based electro-funk trio Exmag at our very own Pizza my Heart. DJ Fizzi Pop Interviews Exmag! Over pesto pizza,…
Concert Review: The Frights at the Catalyst Atrium (2.23.2018)
Review by: Lily Nauta With their first album debuting in 2013 and their second and most recent in 2016, indie-rock band The Frights are a quickly growing group. The band picked up traction quick with lead singer Mikey Carnevale’s captivating…
Giving Day 2018: February 28th
This Wednesday, February 28th, KZSC is participating in UCSCs annual giving day! Giving Day is a 24 hour online donation drive including many on campus clubs, organizations, and programs. Each participant promotes their own projects, collecting donations throughout the 24…
Concert Review: Jeff Rosenstock at the Catalyst Atrium (2.24.2018)
Written by: Dustin Lennin Choto Hot off the release of “POST-” early last month, pop-punk veteran Jeff Rosenstock concluded their tour with a banging interactive experience at the Catalyst Atrium in Santa Cruz on February 25, 2018. With a hefty…
Review: Kero Kero Bonito – TOTEP (EP)
Written by: Dustin Lennin Choto Departing from their established dancehall electro-pop sound, Kero Kero Bonito returns with TOTEP: a noise pop-rock EP on February 20, 2018. Whereas 2016’s Bonito Generation aimed to promote positivity through its slick production, infectiously peppy…
Does RnB Vampire, Trippie Redd, Have a Place in the Hip-Hop Canon?
With hip-hops rise into the dominant culture over the last decade, we are approaching an era of hip-hop reminiscent of the late 20th century with rock and roll. An overwhelming number of rappers are appearing and disappearing before our eyes…
“Somebody’s Valentine” – A KZSC Valentine’s Day Playlist
"It's pretty cool there's a designated day promoting people to be overly loving toward a special someone. I mean, ideally, people would act like that every day but that's difficult; we can only spend so much time in our daily…
KZSC Interview: Grieves at the Catalyst
On November 10th 2017, KZSC Volunteer Forrest Murphy met up with Seattle rapper and producer Grieves for a pre show interview at the Catalyst in downtown Santa Cruz. It took us a minute to get up on the blog but…
KZSC Interviews: Mele’uhane
http://traffic.libsyn.com/kzscfm/Meleuhane.The.Lindseys.Wiki.Wiki.Weds.mp3 We chat and hear music by Mele'uhane, coming from Kona, on Hawai'i island; Keikilani Lindsey, the dad, with sons Leo and Kaneala. In addition to the laughter-filled interview, you'll hear the instrumental that honors the voyaging canoe Hokule'a, the sweet harmonies of "Na Na Na," and a reggae feeling on "Malama Ka 'Aina," a composition in Hawaiian, reminding us to take care, Malama, our World, the 'aina.
QUEEN BEATS PRESENTS JANUARY 13TH, 2018
Queen Beats Presents @ The Catalyst Saturday, 1/13/18 hosted by DJ Jinx/DJ Kaviar/DJ Spex! KZSC’s own Queen Beats is coming at you ~LIVE~ with an all female hip hop show right here in Santa Cruz. Queen Beats is bringing you…
The She’s Record Release
By: Joshua Zupan San Francisco based quartet, The She’s prepare for the release of their second LP entitled “all female rock and roll quartet.” The She’s ultra melodic rock-pop hybrid sound has taken California’s greater bay area by storm for the…