This month’s Programmer of the Month is DJ Oy-Dog, AKA Dylan Music from the long-running program “Muzikal Jewz.”
Dylan started volunteering at KZSC when he was a senior at UCSC. Then in March of 2008, after completing the broadcasting class, Dylan was inspired to start the show “Muzikal Jewz,” in order to “make people laugh, dance, cry, and experience Jewish music and culture in all of its forms.”
“It took about 4 hours of prep time per week at first. I started with three Jewish music CDs (Socalled’s “Ghettoblaster,” “Connie Francis Sing Jewish Favorites,” and Black Ox Orkestar’s “Ver Tanz”) and it exploded from there,” said Dylan (aka DJ Oy-Dog). The show has been a staff and audience favorite ever since.
After finishing his Master’s thesis “Beat me Rabbi Eight to the Bar” (about Yiddish swing Jazz life in the U.S. in the early 20th century) and graduating from the Literature Department in 2011, Dylan is now a community member at KZSC and still hosts “Muzikal Jewz” every Sunday from 4PM to 6PM.
A little-known trivia fact: In the summer of 2011, Dylan also created and hosted a show at KZSC called “Christopher Tracy’s Parade,” which featured music by the purple paisley love god Prince, and his disciples.
Over the years Dylan has also been an 8-time student mentor and twice served in the KZSC program review committee. For his dedication and creativity KZSC declares Dylan Music “programmer of the month,” an honor only bestowed upon the most awesome of staff members!