Tonight, will be my last radio show as a regular/full-time KDVS DJ. My first quarter on air was on Monday mornings from 2-4 AM in Winter 2007, when I was a college freshman living in the dorms. I alternated weeks with Brian Ang in what was also his first quarter on the air with his program "Farewell Transmisssion" and also had his last radio show yesterday as we are both moving out of our beloved "Fort Douglass" home to live in the Bay Area after having graduated from UC Davis last June. I have been actively involved with KDVS every quarter that I have lived in Davis. I spent four quarters on the air in a 9:30 AM to Noon slot in addition to a Midnight - 2 AM show in Summer 2008 and a 2:30-4:30 PM slot in Fall 2008. A year ago I also had a brief stint at 11 PM-Midnight on Thursdays from August into September under the program name of "Summer Jamz" before I finally earned my coveted current slot of Mondays 8-10 PM in Fall 2009. As a result, I have put in a lot of time and effort into doing my radio shows just like every other DJ on air at KDVS in addition to the required volunteer work and corestaff positions I have held as the Programming Director and Assistant Record Label Director for KDVS Recordings.
KDVS has largely defined the majority of my college experience. I have learned so much more about music than I could have ever imagined thanks to the huge record library from which I gather the music that I play each week and the shared knowledge and wisdom of many other DJs that I have come to be good friends with. I have always loved listening to college radio since I discovered it in high school and I am proud to say that KDVS is among the best freeform community/college radio stations in the nation and I am very grateful for having had the opportunity to work here.
One example in particular of how KDVS has affected me was through discovering the music of the late Jay Reatard. As a new DJ in 2007, I was recommended by DJ Fuzzbox Flynn to check out his album "Blood Visions" which blew my mind because it seriously rocked from start to finish. He instantly became one of my favorite artists. The following fall of my sophomore year at Davis he performed on a Tuesday night at the Delta of Venus which used to host KDVS Presents shows on a weekly basis. Although his set was very short, it was also loud, intense, and quite crazy with frantic energy. Some other showgoers blew him off as rude and obnoxious but I didn't really care because it was a great performance and that was all that mattered to me at the time. A year later, August 2008, I was given the opportunity to interview him over the phone before he was scheduled to play at 12 Galaxies in San Francisco. I was very nervous at the time talking to him and said many "uhs" and "umms" in addition to having a few technical problems with Adobe Audition to record the interview to play on my show. However, Jay was very polite throughout the whole interview and answered my questions directly and honestly despite the wide opinion of others that he seemed to be a rude jerk in many videos and stories shared in regards to his onstage behavior. That interview was later published in the Winter 2008 edition of the KDViationS programming guide. As you might imagine, it came as quite a shock when I heard of his sudden death on January 13 of this year. I did a tribute to him on my show the following Monday when I played a large selection of songs from his extensive catalog of the many bands and side projects that he was involved in. It is entirely because of KDVS that I was able to hear Jay's music, see him live in Davis, and even record and publish a phone interview with him.
Very few radio stations act as such a special public resource as KDVS does in that it seriously allows anybody to have their voice heard on air whether they are a student or not. KDVS has not been only about music for me either. I also greatly enjoy listening to our morning and evening public affairs programs and sports broadcasts which are always done with highest level of professionalism. Aggie Talk, Dr. Andy's Poetry & Technology Hour, It's About You!, and Speaking in Tongues are particular favorites of mine. In fact I was also a guest on on episode of Speaking in Tongues when I discussed the absurdity of the enforcement of the Davis noise ordinance and openly vented my anger and frustration from when I received an infraction from an extremely rude police officer after hosting a KDVS Presents live show of punk bands at my house without receiving any previous warning.
Anyway... I love KDVS and I am very thankful for my involvement these last four years because it is the coolest thing that I have ever been a part of and I have learned and grown a lot as a person amidst all of the fun I have had in working with my fellow DJs and staff that have become good friends. My last few days here in Davis have been a lot of fun and I am sad to leave mostly because I will be leaving KDVS behind and everyone that is part of it. Tune in to my show tonight from 8-10 PM if you want to hear more excellent rock, jazz, punk, and some other stuff for the last time or go check out G. Green, Ganglians, Wavves and Davis' own Produce Produce at Sol Collective in Sacramento in case you would rather go see some live music instead. If I wasn't doing my regularly scheduled radio show at this hour, that's where I would most likely be... checking out some other KDVS show.
