It was truly an honor to interview Souls of Mischief at KPFK. Having spent 8 years in Oakland, I know how much the Hieroglyphics crew means to the city and to the Bay Area’s Hip-Hop scene. Like so many, I first became a fan of the group some 20 years ago, when their indelible classic “93 Til Infinity” was released. Unlike many groups that emerged in the early 1990s, but haven’t been able to stay relevant, Souls Of Mischief have always managed to balance their creativity and integrity in bringing new sounds to their fans. Their latest release is a collaboration with LA’s Adrian Younge, who is making quite a name for himself after providing sounds for Ghostface Killah and being sampled by Jay-Z. Originally, we had hoped to have Adrian’s band come into the studio and play with the group, but things didn’t quite work out the way we planned. We were able to spend time with all 4 MCs from Souls Of Mischief and we spent close to an hour discussing this new album, going in deep on a few of the songs (the discussion connected to time that bridges “93 Til Infinity” with “There Is Only Now” is one of my favorite exchanges in my entire career) and talking about their views on the current state of Hip-Hop. Enjoy this one, it’s one of the best we’ve done on the show thus far.

The Souls Of Mischief Interview on KPFK’s Melting Pot: 9-05-2014

With the Souls Of Mischief interview (separate post to follow) taking up the entire second hour, we only had one hour to work with, but made the most of it with new music from Los Hacheros, Moses Sumney and Jungle Fire, plus some classic material from DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist, Mark Hollis, Caetano Veloso. As mentioned, the second hour features music from the new Souls Of Mischief collaboration with Adrian Younge, There Is Only Now, and also an interview with the group. We’d hoped to have the group perform along with Adrian’s group Venice Dawn, but weren’t able to make it happen (at least not this time), but I think if you’re a fan of Souls Of Mischief and the Hieroglyphics crew out of Oakland, I think you’ll appreciate the chance to hear them talk about their art.

Melting Pot on KPFK #178: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #178: Second Hour

Playlist: 09-21-2014
{opening theme} Booker T & The MGs – Melting Pot – 7” (Stax)

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Eddie Bo & the Soul Finders – We’re Doing It (The Thang) Pt. 2 – 7” (Bo Sound)
London Experimental Jazz Quartet – Destroy The Nihilist Picnic – Spiritual Jazz 5: The World (Jazzman)
Caetano Veloso – Tropicalia – Caetano Veloso (1968) (Philips)
Petch Asia Band – Lam Plearn Tua Yaang – The Sound Of Siam Vol. 2 (Soundway)

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Jungle Fire – Firewalker – Tropicoso (Nacional)
Cut Chemist & DJ Shadow – Product Placement (Excerpt) – Product Placement (Self-Release)
Electric Wire Hustle – Look In The Sky – Love Can Prevail (Okay Player)

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Lewis – Summer’s Moon – L’amour (Light In The Attic)
Mark Hollis – Westward Bound – Mark Hollis (Polydor)
Moses Sumney – Alchemy – Single (Self-Release)
Los Hacheros – Tintorera – Pilon (Daptone)

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Souls Of Mischief – Interview – Recorded Live At KPFK (KPFK Archives)

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{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Bitar (Kemado)

Spent most of my Sunday over at the Beat Swap Meet in Chinatown, where I got a chance to spin a jazz only set just before making my way to KPFK for the show. We begin with a couple of the records I picked up, including a few that will make their way up here shortly. Fair amount of new tunes, from Electric Wire Hustle, Astronauts, ETC., Jungle Fire, KING, and Spain as well as some new older music from Lewis, Hoyt Axton, Philip Cohran and the amazing sound of Rome Sithammarat out of Thailand. In the second hour we did a short tribute to one of my fave LA DJs, Gaslamp Killer, who had a show dedicated to him at the Mayan in September. Enjoy!

Melting Pot on KPFK #177: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #177: Second Hour

Playlist: 09-14-2014
{opening theme} Booker T & The MGs – Melting Pot – Melting Pot (Stax)

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Jimmy Scott – Our Day Will Come – The Source (Atlantic)
Cecil McBee – A Feeling – Mutima (Strata East)
Cymande – Promised Heights – Promised Heights (Janus)
The Albert – Pity The Child – The Albert (Perception)

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Electric Wire Hustle – Blackwater – Love Can Prevail (Okay Player)
Rome Sithammarat – Sao New Look – The Sound Of Siam Vol. 2 (Soundway)
Philip Cohran & the Artistic Heritage Ensemble – The Minstrel – Philip Cohran & the Artistic Heritage Ensemble (Zulu)

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Meshell Ndegeocello – Tom – Comet, Come To Me (Naïve)
KING – Mister Chameleon – Single (Self-Released)
Tim Maia – Reu Confesso – Tim Maia (1974) (Polydor)

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Gaslamp Killer feat. Adrian Younge and MRR – Dead Vets – Breakthrough (Brainfeeder)
Gaslamp Killer – Helio X GLK (Excerpt) – Helio X GLK (Now-Again)
Flying Lotus feat. Gaslamp Killer – GNG BNG – Los Angeles (Warp)
Gonajsufi feat. Gaslamp Killer – Kobwebz – A Sufi & A Killer (Warp)
Asha Bohsle & Suresh Wadkar – Yeh Hawa Yey Fiza – Sadma: Original Soundtrack (CBS)
Gaslamp Killer – Nissim – Breakthrough (Brainfeeder)

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Jungle Fire – Tropicoso – Tropicoso (Nacional)
Hoyt Axton – California Girls – Country Funk Vol. 2 (Light In The Attic)
The Savage Resurrection – Talking To You – The Savage Resurrection (Mercury)
Adrian Younge – There Is Only Now – There Is Only Now (Instrumentals) (Linear Labs)

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Lewis – Like To See You Again – L’amour (Light In The Attic)
Spain – The Fighter – Sargent Place (Dine Alone)
Astronauts, ETC. – Gravity – Sadie EP (Hit City USA)
Caroline Peyton – Brister – Intuition (BBQ)

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{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Bitar (Kemado)

Originally planned to have Mike Watt return to the station for another interview and a guest DJ set (kind of a “the Watt from Pedro” at KPFK sorta thing), but he wasn’t able to make it to the station in time after picking up the other members of his Il Sogno Marinaio project. So, I packed a big bag of records, burned a couple of little CDs with new tunes and kept it loose. Quite a few long tracks, including a birthday tribute to Sonny Rollins with the all-world “The Eternal Triangle.” High anxiety getting it together, but mostly mellow moods on the air.

Melting Pot on KPFK #176: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #176: Second Hour

It was a dream come true and a complete honor to interview Mike Watt at KPFK this Summer. For several months I’d been thinking about doing a tribute to the Minuteman’s album Double Nickels On The Dime, and the thought crossed my mind to interview the remaining members, Mike Watt and George Hurley, about this classic record. In a perfect world, it would have been great to have brought in George Hurley too, but I had no way of contacting him. Thankfully, I was able to get in touch with Mike Watt and after a couple of attempts, I was able to get him to come into the studios at KPFK. From the moment I shook hands with him to the moment he said goodbye, we talked about this band and about this record. There was probably about 30 or 40 minutes of conversation before I even had the bright idea to turn on the microphones and record. What followed was a far ranging roughly 75 minute interview discussing the band and the recording of this landmark album. On the tribute that aired live on KPFK, I had to edit large sections of the interview in order to be able to make enough time to play the entirety of Double Nickels. It really pained my heart to have to cut out so many of the stories, so here is the full interview, unedited and uncensored. Some of these stories Watt has shared before, but there were a few that a hardcore fan like myself had never heard. Absolutely one of my favorite interviews I’ve done in my career and I’m really thankful that I was able to do it and that I get to share it here.

Mike Watt Interview on KPFK’s Melting Pot: 7-31-2014

Earlier this Summer, Double Nickels On The Dime, the classic album from the Minutemen, celebrated it’s 30th anniversary. Double Nickels is one of my favorite albums, something I’ve listened to hundreds of times over the years. It’s an album that has deep personal meaning for me, along with a handful of others, because it’s something that really changed the way I hear music and informed my personal and political sensibilities. When the idea for a tribute show came to mind, I knew I wanted to play the entire record, from start to finish. I wanted to include some information about the Minutemen and the recording of this album and considered using clips from the documentary We Jam Econo. Thankfully I was able to get a hold of Mike Watt and he was extremely gracious with his time, driving up from Pedro on a traffic filled hot summer weekday and spending almost two hours with me about the band and this album. Given the constraints of time, I had to edit down that conversation for the on-air program, but you can find our full conversation right here. All together this was truly a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience. One of the shows that I’m most proud of in my 20+ year radio career. Enjoy this one to the fullest.

Melting Pot on KPFK #175: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #175: Second Hour

Playlist: 08-31-2014

{opening theme} Booker T & The MGs – Melting Pot – 7″ (Stax)

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Mike Watt – Interview – Recorded Live At KPFK: 07-31-2014

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The Minutemen – Side D. – Double Nickels On The Dime (SST)

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The Minutemen – Side Mike (Part 1) – Double Nickels On The Dime (SST)

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The Minutemen – Side Mike (Part 2) – Double Nickels On The Dime (SST)

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The Minutemen – Side George – Double Nickels On The Dime (SST)

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The Minutemen – Side Chaff – Double Nickels On The Dime (SST)

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{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Bitar (Kemado)