KTRU Releases Second of it’s compilation albums
FPH: OK so this is volume II. Who is on it and what should we expect?
Ian: Oh a ton of bands - 26, without any repeats from volume I. The whole list is:
Listenliisten - Doggebi - Sad Gorilla - The Sour Notes - Roky Moon and Bolt - B L A C K I E - Cedar Boy Bailey - Air Castle Mystery Solved - Buxton - Ghost Mountain - Heavy Roach Activity - Fat Tony ft Smash Bro - Robert Ellis - sIngs - The Literary Greats - Wicked Poseur - Lindsey Simard - Homopolice - Astrogenic Hallucenating - J.D. Emmanuel - Shankar Bhattacharyya and Sri Gourisankar - No Talk - Sandy and Y.E.T. - Wasp and Pear - The Jonx - Secret Prostitutes
It’s all recordings from these groups’ respective live sets on KTRU. I put it together so it would sound like you were listening to KTRU - everything’s pretty mismatched genre-speaking, but there is kind of a vague sense of some internal logic.
FPH: What’s the purpose of these releases and how did they come about?
Ian: Well, we ramped up our live booking maybe three years ago, started recording it again maybe two years ago, and really only got good at it maybe a year and a half ago, but once we did, I found we had this stack of music that was actually pretty cool but that not a lot of people had heard. A lot of other college stations put out comps like this, so it made sense to do one ourselves. As far as its purpose, I think the idea is to increase overall awareness and appreciation of the station, the bands featured, and the scene here in general.
FPH: Can you tell us something about the bunny theme?
Ian: James Kochalka did the poster for the KTRU outdoor show maybe four years back, and on it was this little bunny with “free!” written on it, and everybody loved it. It’s sort of our unofficial mascot now. We’re all about free. I’d give the album away if it was free to make. [This just in - the artist will draw a personalized bunny on your album for a small donation.]
FPH: What about the album release party tonight who, of the artists featured, is playing?
Ian: Tonight we have Ben Godfrey who plays in Listenlisten, I think he may be backed up by Robert Ellis, both really excellent artists. I’m also happy to say we’ve got Doggebi, who’s Spike, this really excellent drummer, and Michelle Yom, who is an exceptional flutist, playing sort of free jazz that’s still very accessible, and The Literary Greats, who are really making waves. Also our Post Punk show DJ’s will be doing a set, and so will the Mutant Hardcore Flower Hour.
FPH: Give us a few of your favorite tracks and why?
Ian: From an engineering standpoint, I’m really proud of how the Listenlisten, Literary Greats, and Sour Notes tracks came out - I mean I’m proud of all the tracks on the album, but those three had the perfect combination of volume, instrumentation, and lucky mic placement for our very cramped and kinda noisy studio. But I wouldn’t have put any track on the album if I didn’t think it was a blast to listen to.
FPH: Who was the most fun to work with?
Ian: The show we did that produced the B L A C K I E and Fat Tony tracks (they all came on as one big entourage) was maybe the most fun I’ve had up there. I’m legally prohibited from revealing certain circumstances of the Homopolice live set.
FPH: What was the biggest headache from all of this?
Ian: Tracking down everybody and getting them to sign legal releases. We can probably think of a better way to do that next year, though.
FPH: Lets try to sum all this up for people. If this compilation were any Star Wars Person, Place, or Thing, what would it be and why?
Ian: Probably the Millennium Falcon during the Battle of Endor, in Return of the Jedi. Because it’s like, kinda familiar since it’s the Falcon? But Lando is flying it, and who’s that Nien Nunb guy? So it’s like taking something you already like and putting it in a whole new context that makes the entire package a lot cooler. And if you’re into Nien Nunb then this is the only place you can see Nien Nunb so you’re all about it.
