Audio Vault / BRAT On The Radio

I recently saw two videos on YouTube that blew my damn mind. The first one was Adam "Ad Rock" Horovitz (Beastie Boys) talking in a Propellerhead Reason clip about how he used to make "pause tapes", using a double cassette deck (3:03 in). The second video was this recent Red Bull Music Academy special on New York Radio, where Tony Moran (Latin Rascals) talks about being stabbed in college. While stuck at home, he got an open reel deck, and learned how to edit (6:57 in).

Why did these videos mess with my mind, you ask?

In December 1982, "Santa" brought me a Fisher double cassette deck. Immediately, I started trying to emulate the edits and mixes I used to hear on the radio. While they were rough, they were my start - just like Ad Rock.

After I was assaulted in high school back in 1986, I spent a LOT of time at home. A friend brought me a beat-ass old open reel tape deck. That absolutely changed my life. I started cutting the hell out of tape, and that directly led to the remixing that I still do to this day. Seeing that some of my idols started just like I did (Ad Rock with the double deck, and Tony Moran cutting tape while he was rehabilitating), well - it just made me feel less alone. I've never really hung with other local remixers. As in my daily life, I tend to be a bit anti-social.

Anyway - the reason for all this back-story...

When I felt I got good enough to play my stuff out for "the masses", I approached KROQ to play my mixes. I was stunned (then, and still now) that they played my mixes, but they did. That led to doing lots of radio IDs, jingles, special radio edits and mixes on many Los Angeles stations.

This mp3 is a edited example of what you would have heard on the airwaves in Los Angeles between 1990-2001. In the following you will hear the following DJs:

• Swedish Egil (KROQ)
• Doug The Slug a.k.a. Sluggo (KROQ)
• Swedish Egil (MARS FM)
• Christian B (MARS FM)
• Tami Heidi (KROQ)
• Richard Blade (KROQ)
• Gary Calamar (KCRW)
• Swedish Egil (Groove Radio)
• Mike Ivankay (Groove Radio)
• Christian B (KISS FM)
• Chris Carter (KLSX) (technically after 2001, but who's counting)

I still remember the first time I heard one of my re-edits on the radio. It was such a thrill. And not just any radio. Fucking KROQ! Talk about aiming high for your radio debut.

While website crap has taken over my life since 1998, I like to remember when I did something that I truly loved. While it didn't pay nearly as well as web crap, remixing and re-editing music meant so much more to me.

I really should get back to radio...

Maybe, if I can find the time, I'll upload the 80+ radio edits I did for Groove Radio. If you listened to Groove Radio back in the mid 90's here in Los Angeles, there's a damn good chance you heard my re-edits a few times a day. It always made me a bit sad that they didn't mention me more...or pay me. :P

File uploaded: May 7th, 2015