Matt Volla started the day off by cleaning our windows

We seem to be on quite a roll for opening the day by moving messing up the studio. Last week we moved all the audio equipment out of the booth so that Jerome and Kelsey could teach Ella and Stella how to make pasta. This week Matt Volla came around to clean our windows. They really needed it too. The best part about it though, was that he decided to attach some contact microphones to the glass, and make it into music. The whole thing was called “Clean Music” and was perfomed with “museum quality gloves”. He spent almost an hour washing those windows, but people certainly took note. And we were impressed with the site specificity and the performative energy.
Matt Volla-”Clean Music”

Billy Jam talks to the people on the street while DNZ cuts it up on the turntables

Long time KALX alum and current WFMU DJ Billy Jam revealed his pirate radio credentials by showing up with DJ DNZ providing back up and still he moved the crowd. DNZ and Billy showed up, set up their turntables, grabbed our wireless mics and Billy hit the streets and gave out copies of their compilation cd, “Pirate Fuckin’ Radio” to anyone that would take ‘em while DNZ cut up the Ozomatli like a mad scientist. The brilliantly impressionable minds from BAYCAT were particularly happy to check these CDs out as they waited for their turn.
Billy Jam and DNZ

Will Hammond and his students from BAYCAT When the kids from BAYCAT in Hunter’s Point show up we love it. A beautiful mix of pre-recorded interviews and music mixed with live commentary give you the real news from Hunter’s Point. These kids are thinking about the issues, from gangs to war to what language you should sing the national anthem in to video game violence to the favelas of Brazil and of course…. the May Day protests, Nick, Desmarias, and Noah have it covered… even when our CD players screw things up for them.
BAYCAT

Michael Trigilio and his guest Natalie Fiske on “Bewitched, Buddhist and Bewildered”Michael Trigilio has been a dedicated source of vitriol for NPR for more than 2 years, and now he’s decided to take on buddhism. He comes at it with a lot of experience (that you’ll hear about in the MP3). This week on “Bewitched, Buddhist, and Bewildered” Michael talks about anger and american interpretations of buddhism with his old friend and buddhist Natalie Fiske. Who knew? Buddhists get angry too. A favorite quote:”If you find the right religion you can do just about anything.”
“Bewitched, Buddhist,and Bewildered”

Tom Messmer with Jon Brumit on “Catch and Release”Last week Tom Messmer brought us a copy of his CD, “Winter is Coming”. We played it all day in between the shows. This week, Jon asked him to come back and talk about it and to read an essay he wrote for “Processed World” about his job as a social worker in the Emergency Room at San Francisco General Hospital which he took after making big bucks in the dot com world. True stories of “flesh-eating bacteria from a dirty needle” compared to “babysitting computers for rich people”.
Catch and Release

“The Knotty Boys” tie up Zefrey on Frank PrattleA while back, the host of Frank Prattle, Zefrey Throwell took a class with the power bondage duo known as “Two Knotty Boys”. Dan and JD started off with a little Ro-Sham-Bo to figure out who would talk first and then described the process of learning how to excel in the art of rope bondage. Apparently it all starts with mountain climbing skills and a kinky girlfriend. But remember kids, tight ropes can cut off circulation, and be a real turn-off. Tune in and learn the “Rule of Cool”.
“Frank Prattle w/ Two Knotty Boys”

Sally Walker and her snare drum interpret Sol Lewitt’s “Sentences on Conceptual Art”What is that rat-a-tat-tat coming from NPR’s storefront. Sounds like some very slow snare drum, but if you look a little closer, you can see that there are some sentences taped to the window. And a woman holding up numbers in between the taps. What the? Well, Ms. Sally Walker has been practicing and translating and today she has taken Sol Lewitt’s “Sentences on Conceptual Art” and converted them to Morse Code. We prefer to read them in English for content (being Americans), but the regimented sound of the snare drum gives a whole new visceral backdrop to the literary experience.
Sally Walker-”Sol Lewitt’s Sentences on Conceptual Art”

Slovenian filmmaker, critic, and theorist Marina Grzinic talks to LeEBack in the summer, you may recall, Jon Brumit and LeE Montgomery brought NPR to Serbia. On their first days in Novi Sad and Belgrade they had the pleasure of meeting up with Marina Grzinic. Marina was in town to speak at UC Berkeley and CCA, but made time on her Saturday to come see the reality of NPR. Here LeE talks to her about troublemaking in Slovenia, Radio Estudiante, copyright law, democracy, colonization, and tactical media.
interview with Marina Grzinic

Milton rand Kalman, Chief Scientist for the Billboard Liberation Front talks to us before Jack Napier’s presentation at Other Cinema Speaking of tactical media, we were particularly excited to find the chief scientist for the Billboard Liberation Front, Milton Rand Kalman could pull himself away from the “Mighty Ruckus” where Pirate Cat Radio was talking to Live 105.
Pirate Cat radio talks to Live 105 at the “Mighty Ruckus”Here he was in our broadcast booth hooded and hiding behind sunglasses so we could talk about the methods of the BLF and their more directly political (and most recently active) compatriots the California Department of Corrections. We were also promoting the evenings entertainment at Other Cinema. A screening of the film about Ron English “Popaganda” where Jack Napier (also of BLF) was planning to appear.
Billboard Liberation Front

Dee Dee Russell was unable to make it in this week, as she was preparing for “Anon Salon”, so we handed the mic off to Brad Borevitz and Juggler Vein (or was it Mr. T). They talked a bit about the upcoming May 1st protests.

Not Dee Dee Russell

Violet Blue does film critique on porn with her friend Thomas RocheViolet Blue joined us again with her special guest Thomas Roche. It’s always hard to know what part of a given interview by Violet Blue will be the part to rouse people’s interest. This week we’ll venture a guess that it’s a single word. Necrophilia. Thomas Roche discusses, among other things, the finer points of necrophilia.
“Open Source Sex”-Violet Blue talks to Thomas Roche

You never know where DJ Milton Parker will start or where he’ll stop, but this week we begin with “America, the Beautiful”, how can you go wrong!!!!

DJ Milton Parker

And for those of you who have held out this long, we have a special surprise. At the last minute we found that Andy Bichelbaum of “The Yes Men” was in town, and, after an 80 mile bike ride, we got him to come on by for a brief discussion with LeE and Marina about activism and art among other things. Listen as Marina and Andy explain how culture works.

Andy Bichelbaum and Marina Grzinic

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