DJ Spotlight: Noisy-Boi
Year: 3rd
Major: BioMedical Engineering
KCPR Schedule: Sundays 4-7pm
What is your DJ name?
Noisy-Boi
How did you select/create this name?
I am notorious for being very loud when I’m talking. I remember my freshman year, in the dorms, I would be telling a story or talking to a friend and people would have to knock on the door and tell me to be quieter because of how loud I was. I wanted to have a name that had some sort of meaning. I felt ‘Noisy-Boi’ was true to who I was and how loud I speak – with people always telling me to be quiet.
For someone who’s never listened to your show before, what would you tell them in order to entice them? Give me your pitch!
I structure my show a little bit differently from some of the other DJs at KCPR. I try to play a perfect balance between classic songs – ones that everyone loves – and songs that are just brand new, but they all sort of fit together and mesh together well.
I play songs, for example, a classic hip-hop song, like a Nas song or Black Star – then I’ll play something from [RIP Ferrara’s] new album. It’s a perfect balance between new stuff and old stuff, keeping the old stuff alive while also giving new stuff a chance, as well as giving people exposure to music they may have not heard before.
What motivated you to become a DJ and get involved with KCPR?
I was very unhappy not being involved in the music world anymore. I was really involved with music in high school, and I just never got to be a part of it in college. My sophomore year my friend, one of my WOW leaders actually, said that I should check out KCPR.
I went to the booth at the club fair and talked to a couple of the managers at the time. They were all super nice and friendly. We just talked about music and what I had been listening to that summer. Everyone was super welcoming and I immediately wanted to be a part of the organization.
What are some of your favorite recent music releases? What were some songs or albums that made up your soundtrack to 2020?
I had a lot of great artists I discovered last year throughout quarantine. Probably the biggest was 100 Gecs; they put out an album in 2019 called “1000 Gecs” which I absolutely loved. Then they came out with a new album within the past year, which is remix of a bunch of their songs with a ton of crazy features.
Something else I listened to a lot throughout 2020, was “Come In” by Weatherday. Weatherday is a Swedish artist, not a lot of people know about, but they blew up on Reddit and their BandCamp got a cult following. It’s noise rock; it’s hard to describe. They have these weird organs in some of the songs. It’s a really cool album. I highly recommend checking it out.
Another is AJJ and their album “Good Luck Everybody.” That album perfectly encompasses how I feel about 2020 in general because it’s so grim, but also funny and tries to see the humor. It’s kind of a bummer album, but it’s kind of a bummer year, so, it makes sense.
If you could go on a socially distant date/outing with any artist, who would it be and what would you do?
Alive or dead – Janis Joplin. She lived one of the most interesting lives of anyone in the 60s era. I think it would be really cool to talk to her about musical influences and stories she had on the road.
If I could only answer with someone who is alive, I think I would really want to hang out with Mac DeMarco. I know that’s kind of a cliche response, but he’s so funny and seems like a really wholesome guy, so I think it would be really fun. I would like to hangout – maybe have a beer with him. It would be super fun.
What is your perfect day in San Luis Obispo?
Perfect day in San Luis Obispo is easily going to be when the sun is up; Morro Bay is open; the waves are not too big; and I’m out surfing. I love to surf and it’s one of my favorite things to do in SLO.
How has Covid-19 changed the way in which your show is run? Can you tell me a bit about your at-home set-up and any challenges you may be facing?
Covid-19 has definitely changed my show because I used to play a lot of records in the studio and, of course, we can’t do that on the air. So, I’ve lost a lot of music I would really like to play. But we have a really big library of songs, so I honestly never feel like I’m too limited.
But, sometimes we’ll be missing more obscure albums from bigger artists, for example, Jimmie Hendrix. I used to play a lot of Jimmie Hendrix on my show, and we only have one album in the station as of right now.
I used to play more of the obscure ones we had in our vinyl collection. That’s definitely the biggest change: no more vinyls. I miss being able to play vinyls and CDs, because it is a lot larger and a bigger selection.
What is the first thing you would do if Covid-19 was long-gone?
I would try to put together a house show. I miss that a lot in terms of attending college. I’m sure a lot of bands have been itching to perform, so it would be pretty easy to get people to play and people to come … I think it would be really fun if KCPR had a house show with all of the local SLO bands, as I really miss live music.